Stabbing incident inside the store
“You are here, Doctor Acinea!” said the woman in her thirties. When she approached Jenica, she smiled and extended her hand for a handshake. “I’m Samantha Mondragon, and Governor Jobert is my friend!” she blurted out.
With a slight smile on her lips, Jenica softly accepted the woman’s handshake. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Acinea.”
“I know, I know. Come on, Doc. Please take a seat and be at ease!” Samantha said to the maid on standby, “Make the snacks and drinks, and hurry up,” she said, her eyes straining.
The maid hastily bowed and dashed off somewhere. Jenica lowered her gaze to hide the glint flashed across eyes before taking a seat and sat. She gazed up at her strange ‘assistant’ who had appeared out of nowhere. Because the man was staring at her, she raised an eyebrow at him, despite the fact that he couldn’t see her motion due to the mask.
“You are Doctor Acinea’s second assistant?” Samantha inquired, smiling as she mistook Agent C for the doctor’s other assistant. “Come, please have a seat. You can put the child on the sofa or I’ll call someone to fetch him and put him on the bed upstairs?” Samantha asked.
Jenica and Carlos exchanged glances. Carlos laughed. He was irritated that he had been mistaken for the ‘other’ assistant when, in fact, it was that strange man who had stolen his identity as Doctor Acinea’s true assistant.
Jenica secretly glanced at her fake assistant, who was sipping tea and staring at her. She couldn’t blow off her cover right now, so even though she was wary of this unusual man, she opted to ignore his presence.
She sighed and turned to face Samantha. “This… I have a important message for you.
Samantha’s smile vanished and she dismissed the housekeepers around. When there was no outsider, the woman’s smile returned and she inquired, “What is it?” Samantha giggled as Jenica stared at the fake assistant, adding, “He’s your assistant, not someone else’s.”
Jenica was now apprehensive that this unusual man was one of Jobert’s men who had been told to follow her, knowing Samantha, who was under Jobert’s tutelage, spoke for him. In any case, she won’t reveal anything about herself until she knows who this man is. “We fortunately saw your child while on our way,” she said, pointing to the child in Carlos’ arms. “We brought June Mondragon back.”
Samanthan rose up as the smile on her lips faded. She approached Carlos quickly and removed the handkerchief that was covering the child’s face. Samantha hesitated for a few seconds before tears streamed down her cheeks one by one. Samantha burst out crying, “M-my son is back!”
Jenica shook her head at Carlos, preventing him from handing over the kid to Samantha, who began crying. Hearing Samantha wailing loudly, the corner of her lips twitched. June cries in the same way. She was, in fact, the child’s mother.
Gray Mondragon, the current head of the Mondragon family, arrived as a result of Samantha’s incessant wailing. And it appears that he was uninformed of the visitor to his estate, as he instantly ordered the guards to throw them out.
“Bastards!” Gray cursed fiercely before attending to Samantha.
The corner of her lips twitched. Two security guards approached her and led her outside.
Samantha burst out crying as she saw Carlos and the child being led outside. “My s-son, June!” she exclaimed.
Gray took a deep breath and turned to face them with a gloomy expression. “Lock them up on the shed and call the police! They’re the ones who kidnapped my son!”
“Huh? Son of a b*tch! We didn’t kidnap your son!” Carlos yelled fiercely, turning to face Samantha. “Hey you, stop crying over and explain to your husband! If you don’t want to, I won’t give you your child!”
Gray’s face grew red with rage as he charged at Carlos. Jenica’s eyes narrowed as she approached the assistant to grab the child from him before moving back to give space for the two guys hitting each other. She noticed the false assistant approaching her out of the corner of her eye and surreptitiously frowned at him.
“Who are you?” she asked quietly.
The man smiled at her as he raised his eyeglasses. He put his lips to her ear, as if he was whispering to Jenica. “Guess,” he said.
Jenica was taken aback, and her eyes widened. “Alex?!” she whispered in shock.
“What a lovely expression. Do you like my surprise?” he questioned, lifting his brows.
Jenica’s expression was perplexed. “What are you doing here?” she retorted, furious. “And what’s with that old fashioned look?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m your husband, so I should be the one assisting you, not some random dog,” he added, turning to face Carlos who was punching Gray Mondragon’s face.
Her lips trembled slightly. “We’ll talk later,” she murmured when she noticed Samantha was upset as she stared at her battered husband.
“No! What are you doing? Get off!” Samantha exclaimed furiously before charging at Carlos.
She was striking her assistant, who could only move and defend himself. Carlos turned to her for assistance. Alex was ahead of her before she could say anything. “Stop hurting Doctor Acinea’s assistant, Mrs. Mondragon.”
Samantha regained awareness and turned to face Carlos, whose cheeks and arms were flushed from the power of her punches. She exclaimed, covering her mouth with both hands. “I’m sorry!”
Carlos grimaced. All he received was a sorry after all the misery she caused?
Finally, Jenica treated Samantha’s husband and chastised her assistant for punching Grey’s face that it turned swollen. “Damn it, Doc! He attacked me first!” exclaimed Carlos.
