Loving You Too Long

“If you’re so afraid of her, why are you choosing to stay silent now?” Mr. Luis asked curiously. “If the police catch her and the community knows about your disgrace because of her, wouldn’t that be the same as wasting your struggle all this time?”

The man across took a long, tired breath and exhaled slowly. “This is what I wanted to talk to you about,” he said again. “I’ve hired someone to find that girl and get rid of her,” he continued, stunning everyone in the room. “I’ve been restraining myself for the sake of my reputation, for the sake of my wife’s reputation, and for all the hard work I’ve put in. I don’t want her to destroy it with unpleasant news.

“Since the incident with Thompson, I’ve devised many schemes to get rid of that girl. But then I saw a slight change in her when she got close to Nathan. I thought your son would change her for the better. But I was wrong; all her good behavior was just a façade. And then, I felt I needed to know the reason for my wife’s death, which I had never suspected before. And I found shocking news that turned out…” Sobbing could be heard from afar. “My wife didn’t die because of the illness and depression she suffered.

“In fact, all this time, Loretta had been giving her medicine that made my wife suffer and die slowly. Loretta came back for revenge for what my wife and I had done all this time. She made my wife suffer and killed her slowly. And she also intends to do the same to me.

Quietly, she changed my medicine with hers, which is more dangerous. That’s why my health has been deteriorating lately. I only found out about this because I could investigate her when she wasn’t here.” They all heard soft sobbing in the distance. “Without my knowledge, it turns out I’ve been harboring a venomous snake in my own home, and now I realize it and regret it.

“If only back then I hadn’t let her into my home, maybe we would be happy now. If only back then I could have been patient and helped my wife out of her grief, she would surely still be here.”

“I didn’t bring a sweet and kind-hearted girl before my wife, but rather gave her a snake that, in silence, measures the right time to destroy the master.

I should have thoroughly investigated everything when the Thompson incident happened, instead of closing my eyes and getting involved in the drama she created to get Nathaniel.

Forgive me, forgive all the mistakes this old man has made. I will help you.” He said confidently. “No, I help myself. I’ve sent people to find her, and I’ve told them to meet you so that they can work together with your people.

They are the best people I could get. They will help you get Nathaniel back and also get rid of that woman in a way that the police won’t suspect. Once again, forgive me.” The old man pleaded resignedly.

Haisley could only cry after hearing everything. She was even more frightened now. Loretta was not only obsessed with Nathan but also a cold-blooded killer. Yes, that woman was clearly a cold-blooded murderer. Even after being raised by her foster family and given all the privileges that other orphans couldn’t get, she still heartlessly killed her foster mother slowly.

“If she can do something so cruel to someone who has given everything, what will she do to Nathan?” Haisley asked softly to anyone who could hear her.

“She won’t do anything to Nathan, Haisley,” Gilbert tried to reassure.

“How can you be sure of that?” Haisley asked hesitantly. “We don’t know her, G,” she continued, though she hoped her brother-in-law’s words were true.

Haisley cried again out of fear. Her two friends, Flavia and Abigail, tried hard to comfort her. It took quite a while until they finally managed to bring Haisley back to her room and make her rest.

When Haisley was no longer with them, they talked again about Nathan in hushed voices.

“This is clearly no longer an issue of obsession or kidnapping for money,” Gilbert expressed his opinion. “We don’t know for sure what’s going on in her mind right now and don’t know what actions she will take afterward. If this is a revenge motive, besides finding Nathan quickly, we also have to be wary of Haisley. It’s not impossible that she wants Haisley and wants to take revenge on her too.”

“But there’s one question that bothers me, G.” Dean looked at his cousin. “What feelings does she have for Nathan? Does she really love Nathan?” he asked curiously. “Did you hear what her foster father said earlier? The man said that since being with Nathan, she started to change. Do you think she changed because she loves Nathan and wants to be a better person so that Nathan loves her?”

Gilbert shook his head. “I don’t know,” Gilbert whispered. “All I know is one thing. She’s a dangerous woman.”

Hours later, Flavia’s father’s messengers arrived escorted by the villa’s guards. Simultaneously, the man who had contacted Gilbert’s father arrived, informing them that they were messengers of Loretta’s father.

The men chose to stay away from the building where Haisley and the other women were, intentionally doing so to prevent the women from becoming more frightened if the news they brought was bad. Fortunately, they decided to move to a separate building because the information they heard afterwards was clearly not something they wanted Haisley to know.

Two local men, messengers of Flavia’s father, and two foreign men, messengers of Loretta’s father, now sat with Dean, Gilbert, Juan, Mr. Luis, and Juan. One of the local men and one of the foreign men handed over brown envelopes that they placed on the table. Gilbert took one envelope from the local man, and Juan took the other.

“A man named Ramon, born in Miami, is currently a target for intelligence agencies because he is a major drug dealer. The police have arrested him for smuggling alcohol, but he managed to escape. And now, he is suspected to be involved in a large drug trafficking network.

“He has moved to many cities and changed identification cards illegally. But he was last seen here. That’s what we found when we were looking for the woman suspect who is there,” he pointed to Loretta.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

“Do you mean he’s working with a drug dealer? But how is that possible?” Dean exclaimed in surprise. “I thought he only worked with local thugs to kidnap Nathan,” he continued, looking at the others.

Juan then handed the documents he was holding to Dean. “They have known each other for more than seven years,” answered the foreign man with his thick English accent, indirectly responding to Dean’s question. “A man named Ramon has become a drug supplier, and Loretta has become both a dealer and distributor in England. We received information from some conglomerate kids within the same social circle as your brother, implicating the suspect on Loretta. Both of them are now on the wanted list in two countries,” he continued, shocking Gilbert’s family.