Mistaken by the Billionaire Marquess

CHAPTER 38: The Cortez

– LIA –

I WAS HELPING in making the table for dinner when the doorbell of the mansion rang. Mama grabbed me by the hand and pulled me towards their living room. In front of us is the head maid, who opens the main door of the mansion.

“Amiga!” a mature but cute voice of a woman exclaimed.

As the door opens, a man in his late fifties and a woman in mid fifties enter the mansion. Just one look at them, and I can say that they are both wealthy, maybe in the same social standing as the Gonzales Family.

The woman was wearing a baby blue, v-neck, half-sleeved puff top paired with flared black jeans and black flat sandals. Her attire is simple, but the pieces of jewelry she’s wearing makes her look expensive. She has a hanging gold necklace with a crescent moon pendant and medium-sized circular earrings.

On the other hand, the man with her is wearing just a black shirt and faded jeans. It’s so simple but the watch he is wearing looks so expensive. I don’t know the brand of it, but it looks real and legitimate.

Mama and the woman kissed each other’s cheeks while hugging. The two seemed to be close friends.

I turned my head to look at Papa, and I saw him smiling while talking to the other man. I read their lips, and I think that they’re talking about business.

A warm hand touched my waist as lips planted a kiss on my hair. I looked up to see Kelleon staring and smiling at me.

“Good evening, mi amor,” he greeted me before caressing my face.

I touched his hand and rubbed my face on it as I closed my eyes. “Good evening too, cariño.”

“You look like a small, innocent kitten while doing that, mi amor,” he said under his breath before kissing my neck, giving fire to every part of my body.

He licked my neck up to my jaw before biting it playfully. It didn’t hurt. Instead, it felt good that I had to grab his neck to pull him closer to me.

“Ahem,” a fake cough from someone interrupted us. I heard Kelleon blow a deep breath before moving away his face from my neck.

“Save those intimacies for later, hijo,” Mama said and winked at me.

I blushed when I realized that these four older people saw us doing that. Before, I was not really a fan of PDAs or public displays of affection. However, since I met Kelleon, I started to shamelessly show my love to him in public. May it be from normal kissing, french kissing, to touching some parts of our body.

Mama touched my hand before turning her head towards the guests.

“Amiga, amigo, this is Lia. She is mi hijo’s girlfriend and soon-to-be-wife,” Mama introduced me while giggling.

I bowed my head before saying ‘hi’ to the woman. Mama turned his head to me before speaking.

“Hija, this is my best friend, Celestine Cortez,” she said while motioning her hand to the woman. “And this is your Papa’s best friend who is her husband, Ezekiel Cortez.”

Both of them walked towards me. I was about to offer my hand for a handshake, but they opened their arms to hug me. I happily accepted it and hugged them back.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, hija,” Ma’am Celestine told me. “Did you know that Thea can’t stop talking about you all the time? She has told me a lot about you and Kelleon!”

My eyes widened a fraction before smiling at her. Her enthusiasm is contagious and I can’t help but also feel happy.

“It’s nice to meet you too, ma’am,” I answered, earning a pout from her.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“Don’t call me ma’am. We’re gonna be family from now on,” she said while we were walking towards the formal dining area.

“Call me Mama Tine,” she told me before pointing to her husband who waved at me. “And call my husband Papa Ez.”

I was actually shocked that they were so friendly and nice to me. “Hello po, Mama Tine and Papa Ez,” I shyly said.

Mama Tine smiled wider. “That’s so very good to hear, hija!” she exclaimed. “Oh, sit here so we can talk more.”

I was sitting between Mama Thea and Mama Tine. In front of me was Kelleon, who did not look pleased that he was not sitting beside me. Beside him are the other men who are sitting across from their wives.

We started the dinner. Everyone was chatting about their lives and catching up with each other. I let them talk about various things while I attacked the food on the table.

“I heard that the new branch of Súper Centros Comerciales will have its grand opening on the second Sunday next month. I want to go and visit that branch!” she looked at me. “Can you come with us, hija?”

I nodded. “Yes, Mama. I don’t have any prior commitments so I can go.”

Kelleon suddenly barged into the conversation. “I’m free that day, too. I can be with Lia that day and tour her around the mall,” he said before biting on the steak.

Mama Thea answered. “Oh, there’s no need. Tine and I will be with her! We’ll show Lia that mall and maybe the other tourist spots around it! We’ll have fun! Like a girl’s date!”

Mama Tine clapped her hands because of excitement. “Oh, my god! It’s been so long since our last girl’s date, Thea! We should definitely do that.”

I just smiled and nodded at them. I took a glance at Kelleon and noticed that he looked defeated.  I saw Papa Killian and Papa Ez whispering something to him, making him chuckle and shake his head.

The conversation went on. We talked about the tourist destinations in Spain as well as some upcoming events that we can join. I listened to them and asked questions from time to time.

The more we talked, the more I noticed that it was only the women talking. The men are just silent while staring and watching their beloved talk to each other.

“Hija, Thea told me that you’re working as a criminal profiler,” Mama Tine suddenly said. “That job is challenging. What made you take that path?”

I swallowed my food first before talking. “I have been a fan of detectives since I was young, Mama,” I told her. “It started when I watched one episode of Detective Conan.”

Mama Thea looked amused before looking at her husband. “My husband is a fan of Detective Conan!” she exclaimed, making my eyes widen.

Papa Ez nodded in agreement to that statement. “I have the complete collection of Detective Conan manga books. All seasons, all parts,” he said with full confidence.

“I can show you my collection. I can even let you borrow it! But I can’t give it to you,” he said following a small laugh. “They’re like my children for me.”

