“FAMILY VACATION”
"WOW, Daddy it's so beautiful here!"
That's what Callie said cheerfully then ran towards their family's private cottage.
"We can stay at the beach house, it's just that it's farther from the beach," Joaquin told her then picked up Callie who had tripped several times on the sand because of her running.
"It's okay here at least until tomorrow. Then the next day we'll stay at the beach house," Lara answered then headed towards their cottage.
"By the way, where is Nanny Loring?" Lara asked after she opened the cottage door.
"Already at home preparing food. Wait, where do you want to eat, baby? Here or there in the beach house?” Joaquin asked his daughter.
"Here," Callie replied.
Lara laughed at her daughter's reaction. "Oh, put your daughter down. She's a big girl so she shouldn't be carried around anymore," Lara said to Joaquin.
"Even if the day came that she gets married, she is still my princess," said Joaquin kissing his daughter.
Callie giggled at that and then willingly let her father down when spotted the nice bed inside the cottage.
"Mommy, I wish we had brought Papa Ompong and Grandpapa with us?" Callie said to her.
"Next time, baby, we will take them with us," Joaquin answered what his daughter said.
It was a happy day for Lara. It was late afternoon when they decided to bathe in the sea where the sun's rays no longer hurt their skin.
Besides Nanny Loring and the driver, they also brought two bodyguards. Joaquin is the one who wants it as protection for their family.
*****
"It's OK, boss," said the man to the person on the other line.
"Fix your work Cortez if you want to get the money I promised you. Remember you can't slip up and when that happens you won't admit anything because you don't know me," said one on the other line.
Cortez immediately let out a deep breath after his conversation with the man on the other line. That person is the middleman who ordered him to kill his boss's wife, Lara.
He is not a bad person. But he is desperate.
His daughter has heart disease and needs surgery. He had no money so he was forced to do something that is against his will.
He has been serving the Antonios for a long time. They treated him well as well as the salary. But he was shy to approach them for his child's treatment.
He recently saw the middleman he was talking to in front of Joaquin's house. That happened even before the family moved into the big house.
From the very beginning, he was really suspicious of the man. But in an unexpected situation, he caught up with him when he was buying something in a store. That's when he introduced himself as Boying. That was the middleman’s alias.
And since his daughter had been sick for a long time, he did not hesitate to accept Boying's offer in exchange for the promised one million pesos. And to convince him easily, he immediately gave him two hundred thousand pesos as his initial payment.
Joaquin and his father are rich. But he was sure that they would not give him such a large amount of money. So he decided to do the plan.
He knew if he did that he would rot in prison. But that is no longer important to him. Because the important thing for him is to save his child's life.
Whether he dies or goes to jail, the important thing is that his daughter's surgery will push through so that he has a chance to live longer.
Later that night he had to make the plan. And after that, he will run away. He had to get the money and then give it to his wife. Even before the police catch him or maybe kill him.
"Are you sure it’s okay Cortez? I feel really bad. This started yesterday. I'm just too ashamed to tell our boss that's why I was forced to come," Lucasan, his fellow security, asked him.
Cortez secretly felt happy that his companion asked him a favor. "Sure, no problem. Get some rest tonight so you’ll be fine tomorrow morning," he said patting his shoulder.
Lucasan nodded at what he said. "Thank you very much. Wait, Loring has already called us at the beach house, he said the food is ready," he said.
"All right, I'll follow," he said, kicking a small bottle of gas on the sand.
When his companion left, Cortez covered it with sand. Then, when he made sure no one would see it, he walked to the beach house to eat.
*****
Tired, Lara laid her body down on the soft bed when she made sure her daughter was sleeping soundly. Joaquin at that moment informed her that he was just going to the office of the beach resort for a while to get some files that he needed to check. He said that was part of the real reason why they went there for vacation. So he can see personally how the business is doing.
Drowsiness quickly pulled her into a deep sleep.
It wasn't the first time their daughter experienced a beach outing, but she really enjoyed it as if it was her first time.
Lara couldn't be sure what time it was when she woke up to the smoke of something burning. She was still trying to open her eyes to keep herself awake when she saw that a huge fire was engulfing half of their cottage.
*****
“SIR! Sir Joaquin!”
Joaquin raised his head from the paper he was reading with his eyebrows knitted.
"What is that?" he asked one of their staff at the resort who rushed to face him.
"Y-Your cottage is on fire, sir!" he announces to him.
After hearing that, he quickly ran out of the office to go to their cottage which is also far from where he came from.
When he arrived there, he immediately looked for his wife and daughter.
"Daddy!"
Joaquin immediately heard her daughter's small voice. When he saw them, he quickly approached and hugged them.
"Are you okay?" he asked as he hugged Lara and Callie again.
"W-We're okay," said Lara, who was clearly terrified because of the trembling in her voice.
"How did you get out?" Joaquin asked then took his family away from the burning hut.
