Chapter 71: Chapter 71

"Where are you going?" I asked him again when I saw that he had finished dressing and was currently fixing himself.

He just looked at me for a moment and smiled sparingly. "I just have something to settle in the company. I'll just be there for a moment," he calmly replied to her.

I suddenly remembered what I heard last night from him while talking to someone named Philip on the cell phone. I still remember that he said that he was one of the confidants of his daddy even though he said he would go to him.

I frowned. "Really? Can I go with you then?” I asked him again, making sure that he wasn't lying to me.

It took a long time before he turned to me so I just continued to watch him. His expression remained blank until he faced me. His forehead is frowning while looking at me.

"Just stay here, Solei. I don't want you outside of the house anymore until we leave the country. I'll be quick," he told me softly so I smiled bitterly.

Why do you need to keep this from me, Hector? what are you planning

I didn't answer. I just stared at him. Measuring his gaze and how long he will go on lying to me. When he didn't really speak, I just got tired and looked away from him. I calmly went to the bed and lay down there. I suddenly felt a strange nervousness for an unknown reason.

"Hey..." I heard him call me.

Next, I felt him sitting next to me. He caressed my cheek gently. I turned my back to his direction and tried to stop myself from paying attention to him.

"Baby..." he called me again. I closed my eyes tightly.

"Just go, Hector. I'm done talking to you," I told him lazily without looking at him.

He kept caressing my cheek so I just closed my eyes.

Where is he going? Does he know where his daddy is hiding so he will go to him? What will he do there? Why does he have to hide that thing from me?

“I'll be quick. Don't be mad, please...” he gently said to me.

I felt his hot breath on my cheek. After a while, his soft lips approached there. "I love you so much," he added. The next thing I heard was the door opening and closing.

I sat down on the bed and looked at the door he came out of. I couldn't explain the nervousness I felt so I quickly took out my cell phone and dialed Ulysses' number. It only took three rings before he answered.

"Ana, have you been summoned? Is there a problem?" He opened his eyes to me so I nodded.

"I just want to ask something. Is there any news on the operation of the police to catch Damien Aragon? Matthew is still with him, right?” I immediately asked him.

I can hear Via's voice in the background as if she is talking to someone and is angry based on the height of her tone.

"Ah, yes. Actually, I was going to call you after my meeting today. The police and military officials are on their way to the place where they are staying right now. Hopefully, this operation will be successful—”

"What? Why did you just tell me now?" I asked him in shock and completely stood up.

My heart started pounding hard.

"Because I just found out. What's wrong? Why are you so angry?” He asked me a surprising question.

I bit my bottom lip. "I heard Hector the other night. He was talking to Philip, one of his dad's sidekicks. He said he was going to see her and now Hector just left!” I said to him, full of frustration.

I heard the release of Ulyssed's crunchy rump making my heart beat even harder. I feel like I'm going to throw up from being so nervous and that's not good for me. That damn Hector! I don't know if he is suicidal or what.

“Are you sure he's going there now? Did you ask?”

I was stunned by what Ulysses said. I want to say I'm really sure that he's on his way to that place but I didn't confirm it yet to his assistant if he's really going to the office. But my gut feeling is telling me that Hector is going there!

"I'm not sure, Ulysses. He said that he was just going to take care of something at the office. That was his goodbye to me," I hesitantly answered him.

It took a long time to answer. After a while, I heard its rush on the other line.

"Confirm it first to his assistant Hans. I have something important to call. I'll call you later again," he said goodbye to me and quickly hung up.

I stared at my cell phone for a moment when the call died. I decided to go downstairs to ask something to Leon because he and Vera are now with us at home while dialing Hans' number. I dialed several times until I got off but it didn't answer. I can feel the panic in my heart.

I saw Leon in the living room so I immediately approached him. He frowned at me when he saw me.

"What's happening?"

"Where's Vera?" I immediately asked him and tried to call Hans again.

"I left with Apollo a while ago. Why? What's happening?"

My heart slowed down when I heard that. The trepidation I felt doubled. I couldn't stop my hand from shaking because I was so worried that something might happen to them, especially Hector. Are they going to the same place where the operation will be taken?

"Where are you going?" I asked him again. "Fuck it!" I hissed when Hans didn't answer my call again.

"Whoa, easy! Do I need to know where—”

"Come on, Leon. You're not helping me," I told him submissively and stood up from the sofa where he was.

I was about to go back to my room to change my clothes when he said something again. "And where do you think you're going?" He asked me authoritatively so I just asked him.

"Not today, Leon, please. You take care of—”

"You're not going anywhere, Ana. Apollo's order is to never let you leave this house," he told me so firmly that I quickly turned to him.

"What? No way.”

"Keep yourself out of danger, Ana. Stop worrying about Apollo. He can handle himself. Worry about yourself and your daughter. It's like you don't have a child if you make a decision," he threatened me.

Only then did I realize what he said. He knows something. I knew it. They are going to the same place and didn't even tell me. What the hell!

"So, you knew," I told him and focused my gaze on him. His expression hardened while still looking straight at me. I just saw it like this. I don't even know what he's up to.

"Just stay here and rest. I won't let you out—”

"And do you expect me to obey you?"

"Yes, Anastasia. You need to listen to us. What you're thinking is very dangerous for you. How many times have you perished because of your decisions that you didn't think about and we actually let you do that? But now that we're finally able to stop you, do you think we will let you do that again? Let them do what those criminals deserve!” It screamed at me so I almost jumped in shock.

