Chapter 61
EUCLID lowered his gun and stared at the man in front of Maria. “Marcus…” he repeated, his eyes were wide in shock. “Is that really you?”
The man slightly frowned when he faced him. “Brother, I thought you wouldn’t come. We were about to leave your girlfriend’s house.”
Euclid’s brows furrowed. “What is this? Why are you with that woman? She’s a criminal.” He looked at Maria, and when he saw her on the floor, crying and with wounds on her face, he immediately helped her stand. “What did you do to her?”
But the woman named Demi didn’t answer. She’s just looking at her with brows furrowed. It seemed that she was also confused about what was happening. Marcus laughed behind him and dragged Maria away from him.
“Don’t touch my woman, my dear brother,” he said to him with a shake of his head. “She’s yours before, but now she’s mine.”
“Brother?” Maria asked Marcus. Her eyes were wide in shock. “Euclid is your brother?”
“You got it right, Maria,” Marcus replied. “I knew it all along that you’ll be with Euclid,” he said and touched her face. “From the club bidding up to this moment.”
“You set me up,” Maria said. “You fooled me—”
“Of course, I didn’t,” Marcus said then glanced at him. “It’s just a coincidence that Euclid will follow Demi here in Manila. I was expecting that he’ll just transfer the case at the NBI here, but it looks like he won’t give up.” He returned his gaze to Maria. “Then, on the same day that I found out that his team is here, you called me saying that you wanted to quit, right? So I asked you to do your final mission.”
“How did you know about me and Maria?” Euclid asked him. No one knew about their past. When he’s at Balesin Island, only his classmates knew that he was dating Maria. And… her mother.
“I’m not a stupid employer that hires employees without doing a background check,” Marcus said. “I found out that Maria was sold by her mother to the governor of the island where you stayed. And, the governor gave her to a human trafficking syndicate as a payment of his debt.” He sighed. “Maria’s mother was a woman that only cared for money. She even asked for money from me in exchange for the information that I need about her dear daughter.”
“You have talked with my mother?” Maria asked. Euclid can see in her eyes that she still longed for the mother that betrayed her. “How is she?”
“That’s what I liked about you, Maria. You have a soft heart.” He tightened his grip on her arm, making her squeal in pain. “You know, Euclid? Maria and I met in a club in Olongapo and spend some steamy nights. She was desperate during those days, so when she found out about the things that I can do with money, she asked for my help to get her out of that syndicate.”
Euclid clenched his jaw. He already knew that Maria joined prostitution over the years that they were away from each other, and she’s doing it for the sake of her daughter. But, it still hurt him to know that his brother he’d been looking for was with her within those dark years.
Euclid looked at Maria, who was crying silently while her head was low. “Is it true, Maria?”
Maria looked up at her, with tears in her eyes, she nodded. “But I didn’t know that he was your brother—”
“It’s not important,” Marcus cut off. “What's important is he already knew how dirty you play your game.”
“Marcus, we have to get out of here,” Demi said suddenly. She grabbed Maria’s arm and shook her. “Tell us where’s the SD card now!”
But Maria didn’t answer. Instead, she swept Demi’s hand away from her arm. When she tried to fight back, Marcus grabbed a fistful of her hair and dragged her away.
Euclid aimed his gun at Marcus and the other one at Demi. “Let her go.”
Just as expected, Marcus pressed the gun at Maria’s head again. They heard Sara cry and called for her mommy. But Marcus ignored it. “Hey brother, Maria is mine now. You broke up, remember?”
“Marcus, do you work at the Decagon?” Euclid asked. He couldn’t believe that the notorious drug dealer they’d been hunting was where his brother worked. All these years, he was chasing his brother as a criminal.
“I have no time for this fuzz now, Euclid.” He dragged Maria towards the door, but she tried to break free from her. “You bitch, stop or I will shoot you!”
“No!” Euclid shouted. “Do you think you can still get out of here? My team has covered the place. There’s no way that you can escape.”
Marcus laughed. “Of course, we have a pass,” he said and put his arm around Maria’s neck and pressed her to him. “I will shoot her head or you’ll let us leave.”
“Marcus, how did you become like this?” Euclid asked, clenching his fist. “Our father looked for you. He even risked his own life to get you—”
“I don’t want to hear anything from your father!” he shouted. His hand with the gun shook, pressing it harder on Maria’s temple. “I don’t care about the man that let my mother be killed.”
Euclid swallowed hard. He knew that this is not the right time to talk about it because many lives are at stake. “Marcus, you don’t understand—”
“I said shut up!” he cut off. “Let us take Maria now!”
“I don’t have the SD card!” Maria shouted. “I lost it. I-I don’t know where I kept it—”
“You lost it?” Marcus smirked. “You can’t fool me, Maria.”
“Maybe she already gave it to him,” Demi said and looked at him. “It seems that they have an understanding. You see, he found out that we’re here.”
Euclid brows furrowed, he doesn’t know anything about the SD card they’re talking about. But then, he remembered he saw on the CCTV that Wendy gave something to Fred when he’s here.
“Give me the SD card!” Marcus shouted at Euclid. “Or, I will kill your daughter,” he said and shifted his gun at Sara. “The reason why Maria was so eager to escape the club in Olongapo is she’s carrying your child. Do you know that, Euclid?”
Euclid clenched his jaw. His feelings were right all along. Sara is his child. Maria gave birth to a lovely daughter that he fathered. “Don’t hurt my child, Marcus. You can’t hurt a kid, she’s your niece—”
“You gave me no choice,” Marcus said and started walking towards Sara and Connor.
“No!” Maria screamed. “Marcus, please! Don’t do this, please!”
“I will kill your child so you and my brother will regret having me as your enemy.”
“Don’t do this, she has a heart problem!” Connor pleaded as he tucked the crying kid behind him. “She might not take the trauma—”
“Shut up!” Marcus shouted. “Give me the girl!”
Euclid tried to stop Marcus, but Demi threatened that she’ll shoot Maria’s head. “Marcus, leave my child alone!” he shouted and held the trigger on his gun aimed at Demi. “I will shoot your accomplice if you touch my child.”
But, Marcus just smirked. “I don’t care,” he said and grabbed Sara from Connor. When Connor tried to fight him, he knocked him off with the gun. “Time to say good-bye to your daddy, sweetie—”
“She’s your child, Marcus!” Maria screamed. “Sara is your daughter…”
***
