Our Lies

Chapter 34

Leo sat alone in his bedroom, looking out to the window. On his hands were a folded newspaper from months ago. There was a knock on his door. He knew who it was without the need to turn his head for only his trusted secretary was allowed to enter his private chamber.

"You called, Sir?"

"Can you call Glenn?"

"Glenn... the restaurant owner, Sir?" His secretary asked. Leo nodded.

"Do you want me to help you book..." The secretary offered.

"No. Just call him. I need to speak to him." Leo waved his hand.

"Right. Right away, Sir." The loyal secretary was confused but he left the room quickly as ordered.

Leo leaned back and closed his eyes. He hoped he was wrong. He had never wished to be wrong this much before. His old hands were cold and shaking with fear, just like they were 18 years ago when the police called his house to inform him that his missing daughter had been found dead.

18 years ago

"What do you mean... dead?" Leo had asked the police when he arrived at the station.

The superintendent opened the reports and attempted to explain. "We believed her car hit the guard rail and..."

"I ASKED YOU TO FIND MY DAUGHTER! FOR 10 YEARS!!! AND NOW YOU TELL ME SHE IS DEAD? WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU ALL DOING?!!!"

"Sir!!" His secretary held him firmly. Leo looked like he was going to destroy the whole office.

"LET ME GO!!! THIS INCOMPETENT INSTITUTION!!"

"Mr. Dignita!! Calm down! Please!!" The official tried to ease the man's anger.

"Mr. Dignita?" A man walked into the room. Leo turned and saw a man in suit.

"WHO ARE YOU? Another idiot from the force?" Leo shouted.

The inspector ignored his rude remark. "We need you to confirm the identity of the deceased and..." He paused, looking for the right word to explain.

"AND WHAT?"

"There is a child. We believe he is your grandson."

"Grand...son?" Leo repeated.

"This way, Mr. Dignita." He beckoned to follow him outside.

They passed a long corridor and few rooms before arriving at a door with a slim rectangular glass window in the middle. Leo caught a glimpse of a boy sitting with a doctor inside. After a triple knock, both Leo and the inspector went in. One thing that Leo immediately noticed from the boy was his stare. He knew those expression well. Terrified. The boy was terrified of him though he could not figure out why. Was it his face? He had wondered.

The boy quickly hid behind the doctor the moment Leo approached him.

"He must still be in shock." The doctor said, stroking the boy's hair gently.

Leo studied the boy. Black hair, black eyes. This boy did not look like his daughter at all. Did he take after his father? He looked the right age. Suddenly Leo felt his blood boiling again as he remembered how his daughter defended her then boyfriend. The shameless man that corrupted his daughter and ruined her future. And this was the baby she had persistently protected, sacrificing their family, and her life.

"What's your name?" He asked.

The boy did not answer. He gritted his teeth and clenched the doctor's white coat tightly like a frightened kitten. It looked like the boy really hated him.

"Mr. Dignita. Can we?" The inspector interrupted his thought. Leo groaned and walked out of the room with the officer. Once outside, the inspector led him to other part of the building.

"The body was burnt completely so it was hard to identify it right away. Miss Dara's ID was found where the crash occurred and there were a few more other things as well that... we'd like your help to look at them." The inspector explained as they walked.

Leo was silent the whole time. He did not shed a tear when looking at the charred body. His beautiful daughter. How did she turn into this... He signed a few documents and left the station after strongly forbidding the police to publish his daughter's death to the public.

Only after another call from the police station that he remembered about the boy he had left behind.

"What are you going to do about him? We can look into his other relatives to take care of him if you think you can't raise him but..."

"I don't even know if he really is my grandson." Leo murmured.

"Do you want to do a DNA test? Just to confirm." The inspector asked.

Leo considered the option. He recalled the frightened child from before and shook his head. "I'll bring him to my house. I have many things to ask him."

Aware of how Leo Dignita usually conducted things, the inspector reminded him. "The child has not recovered from the trauma."

"My family doctor will take care of that." Serogia resisted to go with him initially that he had to ask Georgia to soft force him.

A few days after his arrival, the doctor concluded that the trauma from the accident might have caused the boy to suffer from temporary amnesia. Leo untiringly waited but no matter how many days and weeks had passed by the boy never showed any recollection from the accident nor anything from his past. The only thing he showed Leo was the same expression of fear and angry eyes every time he went to see him. It was perhaps a punishment from his late daughter, he had sometimes thought. The child was the grandson he rejected long before he was born. With nothing seemed to work between them and the constant hate he felt from Serogia, Leo finally decided that it would be better to move him to a new house with Georgia to take care of him, thus separating themselves.

Leo put down the receiver.

"Are you alright, Sir?" His secretary came into the room. He was concerned about the pale look in his employer's face. His health was not in the best condition lately.

"Call Eric."

"Eric... Do you mean Mr. Crown, Sir?" The secretary asked.

Leo nodded.

The secretary was sure they did not have any business dealing with the Tower lately but he knew better not to ask. "Right away, Sir."