CHAPTER IX: A TROUBLED CHILD

FOR the first time, Peter went to the mall without his guards. To be honest, it felt better. He was free to do whatever he wanted without being watched at all times. But he was also concerned about what might happen. If his parents found out he was out without his bodyguards, they would go insane. He, on the other hand, just wanted to be in the present and not think about anything else. This might never happen again, so he wanted to enjoy it while it lasted.

"That's a lot!" he exclaimed, chuckling as he took his girlfriend's shopping bags.

"Of course, I'm a girl," she shrugged, "so what should we do next? Hmm, I think we should eat. I'm starving already!"

"Yeah, I'm a bit hungry too. Let's look for a nice restaurant."

"Cool!"

It took them some time to find a restaurant that they both liked. Finally, they opted to dine at the first fine-dining restaurant they came across. Kayla then grabbed his arm and dragged him to a nearby steakhouse. He just followed her because she seemed so excited and eager.

"You like it here? Are you sure?"

"Yes! I'm craving for some steak!"

"You're cute," he chuckled. "Fine, let's dine here. It's my treat, okay?"

"Great! I'm broke from all that shopping I did, anyway."

They were both laughing when Peter suddenly stopped walking and appeared to be frozen as soon as they entered the steakhouse. Kayla was confused and asked him what was wrong, but he was too surprised to respond. He couldn't believe what he had witnessed right in front of his eyes. His hands were trembling, beads of sweat were forming on his brow, and his chest tightened.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"L-let's... let's get out of here."

"But I want some steak! Let's just dine here, please? I'm so hungry and I badly want to eat now!"

"Let's go look for another steak house."

"Why not here? C'mon, I'm too tired to look for something else."

"Please..."

She had noticed the desperation in his voice that's why, despite her skepticism, she eventually gave in. Peter remained deafeningly silent, still processing what he just saw. He tried to deny and justify it, but no matter how hard he tried to convince himself that it was nothing, he still failed miserably. It wasn't "nothing". Something was happening, and it was about to ruin their lives.

They finally settled on an Italian restaurant because Kayla was too hungry to look for another steak house. She was still wondering what had happened to him because he was not talking anymore.

"Seriously, what's wrong with you?"

"It's nothing," he lied. He couldn't tell her what was bothering him yet. It was too personal. "Don't mind me."

"You're ruining our first date," she pouted.

"I-I'm... I'm sorry." He held her hand and squeezed it lightly. I didn't mean for this to happen. I promise I'll make it up to you next time."

She didn't respond right away, but then she finally realized that he was in a difficult situation. So she gave him a reassuring smile.

"Just don't forget that whatever it is that you're going through, I'm here for you. You can always lean on me."

"I know that. Thank you."

***

ELENA chose to skip the parent-teacher meeting because of the intense talk she had just had with her husband's mistress. She was no longer in the right state of mind for it. So she lied to them and said she wasn't feeling well and needed to relax. Everyone understood and even advised her to go home and relax right away. That was one of the benefits of being powerful and influential—she could skip big events and no one would hold it against her.

She hasn't used her power too much, however. She had always wanted to be treated as a normal person, free of all the special treatment. But she just couldn't deal with anyone or anything at that time, so she was forced to lie.

"Ma'am, aren't you with Peter?" her son's bodyguard asked when he saw her coming.

"No, I thought he had already left."

"W-well, we haven't seen him get out of the school."

Her heart started to pound drastically, and panic was already creeping into her system. However, she tried to calm down. Maybe her son was still inside the campus and was hanging out with his friends. But it was so unlike him to not inform her that he wasn't going home right away.

"Look for him inside the school," she commanded the guards while she was dialing her son's phone number. It just kept on ringing, but he wasn't picking it up. She was so worried and she could no longer calm down. "Mang Ramon, don't you think we should call the police?" she asked her driver.

"I think we should wait for the guards, ma'am. Peter could still be inside the campus. If we call the police right now, it will create a lot of noise, knowing your influence."

"But he's not answering my calls." She felt like crying, but she stopped herself. Being emotional wouldn't work in her favor.

