Chapter 4 : Old Friend

Andrew kicked off the dining table angrily.  Makes everyone feel tense and no longer eager to enjoy breakfast anymore.  It's been two weeks but his man still hasn't found Alex's yet.

"Calm down yourself! Alex will be back. If you think too much, I'm afraid your illness will relapse."  said Stacy

 "Stacy is right. After all, that kid is used to living well and you've also blocked all of his financial access. How could he possibly last long out there without any money? Right, Stacy?" Granny Emma quipped.

 Stacy just rolled her eyes at her mother-in-law's words.

 "This is all your fault for not being able to educate Alex properly! How could he go against my orders!"

 Stacy threw the spoon on the plate.  He stood and looked at Andrew with emotion.

 "You keep blaming me! Do you think you're great at educating our kids? Huh! You've always forced your will on Alex and he's never resisted. But have you ever asked how he feels? You haven't even been a good father to him.  Just a selfish father who always pressures his son in the name of a business."

 Andrew stood up and looked back at Stacy angrily.  He clenched both hands.  Stacy's words were very sharp and pierced his heart, but he did not deny that what his wife said was true.  Andrew's face reddened with emotion.

"And you, Mom!" Stacy looked at her mother-in-law, "Don't always corner Alex. He's been trying to do what's best for this family by obeying his father's wishes. After all, Alex is way better than that bitch's daughter!"  he said, glancing at Clara.

 Now it was Clara's turn to hold back anger at her stepmother's words.  Even though she was born out of wedlock, Clara is not at all sincere if her mother is insulted with inappropriate words.  Granny took Clara's hand and looked at her. The girl close her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself.

 Andrew sat back down, ruffled his hair, and shouted angrily.  If Alex fails to marry Martha, it will be even more difficult for him to regain most of the company's profit shares.  On the other hand, Mr.  Mendel will no longer trust Andrew to hold the company's future projects.

 "If Alex refuses to marry Martha, then I won't bequeath any penny to him. I'll let this house and all my wealth for Clara."

 Alex's words took everyone by surprise, especially Stacy.

 "What?! You can't do that!"

 "Yes, I can!"

 "No! Alex is the only son in this family and you can't just throw him away!"

"I can do whatever I want. Clara is also my daughter after all. My blood flows from her, too."

 "But he was born out of wedlock! From the start, that bitch was deliberately trying to take advantage of his daughter's existence to drain our family wealth!"

 "That's enough!"  Now it was Clara's turn to speak.  Tears were running down her cheeks, "Stop calling my mom that!"

 "Why? You don't accept it?"

 "Stacy, that's enough. You're so ridiculous!"  Granny hugged Clara and led her out of the dining room.

 Andrew also chose to leave Stacy alone.  Ignoring Stacy's screams who kept calling him words of protest.

 Stacy walked over to Clara in her room.  She opened the door hard and gripped the girl's chin tightly.

 "You'd better never think about controlling Andrew's property! You and your mother are both serpent women who are thirsty for wealth. The difference is that you are luckier to live here than your mother.  You and your mother will not live in peace. Did you understand?!"

 Clara, who had understood her stepmother's character, chose to remain silent.  There wasn't a single tear on her cheek like she had at the dinner table.  Not even her eyes showed any fear.

 Stacy let go of her grip violently and left.  After Stacy left, Clara smiled.  She took out her cell phone and called someone.

 "Mom, I have good news for you."

 Clara didn't want to talk about it on the phone.  Afraid that someone would eavesdrop on the conversation.  All the maids here were subservient to Stacy and could potentially be spies.  She immediately went to her mother's house by car.

Luna greeted Clara with an impatient expression.  She pulled her daughter into the house and locked the door.

 "Relax, Mom. I just arrived and you forced me to tell you."

 "Don't waste time. Tell me what happened?"

 Clara recounted everything that had happened this morning including her father's words.  This made Luna very happy.  After a dozen years of waiting, finally, the opportunity he had been waiting for had come.

 Not wanting to waste an opportunity, Luna immediately contacted her boyfriend -Daniel Brown, one of the mafia leaders in Los Angeles- to help her find out where Alex is.  Daniel immediately mobilized his men to find Alex.  Luna had to make sure that her stepdaughter would never return to the house, or if necessary she would die.  Clara did not remain silent.  He told the last traces of Alex's whereabouts information that he got from Brandon to Daniel's men.

 Daniel's extensive network of men makes their search pay off quickly.  A homeless claims to know the man in the photo shown by Daniel's men, but his name is not Alex but Matthew.

 Daniel's men immediately called Luna to tell her about it.  To make sure that what they say is true, Luna decides to prove it herself and drives from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.

 A big building stood firmly in front of Luna.  In the latest report from Daniel's men, Alex works as a waiter at one of the casino premises in the building.

"Hi, Luna. It's that you?"  said a woman who was now behind her.

 When Luna turned around, she was very surprised and couldn't believe what she saw.

 "Cathrine?"

 "Yes, this is me!"  Cathrine looks very excited to meet her old friend.

 Luna decided to check it herself and she accidentally ran into Cathrine.

 Luna was very nervous because she was afraid that Cathrine would find out that she had a child with Andrew and that she was the one who told Jonas to instigate Andrew that night

Cathrine invites Luna for coffee, but Luna refuses for some reason. 

"Well, glad to meet you again. But, I have some business to do. So ... maybe next time. Once again, nice to meet you, Katy."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

Cathrine sensed that her old friend was hiding something. She entered a casino place and meets Matthew, telling him to be careful with any strangers.

After she heard what happened to Alex, Cathrine helped Alex change his identity. Although Cathrine wasn't sure that Luna knew about Alex, for the sake of her plan, she had to be vigilant. Being in the dark world for too long made Cathrine much smarter and not easily tricked.

When she returned to the mansion, Cathrine felt something strange.  Some of her home systems became problematic.  Makes her feel very annoyed.  She called the customer service of the technology company, but since business hours were over, they promised to come in the next day.

While Cathrine was taking a shower, suddenly all the lights in her house went out. She got out of the bathroom with the light from a candle. Suddenly someone hugged her body from behind.

 "Hey, honey. I miss your sense," said a man's voice and kissed Cathrine's hair.

 Cathrine was both shocked and in disbelief.  Now she knows who the man who caused the chaos in her house is.

 "Braga!"