Beyond Repair

It was a cold morning in Europe. Andrea has been staying at a hotel these past two days contemplating whether she should pay a visit to her adoptive father. Last week, she got an email from him telling her she was missed and that he was not feeling well lately.

'He was finding excuses for me to visit him.' She thought to herself.

Taking a short trip to Europe was not such a bad idea as she needed to tie loose ends with a few business deals she made three years back.

"Hello, Dad. How have you been?" Andrea gave her foster father a call before deciding on paying a visit.

"Andy, is this really you?"

"Yes Dad, it's me," Andrea responded in a weak voice feeling guilty of having left all this time.

"Andy, my daughter. I miss you so much."

Andrea could tell her Dad was now crying over the phone while pleading, "Is leaving really necessary? Can you please come back?"

"Dad, Aunt Nancy and I are not in good terms. Especially Gabriel. I don't want you to have to choose between me and your real family."

There were seconds of silence between them before she spoke again, "I want to see you, but I wanted to see you without them. Where can we meet?"

The two later decided to meet at their old favorite restaurant in the middle of the city. The Renaissance was an established Michelin star restaurant that has been around for more than five years. Their delicacies include some of the famous French cuisines which Alfred Davies, Andrea's adoptive father loved the most. They agreed to see each other for lunch.

Seeing Andrea coming his way, Alfred could not contain his tears and stood up from the table to welcome her. He immediately hugged her tight, so tight that she could feel the warmth of his body.

Andrea could not also help being emotional. She loved her father dearly. She did not want to leave but the conflict between her, Gabriel and her adoptive mother had gotten out of hand. It was beyond repair.

Three years ago, when Nancy Davies, realized that Andrea posed a potential threat to their business, she tried to force her in giving up the company shares and any possible inheritance. She was, after all, just an adopted daughter to them. Unfortunately for Nancy, Andrea was not naïve to just give it all up, and neither did her foster father agree.

Despite Gabriel having a five-year relationship with Andrea, Nancy had pushed her son to her friend's daughter, Taya Ivanov. Taya was someone Nancy could easily control and would not have any strength to take over their businesses, plus her family was extremely wealthy. For Nancy, she was the perfect daughter-in-law.

Taya instantly fell in love with Gabriel. She worked with Nancy to find opportunities for her and Gabriel to be together on several occasions. She successfully seduced him to bed making the man obsessed with her lovemaking expertise.

Sex was the one thing Andrea did not give Gabriel. She did not want to disappoint her father and get pregnant unplanned.

Though Andrea was raised as a Davies, Nancy made it clear that she was not part of the family from the start. She had asked Andrea to call her Aunt Nancy. The treatment between her and Gabriel was never the same. Only her foster father, Alfred Davies, was a real family to her.

For the same reason, Gabriel and Andrea never treated each other like siblings but instead, childhood friends which had eventually developed more than just friendship.

Back then Andrea was determined to prove to Gabriel that she was better than Taya. Sure, Taya had wealth and beauty. However, she had the brains and skills to keep their business growing. Apart from that, she was a catch herself. Unfortunately, all her efforts went in vain.

Andrea was supposed to go on a business trip with Gabriel on one occasion where Nancy had her kidnapped. Thankfully, killing Andrea was never part of the plan. She just wanted Andrea to be away from Gabriel as the apparent business trip became a one-month holiday vacation for Taya and her son.

Andrea became deeply hurt by what had happened. Although she was alive, she was starved and kept in a dark room for almost two weeks. She would have stayed there much longer if it weren't for one of the kidnappers who took interest in her and decided he would take her.