Chapter 5: A gift from yours truly

ABIGAIL

Abigail sat alone at her table. Dressed in black, knee length gown and black heels, fit for a funeral. Except that she was the only one mourning, and it looked more like an outdoor business party than a funeral. The noisy chatter, laughter, clinking of drinks and smiles on people’s faces. 

Felicia Rivera was not the kindest woman. Not even to her own family. Perhaps it was because she had been the only one to receive her rare affection. But Abigail knew that Felicia loved her family. Even though it was tough love, and they failed to realize it. 

And now she was gone, buried beside her husband as she had always wanted. It would not have hurt so much if Felicia had died a natural death and not brutally snatched away. 

Abigail blinked away the tears, feeling like she had cried enough. It was not like her tears were going to bring Felicia back. 

She reached for the glass of champagne on the table, before finishing it in one go. There was nothing for her to do anymore, so it was time to leave. 

“Miss Rivera?” 

A middle aged man approached Abigail, dressed impeccably in a black suit. She recognized him as Mr. Ramirez, her grandmother’s lawyer. 

“Mr. Ramirez. How may I help you?” She asked, her face not betraying her curiosity. Why did he approach her? 

“Can I have a word with you?” Mr. Ramirez asked. 

Abigail tried to read him. She could not get anything but the small polite smile on his face. She nodded, gesturing for him to have a seat while she sat back down.

“How are you doing, Miss Rivera?” 

“I’m doing fine”, Abigail replied. A week had passed since the tragic event, and though she could not say she was feeling great, she was doing better than before. 

“That is good to hear”. 

“Is there a problem, Mr. Ramirez?”

“Oh no, there isn’t. Nothing you have to worry about”. 

Mr. Ramirez had never approached her. She had no business with the man. And if he was trying to talk to her after Felicia’s death, then it meant something.

Mr. Ramirez reached inside his suit and brought out a brown envelop, before stretching it towards Abigail. She eyed the envelope, not making a move to take it from him.

“Mrs. Rivera asked me to give you this after her funeral. It is a letter but she wants you to open it only after her will has been read”. 

Then why not give it to her after reading the will? Nevertheless, she took the envelope from him. She felt her heart clench. Even though she was wary about the content of the letter, the fact that Felicia wrote her something made her feel she had one last chance to communicate with her. Something that had been taken away.

“Thank you”, Abigail managed to say.

“It is okay. Take care of yourself, Miss Rivera”. 

And then he was gone. She looked at the envelope, but there was nothing on it that gave her a clue about the content of the letter. She was going to honor her wish and open it only after her will has been read. 

Abigail looked around again, letting out a deep sigh. She froze when her eyes landed on Caleb, and to her disdain, he looked back at her. He had been smiling, talking to a man she could barely recognize but he looked familiar. Once their eyes met, the smile on his face fell. 

Abigail averted her eyes, putting away the letter before getting up to leave. She had been avoiding Caleb. She had blocked his number, forbidden him from visiting her home and work place. But he had been persistent. It got worse after she publicly announced that she and Caleb had broken up without adding reasons why. She had refused to answer questions from her family, the media and any other person that asked. 

And now, she could hear him walking behind her, chasing her.

“Abigail please wait!” 

Abigail stopped. It seemed like he had not yet gotten the message. Maybe if she resorts to other methods, he would.

“Would I be going too far if I put a restraining order on you?”

“Come on, Abigail, don’t do that”, he pleaded.

“I will if you do not stop harassing me. Our engagement is over, you are free to fuck whoever you want, my cousin included. So why won’t you leave me alone?”

“People make mistakes, Abigail. This is not the moment to be like this. This is the time for us to stand together, you have nobody else”. 

Caleb kept reminding her of the fact that she was alone. As much as it was true, it did not have to come from his mouth.

“You ended our engagement without even asking me about it. How is that fair? You will be making a mistake by ending this, us”. 

“One of the worst decisions I ever made was to let you put a ring on my finger. Ending this, is me fixing that mistake”. 

The apologetic look on Caleb’s face slowly fell. 

How could she have been so blind? Was she really going to marry this man?

“Do you want to know the bitter truth, Abigail? You can never love anybody because you are selfish and only think about yourself. And nobody can ever truly love you. Do you really think that your dead old woman loved you? She only loved the value you could bring to her. Look at your family, none of them can tolerate your presence. You should be thankful that I even tolerated you and all of your baggage. You will regret letting go of me, Abigail. Just give it time. I will sit and watch quietly while your own family ruins you. And I will have the last laugh”. 

Caleb’s lips pulled into a wide victorious smile, as though he was already picturing her downfall. 

“Are you done? If there is more, then please say all you have to say before I get that restraining order”, she said, unbothered. 

