26:
1577 Words
"Marky, call your sister, will you? It's been weeks since we've heard from her. Ever since she got married, we haven’t received a single text message from her. Has she reached out to you?" Theresa Albert, Veronica's mother, asked with worry in her voice.
Marky immediately frowned at the mention of his sister's name. Sometimes he couldn’t help but think that when it came to Angelo, Veronica could easily forget about them.
He shook his head. "No, Mom. I haven't heard anything from Veron. I don't know what's up with that woman. How hard is it to send a single text message or make a one-minute call?" he said, clearly annoyed.
Eduard, the head of the household, chuckled at their conversation. He put an arm around his wife and son, pulling them into a tight embrace. "You two, stop being so dramatic. Veronica is newly married, and I'm sure she's enjoying her married life. They might still be on their honeymoon for all we know. I’m sure she hasn’t forgotten about us. She'll call when she gets the chance."
Theresa sighed deeply. "I don't know, Eduard. But I have a bad feeling about this. Your daughter isn’t like this. No matter how busy she gets, she always finds time to update us. But it’s been weeks..."
In truth, Veronica's father was worried too. They knew her well; she would update them no matter what. But now, there had been nothing—no word at all. What could be happening to his daughter? However, he didn’t want to show his concern to Theresa and Marky.
"Let’s not think negatively. I'm sure Veronica is just caught up in her married life. Look, we haven't heard from Angelo either. They're probably on vacation," he said, trying to reassure them.
When Marky heard the name of his brother-in-law, his face soured. He couldn't understand what his sister saw in that man, why she chose to marry him. Angelo never made any effort to get close to their family. Marky always felt that Angelo was disgusted by them, as if they were carrying some contagious virus that he wanted to avoid. The entire Fuentebella family seemed that way too.
He couldn't say it was because they were poor. They weren’t rich, but they were far from being poor. They owned their own house and land, had a car, a small business, and even enjoyed luxury vacations. They could buy what they wanted. They all had savings and insurance. They could eat at expensive restaurants and hotels. If they wanted, they could eat five times a day. They weren’t struggling in life.
Everyone in their family had jobs. They had all graduated from reputable universities and were degree holders, even his parents. So, he couldn’t understand why he felt this way. Whenever he saw the Fuentebella family, he felt like they looked down on them, like they were being judged. He had a strong suspicion that they were snobbish.
In fact, their own livelihood was probably better than the Fuentebella's. If they were to add up all their earnings, savings, and assets, they could definitely say they were doing well. He remembered when Veronica and Angelo first met; the Fuentebella family was crammed into a small room because they couldn't afford to rent a proper apartment. He knew his naive sister had helped Angelo get a decent job, and over time, their lives had improved.
He wasn't sure if he was the only one who felt this way or if his family did too. He didn’t want to bring it up because their mother could be dramatic.
"She just got distracted? Even so, she should have thought about how worried we are as her family," Marky said with a hint of irritation in his voice.
"Why don't you try calling Michelle? She might know something," his mother suggested.
Michelle was Veronica's former classmate and only best friend. Marky's cheeks flushed as he remembered her. He had a secret crush on her, even though she was a bit strange. "I-I don't want to call that girl, Mom. You do it," he stammered.
His father laughed at his response. "You do it. Your mom's asking you."
Marky scratched his head, realizing he had no choice. He grabbed his phone, his fingers trembling as he dialed Michelle's number. The last time he saw her was at Veronica's wedding.
After just a few rings, she answered the call. His heart pounded in his chest, but he had to suppress his excitement because he didn't want Michelle to sense it.
"Hello?" came her voice from the other end of the line.
His father gestured for him to put the call on speaker so they could all hear what Michelle had to say.
He cleared his throat before speaking. "Michelle, it's Marky. Mom's here with me. We wanted to ask you something important, if you're not busy."
It seemed like Michelle was in her right mind and had no intention of acting weird. "Oh, perfect timing. I actually have something important to ask too, but you go first. What is it?"
He glanced at his parents before answering. "Has there been any instance where my sister contacted you? We're really worried about her. The last news we had was from her wedding. After that, we have no idea what's been happening with her. She hasn't been updating us. We've tried texting and calling her, but her phone is turned off. We were hoping you might have spoken to her," he explained.
They all heard a gasp from the other end of the line, as Michelle seemed surprised by his question. "Oh my God! Really? You know what, Marky, I was actually about to call you or Auntie about her. I’ve been trying to reach her phone too, but it seems to be off. I’m really worried. I know Veronica, no matter what happens, she always updates me about her honeymoon. So, you guys haven’t heard from her either?"
He exchanged worried glances with his parents. The fear and anxiety in their eyes mirrored his own thoughts. "We haven’t heard anything. We're extremely worried. Who knows what could have happened to her," he said with growing concern.
"It's impossible for Veronica to forget to update you! I know my best friend! Now, I’m sure something bad has happened to her. Have you tried asking Angelo?" Michelle asked, her worry evident in her voice.
He shook his head, even though she couldn’t see him. "No. We haven't talked to him yet."
"Look, Marky, I know you don’t like Angelo. Neither do I. But we need to talk to him. He was the last person with Veronica, so I’m sure he knows where his wife is. Or maybe they’ve just been busy with their honeymoon. Maybe we’re overreacting. But we need to talk to Angelo first," she suggested.
He couldn’t help but smile. "Who would've thought you actually make sense sometimes," he teased her.
He could sense the widening of the woman's eyes on the other end of the line. "Heh! How dare you! Of course, I make sense! You’re the one who’s senseless, Marky!" she yelled, clearly annoyed.
His father chuckled, while his mother shot him a warning look, as if telling him to stop teasing Michelle.
“You’re always so quick to get annoyed.”
“Stop teasing me, Marky. But maybe it’s better if I come over there now. Let your parents know. Then we can go to the Fuentebella house. I have a strong feeling they know something. If we just call Angelo, we can't be sure if he’s telling the truth. It’s better if we talk to them in person. That way, if anything happens, we can go straight to the police station to report it. I don’t want to overreact, but I have a really bad feeling about this. Veronica isn’t like this,” Michelle explained at length.
He agreed with everything she said. “You’re right. I’ve never trusted Angelo, not even once, and his snobby family. Okay, we’ll get ready and wait for you here. Hurry up though, you’re always so slow,”
Michelle shrieked in frustration. “Argh, I hate you so much, Marky! I’ll be there in less than two hours.”
She hung up the call. He looked at his parents, who both had worry written all over their faces. “You heard her. Let’s get ready.”
Theresa clung to her husband’s arm. “Albert, I’m scared. It feels like something bad is going to happen.”
Her father took a deep breath. “What is there to be afraid of? They’re not monsters that we need to fear them. So what if they’re rich? We’re just going there to ask where our daughter is. God is on our side, and He won’t let anything bad happen to Veronica. Come on, let’s get ready. We don’t want to keep Michelle waiting.”
They moved quickly and prepared. A few minutes later, Michelle was knocking at their door.
Everything happened so fast that before they knew it, they were already standing in front of the Fuentebella family’s house. They took a deep breath and got out of the car.
What they didn’t realize was that Maria and Eugene Fuentebella had already spotted them from afar, and the couple quickly approached them at the large gate.
“What are you doing at my mansion?” Maria asked, her eyebrow raised in suspicion.
- Writer
