The Puzzle's Complete! (2)

Princess Vanessa aka Jennifer discovered half of the truth Mrs. Evangelina and Sarah have been hiding from them thanks to a secret investigation. Confronting the pair, the princess asked them for the other half of the truth.

“ Mother, I think you should be the one doing the explanation”. Sarah said assertively.

…

“ All started with my husband. He has always dreamed of being a businessman and opening his own company but money was lacking. At the time, the Esperanza Restaurant was booming with customers and the sales were great. We used the money earned to help him achieve his lifelong dream. I loved my husband the most and doing this much for him was nothing”.

…

“ Three months later, his business started taking off. I was happy for him but then--------”

Flashback

“ I’ll need to leave for a year to sign the contract and take care of the necessary paperwork before the company can officially be open”. Sarah’s father said to his wife.

“ A year! That’s a very long time”. His wife was happy for him but also a bit saddened.

“ When I’ve finalized everything, I’ll come back to get you and our children. Be patient and wait for me to come back”. Husband and wife hugged each other emotionally.

End of flashback

“ After he went overseas, we got a stunning surprise. We received a visit from debt collectors. By what each one of them said, my husband had contracted money from them. Besides the money I gave him, he contracted 500,000 Yuan more. We were lost about what to do as we didn’t have the money to pay the contractors. It’s at that very moment that Martin Kyung showed up as our savior”.

…

“ I’ll take it from here”. Sarah took over and continued the narration.

…

" Martin Kyung is from a rich family. He offered to help us for free. He didn't want anything in exchange. We were very grateful for his help. Thanks to the money he lent us, we were able to pay the contractors. Everything was going smoothly until one day-----------------" Sarah went down Memory lane.

Four months ago

Sarah went to the market to shop for things. On her way back from the supermarket, she encountered Martin Kyung.

" Sarah, long time no see! Do you still remember me?" He asked inquisitively.

" Hello, Mr. Kyung! How could I possibly forget our savior?"

…

" If you didn't offer us your generous help, we wouldn't have gotten out of this situation. We could never thank you enough, Mr. Kyung". Sarah said with a bright grin.

What Martin Kyung said in response stunned her. " If you wanna thank me, why don't you become mine?"

" What are you talking about, Mr. Kyung? Don't joke like that!"

" I'm not joking. I'm being serious and stop with Mr. Call me Martin!" He got closer and was irremediably pushed away.

Back to the present

" As you would have guessed, he didn't take my rejection the right way. A week later, he came to us claiming that he wanted his money back". She said, sadly.

" What happened after that incident?" Lucas inquired inquisitively.

" As we couldn't reimburse him right away, he kidnapped my baby brother and we don't know where he could have held him captive?" Sarah sobbed.

…

" He's been using him as a means to pressure me. Louis is all alone and I don't know for how much longer he'll be willing to wait for me. He's been gone for almost six months now". She kept sobbing while narrating their sad story to Lucas and Jennifer.

" Thanks for telling us the whole truth! The puzzle's now complete".

" Now, it's your turn to be open with us. Where is Louis? How is he?" Mrs. Evangelina asked anxiously.

" He's fine for now". Jennifer's response wasn't reassuring.

" Why, for now?" Mrs. Evangelina and Sarah were unable to hold down their emotions.

" Listen, you two! What I meant by my phrase is, he's skinny. I only saw him from afar but I could tell he didn't have anything for weeks or even months. He's been held captive in an abandoned house. I was able to find that out by tracking Martin the other day".

She summarized her secret investigation to Mrs. Evangelina and Sarah. They became emotional, listening to her reveal the details.

" The other day when you were absent was because you were tracking Martin down. How could we ever thank you?"

…

" If it wasn't for you meddling in our affairs, we would never have learned of Louis' whereabouts. Thank you so much, Jennifer!" Mrs. Evangelina said emotionally.

" Jennifer and Lucas! Thank you so very much. We're very grateful to you".

Hearing all the thanks, Princess Vanessa aka Jennifer started missing her family terribly. She wanted to run home and hug her parents tightly but something was holding her back. Her voyage wasn't yet finished. She still had many things to learn before ending her adventure and heading back home among her peers.

" We have to think of a strategy to free Louis from Martin's clutches. Any ideas?"

We thought of an idea altogether. Lucas said suddenly: " The best thing to do would be to reimburse him his money but then again, there's no guarantee he will free him after paying what you owe him".

" Right!"

The thinking continued its course. Jennifer suddenly thought of a brilliant idea and thought of sharing it with everyone.

" I have an idea that suddenly came to me. Wanna hear about it?"

" Don't keep us hanging and tell us already! We're curious to know what you've come up with". Lucas, Mrs. Evangelina, and Sarah were ready to listen to my brilliant idea.

" My idea is the following: " We free Louis from his captivity and reinvent the situation to our advantage. What do you say?"

" We don't quite understand what you're getting at". Mrs. Evangelina and Sarah were both confused.

" I understand what she means".

…

" She simply said to use Louis' kidnapping in our favor. First of all, we free Louis from where he's been held captive and make it look like we don't know of his whereabouts. Martin will come to reveal he was the one who kidnapped him when he'll realize he's gone. All we'll have to do is use the situation to blackmail him, making him lose his integrity. We'll be the winners and Martin will no longer have the courage to stand before you. In summary, that's what she implied".

" We'll get rid of Martin once and for all and you won't have the obligation of paying back the money you owe him. That's what I call, *Killing two birds with one stone*". Jennifer grinned.

…

" You're a genius, Jennifer! I can't believe you came up with such a cunning plan. I'm impressed by your brilliance". Sarah praised Jennifer for the wonderful plan she had come up with.

" I'm no genius but thanks for the praise, Sarah".

( I'm going to learn a lot from this journey. It was a good thing I left. Staying in the palace wouldn't have helped me discover my potential).