The festive season was over. Lana was back in the apartment with Andrea. All seemed to have gone back to normal but something still bugged Andrea. After the donation to the orphanage, that very night, Antonio mailed her the contracts which she refused saying, "I'm not about to jump into the lion's mouth."
He responded saying, "I'm not going to persuade you anymore. Where persuasion fails, force is applied. I'll see you next year."
These words have been haunting Andrea ever since. She couldn't tell Lana about everything because she didn't want the lecture on 'self-control' and 'avoid trouble'. Most of all, she feared her sister would get involved in order to help her out.
★★★
Meanwhile...
Antonio's study...
Antonio and Lauren where discussing the issue on Marcus Elton.
"We have everything we need now to get Marcus," Lauren said. "I already gave Marcus the hint as you said. He's being watched 24/7 as you requested. So far, the only suspicious thing he has done is to have made a call with a pay phone. That was soon after I gave him the hint that we are unto him. That was yesterday."
"Very well then. Now we wait," Antonio said, sitting back in his comfortable chair.
"If I may ask Boss, why are we waiting."
"Because I want to see what they'd do to stop me...if they even would."
"What do you mean Sir? You doubt they would?"
"Lauren, Marcus is just a selfish self-centered jerk being used by Rachel and her boss as nothing but a pawn on the chess board. Now that his help is no longer useful, I want to see if they would come to his aid or simply abandon him....and if they do abandon him, I want to see what move he'll make."
Suddenly, Lauren's phone beeped and a troubled look registered on her face. "Could this qualify as their move?" Lauren asked showing her phone screen to him.
They were pictures of Antonio and Andrea's back view, walking into RB café together. Another showed Antonio towering her petite stature, holding her shoulders in front of him. From the angle of the picture, it almost looked like they were kissing. Another picture showed Andrea carrying a little baby in her arms and Antonio's finger in the baby's hand. However, Antonio's face had covered majority of Andrea's.
"I see," he said staring at the pictures on Lauren's phone.
"Who is that woman if I may ask. Are you seeing someone?" Lauren asked, trying to hold back her fury.
"That's Andrea Cabrera, another person I need to deal with. So this was their plan...to put me on the headlines," he said reading the article following. It was being alleged that Antonio was see Andrea, who's true identity could not be established from the pictures taken. They were referring to her as the mysterious lady. They also claimed that it seemed as though the couple intended to adopt a baby, worsening the matter by asking if Antonio was incapable of having kids.
The comment section of that site was growing tremendously, about a thousand comments per half a minute. Lauren was using her tablet to deal with the matter, shutting down the newly created site completely. Other infamous sites had picked up the information and began to spread it. The prominent ones had made no mention of the allegations, for they knew the implications such a move would have on their businesses and their career. The ignorant naive ones suffered for it. Their sites were shut down minutes after their posts and we're immediately blacklisted.
"All done Boss," she said.
"Good," he said, handing over her phone. "They tried to put me on highlight to buy themselves some time, I should think, more like to buy him some time. I doubt they thought that could hold me back."
"I'll get the place ready now," Lauren said as she rose to her feet.
"I'll let you know when to grab Marcus," he said and permitted her to leave.
★★★
10 minutes ago...
Andrea's apartment...
Andrea had just walked into the kitchen. Lana was making breakfast. Work had not resumed so she was home. She was busy watching a romantic series on her phone when a message popped up on her screen. Andrea was drinking a bottle of water when Lana screamed impromptu. Andrea ended up spilling some of the water on herself, causing her to glare at Lana. Just when she was gulping down some water, Lana exclaimed, "Antonio Robles is taken! They're adopting a baby?!"
Her words caused Andrea to choke on the water. She started to cough uncontrollably, spitting out the water, with a little running out of her nose. Her eyes and entire face to the neck were red and strained.
"Are you okay?!" Lana asked in fear, putting her phone aside and rushing to Andrea's side. Just when she was calm enough, she went over to Lana's phone which got Lana confused. "I'm upset about the news because he's my rich famous businessman bachelor crush. So what about you? How are you affected to the point of death." She crossed her arms over her chest looking at her sister with a lifted brow.
"Where did you see that? The link isn't working. The site you were trying to locate doesn't exist," Andrea said, ignoring Lana's question.
"Of course it doesn't anymore. It's already been 3 minutes. Antonio has probably already destroyed that site. I already took screenshots. Let me show them to you," she said and took her phone from her sister.
She opened her gallery and showed her the photos. "I knew it wouldn't be there for long so the moment my friend sent the link, I took screenshots of everything before screaming. Genius, right?" Lana said with a bragging smile. She suddenly realized how focused Andrea was on the photos and even the comments section.
Andrea sighed with relief and handed Lana's phone back to her. She lazily walked to the living room and let herself go unto the sofa, sighing with relief.
"Is there something you wish to say?" Lana asked, snapping Andrea out of her state of relaxation.
"I too have uh...um a crush on hi..." she stuttered, thinking that to be only solution for an excuse to give Lana and get her off her back.
"What?!" Lana exclaimed enthused. "You actually have a crush on him?!"
Andrea picked up a pillow from the sofa and covered her head with it. She knew what was about to befall her thanks to Lana. Lana began rapping about how exciting it was for Andrea to finally give herself the chance to feel attracted to someone. "But wait," Lana said as a thought crossed her mind. "Oh c'mon Lily!" she said sounding distressed.
"Now for part two," Andrea mumbled to herself and tightened the pillow over her head.
"Of all the people you could finally open up your cold heart to, it had to be someone so out of your reach?! Damn you Lily!" she lamented and started to strike Andrea with a pillow.
★★★
That night....
Andrea went on her usually night run. The thought of the morning's event couldn't get out of her head. She thought of whether to contact Antonio about it but advised herself against it. It would be like calling his attention to herself even more than the internet had. They hadn't been in touch since she rejected his proposals. 'He is probably already plotting against me,' she thought.
Suddenly, a minivan immediately drove past her and swiftly blocked her path. The streets where quiet and barely anyone was around. She panicked thinking a bunch of men would pop out from the back seat and grab her. Suddenly, the driver's door flew open and just before she could make a run for her life, she heard someone breathing heavily. Keeping a safe distance from the car, she checked to see what was going on. It was a woman who seemed to be having an asthmatic attack. She was trying to take out something from her purse but could barely focus with how heavily she was breathing.
Andrea, without a second thought, rushed to her side and started to search for an asthmatic pomp for her. She found it and handed it to the woman. The woman calmed down slightly and begged Andrea to rush her to the nearest hospital with her car. Andrea knew how to drive and gladly agreed to. In her attempt to help the woman, she took her over to the back seat and before she could open it up, the door flung open and she felt a sting on her neck. In the blink of an eye, there was complete darkness.