Mistaken by the Billionaire Marquess

CHAPTER 25: Forgotten

– LIA –

THE SOUND of my phone woke us up in the morning. I was about to get up and grab my phone, but something heavy locked my arms in their place.

I looked at my left side and saw Kelleon staring at me. His eyes are still sleepy but he’s smiling for some unknown reasons. He’s been sleeping in the guest room with me since the other day.

At first, I told him to just sleep in his room since it’s much bigger and he might feel uncomfortable here. However, he insisted that he wants to sleep in the guest room. So, I told him that he can sleep here and I’ll sleep on his room.

He was kind of frustrated, but I was just teasing him. He told me that he wants to sleep with me.

I was hesitant, but I like him sleeping beside me so I let it pass. Thankfully, nothing lewd happened from the day we slept together until now.

“I have to answer the phone,” I told him with my morning voice. “It might be something important.”

Instead of answering, he buried his face on to my neck and let my hands go. I let him stay on that position as I reach for my phone.

My senior’s name on the phone’s screen greeted me. I hurriedly answered it that Kelleon noticed my urgency. He looked up at me and asked. “Who’s that?”Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.

“My senior,” I answered before clicking the green button.

“Senior?” I asked on the other end of the line. From her end, I can hear few people talking and the sound of cars passing by. She must be inside a vehicle.

“Hi, Lia,” she greeted me. “We worked on the files you gave yesterday. Kelleon Gonzales’ men contacted me yesterday in the afternoon. They said that they have already located the nurse’s house.”

“We arrived on her house earlier and thankfully, we convinced her to be interrogated. It was tough. She didn’t trust as easily even if we already showed her proof that we’re from the police,” she added.

I put the phone in speaker because Kelleon also wants to hear our conversation. He moved closer to me and I put the phone on my left hand so it will be between the two of us.

“Is the interrogation going to start?” I asked. I want to be there as they ask her. With that, I can also observe her closely.

“Yes,” Detective Javier answered. “There’s only about thirty minutes before the interrogation starts. We’re already on the way to the station. Hurry and go there now.”

“Noted, senior. We’ll go now. Thank you,” I said before ending the call.

Kelleon didn’t need to be told what to do. We both got up from bed and start fixing ourselves. I went straight to the bathroom and took a bath for ten minutes.

When I walked downstairs, I saw that Kelleon is already dressed. He’s just wearing a black shirt and a blue faded jeans. His hair is still wet as he do something in the kitchen counter.

“You’re making a sandwich?” I asked him when I’m already near the counter. I watched him put the flavored mayonnaise on the bread and I helped him put those food in the ziplock.

“Yup,” he responded. “We don’t have enough time to cook, and we need a food we can eat on the way there.”

I smiled at his response. I have only stayed here for two days, but I already learned a lot about him.

He’s so thoughtful. He always asks me what I want and what I do not want. He also made sure that the food we eat don’t contain something I’m allergic to.

He’s a great cook. Seeing him wearing nothing on top aside from an apron everyday gives me motivation to live.

We stepped in his car and started driving towards the police station.

I sighed. I put my hands together to ease the anxiety that I’m feeling.

WHEN we arrived at the station, Nick is already waiting for us. He greeted me with a hug, which didn’t escape Kelleon’s sight.

I heard Kelleon cleared his throat. Nick pulled away from the hug and gave an awkward smile to the man beside me.

“The witness is already in the room. Detective Javier will start the interrogation after some minutes,” he informed us. “Let’s go.”

The three of us walked together. It didn’t took long for us to reach it. We stopped at the glass window that can see the inside of the room.

Inside, I saw Detective Javier sitting on the right side of the room. Nurse Cristina is sitting across my senior. She looks nervous and she keeps on tapping her legs repeatedly.

“Nurse Cristina Palomas, I will ask a couple of questions about Doctor Adrian Andres,” Detective Javier started. “Do you remember the exact date of when the crim happened?

Nurse Cristina nodded. “Yes. I can’t forget the date,” she answered.

“That happened on March 25, 2023. The hospital’s anniversary party is the day after that and he was supposed to be the one to give the welcoming remarks. But, he didn’t show up,” the nurse explained.

I wrote the information on my notebook while observing her. We can confirm her statement by asking the guests on that anniversary party. As of now, the date she said is right based on the date that Doctor Andres was reported missing.

“You said that you witnessed how he was killed. Could you give the details that you can remember?” my senior asked.

We heard the nurse sighed before speaking.

“I’m going home and I went to the back of the hospital to dispose my scrub,” she started narrating what happened on that day. “That area was under renovation at that time so there are only few people going in. Mostly are construction workers and those people who will use the trash bin.”

“I was about to leave when I heard Doctor Andres’ voice. It was kind of loud because he was shouting. I can’t see him because it was dark in my part, so I started walking towards the noise,” she added.