I just stared at him. It looked at me more and more and seemed to be measuring me. It didn't seem like it was going to give up, so I couldn't do anything other than sigh violently and rush to the top. With my heavy heart and frustrated mind.

I went straight to Amari's room instead of ours. I found him there quietly doing his homework so I just watched him. My heart is still beating faster and it was so heavy. With so much weight, I'm also chasing my breathing. I know this feeling. I am very familiar with this feeling already and I don't like it. This is the feeling I felt when Ares and some goons were chasing me to death. I remember that day. My heart was full of fear that I might die that day which I don't want to happen. I thought I was strong. I thought I could deal with the people who hurt and ruined my life but I realized that I can't. That's why I ran away that day. I ran away as fast as I could.

I ran even though I knew I couldn't make it... and Ares shot me. I don't know how many times but I do know that he wants to kill me at that moment. To this day I don't understand why.

I don't want Hector or anyone in my family to feel that. It was so scary and disturbing. It was so heavy. I know that I can forgive as long as I can but when something bad happens to him and my family, I also know that I can't forgive again.

Later that day, I still haven't received any news from them. At least one of them belonged to Ulysses so I went to Leon again. It was still there in the living room.

"Leon..." I called him but he just shook his head.

"Let's just wait for the news to come up. I'm sure it will be reported on TV right away," he immediately contradicted me but I didn't bother to listen to that anymore.

I sighed tiredly. "Can you go with me... to the cemetery," I hesitantly told him? He quickly looked at me.

"Please, I just want to talk to someone," I begged him.

It took a long time to answer. After a while, he stood up and called someone. But after a few minutes, it came back to me. My chest heaved when I saw his shocked expression.

“It's Apollo...”

I could feel the anxiety and pain slowly engulfing me as we crossed the road to the hospital. I didn't listen properly to what Leon said and the only thing that stuck in my mind was when he said where it was—he was rushed to the hospital!

I immediately looked at the nurse's counter. “M-miss, Hector Aragon...”

That's all I said because I couldn't understand what was happening around me. He seemed to understand what I said. He looked at his monitor for a moment before turning to me.

"Still in the emergency room, Ma'am."

I frowned. "Huh? I thought he was—”

"Ana, I found them!" I heard Leon scream so I looked at him quickly.

I didn't waste any more time. I immediately followed him as he led me to the emergency room. I can still feel my surprise because I know that his condition is critical. Why is he still in the ER?

My mind became even more confused when we reached a room that was only blocked by curtains. I tried asking Leon what we were doing here but he suddenly stopped and Hector was exposed to us as soon as he opened the curtain. I immediately looked around his whole body. The nurse is currently bandaging his arm. I looked for his other wounds or injuries but I couldn't find anything.

"Solei, what are you doing here?" He asked me in surprise when he saw me.

"Huh?" I uttered. The nervousness I felt suddenly disappeared. Especially when he suddenly stood up and approached me.

“Damn it. I told you to stay home—”

"Your condition is not critical?" I asked him.

He frowned and guided me to sit down. "What? What are you talking about?”

Before I could answer that, Vera and Anton suddenly appeared laughing so I was even more confused about what was happening. When I looked at Leon, he was just grinning. What the hell is happening?

"He's been insane ever since. What do you expect?” I heard Anton say before he looked at me.

"Ana, you're here?" This is a question for me.

"Let me guess, you rushed here thinking Apollo is in critical condition, right?" Vera mocks me and laughs more.

I feel the heat of my whole face.

"Is that true?" Hector asked me so I was embarrassed.

"Leon said you are so critical..." I stopped and turned to Leon when I heard him laughing.

“Stupid!” I shouted at him and quickly stood up then punched him in the arm when I realized that he did it to me.

"Whoa! Anastacia cursed! People here have gotten insane because of what happened, huh," Vera teased me so I frowned even more.

“I didn't know she'd fall for it that easily though. I was just trying to scare her. He didn't let me finish speaking and sent it here right away," Leon said laughing so I hit him again.

"It's not funny," I said and sat down again then turned to Hector. "Are you sure you're really fine? What happened? You said you'd go to your office to settle some things."

"Obviously, he lied. He pursued his father alone. He exhausted all the personnel with him and brought Damien Aragon to the station himself. Crazy, right?” Anton said so my eyes widened and I turned to look at him.

"Are you serious?" I asked him in shock.

Hector chuckled and just shrugged his shoulders. "They are a bit slower, so I have to move fast. I'm running out of patience. I want to leave this country without worrying about anything else," he answered me so simply that I gasped.

"But how did you do that on your own?"

"Ana, your husband is a skilled assassin. That's why we were trying to tell you to stop worrying about him because he can handle himself. You're just naughty. Even your half-brother Matthew, whom their group is proud of, was only scolded by that man," Leon declared.

I didn't know what to say especially when I heard what he said about Kuya Matthew. So, he's also dead? And the only ones left together now are Mama and Agatha...

I felt Hector's gentle hold on me so I looked up at him. It's smiling and doesn't seem to worry about anything anymore. I didn't know what to say so I kept looking at him.

"So, we're really destined, huh? You know how to head-shot people and I can slay them in silence. I wonder what our Amari would be like when she grows up. I'm kinda thrilled to know," he said and grinned.

I couldn't stop being tormented and shaking because of what he said. "You're really crazy," I said in surrender and walked out. I even heard them laughing at the same time.