I Do Series: Betrothed

Chapter 5

Andrea didn’t have any plan on where she should go. Her mind remained blank while she drove continuously despite the blurry images of the road, since her tears hadn’t dried up yet. She continued driving without any specific direction for more than three hours even though her mind remained blank until her car’s gas was emptied. When her car stopped in the middle of an unknown road, she did nothing but stare into the dark road while her parents’ conversation slowly played back in her mind. And as if someone pressed the switch on of her tears, it began pouring down like heavy rain.

Her chest slowly felt like numerous knives were piercing her chest while someone squished it like a lemon. She felt like someone was pulling her legs down to the deepest part of the ocean, and she felt like she was slowly losing air to breathe. As each second passed by, the more she felt like drowning.

“Why?” Andrea mumbled in between her sobs while she leaned her forehead in the steering wheel. “Why!” She screamed at the top of her lungs as she slammed her palms into the steering wheel out of utter frustration.

And while Andrea was busy trying to process everything in her mind, her phone began ringing a thousand times. The moment she drove off away from their manor, her phone started ringing, but she ignored it. Because she’s sure that it was just her father, or Tina, their family’s loyal house helper for the past twenty years. Her phone keeps on ringing until she eventually shuts down.

Andrea stayed still inside her car for the next hour until she decided to step out and walk to the unknown road, just like how she drives without any specific direction. Because Andrea knew that she might go crazy more than she already felt if she stayed longer in her car.

Meanwhile, Rupert Servante felt like he was sitting on a chair made of a thousand nails. He felt like he was standing on the edge of the clip while he dialed Andrea’s phone number for the hundredth time, but she never picked it up.

He stopped his car for a second to dial another phone number.

“How is it? Did you find her?” Rupert asked the person on the other line as soon as he picked up his call. “Okay, I understand.” He mumbled in complete disappointment before he ended the call.

He heaved a deep sigh as his grip on the steering wheel tightened.

“Andrea, where are you my princess,” he mumbled as he stared at his phone, waiting for his daughter to answer his call.

Rupert then decided to continue driving to search for his daughter while he continuously kept on calling her phone number. And, from time to time, he asked for updates from Rupert, his family’s driver, who was also on the road searching for his daughter. While on the other hand, he ordered Tina, his family’s house helper, to try reaching out to her daughter’s secretary to ask for assistance in reaching out to her daughter’s close friends. But, despite their efforts, none of Andrea’s friends knows where she is. No one knows where she is, and that scares him the most.

All these years, Andrea did nothing but be a good daughter. But, what did they do to her? They hurt her with the truth he wished to keep hidden until the last day of his breath. He knew that his daughter deserved to know the truth, but he didn’t want to hurt her. Especially when Andrea’s mother disappeared and never showed any signs of wanting to see Andrea.

While everyone in the Servante’s manor is on edge, crazily worried, and busy looking for her. Andrea just keeps on walking aimlessly with just her spare phone in her hand and the key to her car. The way she looks at the moment screams that she ran away from home; there’s no mistake in that, because that’s the truth. And, she didn’t care anymore about what many people said, or if they laughed at her when they saw her in her navy blue-colored silk pajamas, indoor shoes, messy hair, and her puffy eyes.

All these years, she did everything she could just to get her mother’s affection. She did everything her mother wanted her to do; she always did her best to please her mother. But, it turned out that her whole identity was a big lie. Her life is nothing but a lie.

After walking for almost a few minutes, Andrea decided to go to the first convenience store she saw. She immediately went and searched for the alcoholic beverages she could afford with the money she had in her car from the changes she got from toll fees and gasoline stations. And, after paying for a few bottles of margarita and corn chips, she returned to her car since she didn’t have any more change left in her hand to rent a room, even in an inn. She doesn’t drink, and she has a low alcohol tolerance, but in her current condition, she’s in the mood to drown herself away in alcohol to see if she could escape reality for a short period of time.

THE NEXT DAY, almost everyone in Servante’s manor is looking like a zombie for staying all night, except for Therese, who doesn’t show any sign of distress. While Rupert was on the verge of contacting the police to report a missing person.

While on the other hand, Andrea woke up with the blinking sunrays kissing her skin, together with the loud noise of her ringing phone. She lazily sits up properly while she massages her neck, which hurts just like her head. And knowing that neither her parents nor someone from their house knows the number of her spare phone, she immediately picks up her phone without reading the caller’s name.

“Hello?” she answered groggily.

“Where are you?” the man on the other line asked her.

Andrea’s tired soul immediately awakens after hearing the voice of the caller.

“Alexander,” she mumbled.

“Where are you?” He asked again.

“I don’t know,” she answered honestly while she fixed her hair.

“Huh?!” Alexander exclaimed on the other line, while Andrea immediately frowned at the sudden rise of his voice.

“I really don’t know,” Andrea repeated as she remembered the reason why she was in that state and why her head hurt as if someone was trying to break it open.

“I just drove without any specific direction in the middle of the night last night,” she added while massaging her aching head. “And now, my gas is emptied.”

“Send me your location,” Alexander said after he sensed that there was something wrong and different with Andrea.

He admits that they rarely talk to each other, but he’s more than a hundred percent sure that there’s something wrong with her. And, he can strongly sense it in her voice.

“I’ll pick you up,” he added.

“Okay.” Andrea replied without any second thought.

And just like their usual conversations, their conversation ends without even greeting each other a good morning.

While waiting for Alexander, Andrea tried to collect herself and fix her thoughts. Fragments of memories from the past night came rushing back into her mind like a high-definition movie clip. And, just like last night, the pain she felt struck her like lightning. The alcohol didn’t help her at all, she just fell asleep, and that’s it. But, when she woke up, the pain was still there together with her terrible hangover. Again, she felt like shouting all of her frustrations and pain until he lost her voice or until her throat bled.

She doesn’t know anymore if she should go back and act as if she didn’t learn the truth about her true birth mother. Or if she should just disappear since she’s not a true-blooded Servante. Because she was just a child of a mistress. Andrea felt like sh*t after she recalled everything; she felt like she could smash everything she could with the anger she was feeling at the moment.

“F*ck this life.” she cursed. “What a f**king joke is this? Huh!” she continued after she saw the text message that popped up in the notification on her phone.

“D*mn! What kind of life is this? F*ck this s**ty life. . . What are you going to do now, Andrea?” she cursed and asked herself as she brushed her fingers in her hair before she gently slapped her forehead.