Reconstructing Amelia (unedited)

Chapter 39

November 29th, 2019

*Alan*

There was no way I was leaving Mia alone with that guy! If he was anything like we'd guessed last night, the two of them alone together would be bad. 

 But as soon as he stepped through the door I recognised him instantly as Benjamin Albright, former co-president of our father's business. They were partners once and built the greatest tech-empire ever. But Ben grew greedy and demanded more shares, trying to cut my dad out of the business. My dad banned him from the company but Ben retaliated and had their car crashed on the Brooklyn Bridge, killing my parents on impact. No one had been able to prove him guilty but we knew it was him.

I kept my ear to the door, turning my phone on record and holding it under the crack under the door. I listened to him shouting and beating my sister, and it took all of my efforts not to barge in and bash his head to the ground. But I had to keep the video recording. We needed the evidence. I heard him ending their conversation, and I quickly stopped the video and scrambled down the hall. He strode out of the room and left, leaving me shaking with anger. I had to tell Cato.

I struggled to punch his name into my phone but I got it dialling.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Cato's voice answered. My heart was still pounding. "Alan? Hello?" I wasn't sure how to break the news. "Alan Jacob, you tell me what's going on right now!" Cato demanded.

"Ben," I choked out. He paused.

"What?"

"Ben," I repeated.

"Ben... Benjamin Albright?" he asked. "From dad's work?"

"Yeah,"

"What's going on, Kid?" Cato softened his tone, clearly noticing my lack of calm.

"Her father, Cato. It's Ben," I cried.

"Shit," he muttered. "Okay, Alan calm down. Where are you right now?"

"I'm down the hall from Mia's room. He just left," I told him.

"Okay, did anything happen?"

"He was shouting at Mia and threatening her and Javi. I think he was hurting her too, but I was outside the door," I answered, feeling worthless. "I should've done something, Cato, I should've helped her," I sobbed.

"Alan, listen to me, calm down. I want you to take some deep breaths and walk down to the lobby, can you do that?"

"Yeah, are you here?" I hiccupped.

"Yep, we just walked in. Come on down and we'll talk, okay?" He was very calming when he needed to be.

"Okay, I'm almost there. What about Mia?" I asked.

"She'll be okay. She's got her nurses. We'll let her calm down before we confront her," Cato told me, his voice steady.

I jogged down the stairs, stepping through the main doors into the lobby. Cato, Eli, and the triplets were huddled around, waiting. Cato pulled me into a tight hug before stepping away.

"Alright, tell me exactly what happened," he instructed. I pulled out my phone.

"I recorded the whole thing," I said proudly.

"That's good," Cato exhaled loudly. We sat down in a cluster of chairs while I played the video just loud enough for all of us to hear it.

By the end, Eli was gripping my arm, Calvin and Cayden were holding each other, and Colton and Cato both had angry expressions on their faces.

"Send the video to Xander," Eli spoke up. "He can take it to the police,"

"Mia asked us not to tell them," I argued. "And from the video, I don't think anything good can come if Ben finds out,"

"We're not letting him get away with this. They'll arrest him before he can do anything to Mia," Calvin announced.

"Yeah, but he's already got people coming for her. Arresting him won't stop him," Colton pointed out.

"All of you stop," Cato chastised. "Alan, send it to Xander. Eli, I need you to stay here and watch over the Amelia and the kids, got it?' He nodded.

"That's my job," I told him irritably.

"Not right now. I'm taking you home for a bit,"

"I'm not leaving Mia," I stood my ground.

"Yes, you are," Cato argued. "You're going to shower and get clean clothes and brush your teeth,"

"I'm not leaving," I said again, squaring my jaw.

"Alan, listen to me -"

"No! I'm not leaving my sister!" I shouted.

"Alan Jacob, don't you yell at me. You're going home," he told me sternly.

"I'm not a child, Cato," I said bitterly.

"Then stop acting like one," he shot back. I stood up, ready to fight him but he lunged at me and pinned my arms behind my back. "Colton, you three go find Amelia. Eli, help me get him out," Eli grabbed my arms and the two of them led me out into the parking lot. I was fighting against them, but Cato just kicked the back of my knees, making me keel over. He dragged me to his car, shoving me into the passenger seat and locking the door. He spoke briefly to Eli before climbing into the driver's seat and starting the car.

"I don't appreciate being manhandled," I spat viciously. Cato calmly pulled out of the parking space.

"Control your temper and then we won't have problems,"

"Or you could respect my damn opinions," I snapped.

"Alan, I'm done arguing with you. It's my job to look after you and that's what I'm doing," he scolded.

"What about Mia?" I taunted. "You're leaving her," He focused on the road.

"Text your brother and send him the video please," Cato instructed tensely. I rolled my eyes before pulling out my phone and texting Xander.