Jenica simply stared and blinked at him, telling him to quit causing trouble with her eyes. She then turned to face the couple who were staring at the helpless child dozing on the sofa. June didn’t wake up after all the uproar. He, like his mother, is a heavy sleeper, as Grey Mondragon joked earlier.
Jenica swallowed and cleared her throat. “Now that we brought back your son –”
“Give me a price for bringing my son back,” Gray Mondragon cut her off mid-sentence. Gray appeared to have misunderstood Jenica’s gloomy expression, so he said, “If money is not enough, I can give you lands and an island under my name.”
Carlos perked up his ears. “Island?” he inquired, excitedly.
Gray shrugged and nodded, “Yes. I have an island in Scarborough Shoal. I can give it to you if you like,” he said.
“White sand beach —”
Jenica interrupted Carlos’ fantasy by asking, “Do I appear to be poor?”
Gray Mondragon nodded as he looked between Carlos and Alex, who looked like abandoned kittens. “Yes. You lack money and I can give you a lot.”
The smile on Carlos’ lips vanished as Alex closed his eyes. Jenica’s lips quiver just a little. That appears to be the case. Gray assumed she didn’t have the money to give her two assistants a makeover because they looked like trash.
Black lines emerged on her forehead. Good. Very good!
The two men seated on either side of her noticed the abrupt drop in temperature. They both swallowed and turned away at the same time.
Gray became aware of the peculiar mood created by the three people sitting opposite him. “Did I say something wrong?” he questioned.
“Ah, husband…” Samantha said, faking a smile. “Doctor Acinea has a lot of money.”
“Oh?” Gray’s eyes narrowed as he turned to face Jenica. “Doctor, you are new to business so take my advice. You should give your men enough money to spend for themselves otherwise they will look for another job that will pay more for their service. Don’t be too stingy with money. You can earn more if you have productive workers working for you.”
The surroundings have become more awkward. Carlos burst out laughing and raised his hand. “I’m fine with the salary. I don’t need a lot of money!”
“Likewise, I don’t require any more,” Alex stated.
Gray made a shaky motion with his head. “Look at these two. You just say you don’t need it but you should demand a reasonable payment for your service. There’s no free meal nowadays!”
The two mem could no longer save the situation.
So, after giving them a room, Jenica invited the two men into her room. They were awkwardly standing at the foot of the bed, unable to look at her directly. Jenica’s pupils constricted and she grinned. “So… your salary is so small that you can’t afford to fix yourselves.”
“Doctor, I’m fine with this style. “It’s better this way so girls don’t chase me down with my good looks,” Carlos explained.
Jenica sighed as Alex gazed at Carlos without saying anything.”Excuses!” she exclaimed angrily. “Follow me!” she added as she exited the room.
Samantha was concerned when Jenica informed her that she would be gone for a while with her assistants. The woman offered to give her two additional bodyguards but Jenica declined.
It’s the day before the festival, so many businesses are open in the plaza. Jenica walked discreetly while the two assistants followed her around, then entered the boutique with two guys following after her.
“Good day, Ma’am!” The salesperson smiled and inquired as to what she desired.
“Make them look like humans,” she said, pointing to the two men behind her.
Alex kept his mouth shut as Carlos choked on his own saliva. The salesperson was unsure whether to grin or not. Finally, she directed the two guys to the fitting room, while another salesperson directed Jenica to the boutique’s complimentary hair salon.
“Ma’am, this is the new product of our store,” the woman stated cheerfully as she brushed her hair.
Jenica examined the merchandise and listened to the woman talking about it. It’s a natural shampoo that she claims is a local product from the Mondragon Store. Jenica sensed the usual pharmaceutical odor when the woman opened the bottle.
“You said that shampoo is a herbal shampoo from Mondragon Store?” she inquired, secretly scanning the room. “Only your store has this product?”
After nodding, the woman put shampoo into the little container. “Yes. If you don’t know, our boutique has a partnership with the Mondragon Store so you can be sure that we use legit products. If you avail the VIP membership, you can get even more free products and free services you will enjoy on your next visit to our boutique, Ma’am.”
So all of that bluster for a single VIP membership. But it’s all good. Because she now knew what to do.
She wasn’t expecting to find a lethal needle component in that tiny bottle of shampoo. Even if it was only a small fraction of the juice from dangerous herbs, she could still smell it.Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.
The woman looked her in the eyes and asked, “Ma’am, may I remove your mask?”
Jenica arched her brow. She was about to refuse when she heard a crash from the other room.
“Ahh! Thief!” exclaimed the saleswoman who was guiding Carlos and Alex.
Jenica jumped to her feet and dashed towards the source of the cry. She watched Alex on the floor, blood streaming from his wounded side, as Carlos carelessly hit a strange man in the face.
“If you’re going to peek your perverted eyes, make it a sissy so you don’t get a beating like this!” Carlos yelled angrily, kicking the man who collapsed from the power of his punch.
“What happened?” she questioned, frowning, and dashed to help Alex, only to inhale a frigid breath. “He’s losing too much blood!”