My eyes twinkled. “Really?!” I asked, surprised at what he said. “Thank you! Thank you!” I exclaimed with full excitement.

“That job is dangerous. Although most of your job is more on profiling, I think there are times you’re involved in capturing suspects, right?” Mama Tine asked. “Ez was a senior detective before, and the profiler in their team sometimes goes with them during operations.”

I nodded. “Yes, Mama. There are a lot of times that I’m involved in the operations. Sometimes, it gets dangerous, especially when we are dealing with a serial killer. But I’m used to it,” I answered.

“Did your parents support you in that job? You know, some parents don’t want their children to be near danger,” Mama Tine asked.

I put my head down, playing with my fingers. “I don’t have any parents, Mama,” I answered.

I heard her gasp. “Oh, my god. I’m so sorry, hija,” she said while touching my hands.

I looked up to smile at her. “It’s fine, Mama. It’s just,” I stopped for a few seconds before talking. “I get somehow emotional when talking about family or parents.”

She hugged me. I felt sad, a little bit, but her embrace gave me comfort. I felt at home.

When she cut the embrace and just put her hands on my shoulder, I suddenly started talking.

“I don’t know who my parents are. I grew up without them. I tried looking for them. I asked the caretaker in our orphanage, but they also don’t know,” I said emotionally.

“I have no records. They don’t even know my name or my birthday. They will just call me baby, but they never gave me a name.”

I closed my eyes, trying to remember the memories of the past, back when I was still young and innocent.

“When the orphanage was closed, I lived on the streets. I ate leftover foods from restaurants or even in garbage bins. And then I met a young lady,” I continued.

I smiled. I remember that when someone gave me hope. I remember the day when I felt someone was there for me. I remember the day when I was not alone.

“Ate Liza adopted me. She became my guardian and my older sister. She gave me my name and my birthday. She gave me shelter and food. She even sent me to school and taught me how to earn money by doing small labor.”

“She was my light, but she was snatched away from me,” my voice cracked, and tears fell from my eyes. I hurriedly dried them.

“She was killed on her way home from her work. Someone raped her, stabbed her, and stole her money,” I gritted my teeth. “The police didn’t even bother to find the suspect. Just a few days after her death they abandoned the case like it was nothing.”

I took a deep breath. “I started hating them, but I told myself that I had to find that suspect and bring justice to Ate Liza. I want to take criminology, but I can’t due to financial reasons. I ended up in forensic psychology, and later on, I worked as a criminal profiler.”

Papa Ez talked. “Did you catch him? The killer?” he asked.

I slowly nodded. “Yes, Papa. It was difficult at first, but my teammates helped me.”

I smiled when I remembered the efforts of those three, especially Detective Javier, to help me find the culprit.

“That was the first time I felt that I accomplished something, that I did something right,” I said before being quiet again.

Mama Tine caressed my back. “I’m sure that Liza is happy for you. I’m sure that whenever she is, she’s always there to guide and protect you. You grew up as a strong and kind lady, Lia. I’m sure that Liza is proud of herself for raising an amazing child like you.”

She hugged me, and I felt Kelleon’s feet caressing mine. I looked at him and smiled, telling him that I felt fine.

A gasp from my left was heard. I looked in that direction, and I saw Mama Tine crying.

“I’m sorry,” she said in her cracked voice. Her husband stood up to comfort her.

“I just remember my daughter in you, Lia,” she told me with a sad smile on her lips.

“She’s a hard worker, despite her young age. She also dreamt of being a police officer or a detective like her father,” she stopped to dry her tears. “But like Liza, she was snatched away from us.”

Pain is evident in her eyes. I can see that she doesn’t want to cry, but her tears are betraying her.

“Eirha is a joyful child with lots of dreams. She’s very lovable, hence why all of the people in our area love her so much. She likes to go with her father to work and watch him do his job,” she told me.

She sniffed before talking again. “One day, their pre-school was caught on fire. Everyone died in suffocation, and they were burned, including my daughter.”

Her cries became louder, and her shoulder became shaking. Papa Ez tried to calm her down, but she wouldn’t stop.

“Police said that they can’t recognize the remains because everything was burned to ashes. The only thing they discovered was the bone of their teacher. They told us that they couldn’t recover a body because everything was burned.”

Mama Tine couldn’t talk anymore as her tears consumed her. So Papa Ez continued the story for me.

“But we didn’t stop there. I gathered all of the burned remains and had those undergoing a DNA test. I’m a detective, so I know that even an ashed body can still show some DNA,” he said before gritting his teeth. “We were hopeful while waiting, praying that none of those ashes will be our daughter, and thinking that she escaped the fire.”

He looked down. “But one of the results was positive. One of the remains was from Eirha.” He stopped talking to look up, preventing his tears from falling down.

“We couldn’t believe it. We didn’t believe it, so we asked for another test. The result is still the same. Almost ten tests were done, all with the same result,” he said.

Mama Tine spoke again. “We just can’t accept that our daughter died that way. It must have hurt so much, being burned… alive.”

She cried again. We all went towards them to give them hug and comfort. They look so happy, but in the inside, they are also broken, because of their loss.

I closed my eyes. I suddenly imagined myself inside a building that’s on fire. My body felt hot and some of my skin were hurting. I felt like I’m burning and I can’t breathe properly.

I was only pulled out of my imagination when I felt Kelleon’s hands hugged me. He whispered sweet things to me, making me smile. He kissed my cheek then my the side of my lips.

“You won’t be alone from now on, mi amor. We will be your family. We’ll stick together… forever.”