RECLAIMING LOUELLA

From the top-floor office in the Verlice building, the London sky was getting dark as it was approaching night; the sound of the bustling city below the building could barely be heard as Adan Verlice focused on the words his assistant spoke. The satisfaction of finally hearing those words was indeed great. Adan Verlice smiled at his victory of finding his estranged wife, who had run away and taken his only child from him, who was but a month old.

"She is currently in Switzerland." His personal assistant, Justin George, continued speaking. "Saint Moritz, to be precise. The house she is currently living in is under her real mother's name. According to our report, the house was bought in cash, which was also one of the reasons why it was hard to trace the transaction."

"And my son?" He asked.

"He recently began attending a preschool."

Adan leaned back in his chair; he clenched his teeth as he thought of Leah Jennings, his wife whom he married. Or rather Louella Curran, which was her real name. For the last two years, he had thought about what he did to her to make her betray him like that and take his child from him without so much as an explanation, but he could not simply come up with one.

"And her real mother?" He asked his assistant.

"She is living with your wife and your child."

His anger burned as he stared at the photograph of the woman who once had short black hair but now had long, straight copper-red hair. What made him squeeze the photo as he stared at it was the black-haired child she was carrying in her arms, whose face was on her shoulders and away from the camera. He sat upright in his chair.

"Ready my jet; we are going to Switzerland." This time, he is definitely going to make Louella Curran pay.

Louella stared at the beautiful lake view from the back of her house while sitting on one of the chairs under the pergola where they usually enjoy barbecue. The sky was cloudy, but that was okay, as it is not an unusual thing even though rain wouldn't fall. The breeze was cold, and the atmosphere was serene. Everything was perfect and peaceful. She heard footsteps behind her, and her mother sat on the chair beside her, handing her a warm glass of milk.

Rose was wearing a long black maxi skirt and a blue sweater, and her shoulder-length copper-red hair, which was extremely similar to hers, was tied in a messy bun, while she herself was wearing a pink nightgown with a thick jacket over it.

She took the cup of milk from her. "Is he sleeping yet?" she asked.

Rose smiled while looking at her. "He fell asleep like a baby that he is. It was expected, as he had played a lot this evening. He is such a darling, isn't he?" She faced the lake. "I couldn't ask for more."

Louella frowned playfully. "I don't think he is that much of a darling. He is more like a ball of energy." She tucked her red hair that fell over her shoulders behind her ear and took a sip from her drink; it was exactly as she liked it. Thick and with a little honey and cinnamon. "I am exhausted from playing all evening."

Her mother laughed after hearing her words. "I wouldn't deny that."

There was a pause before she spoke, "Do you think it's over? You know, I can't help but sometimes see him in Jack, but the truth is that I don't want him to resemble his father in any way. Not being able to div..." Her mother placed her hand on hers.

"It is already over. We handled everything perfectly fine and according to our plan. They would never be able to find us. He will never be able to find Jack. Remember what they did to your father, the shame we faced, and the pain of his death. What we did to them was just a little of what they did to us. We only took what was rightfully ours, and I am pretty sure that with that letter you left him, he is going to give up hope of finding Jack."

She nodded unconsciously. "Yes, he is never going to find us. And the police wouldn't look for me because I made sure it would look like I walked away of my own free will." She said it, but it was as if she was reminding herself.

Rose's hand slipped from her hand. "This is exactly the kind of place your father wanted to move to with us. He always liked the view of nature, and he also loved swimming. I feel like Jack took after him in that aspect. We don't have anything to worry about anymore. It's already 5 pm; I am going to bed, and I need to check if Terri is back into the house from his daily survey of the property."

She raised a perfectly shaped brow. "This early? Are you feeling sick?"

Her mother shook her head almost immediately. "I am not sick, just a little tired. Jack's excessive vigour wore me out, that's all. You should worry about yourself more than you do about me. You look a bit gaunt. I would be going in now."

"Hey Mom, that's not true," she called out to her mother, who had already disappeared through the French doors and into the house. Louella placed her palm on her cheek; she thought she had added a bit of weight since she left London two years ago.

Maybe it was because she could finally be herself; even her hair was back to its original colour and length. She hated all those years she had to pretend to be what she wasn't. All those fake smiles, the extra effort she had to put in just because she had to fit into her ex-husband's world. Now she is going to live her life how she wants and give everything she can to her lovely son.

Nevertheless, all those years still prove to be worthwhile now that she has achieved the best comfort she can for herself and her family, including Terri, who is almost like her mother's son, and her brother. Terri Wright had lived in her house since he was young. He even learned how to be a bodyguard. He was the nephew of her father's butler and bodyguard, Darren Wright. Terri had always wanted to be like his uncle, who was a retired army general who served her family. Even with the disaster that struck her family. They both remained loyal to her and served her and her mother.

They also helped with their plan, especially Darren Wright, who helped them with the financial issue of their plan. He was also the one who was able to make them disappear without a trace. She drank the remaining warm milk, got up, and headed into the house.

Louella woke up to a very loud sound. She checked her phone on her bedside table; it was 8 o'clock. She must have fallen asleep after she finished checking up on Jack, she thought as she got up from her bed and put on a thick, long jacket over her pink nightgown and came out of her room, then she checked up on Jack quickly. He was still sound asleep, and her mother was already in the room with him; she breathed a sigh of relief and left. It seemed the loud sound had not only woken her up.

"I will go and check what is happening downstairs; please stay with Jack." She said gently, and Rose nodded. Louella headed downstairs, but the sound only became louder.

"Is that what I think it is?" She muttered. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Terri was already by the door; he was holding his gun and about to step out. "It's a helicopter that is landing on my property, right?" She spoke loudly this time.

He nodded but still answered, "Yes. I think it would be best if you stay inside while I go check who is landing on private property."

She waved her hand. "It's fine. I doubt it is something very serious. If it is some foreigners, I would simply tell them they can't land here. If there is resistance, we would then call the police."

Terri put his gun in the back pocket of his jeans and sighed, knowing that nothing else would convince her to stay inside. He opened the door of the house and went outside, and then she followed suit.

The property she was living in was large, and the place where the helicopter landed was free of trees and had no grass around, so it was a perfect landing spot. The helicopter blades stopped rotating, and the night was silent again. Terri walked ahead of her, but she could still see the men who came out of the helicopter from where she stood. Three men in suits come out of the helicopter. One of them was carrying a small suitcase while the other stepped forward and spoke to Terri. They showed him something that looked like a photo, which made Terri look back at her in what seemed like alarm. But as she began to move forward to know what was going on, she suddenly froze when the last man came down from the helicopter.

Louella's legs instantly turned to jelly, and she fell to the floor in utter disbelief and shock. Seeing this, Terri rushed to where she was and helped her up but was still supporting her from slumping to the floor once more. Her ex-husband, or rather her husband, because she could not divorce him, walked to where she was and stopped a few feet away from her.

"Hello, Louella." He smirked.

Her eyes grew wider than they already were.

"Adan?" she gasped.