Chapter 6: Airport

“Sir..”

“Give me a minute,” Hendrix said coldly.

His secretary nodded and immediately shut the door of his office. Hendrix's eyes then landed on the phone in his hand after hearing the beep tone. His jaw clenched while he stared sharply at it as if it was the one that did him wrong.

It was the first time she ever called him, but it hadn't even lasted a minute and she already hung up on him!

His eyes turned dark. He was about to throw the phone in anger when it suddenly rang once again.

“Hello?” he answered with an icy voice.

There was a pause from the other line, followed by a clearing of the throat, “What's with the tone? Did someone annoy you again? Perhaps your wife?”

“Say what you need to say. I don't have time to chat with you,” