Lost in the Maze: Elias de Marcel

Kabanata 11

KABANATA 11

Atasha's POV

After finishing my conversation with Shuen, I decided to go home as Diovanni arrived and picked up Shuen from the cafe. I just shook my head while smiling because it's obvious that Dio is so obsessed with her; my friend has a strong grip on people. However, a sudden thought crossed my mind: as far as I know, Dio has a long-time girlfriend living in Spain.

I haven't seen her in our long relationship with Elias, and I haven't had the chance to meet her either, as she has never attended any of the De Marcel family gatherings. I sighed before grabbing my AirPods and putting them in my ears. Then I dialed the number of Mommy's brother, Uncle Henry, a background investigator.

After four rings, he finally answered. It's been a while since I last called him, and I'm glad he hasn't changed his number.

A baritone voice greeted me on the other line. "Atasha! My beautiful niece, how are you? Why did you just think of calling now? It's already two in the morning," he teased.

I cleared my throat before releasing a sigh. "I have something for you to do," I said seriously, causing him to fall silent on the other line. "I want you to do it right away," I added.

He chuckled and seemed to become serious as well. "What do you want me to do? I hope I'm not going to kill someone, right?" he jokingly replied.

But I ignored his joke as I remained serious while focusing on the road. "Gather information about Jocelle Sadejas. Give me all the details," I said directly and straightforwardly, further silencing him. "Uncle Henry?" I called out when he remained silent.

"Jocelle Sadejas? Okay, give me some details about her, and I'll take care of it as soon as possible. It seems like you're in a hurry," he said sarcastically in his last words.

"I'll send everything to your email tomorrow, thank you," I said.

Hindi ko na hinayaang matapos pa niya ang sasabihin dahil agad kong pinutol ang tawag. Pagkatapos ay malalim akong bumuntong-hininga at inihagis ang airpods sa kabilang upuan bago ko binilisan ang pagmamaneho. Nang makarating ako, mabilis akong nagparada at agad na pumasok. Napuno ang isip ko ng mga bagay na bumabagabag sa akin, hanggang sa hindi ko namalayan na kanina pa pala bumukas ang pinto ng elevator.

Lumabas ako at nagtungo sa unit namin. Pagpasok ko, sinalubong ako ng katahimikan ng buong paligid. Napansin ko rin ang bote ng alak at baso na nakapatong sa may bar island, nagpapahiwatig na uminom si Elias. Napailing na lamang ako bago umakyat sa kwarto, at tulad ng inaasahan, nadatnan ko si Elias na mahimbing ng natutulog.

Dahan-dahan akong lumapit at tumayo sa gilid ng kama upang pagmasdan ang mahimbing niyang pagtulog. I clenched my fist while imagining myself slapping him several times in my mind. I just released a soft sigh before turning around and heading straight to the bathroom to take a shower. I soaked myself in the bathtub and allowed myself to think again. What should I do to make you stay away from Elias, Jocelle? What do you want?

After an hour, I decided to get up and go into the walk-in closet to change. As I sat at the vanity and stared at the mirror, I opened the drawer and took out my weight loss and belly fat reduction supplements. I looked at them and glanced at myself. When did I start taking these? Back in high school, I met Elias and transferred to their school.

I had a lot of insecurities back then, and my self-confidence was so low that I almost didn't want to leave the house because I was embarrassed to show myself to people. I wasn't born thin or with a slim figure; in fact, I was overweight, and my weight was around 200 pounds. I experienced bullying from my schoolmates, so my dad decided to transfer me to a bigger school, where Alphonsus and Elias were also studying.