That's when a fire truck arrived to put out the fire. It's a good thing the cottages are farther apart from each other. Because if not the fire will definitely spread easily.
"T-The people here at the resort helped us," Lara answered then hugged Callie who was still crying.
"I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left you. Please forgive me," he said, hugging the two tightly.
"It's not your fault. It's not your fault," said Lara, caressing his face, which was wet with her tears.
"Yeah, maybe. But I promised you that I would protect you, didn't I? Then this happened. If something bad happens to you, I will never be able to forgive myself," he said, holding back his emotions afterward.
"Daddy," it was Callie who wiped his tears.
That's when Joaquin hugged his daughter tightly again. Then he turned to Lara whom he kissed on the lips afterward.
"Let's move to the beach house, okay?" after a while when he calmed himself down that's what he said.
Lara nodded.
"Do you have any idea who could have done this?" Lara asked him.
Joaquin shook his head one after the other.
"Lara!" Nanny Loring's voice came from behind them.
“Nanny!” Callie shouted hugging the old woman.
"Are you hurt? My God, why did this happen? Who did this to you?” the old woman asked consecutively.
That's when Joaquin confronted his wife again. "Come with Nanny Loring. I will take care of it at the police station," he said.
His wife shook her head. "I’ll go with you," Lara insisted.
“Tsk. Go ahead, listen to me. I will be more reassured if you go home to the beach house with our daughter. Listen, just in case we cannot die together. That can't happen because Callie needs a parent to guide her as she grows up," he explained to Lara.
*****
"Don't say that! Nothing bad will happen to you!” Lara said nervously after hearing what Joaquin said and asked her.
That's when her husband kissed her on the forehead. "Nothing bad will happen to me. But you have to think that someone hates me for doing this. He wanted to hurt me so he did this. So just in case, I want you and Callie to be safe. okay? Now listen to me and go with Nanny Loring," Joaquin's tone of the speech has finality.
Lara just nodded after her husband said that. And just as he said, she went with Nanny Loring to the beach house.
*****
"Joaquin will call you, Lara. Don't worry about him," Nanny Loring advised her when she caught up with her in the living room and was still waiting for her husband to come home.
"Who could have done this and what did my husband do to him?" is the big question that has been playing in Lara's mind for a while.
She was in that order when suddenly her phone rang. She immediately picked it up thinking it was Joaquin. But she just sighed when she saw that it was Ramil who was calling.
"Hello?" she answered the caller.
"Lara? How are you? Are you okay?" Ramil asked while the tone of his speech showed deep concern.
Lara's eyebrows met quickly. She was about to open her mouth to speak but she couldn't because the man on the other line spoke again.
"Selena called me," said Ramil.
"Selena? Who is she?" she asked in confusion.
"Look, Selena thought you were the reason why I broke up with her. She called me a while ago and said that I should say goodbye to you because she is sure you'll be dead by tomorrow," Ramil told her.
Lara stood up quickly after what she heard. She hugged herself in terror and then turned to Nanny Loring who was obviously waiting for her to say something.
"The truth is we are not okay. Although Callie and I were not hurt. But," she said, hanging up on what else she wanted to say.
"What is that?" asked Ramil.
That's when Lara started telling the whole story to Ramil. And when she finished he immediately spoke again.
“I will report it to the police. That woman has to pay for what she did," Ramil told her before the line was cut.
"What was that? Who called?” Nanny Loring asked her worriedly.
Lara was about to open her mouth to answer the old woman's question but was stopped by Joaquin's sudden entry into the house.
"It's done, the person who set fire to the cottage has been caught," Joaquin told her.
“W-Who?” asked Lara.
"You won't believe what I'll tell you, Lara," said Joaquin.
"Huh?"
"Cortez was the one who originally planned to do that," Joaquin began as he sat down.
"Cortez? "Our personal security?" asked Lara in disbelief.
Joaquin nodded. "But he retreated from the plan and in the end, he was the one who instigated the middleman to commit the arson."
"Where is Cortez now?" Lara asked worriedly.
"In the precinct. I don't know how to decide about him, so I came here."
"What do you mean?"
That's when Joaquin explained everything to her. Cortez's daughter's illness required surgery, so he was forced to do something bad that he want to do.
"I seem to know who the mastermind behind this incident is, Joaquin," said Lara.
“Who?”
At that point, Lara started telling her husband about what Ramil told her when he called her earlier.
"Right, I'll take care of everything. All I want to know is what are we going to do with Cortez?” Joaquin asked standing up.
That's when Lara approached Joaquin and hugged him tightly. "Send him home. And if it's okay, please help him. Give him money so her daughter can have the proper treatment. Give him some capital so he can start a business and not join us anymore," that's what she thought of begging her husband.
A meaningful smile tore Joaquin's lips after everything she said.
"Okay, I'll take care of everything. Go to bed and rest. Tomorrow is another day. All this will be over tomorrow," said Joaquin who kissed her on the lips before finally leaving her.