As much as Abigail knew that she should not listen to Caleb’s words talk less of letting it get to her, she was still affected. Because she knew that they held some truth. She could never fall in love with anybody, and no man in their right mind would love her broken self. 

Caleb’s jaws ticked, glaring at her with a mix of frustration and anger. “Just you wait”, he promised, before storming off. 

Abigail sat at the patio of her bedroom, dressed in pajamas with her hair let down. Her laptop, which sat on the table looked nothing less than colorful shapes and dots as she was not focusing. She couldn’t, not with the envelope that she held in her hand. 

What did Felicia want to tell her?

She let out a sigh, rubbing her aching eyes. And then she looked outside, staring at the city lights and skyscrapers. Every night, she used to look at the city with the only thought of success. Working tirelessly to achieve her aim was what always kept her going. 

But now, she did not have the drive to do anything. Even after taking that much needed break that Karina gave her. 

Abigail’s phone rang, dragging her out of her thoughts. Her brows drew together as she stared at the unknown number on the screen. The only person who had been calling her with unknown numbers was Caleb, but she doubted he would still call her after what happened earlier that day.

But of recent, she had realize she could no longer predict him as he kept surprising her.

She stared at the phone, annoyed. Nevertheless, she answered.

“I used to think you were a smart man but now you keep proving to me how terribly wrong I was. Perhaps I should change my phone number so that you stop fucking calling me”, Abigail said, letting her aggravation show. 

“Please don’t do that, I just managed to get it”. 

Abigail froze at the unfamiliar voice. She removed the phone from her ear to take a look at it in confusion, before turning on the record button and placing it back.

“Who is this?” 

No person that she did not know had access to her private number. Her heart beat faster against her chest, at the thought that her phone number had become accessible to the public.

“The man you owe. I called to remind you about my compensation”. 

Alistair Alvarez

Her shoulders sagged and she let out a tired sigh, rubbing her temple. She had forgotten about him. 

“You forgot about it didn’t you? But I didn’t. In fact, it was all I could think of”. 

Abigail’s face scrunched up, as she felt a mixture of annoyance and concern. She was not the best judge of character, but something told her Alistair Alvarez was not a sane man. But there was something else she needed to be more concerned about. 

“How did you get my number?”

“That’s impertinent”. 

Impertinent!

If it was someone else, she would not waste time before going to the police to register a complaint against him for invading her privacy and stalking her. But with Alistair, it made things complicated because that would add another drama that she did not want in her life.

“I can sue you for this, and I will”. Abigail threatened. 

“You can try. A little advice from me, don’t waste your time”. 

Of course. The police would rather smile and offer him a cup of tea than put a pair of handcuffs on him. She clenched her jaws. 

“You want compensation right? Name your price”. 

Though she doubted he wanted money. Which only made her frustrated. Nothing in her life was going right at the moment. 

“I will tell you what it is when I’m ready. Before you hang up on me, I sent you a little gift. Good night”. 

The call ended before she could even speak. A shiver ran down her spine, once she realized that she just got herself a stalker. One that would be difficult to get rid of. 

Her phone beeped, and when she checked it, there was a message from the same number that just called her. There was an attachment that was tagged, ‘a lovely gift from yours truly’, with a wink emoji.

When she opened it, her eyes widened. There were a bunch of photos, of Caleb and Selena in compromising positions. The last one was a clear video of them making out on his couch. 

She looked at her phone in astonishment, unable to hide her shock. Abigail closed her mouth and gulped. 

“How… how did he get these?”

He was stalking Caleb. The same way he was stalking her. She looked around, searching for invisible bug cameras. Goosebumps rose on her skin at the thought of Alistair probably watching her. 

Fingers trembling, she dialed the number. Only to hear a robotic female voice telling her that the number she just called did not exist. 

Confused and bedazzled, her fingers flew over her phone as she quickly went to check the conversation she recorded. But when she played it, there was nothing but static noise.

Her phone slipped from her hand, dropping on the table. 

Report him to the police? She wanted to laugh at herself. There was no evidence that would point to him. Even the photos and video he sent, would not be traced back to him. 

Perhaps that was why he had a very clean reputation. Even rumors about him being more than he let on did not exist. And that made him a dangerous person in her eyes. 

Alistair knew Caleb was sleeping with her cousin. To think that he was still doing it and had the audacity to apologize and then play victim. 

Her mind went into disarray, as she thought of what he could possibly gain from sending those photos to her. She did not know him. Until the unfortunate accident, they had only exchanged a few words of greeting. 

Alistair Alvarez definitely wanted something from her. But she did not know what. It intrigued, scared and frustrated her at the same time.