0013

Xavier, Fred and Niel got home later that day, with mixed reaction of anger, pain and defeat written on their face —it's obvious that the couldn't hide their emotions as it hit deeper than anyone would think.

The type of humiliation they had face earlier, none of them had face it before. Xavier felt he was mostly humiliated, coupled with the fact he was the one doing the talking and his son had his back turned on him.

"What's wrong, dad...?" Ella, Lisa's youngest cousin, asked Fred immediately they walked in. She had wanted to ignore them and continue with the phone she was busy with but with their long faces, she couldn't help but interfere.

The house belongs to Fred, being the only considerate one amongst the three greedy brothers, he bought a duplex to call his unlike the rest of the two who only squander theirs without thinking twice about it.

Xavier, on the flip side, lived with son, Andy but since he's angry with his son, he decided to go with Fred and Neil being the youngest amongst the three followed suit —since his house is quite faraway, he would crash the night at Fred's house.

"You wouldn't believe what just happened, Ella." Fred replied, his voice laced with frustration and his face as well. "We've been fired by our own niece, that's what happened!"

Ella's creased her brows, unable to understand what her father was trying to insinuate. "What do you mean, you were fired by your niece?" She asked, clearly confused. "Do you now work for Stephanie?"

"Does Stephanie has a company of her own?" Xavier hissed out, finding no sense in Ella's words. "Even if she does own one, why should we work for her? Not even Andy can work under his sister." Stephanie is Andy's immediate younger sister and his only sibling.

"You're missing the point, uncle Xavier." Ella said, trying to make Xavier understand. "I'm not saying that you should work for Stephanie, I'm just trying to understand what you mean by 'you were fired by your niece'. The only niece I could think of is Lisa but she died three years ago?"

"Exactly my point, Ella!" Xavier blurted out, his anger reflecting even more in his voice, refraining himself from slapping her hand on her face. "Did you not say you had her taken care of by your boyfriend?"

"Yes, Max told me he did as I ordered him and I know he can't lie to me!" Ella remarked. Whatever her uncles and her father was trying to say surely makes no sense. Lisa is dead, Max killed her!

"Sorry to burst your bubble, Ellie. Lisa isn't dead, she's well and strong." Neil countered, flaunting his phone to her face —it's a picture of Lisa he heard secretly took during the meeting.

Ella stared at the photo in shock, unable to believe what she was seeing but then again, realization hit her hard. Max said he drowned her in her car after drugging her but her corpse was never found till date but no one raised an eyebrow over it —sea animals might had taken care of her remains, that was their thought.

"I'm still finding this hard to process everything I just heard." Ella remarked in a stressed tone. "I'm more than speechless at this moment."

"If she wasn't dead since all this while, why didn't she show up?" Neil thought out aloud, literally saying everyone's mind. "Why did she decide to sneak up on us now like a ghost?"

"I don't know what's going on but I have a theory." Fred said, finally finding his voice. "What if the Lisa we saw isn't the same Lisa we know? What if it's someone else who looks exactly like her? It could be a case of mistaken identity."

"That's a wild theory, dad." Ella replied, her expression skeptical. "Lisa is pretty unique, I don't think there's anyone else out there who looks exactly like her. Besides, she was a social media influencer before her death. Surely, someone would have recognized her and said something."

"I know it sounds far-fetched but I'm just trying to think of every possibility." Fred continued. "What if she was hiding out in some remote location, where no one would recognize her? It's possible that she might have used a different name or identity to stay hidden."

"But why would she do that?" Ella asked, still not convinced. The Lisa they all know wouldn't abandon her luxury life and stay hidden. "What's her motivation for staying hidden for so long, and then suddenly coming back to take over the company? It doesn't make sense."

"I agree that it doesn't make sense." Xavier chimed in, with a slight head nod. "She did not just come back to take over but she made a big fool out of us by buying the whole of Dela Cruz off our grip."

"And now she decide to fire us off our position without blinking an eye." Fred added, exhaling out sharply. "This is the height of the humiliation I've ever been through all my life."

"There's no way Lisa would dare fire you, she can't go that. You are her uncles for Pete's sake!" Ella enunciated, anger reflecting in her voice. "She just can't...!"

"Apparently, she can." Xavier interjected, his voice bitter. "She's the new owner of the Dela Cruz groups, so she can do whatever she wants with it."

"But what's her endgame?" Ella asked, still trying to wrap her head around the situation. "Why would she buy the companies just to fire you? There has to be more to this than we know."

"Maybe she wants revenge...?" Fred suggested, his expression grim. "We did make her life a little difficult after her parents death and she may have decided to get back at us now that she's older and has the means to do so."

"That's a pretty sinister theory." Ella said, her voice trembling. "Do you really think Lisa is capable of that? To me, it's not enough reason to behave this way!"

"What if she knows more than we think she do?" Neil, should had been silent for a while, blurted out, his brows creased. "You know she is quite good at keeping things to herself."

"You're right." Fred agreed, considering Neil's point. "We may not know everything that happened to her in the years that we were apart. She may have experienced things that we can't even imagine, and it may have shaped her into the person she is today."

"But that still doesn't explain why she would do this to us." Ella insisted, still not convinced. "I mean, even if she had gone through a lot, why would she want to hurt the people who raised her?"

"Maybe it's not about revenge, maybe it's about power." Neil suggested, looking thoughtful. "If not, what if someone is backing her up to go against us?"

The three of them immediately directed their gaze on Xavier, each of their foreheads were creased with lines on them. Xavier was confused, unable to understand why they were giving him that kind of look.

"Is there something on my face?" He asked skeptically as he reached out for his face but nothing was on it. "—you guys should quit staring at me that way, it's creeping me out!"

"Isn't Andy the creepy one here?" Fred blurted out, a deep frown settling on his face.

"Uh —what...?" Xavier countered, his left brow raised. "Wait, don't tell me you are suspecting Andy to be the one instigating Lisa against us?"

"Who else, if not him...?"