Chapter 21 One -Revelation

Alexandria Rodrigo Point of View:

The whole room went quiet after Andre said the name Amber Cortes. Nat had a stricken look on her face, Nate and Chase looked surprised, Luke was acting indifferent and Camilla and I were probably the only people in the room who had no idea what was going on.

"What does Amber Cortes have to do with anything?" I asked.

Nobody said anything. I could practically hear a pin drop. This Andre character seemed rather pleased with himself as he sat down and watched the drama unfold. I looked over at Camilla who was looking down at her hands. It broke my heart to see her so unsure of herself.

She looked up at Luke who was already looking at her, "what is he talking about Luke?"

Luke sighed and pulled her closer to him, "Amber Cortes was my father's assistant over twenty years ago"

"She was the reason why Luke never met his father until he was almost five years old," Nat grimaced as she recalled what seemed to be a painful part of her life "she was manipulative, she was obsessed with Chase and created a plan to break us up"

"When she failed at that she kidnapped Luke, but we managed to save him," Camilla gasped loudly at that.

"You never told me that," she said sadly.

I watched as Luke sighed, "I didn't want to upset you love"

Nat and Chase looked conflicted as if they didn't know what to believe or which emotion to latch on to, in the end anger won.

"Did she send you here?" Nat asked hotly "did that bitch send you after my son?"

"Mom!" Nate and Luke both shouted in disbelief while Camilla looked as if she'd just seen a ghost. I was at a loss for words.

"Is it true?" Camilla directed her question to me. I knew why she asked that, but the rest didn't.

I almost didn't want to answer her, "it is true"

Her mouth fell open in shock as she looked around the room. Her gaze settled on Luke who once again didn't seem to care about the whole thing. I stood to go over to her to give her a much-needed hug or to just let her know that I was here for her, but she stood up and took off running.

Luke ran after her shouting her name. I was torn between making sure she was alright and giving these people a piece of my mine. The Latina in me was victorious.

"I can't believe you accused my best friend of doing anything other than being in love with Luke"

"Alex maybe-"

"Zip it," I huffed as Nate spoke up. He closed his mouth shocked that I scolded him.

I directed my anger to Natalia, "You just met us today, you barely know us. Camilla doesn't talk about her parents because she was adopted"

"That's not true her mother is Amber Cortes," Andre spoke for the first time since he started this.

I gritted my teeth and clenched my hands together as I tried not to strangle him, "one more word out of you and I'll kill you myself"

He raised his hands in surrender and continued to look on, "Camilla's biological mother was Amber, but she gave up Camilla as soon as she was born because she was in prison at the time"

"Oh my God," Nat's eyes welled up with tears.

"Camilla was adopted and raised by a loving couple, everything was okay until they were killed in a car crash, Amber was the cause of it, and she died as well"

I stared at Nat who looked sick to her stomach, "when Camilla found out what had happened, she was devastated, she knew her biological mother was still out there, but she didn't think she was insane. I always helped my foster mom with accepting new kids so when Camilla was coming, I read her file I knew what her birth mother's name was, but I wasn't allowed to know the full extent of what happened"

"I offered to tell her, but she refused, she told me what happened and what her birth mother did. She wanted nothing to do with her, Camilla never met the woman and until today she never knew her name"

"Oh my God," Nat gasped "what have I done?"

I sat beside Nate who was quick to grasp my hand. I looked at him and smiled, he looked happy that I wasn't pushing him away. He knew how much I hated to talk about my time in foster care. It’s not that I'm ashamed of it but I just don't like to bring it out, it makes people see me differently.

"you allowed your anger over something that happened years ago control you"

She didn't say anything. She just nodded and looked down. Chase went to comfort her. I turned around quickly at the sound of someone walking in the room. It was Luke and Camilla. She looked better. I walked over to her and took her from Luke pulling her into my arms.

"I'm so glad you are here," she hugged me tightly.

"What are you still doing here? Luke screamed angrily at Andre.

"I was hoping for a bit more drama," he laughed standing up "better luck next time"

"What the hell!"

"Why did you do this?"

"I was trying to protect you," he lied.

"That's a lie and we both know it," Luke bellowed.

"Your right," Andre yelled walking up to Luke "this is about Alice"

"What?" Luke asked confused "what does Alice have to do with anything?"

"You took Alice away from me"

"How the hell did I do that?"

Andre looked exasperated at this point, "you knew I liked her, yet you dated her anyway?

"How the hell was I supposed to know that?" Luke pressed him "did you ever tell me?"

Andre was silent until a faint whisper could be heard, "no"

"Get out!" Nat shouted surprising us all.

She walked over to us as Andre left the room. I stepped away from Alex and allowed Nat to speak to hear. Nate quickly pulled me into his arms and pressed a kiss to my shoulders. Luke walked over to Camilla and wrapped a hand around her waist. Camilla beamed at him and rested her hand on top of his. She then looked at Nat who was quietly watching the interaction. Chase stood to the side and watched things play out.

"You don't have to apologize," Camilla whispered.

"Yes, she does," I mumbled. I thought no one heard me but by the way everyone was looking at me, I was wrong.

I rolled my eyes, "carry on"

Nat looked at me with a smile, "Talia is going to love you"

After Nat and Camilla kissed and made-up Chase came forward and pulled her into a hug as well. I hadn't forgotten how Luke didn't seem incredibly surprised about what happened.

"Luke," I called out to him.

"Yeah"

"I couldn't help but notice that you weren't surprised by all this," I raised a brow.

He grunted as he glanced at his parents, "that's because I already knew"

"What?" Nat exploded "and you didn't think to tell us?"

"No," he looked unapologetic "I didn't"

"Well why not?" she probed him.

"Because like I told Camilla it doesn't matter to me, all I see is her"