Chapter 14
**Hunter's POV**
No! It can’t be!
I run my thumb lightly over the mark as if trying to confirm if it was real or not. Is this really Daisy?
“You’re Daisy” I whisper to no one in particular unable to raise my voice for some reason.
“For the last time, I’m not…” Esmeralda starts to say as she snatches her strap and pulls it back up her shoulder but pauses when she turns around and sees the shocked look on my face.
“You have the birthmark” I whisper almost as if I was trying to convince myself that it was really Daisy.
I’ve waited for this moments for almost a decade, now that it’s here, I just can’t believe it.
Something’s not adding up though.
Here she is, alive and well with all proof that she’s Daisy but yet, she shows no sign of knowing me, my friends or her dad.
“And So? A lot of people have the same birthmark in the same place” She says shrugging and when I continue to stare at her in puzzlement, she moves her eyes around the limousine uncomfortably.
“I think I should go” She says as she stands up and walks past me to the car door.
She hesitates for a moment as if she expects me to say something but when I remain mute, she opens the door, steps outside and then close it.
I remain rooted to my seat as I watch her look back at the tinted window of the limousine with furrowed eyebrows when she reaches her door.
She then shakes her head before opening her door and disappearing behind it.
I suddenly snap out of the haze I’m in and fish my phone out of my pocket before dialing a number.
“Mike, Meet me at my house now!” I order and hang up before he can protest.
“Drive” I say into the intercom and the limousine starts to pull away from Esmeralda’s apartment.
Twenty minutes later, the car pulls up into my driveway and I hurry inside my house to meet Mike waiting for me. I'm not surprised to find him there, he has been working with me long enough that the security usually let him in without any query.
“It’s late in the night Mr. Stone, what on earth was so urgent that it couldn’t wait till tomorrow morning?” He asks with a yawn.
“What do you know about Esmeralda’s parents?” I ask loosening my tie and flinging it to God knows where.
“Well, the only thing I know is that they moved here five years ago when Esmeralda got accepted into college and that they have another child named Bastien nothing more. Why?” Mike asks looking at me confused.
“Daisy is Esmeralda” I state and his eyes widen before he frowns in confusion
“That’s impossible, they have her birth certificate and pictures of her growing up. What makes you think that?” Mike counters with sleep clearly gone from his eyes now.
“She has Daisy’s birthmark and I’m pretty sure it’s the same. I shared a room with her for almost a week and saw it every night because she used to wear a camisole to bed. I know what I’m talking about, damn it" I say and just when Mike’s about to say something, I continue;
“Can you please look into them? I want to know everything about Esmeralda; from the schools she attended, her childhood friends, down to the hospital she was born in. Something’s not adding up” Mike nods in response.
“In the meantime, observe her more closely at work. I’ll soon get back to you” Mike voices out before standing up to go and I nod at him in acknowledgement.
When I hear the door close behind him, I sink into the couch in exhaustion. I can feel a migraine setting in.
Why would Daisy act like she doesn’t know me?
Does she blame me for what happened to her?
Did Levi torture her so much that she’s back for revenge?
But why then would she pretend not to know her own father?
So many questions and very little answers.
************
Esmeralda
To say that Mr. Stone has been acting weird since this morning is an understatement.
First of all, he sent his driver to pick me up this morning and the man told me that I had breakfast waiting for me inside the car.
Next, when I got to work, he was already in his office so I didn’t see him for a few hours but then I got called into his office and that was where phase two of Mr. Stone’s weirdness started.
I’ve been seating in the chair in front of him for the past five minutes and he hasn’t said a word, he just keeps staring.
What is he staring at?!
I should have styled my hair today, shit maybe I should have tried to wake up earlier and apply a little makeup.
What is he thinking right now?
“Uhmm…Mr. Stone?” I clear my throat.
“Yes” He answers simply watching as I shift self consciously on the seat.
Is there something on my face?
"You sent for me?" I ask trying to look at anything else but him.
"I did" He states still watching me like he was trying to figure me out and I start tapping my fingers on my thighs in nervousness. Is he trying to mess with my head?
Suddenly his phone rings and he swivels his chair around to give him privacy as he picks the call making me breath out and sink down the chair in relief because his attention is no longer on me.
"What?" He yells and I perk up again.
"I'll be right there" He says before hanging up and turning his chair to face me once more.
"Is everything okay, Sir?" I blurt out stupidly as he stands up.
"No, I have somewhere to be right now" He responds walking out but then he suddenly halts his step and turns to face me. I spring out of the chair I'm sitting on when he starts to approach me.
"You know what? You're coming with me" He states as he grabs my hand and starts pulling me towards the door.
I try to ignore the way my heartbeat speeds up at his touch as I ask "To where?"
"The hospital, Mr. Heart just had a heart attack"