The guards returned a few minutes later and confirmed that Peter was no longer inside the school. They had already searched every area of the campus and he was nowhere to be seen. They even asked his friends, but they had no idea where his son was. She became more anxious when she realized her son could have escaped from his guards and gone somewhere else. It was far too dangerous for him to do so, and it was so unlike Peter to act recklessly.

What if he was kidnapped?

What if he got into an accident?

No, no! She couldn't lose her son!

"Please coordinate with the school's security team and have the CCTV reviewed. We need to know where my son is!"

"We already did, ma'am. But they still couldn't find him."

"Then... then do something! It's your job to protect my son, isn't it?"

"Don't worry, ma'am. We'll make sure to get him home safely. For now, you can go home and wait for your son."

"How can you expect me to do that when I don't even know where my son is?"

"We promise you, ma'am, we'll find him."

"You better make sure of that." She stepped inside the car and heaved a deep sigh.

Everything in her life was a mess. She just got off the phone with her husband's mistress. And now, her son was missing. All of the misfortunes just kept on coming, as if it was planned or something.

***

SHE sighed with relief when she discovered Peter was already in his room when she reached their house. The maid told her that her son had taken a taxi home and didn't bother to explain what had happened.

"I think you should talk to him," the old helper suggested in a concerned tone. "He seems to be distracted. I'm worried because he isn't typically like this."

She wondered as to what had happened to her son. So she dashed to his room, but it was locked. She knocked on his door, but her son did not open it, making her even more worried than she already was.

"Peter, please open the door. This is me, your 'mum. We need to talk."

"I'm tired!" he yelled.

"We'll only talk for a minute, I promise. Please just open the door."

"I know you'll scold me. You can do it tomorrow, then. Just leave me alone for now."

"No, I'm not going to scold you. I just want to know what truly happened."

"Please... Just don't bother me for now."

In the end, she decided to leave him alone for the time being. If her son was going through something, he had to take some time to gather his thoughts first. Perhaps he was experiencing difficulties with his studies, or perhaps he was having problems with his friends or girlfriend. She'd talk to him again when he's more at ease and wlling to explain his problem.

"All right, then." She gave a sigh of defeat, still worried about her son. "But please don't forget to eat dinner, okay? I'll have the maids send you something to eat."

"Fine!"

It was so unlike him to treat her in that manner. Her son had always been respectful to her. Whenever he speaks to her, he was always gentle. Whatever he was going through, he had to be in a lot of pain for him to act like that.

She needed to discuss their son's situation with her husband. That's why she decided to call him that night, despite her personal issues with him. Her husband pretended to be in Davao for a business conference, but she was fully aware that he was in Manila with his mistress. She chose, however, to pretend as if she knew nothing. It would be better for her husband to believe she was unaware of what was going on, because it would be easier for her to make her plans that way. Her son, though, was more important to her than her revenge plans.

"Why are you still awake? It's already past 9 PM, " Miguel asked over the phone.

"I can't sleep," she honestly told him, with a deep sigh. She was already in bed, but she really couldn't relax her mind. "I think something's going on with Peter."

"Did something happen?"

"Well, he escaped from his guards earlier. When he got home, he started acting weird. He locked himself in his room and he's still not talking to me."

"What did you say? Did he really escape from his guards? How did that even happen?"

"I-I don't know. But we know our son and he's not like that. He would never do something risky and reckless."

"Yes, that's quite weird. Don't worry, 'hon, I'll talk to him. I also need to talk to his guards and make sure that they properly do what they're being paid for."

She sighed and nodded her head.

"Please talk to Peter. He might be more comfortable opening up with you since you're both guys. Our soon needs our help, and I can't help him if I don't know what the problem is."

"I know you're worried, and that's normal since you're a mother. But please try to calm down for now and get some rest. I don't want you to get sick again because of this."

There he goes again, pretending to be a loving and caring husband while secretly banging his other woman. Elena told herself not to let her anger get the best of her. There was so much that needed to be done, and she needed to be tough in order to win this battle.

"All right, I'll try to sleep now."

"Good night, hon. I love you."

"Good night."

Instead of saying "I love you too," as her husband expected, she hung up the phone.

How could she possibly say those words?

Most importantly, how could her husband utter those lies as if he truly meant them?