CHAPTER II: Fifteen Years Later

Fifteen years later…

“Ambroise enterprise had recently overpassed their greatest competitor in revenue, which makes—“

Before the newscaster continued, Alise had shut the television off. Every time she heard the word “Ambroise,” it didn’t sound good in her ears, or it was because she had to keep hiding the truth.

An ordinary-looking girl who is the daughter of the richest and probably the most influential man on earth. Though she liked her simple life. At some point, she didn’t care about her parents. But there were times she would get jealous of other kids.

Wealth and Alise. She agreed that they didn’t get along with each other. Her life, as of now, was perfect. Simple and free. Well, this is how she had been living for the past fifteen years. Her first memory of her five-year-old self was waking up on the hospital bed.

Alise White or her real last name, Alise Ambroise. White is her grandmother’s last name, which Alise decided to take even though it was not official. She had a reason to hate her actual last name.

Not once did her parents see her. When she woke up confused on the hospital bed, hoping and wishing for her mother or father to see her. None came.

After fifteen years, not once did they greet her. It was as if she was thrown away or forgotten by them, but either way. It didn’t matter to her anymore.

Alise knew she was the daughter of the Ambroise family because her grandmother kept telling stories about her parents. Her grandmother wanted Alise to know that her parents didn’t abandon her. They were just trying to protect their one and only daughter. But no one ever mentioned to Alise about that day. Her forgotten past.

“Ali, don’t forget to bring your lunch box to school,” reminded her grandmother.

“I will!” Responded Alise, though deep down she didn’t want to attend school. But where else can she stay? There wasn’t any place for her to stay besides school and home. Thus, deciding to hold on a few more months before graduating from high school.

Alise hates to admit it. She was a lone wolf. She didn’t have a single friend, which she blamed herself. It was because of her cold looks. She had black layered hair that reached her shoulders, curtain bangs, and light brown eyes. But that shouldn’t be an excuse.

Was she a victim of bully? Fortunately, she wasn’t since she knew how to stand up for herself so the girls in her school wouldn’t touch her.

Alise was about to leave the house when the doorbell rang. She was about to open the door. However her grandmother stopped her.

“Alise, don’t open the door,” Her grandmother stood up from her chair. “Go to your room.”

Alise didn’t question her grandmother, who looked unusually concerned. Strange. Alise did what she was told. But being a curious cat, she left a small hole in her door. Enough for her to see the people who entered the living room.

Grandmother looked afraid. Her fingers wouldn’t stop fidgeting, but she kept a calm expression.

“Grace! It’s been a while,” spoke a man.

“What do you want from me?” Asked her grandmother, sitting on the opposite side of the sofa.

The man sat silently, looking around the house. His gaze landed on the door of Alise’s room.

“Or you mean from us?” Questioned the man, which made her grandmother furrow her brows. The man turned his eyes back at her grandmother and grinned. “Did you think you could keep hiding?”

“Hiding? Hiding what?” Her grandmother confidently asked while the man pulled a gun out and admired it with a playful look on his face.

Alise’s eyes grew wide, wanting to step out of her room. But she wasn’t allowed. Her grandmother told her numerous times to never leave her room if she was asked to get into her room. It’s as if her grandmother had been preparing for this time. But at what cost?

“The daughter. Hand her to me,” the man ordered, which grandmother laughed away.

“Give her? I will never hand her to you. You already know what will happen if you try getting her. The Ambroise family will never back down. They will haunt your whole family. Even your children. No mercy. They will shoot them down, and not a single blood of yours will be kept in this world.”

“Is that a threat?” The man asked as he laughed out loud. “Unfortunately, I do not have any loved ones. I don’t have a wife or have children. So the Ambroise family can haunt me all they want. So hand over the daughter.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m supposed to be asking you that question,” stepped in a young man who had his gun pressed on the back of the head of the guy.

“You’ve arrived, Joshua,” her grandmother smiled at the young man, who nodded.

“We apologize for being late.”

We? Alise questioned herself and saw two other guys entering the living room. How did the guy named Joshua enter the house without any presence?

“Lower your weapon,” Joshua ordered the man who followed him.

“You think that’s it?” The man questioned them as Alise and his met.

Alise eyes grew wide, and she turned her back to see a stranger in her room. The man covered her mouth, preventing her from calling for help. Alise didn’t back down to the man’s strength and elbowed him right in his stomach. This gave her a second to call for help, which she was able to do.

The door to her room was kicked with great force, that the screws almost fell off. One of the young-looking men threw a few punches towards the guy who released Alise.

“Wayne, is the lady alright?” asked Joshua.

“She’s alright for now.”

The man who just saved her, Wayne, walked to her side. “Lady, please shut your eyes for a second, and once it’s over, don’t look back.” His breath was touching her ears, which made her flustered. She had never been so close to a guy before that it made her heart beat so fast, unlike before.

Alise followed as instructed, not knowing what was going to happen. All she knew was Wayne was going to kill the man.

“This is not over,” laughed the man, pointing his gun towards her grandmother. Then, a loud bang was heard and followed another.

Her eyes turned wide, seeing red flowing from her grandmother’s head. Her legs fell weak, making her fall onto her knees.

No. No. No.

Alise stood back up and ran towards her grandmother, who was not responding. Alise looked terrified. She held her grandmother in her arms and cried out loud. She didn’t care who was around her.

She had just lost the most precious person in the world. The one person who took care of her for fifteen years. The only one who cared about her.

Alise glared at the three men who looked away from her gaze. They did not utter a single word. What made it worse. They didn’t seem to care at all.

“Lady, please get away from her. We must clean this place and bring you back to the headquarters.”

“Headquarters?” Alise screamed at them. Her chest tightened. It was a feeling she had felt before but couldn’t remember clearly. “My grandmother had just died. She is important in the family, yet you don’t even seem to care about it.”

It was a secret. There was a secret.

“Lady, we do not have enough time. Please go with us before their reinforcements arrive,” instructed Joshua, who offered his hand, but Alise slapped it away.

“How dare you all treat her that way!” Alise cried. “Call the ambulance. Someone call the ambulance.”

The three looked at Alise, not showing any emotions on their faces, but deep inside, they pitted her. Alise, who did not know anything. Alise does not know that the woman she calls grandmother is not her real grandmother.

“Joshua, we do not have time,” Wayne reminded Joshua, who walked towards Alise.

“I apologize in advance, lady. But I have no choice but to do this. Once you wake up, you’ll be in a safer place,” Joshua knocked Alise on the back of her neck, which made her lose consciousness. “Once you arrive in that place. Your life will change. Everything will change just like how it used to be.”