Chapter 2 - The worried father

Chairman Ivan Alexis Kraishek is a multi-billionaire owner of a chain of hotels and restaurants all over the country. His family also owned a real estate business. His sole heir, Alex, is his son from his previous marriage from a nurse he had met in one of the many parties that he attended when he was young. At age 47, he looked younger than his age. He is tall, with green-grey eyes, perfectly formed nose and a well-toned body. Because of his outside appearance, many women are still attracted to him which made his wife, Margarita, very jealous. While he was quietly sleeping, his wife was watching him closely, then said to herself," What a fool! He does not even know that his beloved son is dead! One of these days, his body would be found floating on the ocean and he would certainly knelt down on his knees and cry! If you only had learned to love me, then I would have never even thought of hurting your only child but you never did and that is the result of your mistreatment on me!"

A knock was heard from the outside, and when Margarita opened the door, she saw the figure of a young woman of 18, her daughter from another man which only she and her husband knew of. "Good morning mom! Is daddy awake? I've been waiting for him downstairs but he did not come yet. I don't want to be late at school, so please wake him up for me, mom!" she pleaded. Allyson is a plain looking teenager, but she is a popular student at the university because of her brother who regularly picks her up whenever he is free from his work as the CEO of their company which was being headed by his father.

Ivan woke up from the banging on the door and immediately got up and went to the bathroom to take a shower. His wife saw him went to the bathroom so she told her daughter who was still waiting outside to wait for him to come down. "Tell the maids to prepare breakfast. Your dad is awake, so please go down and wait. I am coming too, okay?"

When the chairman finished taking a bath, his wife greeted him with a kiss on his cheeks but her husband frowned at her. Instead, he asked for his son whom he had not seen last night. "Did you see Alex? I called him last night but he never answered. I wonder if something bad had happened to him..."

Margarita furrowed her eyebrows and told him, "Why should you be worried about your son? You know that he has a habit of sleeping with different women every night, not out of love but out of lust? How many times did he bring a woman here in this house, don't you know? Maybe he is with one of his women, so don't worry. Besides, he is twenty-three years old and a grown-up, so don't treat him as a ten year old boy who needs your protection every time!"

The chairman glared at his wife when he heard her answers. He almost hit her with the phone he was holding but he restrained from doing so. "Alright, maybe my son have lots of affairs but he will marry soon. I have already arranged a marriage between him and my friend's daughter and I know that he will agree to it. When he's already married, he will change and will be a good husband to his wife." he muttered but his wife arched her brows and pouted her lips in disagreement.

At the dining table, the couple saw their daughter waiting for them. "Good morning daddy!" Allyson approached her father then kissed him on his forehead. She also did the same with her mother. The three of them sat together and start eating breakfast. The maid prepared for them fried eggs, toasted bread, honey, pancakes and a pitcher of freshly squeezed orange juice which was always requested by the chairman's wife, Margarita.

"By the way, Ally, did you happen to see Alex yesterday? I called him last night but he never replied. I wonder if you know where he is..." the chairman's eyes were on the young woman who stopped eating the pancake and answered to her father's query. "I'm sorry dad, but Alex did not come to my school yesterday. I also got worried when he did not come on the precise time...hmm...so I called mom and she was the one who fetch me from school. Why, dad, is he not home? Perhaps he is with his girlfriend, but I don't know who among them!"

Ivan knitted his brows and bit his lips. He does not want to ruin his mood very early in the morning talking to two women who have the same views regarding his favored child. "Never mind! I will call him again later. You better eat quickly Ally, I'm almost done!" the chairman only ate an egg sandwich and drank one glass of orange juice then stopped to check on his phone to see if his son had called him or not. He scowled again when he realized that Alex did not send him any messages regarding his whereabouts.

He got up from his seat after finishing gulping the orange juice and said to the young woman, "Let's go Ally! I have lots of work to do at my office. Your brother is missing so I have to know what happened to him!" the chairman did not wait for his daughter to answer. He rushed to the garage and went inside his expensive car.

"Bye, mom! Looks like dad is getting mad again just because of Alex! See you later, I love you!" Allyson kissed her mother goodbye and followed her father to the garage and went inside the car. The chairman immediately started the car after his daughter went in. Both were very quiet until the young woman reached her university. On the other hand, the chairman called his secretary to check if his son already came at the office. "I'm sorry chairman but the CEO did not come yet. Yesterday, he was also absent..." replied Ms. Carmen Solis, his secretary, a forty-year old woman who has been in the company for more than ten years.

"Okay, Ms. Solis, thank you for the information. Please call me back when he arrives, okay? I need to go to some place before going to my office." chairman Kraishek turned his wheels back and found his way to the nearest police station and report about his missing son. He was met by the head police officer and politely asked him about his problem. The chairman narrated the details of what had occurred in the past two days and asked the officers to investigate fully the matter and he even advised them not to divulge anything from the media. "Keep the investigation a secret, sir! I appreciate it if you and your men would call me as soon as you have news regarding my son. Good day, sir!"

