Chapt 5: A Memory and A Retaliation

A woman had been sitting in her work chair since early morning. She couldn't close her eyes last night. Many thoughts plagued her mind. She was still trying to find whoever had caused her to be separated from her parents, taking away her childhood that she was forced to live without parental love.

Abby could only sigh in resignation every time she remembered her life, which had turned into a nightmare since the arrival of the woman who claimed to be carrying her father's child. She still remembered the snippets of events at that time. She was 12 years old, happily awaiting the arrival of her younger sibling, who would enliven their home.

She was thrilled because she would have a playmate.

However, that happiness was instantly wiped out when the woman who claimed to be her father's illicit lover came with shocking news.

Her mother cried hysterically and hit her father in the chest as he tried to explain and calm her down. The sound of things falling and things breaking into pieces was the music of the day.

"I didn't expect you to betray our marriage!" the woman screamed, occasionally sobbing while holding her belly.

Abby's father did not give up on proving that the strange woman's words were not true. "I'm willing to do a DNA test if it makes you believe me."

Abigail believed her father. She was still too young, but she was sure of the man's words. Her father would never betray the love they had built over the years. She knew that because her father often told her how proud and happy he was to have Abby and her mother, especially since there was a baby in her mother's belly.

The forty-year-old man had enthusiastically decorated the nursery, bought all the trinkets, and brought them home as a surprise for his wife. And now, just because of a strange woman's words, everything was ruined.

"What are the consequences if the baby turns out to be yours?"

"Anything. You can even kill me if it will ease your anger."

Those words were not a hunch, but what happened next was far worse than that.

DNA tests proved the baby belonged to him. Abby's mother, who was in shock at the time, started crying hysterically, which turned into non-stop laughter.

"My husband is a liar... ha ha ha... My husband is a liar ..."

Little Abby watched from a distance as several men in white uniforms led her mother away. Her father held her so she wouldn't have to witness what was happening, but couldn't avoid the critical questions from her, who was only a teenage girl.

"Papa, where are they taking Mama?" Abby asked innocently.

The man looked at his daughter with a darkened look and tried to answer even though his voice sounded hoarse. He couldn't help the pain he felt at the moment, seeing his wife had become a different person.

"They will heal Mama, who is sick. Now you get some sleep; tomorrow, we'll visit her there." The teenage girl nodded and left her father alone.

Since that day, Abby's father spent time getting drunk and lamenting his drastically changed life. The happiness he had imagined was gone. He visited his wife at a psychiatric rehabilitation center several times, hoping for improvement in her condition, but the opposite was true.

The woman increasingly did not recognize him. She looked calm, but her gaze was blank, and she didn't respond to anyone. This condition made him even more discouraged.

Several times, Abby's father tried to end his life. Until one day, the woman who claimed to be pregnant with his child came back with a man.

There was a scuffle between Abby's father and the man. Abby didn't know what had caused it. Before her eyes, the man had knocked her father unconscious. All the strangers gave her father was a triumphant grin, then left—certainly not empty-handed.

Since then, Abby's father had only been able to lie helpless like a corpse.

Abby woke up from the daydream that had drifted into the past. Quickly, she grabbed a red blazer from the hanger and put it on as she hurriedly stepped out of her office. She had made an appointment with one of the detectives she paid to discuss her mission.

She did not tell the detective the details of her goal to find out the identity of her father's business rival. She would only tell them business-related reasons.

As the car pulled into the parking lot of L'Restaurante, a man sitting in the corner of the room near the large window was already visible from a distance. The man had given her advance notice that he would be in a place where it would be easier to monitor the surroundings.

It didn't matter to Abby because she had spent much money hiring that man. He should do things her way.

As Abby stepped into the restaurant, several pairs of eyes were immediately drawn to her. It was natural that many men admire her—long flowing black hair, a solid body, and charming facial proportions are her charms.

She flashed a faint smile while still stepping gracefully. She immediately sat opposite the man in the brown suit when she arrived at the table and ordered a cup of coffee for him.

"Sorry for making you wait so long." Abby placed her handbag beside her and adjusted her seat to make it more comfortable. "Let's get started, if you don't mind. You must have other interests."

"Ah, well, Miss Genovhia." The man looked nervous, taking out some data files he had.

"These are some things I got about the business rivals of the landowner, and... there's also your name as the buyer of the remaining assets he had since the fire."

"Oh, yes, that's right. I did buy it. It would be a shame if the land were not utilized. In contrast, rebuilding a company is not easy. Isn't that right?"

"That's right, miss. Is the shareholder your rival?" the man probed. Abby leaned her back.

"Hmm... how do I explain it, huh? So, my family owns shares in this gentleman's company, and when I wanted to take over the shares, that fateful incident happened. All the assets and everything were wiped out. I'm just looking to rebuild my family's business—in the right way, for sure." Abby sipped her coffee for a moment.

"I need to know how fierce that man's business rivals are so that I can make sure my company doesn't suffer the same fate. You know, right, the business world is fierce?" Abby stopped the sentence. Her index finger played with the rim of the cup on the table.

The man sitting across the table looked at her questioningly. But, he turned his head in the other direction, where several men still did not take their eyes off the elegant woman calmly sitting at the table and chatting with him, the almost middle-aged man.

"Those pairs of eyes have been watching you ever since," the man said and sipped his coffee—the last sip. Abby turned slightly to follow the man's direction, a smile playing at the corner of her lips.

She didn't care how many pairs of eyes were watching; she wasn't interested, anyway.

"Would you like some more coffee?" the man asked Abby, who shook her head.

"I've had enough, thanks. Gotta get back to the office after this. What about you?"

"Ah, I'm better just start the search. The day is still young, and I should make good use of it—you're paying me a lot for this."

"Good then." Abby took one last sip of her drink before getting up. "Henceforth, if there's any information or anything you need, you can call me directly. Excuse me."

Abby took pieces of paper from her bag and placed them on the table, nodded to the man, then turned around and left the restaurant.