For some reason, Kelleon placed himself behind me and touched my shoulders. I looked back at him and gave a questioning look, but he just smiled at me. I also noticed Nick giving me, or us, glances from time to time.

“I heard Doctor Andres shouted, ‘I don’t care about your money! I will tell the police about this!’ His words where somewhere along that line,” she continued.

Doctor Andres must have been talking to Denisse Cantos at that time. The motive for killing him is because the doctor knew something that can destroy Denisse. That’s why she had to silence the witness by… shooting him.

My head somehow felt heavy because of my last thought. I almost lose my balance. Fortunately, Kelleon was there to help me.

“Are you okay, mi amor?” he whispered in my ears. I gave him a nod before looking back at the two people inside the interrogation room.

“And then, I heard another voice. It was a woman. She said that… she will kill the doctor before he could go to the police.”

Nurse Cristina started sobbing, but that didn’t stop her from talking. “Then… I heard something heavy fell on the ground. When I looked behind the tower of concrete blocks, I saw Doctor Andres… bleeding.”

Tears started falling from her eyes and her body started shaking. Detective Javier stood up to calm her down.

“It’s okay, Cristina. You can talk again when you’re ready,” my senior said, comforting the nurse.

Nurse Cristina shook her head. “I saw a woman, she was holding a gun.”

My heart started pumping faster that I have to take a deep breath. I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself down. I can’t do another scene again.

“I thought… I thought she will leave him alone. He was already bleeding!” she exclaimed.

“Did you see where he was shot?” Detective Javier asked while still gently carressing the nurse’s back.

“Stomach,” she answered. “Near the liver part. He was touching that part when I saw him.”

My senior nodded. Drops of sweat started forming on my forehead that I have to wipe them away. Although my eyes can see the people inside the room, my mind is imagining the bloody scene even if I don’t want to.

“He’s already bleeding to death! But she shot him! Again!” she exclaimed as she pointed her head. “Here! In the head!”

I held on to Kelleon’s arms tighter. I’m feeling that I’m going to lose balance in any minute now. He hugged me from behind and whispered comforting words to me.

Nick moved closer to us. “We should transfer Lia to another room. She doesn’t look well.”

“Lia, we have to leave. You’re starting to tremble again. We can just leave the rest to them,” Kelleon whispered in my ear and tried to pull me to the other room.

“No! We have to finish this. I have to finish this! Maybe she will say more leads!” I exclaimed, losing my composture.

Kelleon locked me in his arms. I tried to fight back but he was just much stronger.

“I’m fine! I can stay here!” I shouted when Kelleon started to drag me out.

“No, you’re not!” Kelleon shouted, making me stunned. It was the first time I heard him shout that way.

It was not because of anger. It was because of worriness… and fear.

I couldn’t talk. I just felt my head getting heavier. And before darkness consumed me, I heard the nurse shouted.

“I saw the killer yesterday! You have to arrest her!”

– KELLEON –

Lia passed out while I was carrying her. I lay her down to the sofa and carressed her sleeping face.

This is the second time it happened. She also trembled and breath heavily like the first time. However, she didn’t cry out loud. Instead, she passed out.

A hand offered a blanket to me. I grabbed it and place it above Lia who was sleeping peacefully, like she didn’t shouted and made a scene earlier.

“She’s always like that,” her co-worker said. “I’m Nick, by the way. I’m also an investigator but I’m more on the forensics.”

I nodded at him. “Kelleon,” I introduced myself. “What do you mean she’s always like this?”

He sat on the wooden chair near him. “Detective Javier, even the chief, never gave a case that involves guns or firearms to Lia. They said she has a phobia of those,” he explained.

So that explains her reaction yesterday and earlier. It was a good decision not to use guns when I was chasing her in Spain. She might have trembled and fainted that time.

“Well, they don’t know about that at first. But Darwin said that when Lia is still an intern, she started shaking and crying when she saw a suspect pointing a gun close to the hostage,” he started narrating.

“The trembling was the worst. No one can calm her down that time and she kept on shouting ‘Stop! Don’t shoot!’. She passed out, and her reaction almost made them failed to save the hostage.”

“She was just 18 that time, and that was her third case,” he said.

I stared at the sleeping Lia. I carressed her hand under the blanket.

“Do you know the reason why she’s like that?” I asked. Lia wouldn’t tell anything. When I asked her yesterday about why she suddenly cried, she said that she doesn’t know.

Nick shrugged his shoulder. “Nope,” he shook his head while saying that. “Even Lia doesn’t know either.”

He pursed his lips before talking, as if he remembered something. “Detective Javier said that the therapist told them that Lia might have not remembered the reason is because it was a traumatic memory.”

“The brain tends to forget traumatic memories to save us from the pain, especially if it happened when you’re young.”