Chapter 216 SPAIN
AURORA’S POINT OF VIEW.
“Lord, we searched the entire city.” Mom chuckled, the sound sad, humorless, and pained. She turned away, her shoulders tense as she looked out the window. The only way I could see her face was through the reflection. “Silas was distraught. He feared they’d been kidnapped. We pulled our resources….all of us, me, Lucien's mother….our entire friend group who also attended Ravenscroft High. We looked throughout the country.
The police, the FBI….everyone had all hands on deck. We waited, prayed, fasted….hoped. but nothing; not even a word. I remember holding onto Silas, trying my hardest not to break because I knew he needed the strength I could give him. We waited; days bled into weeks, and into months. I felt everyone’s resolve breaking. At some point, a few friends already mourned them, believing they were dead….But I couldn’t let that be me.
I held on; for myself…for Silas. And just when I thought nothing would happen, we got a call. It happened six months after. Silas and I were lucky to be home when the phone rang,” Mom continued, her voice dropping into a register so low it was almost a whisper. “It was a ransom demand from a burner phone we later traced to Spain. We thought they would want money….we were so wrong. They said, but it was not for money... but for the Mercer shares in Vistaline Air.
Silas didn't care about the money, and I did not care about the shares or the impact it would have on the company if the Mercers pulled out. All I wanted was my best friend, and my god-son. I was already chair of the board; I could do anything. So Silas and I agreed.
He would have burned his entire empire to the ground for Kai. We flew to Seville that night. We thought it was a professional hit. I knew I couldn’t leave you with Armando. We fought so much. He kept cheating on me, coming home drunk, lipstick stains all over his clothes.
So I took you with me, and I lied that we were going on a honeymoon with you. Armando wasn’t there with us, but your child's memory always thought he was. We didn’t even know we bought the house right behind Kai’s confinement shed.
We waited for weeks, but they never called. Not even after we did as they wanted, and had a bag full of money just in case they asked for it.
It went on for what felt like forever…..untill someday, you told me you wanted me to see something. I remember telling you, ‘mommy’s tired….mommy needs to sleep. But Silas told me to hear you out, so we followed you behind the house.
For some reason, I never noticed the shed. It was covered by so many tall trees and plants, I wondered how a small child like you ever found it. When we stepped in, the worst sight of our lives greeted us.
"We thought we were there to save him from strangers," Mom whispered, her gaze fixed on the garage wall. "We didn't realize the monster was one of our own. When you led us into that shed, Silas and I... we weren't just looking at a crime scene. We were looking at the end of the world. Silas searched for Marloise, believing she was also hurt.
I’d never screamed at him before….not until that moment as the police and paramedics rushed Kai to the hospital. Silas didn’t believe Marloise did it, and I didn’t want to either. But the memory of him always being hurt; always having injuries….it was too much to ignore.
Not until Kai woke up and told the police everything did I finally see Silas break down with tears. But that….it wasn’t the end of it all…..it was just the beginning.”