Chapter 3 What Was Left Behind

The first thing she saw was white.

For a few seconds she only stared, her breathing uneven and her mind struggling to catch up with her body. Everything felt heavy, like she'd been dragged out of somewhere deep and dropped another place, she didn't recognize.

Then everything came rushing back, at once.

The stage. The crowd. His voice against her ear. Her chest tightened, and her hand moved instinctively to her stomach. The chair beside her bed was empty.

She was alone.

The door opened and a nurse stepped in, followed by a doctor.

"What... happened?" Caramel's voice came out dry.

"You were brought in after collapsing," the doctor said. "And I must say, you lost a lot of blood."

Her fingers curled against the sheet. "And... my baby?"

The silence lasted only a second, but it was enough. "I'm sorry. We lost the baby."

Everything in her stilled. Her hands pressed harder against her stomach, like she could hold onto something already gone. Tears slipped down her face, silenty. Afterwards, the nurse said something about rest and avoiding stress, but the words didn't reach Caramel's hearing. 

The doctor patted her shoulder once, then left with the nurse. For a moment she just lay there, staring at the ring that wasn't on her finger anymore. 

Will you marry me, Caramel.

A voice on a phone call she was never meant to hear. Phase one is complete. She's mine.

The memories surfaced uninvited, sharp and senseless, and she pushed them back down before they could take shape into anything more. A sound pulled her attention. It was coming from the television mounted on the wall. She hadn't noticed it was on.

Then a name caught her ear.

Aliandro.

Her body stilled. "...in a shocking turn of events, new evidence has surfaced in the long-buried Aliandro case," the reporter was saying. "The evidence was submitted earlier today by Boney Aliandro, who has come forward as the son of the late businessman, with claims against the Bento family."

Her heart began to pound.

"Authorities have confirmed that Mr. and Mrs. Bento have been taken into custody pending further investigation. Multiple properties and company assets linked to the family have already been seized."

"No..." she whispered and shook her head. Images flashed across the screen. Her parents being led away, reporters crowding around them and their company building sealed off with tape. Her chest squeezed, and she realized this wasn't just about her anymore. She pushed the blanket off and tried to stand, ignoring the dizziness that hit her immediately. Her legs felt weak, but she forced herself forward.

"I need to go." She muttered to herself.

"Wait, your injection—" the nurse called from the doorway, already reaching for a tray.

Caramel didn't stop. She moved faster than her body wanted to, gripping the wall once when the room tilted, then pushing on before anyone could catch up to her. She found her way outside through a side exit, past a small hospital garden she hadn't noticed on the way in. The air was cool against her skin. She stopped there for a moment, one hand braced against a pillar, waiting for her vision to steady.

That was when she saw them. A woman in a wheelchair, and a newborn wrapped against her chest. She was laughing softly at something her husband said as he pushed her slowly along the path. He leaned down and kissed the baby's forehead, then hers.

Caramel's breath caught and her body trembled in pain. Tears threatened to run down down her face but she stopped it by biting down hard on her lips. 

That could have been her and Boney if he had not—

She looked away first, then couldn't stop herself from looking back. The woman noticed her staring and smiled politely, the way strangers do. Caramel forced the smallest sad smile back, then turned and kept walking before her legs would give out.

---

The station was rougher and louder than she expected, noise piercing deep into her ears. Voices overlapped. Officers moved between desks with case files, and somewhere behind a glass partition, a phone rang without anyone answering it. Caramel walked in, legs unsteady but determined, her red-rimmed eyes scanning the room until she saw them.

Her parents.

They looked different, tired and confused, sitting on a bench like strangers in their own lives.

"Mom... Dad..."

Her mother looked up first, shock filling her face. "Caramel?"

She rushed forward and pulled her into a tight embrace, both of them quietly sobbing while her father stood by, watching with sad eyes.

An officer stepped toward them. "Ma'am, this area's for..."

"Five minutes," her father said sharply. "That's my daughter. She has faced a lot today." Something in his voice made the officer pause, then nod, gesturing them toward a quieter corner near the wall instead. When they pulled apart, her mother's hands found Caramel's face, holding it like she was checking it was really her. Then her gaze dropped to her stomach. "The...the baby?"

Caramel's face fell and she shook her head. Her mother's breath broke apart in her throat. "Oh God. I'm so sorry, baby. I'm so sorry." Her father stepped closer and wrapped his arms around them both, his jaw tight, like holding still was the only thing keeping him from falling apart completely.

"I'm sorry for everything," he said quietly. "We should have told you. Maybe none of this would have..."

"Told me what?" Caramel pulled back, searching their faces. "Please. I need the truth. What is going on?"

Her father exchanged a look with her mother.

"Did you really..."

"No," he said firmly. "We are innocent."

"We would never do something like that," her mother added, gripping her hand tighter.

"But we knew Aliandro," her father continued. "We were partners once. Friends, even. Business partners for almost six years."

"Then what happened?"

"A disagreement. Over a contract, a shipment — I don't even remember anymore how it started. But it ended badly. He accused us of cutting him out of a deal and we accused him of stealing figures. It got ugly, lawyers were involved, and then... his company collapsed not long after. We assumed it was his own mistakes."

"So you didn't frame him?"

"No," her mother said. "Those claims are false. We built our company through hard work, not by destroying someone else's."

"But Boney said he's Aliandro's son, and you guys—"

Her father shook his head slowly. "I don't believe that. Aliandro never mentioned having a child. Not once, in six years. This feels planned. Like someone is using him."

"Then who is he?" Caramel asked quietly.