CHAPTER 31: HER REAL NAME

Two months later

Tapping his pointer finger on his desk, Marco stared at the papers in front of him. It was the information that Anthony gathered in two months about his missing wife.

The day she was gone, he ordered Anthony to find information about her. They start from the information she had on their Marriage Certificate. Though her name is pretty ordinary, adding her birthday eliminates thousands of unmatched people, leaving them with a few hundred to search.

From hundreds of information to check, down to seventy, twenty, ten, five, and finally got the one file out of all of them. According to the file, this Bea Cruz just got married a few months ago, coinciding with Bea's time still in his arms. So, without even looking at the picture attached to it, he can confirm that she's not his wife, Bea. And it also said that her parents are both alive. From what he understood, his wife's dad must be dead. She didn't mention her mom, so he can only assume she might still be alive.

Marco pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned on his chair with closed eyes. It's been two months, and he can't even have the correct information about his wife. 'How can I find you? Please tell me...' he wished telepathy existed to communicate with his wife through this.

Marco got off of his chair and reached for his coat. He walked out of his office and went straight to the parking lot. He did not notify anybody, even his assistant, who was left dumbfounded. His boss walks by in front of him without leaving any word. Anthony looked at the documents in his hand and just shook his head.

It became more difficult to read his boss's mind since his wife was gone. These past few months, he's been moody and leaving the company whenever he wants. He threw out all the department's documents for his approval in the last general meeting. He reprimanded the directors for slacking off in deciding with each proposal they had. He let them know that they couldn't forward it to his office unless it were final on their end.

After that, the paperwork that piles up on Marco's desk decreases by more than half—making the secretaries and himself have less work to do. And that's the only good thing that benefited them.

The driver checked the tires when he saw his boss walking in his direction. The driver scratched his head and checked his phone to see if he missed a call from his boss's assistant Anthony.

"Home," Marco said as he opened the door and got in the backseat. Marco leaned his head on the backrest and closed his eyes. He realized that looking for his wife's whereabouts is more challenging than completing a business transaction.

The car went straight to the cabin instead of the big house. He hasn't been in the mansion since Bea left. He wants to be in her favorite place when she returns one day.

Marco changed his clothes and went straight to her study. He turned on her laptop and tried to see if he could find some clue. Marco opened the album and looked at the pictures again. He looked at each of them keenly this time and printed them all so he could look at them closely.

He turned his attention to the computer and enlarged one of his solo pictures. Marco noticed that there seemed to be a white dot at the bottom right corner on each solo picture. It was a circle that appeared to be an ancient greek art, aegis. There are some words above that are unfamiliar. Marco took his cellphone from his pocket and typed it down. He immediately googled what it meant and was surprised by the message. It says, "Hephaestus, my husband, I want to protect you."

He wrinkled his brows and thought. 'The symbol is an ancient greek, and the word was the same,' he thought. 'But who is Hephaestus?' He asked himself. He googled again to know who the hell is that.

"Hephaestus is the divine husband of Athena," he read out loud. He looked at the pictures again and enlarged all his solo pictures. He was shocked when he saw that all of them had it. He was stunned at what he had discovered.

Then to his wife, he is Hephaestus. 'Does it mean that her real name is Athena?' The aegis is Athena's protective shield. 'Is she trying to protect me? From who?' Marco's mind was chaotic with his discovery. He feels like crying and laughing at the same time. 'I found your name, love. My Athena.' He sighed with contentment. Marco believes that he will be able to find her sooner or later. Finding her real name is a start.

After he calmed down, Marco immediately called Anthony.

"Hello, sir," Anthony said on the other line nervously.

"I need you to find all the information about Athena Cruz, immediately!" He ordered and hung up.

Anthony was confused why he had to look for Athena Cruz now instead of Bea Cruz, but he shrugged it off. He doesn't have the liberty to ask, and it was his boss's order, so he has to do it no matter what.

Anthony felt the urgency in his boss's voice, so he immediately called someone at the police bureau to look for Athena Cruz's record. Just like what they did when they searched for Bea Cruz, they eliminated unmatched people. Compared with Bea Cruz's name, the number of parents named their daughter Athena is much less. There are just a few hundred with that name and the same birthday and year.

Anthony received the email of the two women named Athena with the same birthday. He looked at the picture, and Anthony knew that it was not his boss's wife, so he did not bother to let him know right away. Instead, Anthony called their trusted hackers and asked them to find someone with Athena Cruz's name in the whole country. He also gave them Athena's birthday. He thought that she might not be from City S.

When Anthony finished segregating the work to everyone, he then called Marco.

Marco was still in Athena's study when his phone rang. He glanced at it and didn't intend to answer the phone, but when he thought of Anthony and might have something to tell him, Marco answered the phone.

"Go on," he said in a low tone. His head was leaning on the chair and was staring at the ceiling.

"Sir, there are two women that have the same name and birthday like Madam Bea, but they don't have any resemblance to her. One is few inches shorter than her and the other one is a foot taller." Anthony said nervously. He figured that Athena might be Bea's real name; that's why his boss asked him to look for it.

"Hmm..." He replied lazily and heaved a deep sigh. Marco was thrilled earlier when he discovered that she had hidden a clue about her real name. He got excited that he almost flipped everything in her study to find more clues, but Marco was disappointed when he couldn't find any. He suddenly felt exhausted, so he sat comfortably and tried to rest.

"I asked our hackers to look for Madam's name all over the country. She is probably not from City S. That's why we can't find her here." He continued. He hopes that his boss will be proud of him for thinking like that.

Marco sit-up and seemed to realize something. 'Right, I found her on the shore, so it's a big possibility that she's not from City S.' he thought, and a smile formed on his lips. "Good job, Anthony! Call me immediately if you heard anything from them." He said and hung up. The thought of having more chances of finding his wife, Marco's mood eased a little bit.

"Yes, sir!" Anthony was so happy that after a long time that he had been working with Marco Chavez, it was the first time that he complimented him. Even though he still hung up on him, it didn't bother him.

Marco looked at the pictures that he had printed earlier. He rechecked it to see if he missed some details.