After a brief visit at the police station, the chairman went to his office to work. The directors had just approve another plan of building a new condominium building located at the heart of Metropolitan City. The said building would be more than fifty floors and would have a big pool on the rooftop and also a spacious garden that would also be highlighted by different species of plants and flowers that the company would import from other countries around the world. Even Alex knew of this plan as he was one of the engineers who designed the plan and as the CEO, he approved of it after discussing it with his father.

Living alone at the Kraishek mansion, Margarita, at 47, felt bored and unhappy. Her sadness got its roots from the fact that her husband never loved her. She was used to being quiet and understanding but she had reached her limits. She realized that her stepson was her husband's weakness and getting rid of him is the only way for her to get her revenge on the chairman's ill treatment on her. She hired gunmen to kidnap her stepson and commanded them to kill him. Last night she received a call telling her that the young man was dead and she needed not to worry. The hired gunman told her that he stabbed the young man and he threw him on the ocean while the rain was pouring hard on them.

To ward off any suspicions regarding her involvement on the missing heir, she told the gunman never to contact her again. The money that she promised to give the leader of the gang was wired through the bank account that the person had provided her. She did not even think that the young man could have survived the incident but she quickly rejoiced on her victory. "Ha!ha!ha! Now that his son is gone, he had no choice but to name my daughter as his heiress! All he owns is ours now! If he only learned to love me then I would never ever had thought of killing his son! But it's too late! He is gone and he will never see him again, ever!"

Margarita kept on laughing alone while she looked at herself in the mirror. She never noticed that one of the housemaids was outside the door, listening to her as she speaks. Not to be caught by her mistress, she slowly tiptoed her way to the kitchen and quietly sat down on the chair. After calming her nerves, she took a glass and poured in it some water. "The chairman must know what she did to sir Alex but I have to be careful or else, she might even try to kill me!" she muttered to herself.

Margarita was so glad that she got rid of the chairman's son that she decided that she will go out shopping with her daughter in the afternoon. Spending money became a habit to the chairman's wife, She always feel better when she buys designer clothes, branded shoes and bags and sometimes she even had to go outside the country just to have the luxury items that she wants. Her daughter inherits her fondness of expensive things and so the news of going out shopping thrilled the young woman when her mother picked her up after school. On the other hand, chairman Kraishek got very busy the whole day with meeting up some of the directors of the company and also with communicating with the police officers regarding his missing son.

When he came home, he did not see his wife and daughter who were still on a shopping spree. He was met with one of the housemaids who told him that she wanted to talk to him regarding some private matter. The chairman was dumbfounded but he wanted to know the reason why, so he asked the maid to follow him to his study room and commanded her to close the door behind her.

"So, what do you want to talk about, Myra?" he asked her.

"Sir, I heard madam Margarita talking to herself this morning...she was laughing too! I overheard her saying that ...sir Alex is dead! She even said that you will never see him again!"

Chairman Kraishek almost fell down from his seat when he listened to the maid's confession regarding what she heard from his wife. He furrowed his brows and clenched his fist, then got up, looking very angry at the maid. "Are you sure that she was the one who is responsible for the death of my son? And is he really dead?"

"Sir...I...just told you what I've heard! Please don't tell madam what I have discussed with you! She might harm me too! I have kids sir! Oh, please sir!" Myra pleaded with the chairman. Ivan, in return assured her that he will not mention her name with his wife and he would not dare try to confront her regarding his son's supposed death.

"Thank you anyway, Myra! Be confident that no one would know what you have told me. Now, go, I'd like to be alone! Regarding Alex, I don't think he died already. There is no body found that was reported during the storm that happened last night so I am hoping that he is still alive. Again, thank you! Please lock the door behind you when you left and act as normal as possible and never divulge the secret to other helpers, do you understand? Keep the secret between you and me, okay?"

The housemaid nodded and went out of the study room, leaving the chairman contemplating on what his next move would be. "I must keep this a secret for a while. What a bit*ch! Does she think she could get away from kidnapping and murdering my son? I will make sure that she will rot in jail! Oh, I hate her so much! I will kill her if my son is truly dead!" the chairman muttered to himself. He was very mad but he restrained himself from strangling his wife to death when he saw her that evening. He glared at her and said, "Did you enjoy shopping with your daughter? You looked so happy today, I wonder why..."

His wife smiled at him but she got scared when she noticed his eyes, fuming with anger. "What's wrong Ivan? Why are you mad at me? Did I do something wrong?" she asked, afraid that the chairman might hit her.

The chairman lowered his eyes and replied, "No. I'm sorry for being mad at you for no reason. I'm going upstairs now, please do not disturb me." he went quietly upstairs to his room and locked the door. He chastised himself for his foolishness. "What a crazy thing I have done! She must not know that I am suspecting her for the disappearance of my son...and there I was - glaring at her! I should check myself from doing something incredulous or else I won't find my son. I know that he is still alive, but where? I hope that he will call me or send me a message, at least!"