Chapter 3

Chapter 3: His Demise

Around twelve o'clock in the morning, I got up with a sharp ache in my heart, so I drank water from the aqua flask on my bedside table. I tried again to sleep but couldn't, so I got up to check on my daughter. I've always made it a habit to check on her even though she's already grown.

But I didn't expect her to be missing from her room when I opened it. I checked my phone, and it was already 12:30 am!

I was about to call Hendrix's number when I was startled by the consecutive ringing of the gate bell. I tried calling his number while I was on my way down, but it was out of coverage area. I couldn't even reach my daughter's phone!

Anxiety started to overwhelm me as I saw the police outside the house.

"Please don't be alarmed, miss, but your daughter needs you at the hospital."

That instant, I was in shock! My heart began to race uncontrollably. "W-what happened to my daughter?"

"She's in stable condition, miss. Please come with us."

I sat there in a daze as I followed them. PO1 Marquez and I were seated in the back of the police patrol car.

We remained silent as we made our way through the length of Santander towards the hospital, with only the radio playing in the background.

"Eight people were killed, including the driver of the jeepney, and six passengers were injured in a collision between a passenger jeepney and a black Mercedes-Benz with plate number SGH 123, driven by Hendrix Torres."

For a while, my mind was stuck. I couldn't process what I was hearing. Eight people died?

"The driver of the said car, who was identified as the son of the esteemed Regional Director Maximo Torres of Santander, Cebu, was also pronounced dead on arrival-"

"No," I whispered weakly, shaking my head repeatedly. "That can't be Hendrix!"

I tried to open the car's door handle, but PO1 stopped me. "Your daughter needs you at the hospital, miss!"

Fear and anxiety started to consume me. My heart was beating faster, and it felt like I couldn't breathe with everything I was hearing from the radio and from PO1. Their words didn't sink in anymore; it was as if I had gone deaf.

When we arrived at the hospital, I was trembling. I hurriedly looked for my daughter, tears filling my eyes.

"Where is my daughter?" I looked around frantically. Then a nurse took my hand and led me to my daughter's room. She was lying in bed with a cast on her right leg. "Skye!" I ran straight to her side.

"She just received a sedative, Ma'am. She is doing well now. Her chest and stomach are covered in bruises. Your daughter had to have a scan on her head; fortunately, no damage was done."

I sighed with relief and held my daughter's hand. "How about my husband?" I still believed that nothing bad had happened to him. I believed that the news I heard on the radio earlier was wrong.

"When he arrived at the ER, he was dead from the accident, but we tried and failed to revive him. Please accept my apologies, Mrs. Torres. We tried everything, but he did not survive." The guy in a white uniform said.

That's when I let go of my daughter's hand. I collapsed from the chair and landed on the floor, but I didn't feel the pain because I was numb. The nurse quickly assisted me and helped me back up. My breathing became erratic, and I couldn't accept what he had just said.

"W-where is my husband now?" I asked, stuttering. This can't be! We were just talking earlier! How can this be happening! Oh my God!

No! I stood up, but I fell again. Daddy will not show mercy to him! I held my chest as it started to tighten. Hendrix's father is a dedicated public servant. I recall him shooting a gun at a rapist in front of a large crowd in Santander. That's why it's quiet and crime-free here because of his passionate commitment to his duty. He was never convicted because he has friends among the lawyers and judges here in Cebu.

When I went looking for Hendrix, he had already been cremated, as I had suspected.

"How can you do such a thing to your son?" My hands trembled as I looked at his father. "Our daughter hasn't woken up yet, Dad!"

I couldn't help but punch his chest, even though the entire Santander feared him. I don't care anymore! I'm not afraid of him. "How could you, daddy? He must have had a comfortable place to rest. Why did you have to burn him?"

"He'll burn in hell anyway. I can't bear looking at his face. He disgusts me." He said heartlessly.

"Skye will be even angrier with you, Dad!"

"That daughter of yours never liked me, Gabrielle. She doesn't like me because she is always on Hendrix's side. She forgot that she has a grandfather."

"Because you never showed that you cared for your son. You even humiliated him before at the restobar. My daughter heard how you belittled her daddy. It's natural for her to hate you."

I knelt in front of him, covering my face as I sobbed.

"Why do you have to cry for that failure son of mine? We always end up embarrassed because of him? Don't you think it's his karma?"

I shook my head. "He deserves to be happy, Dad."

"That disgusting bastard can't have his happiness because he's evil! And now he created his own demise! He even dragged eight people into it! That child never did anything right, even in his death!"

Now I understand how Hendrix felt whenever he returned home when he was younger. I now know what his father is like. He is heartless!

I looked at him with blurred eyes. "He's happy after we talked, dad! He's finally free, but why? Why is it like this? I didn't want this? I should have stopped them from sending -" I stopped myself from saying Arnaiz's name because Dad might redirect his anger towards him.

"I will talk to that son-of-a-bitch!" I saw the fiery anger in his eyes. I quickly grabbed his hand and pleaded.

"No, Dad! Hendrix will be mad at you if you do something bad to the person he loves."

Daddy helped me up and hugged me tightly. "Why did Teresa raise a kind-hearted woman like you? You're being trampled on, and you still refuse to fight back..."

I couldn't answer. Why indeed? Didn't I fight? But I didn't win. In the end, we lost Hendrix.