Chapter 34
MARIA smirked behind her mask when she heard the old man shout angrily from the speaker. He’s calling her names and dirty remarks, but she doesn’t care. She knew that better than the old man behind the two-way mirror.
“Chief, would you mind if ask you speak again?” she asked suddenly.
Fred knocked on the door to get her attention. When she glanced at him, he gave her a look that orders her to shut her mouth now. But why would Maria obey him?
Seconds later, the chief’s loud voice aired in the room. And, it confirmed Maria’s suspicions. “Shut up—”
“I’m right,” she cut off and faced the two-way mirror. Even she can see only her reflection, she knew that the old man is looking back at her with wide eyes. “I knew that voice.”
Maria heard Fred whispering her name, but she didn’t look at him. She waited for the chief’s reaction and spoke again on the speaker.
“I don’t know what you’re saying, little tramp,” the old man said in a forced tone. “Why don’t you stop these childish game guessing games of yours and spill out what we need from you.”
Maria laughed. “What do you need from me?”
“Spill it out!” the chief shouted again, and it only made Maria laugh.
She can’t hear Euclid’s voice in the background. Why is he silent? Maria asked in her mind. Is he also watching her behind that mirror? She wondered what was on his mind.
“Hey, whore—”
“That is not her name.” She heard Euclid’s voice finally. “I won’t hesitate to encourage her to file abuse against you, chief. It seemed that you forgot that it’s not your mission.”
“Let her talk,” the chief said in a calmer tone. “She’s accusing me—”
“I did not,” Maria said. “You are forcing me to spill out the information that I know, but the question is…” she trailed off and stared at her reflections in the mirror. “Are you man enough to hear it?”
She didn’t receive any response but silence. Maria thought that maybe Euclid dragged the chief outside the room, but after just a moment, the chief spoke again.
“Who are you?”
Maria smiled behind her face mask. “You forgot about me, chief? That’s disappointing.”
“Fuck you—”
Maria and Fred heard noises of stumbling chairs and faint grunts and groans from the speaker. Fred rushed out to the door, but before he opened it, he looked at her.
“Lock the door, so I won’t escape,” she said and shifted to a comfortable seat. She can still hear noises from the room, it seemed that Euclid lose his temper to the foul-mouthed chief.
Maria smirked. “This is just the beginning…”
*
“FILE an abuse against him,” Euclid said to Maria when he entered the interrogation room and found her again seated patiently on one of the chairs. “He must be punished—”
“No need,” she said and removed the covers in her head. “We’ll get to him soon.”
“Maria, I don’t understand why you said all those things to him,” Euclid told him. “You pissed him off by making him feel as if he’s part of the Decagonanization.”
Maria leaned on the chair. “He deserved it.”
“Did he do something bad to you?” Euclid asked the concern in his handsome face is apparent.
“Where’s Fred?” she asked instead. “Is he fine? He looked so shocked a while ago.”
“He’s still is,” Euclid said, shaking his head. “He said that this is the first time that he encountered such a fearless woman like you.”
“It’s because I know that he can’t touch me,” she said. “He’s weak, Euclid. He’s a parasite.”
Euclid knotted his forehead. “What do you mean?”
Maria heaved a sigh. “Let’s just say that I know why and how he got his position now.”
“I still measure if I could give my trust to you,” she said. “It’s not my life only at stake. But, also my Sara’s and the important people’s lives around me.”
“Kristel, I promised you that I will never let anything bad happen to you and your daughter—”
“I have learned to not hold on promises, Euclid,” she said and looked at him straight in the eyes. “Remember the day that you promised me you’ll come back for me?”
“Maria, I’m sorry about that day…” he said softly, his eyes were speaking to her soul. “An unexpected tragedy happened that day…” He smiled bitterly. “My dad was skilled. I have to rush to where he was even the graduation ceremony wasn’t done to get a glimpse of his body before they turned him to the morgue. I’m sorry I broke my promise to you, Maria.”
She looked away from Euclid just before her tears fell on her cheeks. “I understand, Euclid… But, if you just showed up to the island even the day after, you could have saved me from being like this.”
Euclid clenched his fist on the table. Maria can see that he’s silently blaming himself for what happened to her. She doesn’t want to say all those things to him, she doesn’t want to blame him, but she has to. She needs Euclid to do her plans. She lowered her head to hide her emotions.
“I tried to call you, Maria,” he said in a low voice. “It was your mother that picked up your phone.”
Maria looked up at him in surprise. “Y-you called?”
“I begged your mother to let me talk to you, but she said that you’re mad at me and you decided to leave the island with your new lover,” Euclid’s voice quivered. He pressed his lips together and focused his eyes on the table. “It was you who left me… It was you that didn’t wait for me…”
Anger and hatred started to rise on her chest again. How could her mother do such terrible things against her own daughter? Her own flesh and blood… She clenched her fist on the table as she restrained herself from saying anything as a defense.
She won’t let her emotions take over her again. Being emotionally disturbed isn’t good for her plans. She has to keep in mind the safety of her daughter. And, even Euclid and his team assured her that they’ll protect them at all cost, Maria knew that the only person that can protect Sara no matter what is her.
She was abandoned by her biological mother, but it doesn’t mean that she’ll do it also to her child. Every person in this world is different. And, being a mother is not just about the ability to conceive and give birth, it’s also about being emotionally and psychologically prepared for having a child. It’s about investing your heart and soul to the most important persons in your life, your children.
Maybe it was unfortunate for her to have a parent like her mother, but she’s lucky enough to have Sara in her life. She continued to breathe for her and to live for her.
“Is it true?” Euclid asked her when she remained silent. “Is it true that you got tired of waiting for me, so you decided to leave the island?”
Maria looked away. “If that’s what you wanted to believe—”
“I want you to tell me the truth, Maria!” Euclid shouted tears are threatening to fall from his eyes. “I want you to tell me that it’s not true… that what your mother told me back then was just a lie.”
“Does it matter, Euclid?” she asked and bit her lip to fight her tears. “I told you, she sold me to men that I don’t know that’s how I got here. She traded me for money…” Her voice cracked. “That’s why I held on your promise that you’ll come back to the island and take me with you… But, you didn’t come, and I know the reason now… I’m so sorry that I despised you all these years without knowing the truth. Still, it won’t change the fact of what I am now…”
Euclid raked his fingers through his hair. “Let’s start again—”
A few knocks on the door interrupted them. Maria quickly put on her mask just before the door opened. Deputy Miranda peeked behind the door. Her furrowed well-defined brows landed on her.
“The results are out now,” she said and threw the folder on the desk. “What a lucky woman.”
***
