Our Lies

Chapter 41

"How is Mr. Digni... I mean grandfather?"

Georgia shook her head. "He still hasn't eaten much, even though I have cooked all his favorites."

Agata smiled weakly. "Grandfather still locked himself in the room?"

"That stubborn man. If he cares so much about the young master, why did he kick him out? I thought he had learned his lesson after what happened to the late mistress!" Georgia's eyes teared up. Agata had since learned about how and why her mother left the Dignita house years before she was born. "Have you heard anything? Has anyone seen him at all?? I am so worried about him."

Agata bit her lip, trying to hold her tears. She had lost count how many times she had cried over him. It had been three months since Gia left the Dignita family and had not been heard of since then. It was as if he just disappeared into thin air. Jean and his sister had used all the connection they had to track him down but nobody knew where he went, while Leo had not made any move to search for him.

"I wish I know, Georgia... I miss him so much... I don't care why he did all these. I just want him to come back. I want to see him so bad..." Agata wailed in Georgia's arms.

"Ohh... young miss..."

"The company is doing alright now but it won't be for long. If he did not come back, someone has to step into his position to lead it. No clue so far on where he is now?" Amaria asked.

Jean shook his head. "I've tried all the places he frequented but no one had seen him. I am at loss. How can he just disappear like that without telling me anything?? I am his friend!!" Jean stabbed the meat on his plate in frustration. "How about you? Or your mother?? Anything you can think of? Where he might have gone to?"

"Nothing. We have searched everywhere. Miss Agata even brought us to her hometown in Tilrara, where the two of them first met as neighbors, thinking he had probably gone back to his old house, but nothing. No one had seen him...." She sighed. "And mom had been down since then. She tried to hide it but I know she cried every night. She thinks of him as her own son, basically raising both of us like brother and sister." A tear almost fell down from her eye. "Just where could he have gone to..."

Jean looked at the pink diamond adorning Amaria's ring finger. The ring he had gotten her a few weeks ago. "Say... do you think his fiancée might know where he is?"

"You mean Agnes Lassham?" Amaria put down her fork.

"But Gia did not seem to like her or anything. I doubt he told her anything at all."

Amaria looked into her memory and then she remembered that day. "I think it is worth a try. Why didn't I think of her! Agnes Lassham came to Lumina Capital on the day he disappeared. I remembered she said she had something to tell him and it seemed important. What do you think? Should we try asking her?"

Jean nodded. "Let's go find her. Unlikely, but it's better than nothing at all."

***

"Sir, you know I can help you search for Mr. Serogia if you want. We can even do it discreetly! Without anyone knowing! At least we know how he is doing." The loyal aide tried to convince Leo.

"I HAVE NO DESIRE TO WELCOME HIM BACK! HE CAN GO ANYWHERE HE WANTS! I DON'T CARE!" Leo clenched his fist.

"But..."

"WHY ARE YOU SIDING WITH THAT LIAR?! EVERY ONE OF YOU!! HE HID MY GRANDDAUGHTER ALL THIS TIME! HE SAID IT HIMSELF! HE DARED TO TAKE AGATA'S PLACE, POSING AS MY GRANDSON, JUST FOR MONEY! AFTER EVERYTHING I'VE DONE FOR HIM!!"

The secretary sighed. "I just don't want to see you regret your decision by repeating the same mistake. Mr. Serogia left the house without anything. Not even his mobile phone."

Leo looked away. "I don't want to talk to you. Leave my room."

The secretary took a deep breath. "I hope you will think about it, Sir. If you can't see him as family, at least, think of him as your successor to Lumina Capital. You told me before, even when you know he isn't your biological grandson, you still decided to leave everything to him. You trusted him."

Leo did not respond.

"If he is someone who is only after your money, I trust someone like you will know it right away and won't leave him in charge of this family. Please, won't you consider talking to him again? Find out what really is going on?"

"Just leave. I want to be alone."

Trowell gave up and left the room quietly.

Leo was left alone in his bedroom. The room only he and his private secretary could come into. It was not always like that. When his wife and his daughter were still around, no one was barred from entering his room. Butler would come in and out to deliver papers and letters, maids would come in and out to deliver his meals or changed the flowers or drew the curtains for him in his room, and close friends would sometimes visit him in his private chambers when he fell sick. Everything changed after Serogia came. Little by little, he stopped people from coming into his room until only Trowell, his long-serving secretary was the only one allowed. It was as if he had something he kept in his room that he did not want anyone else to know.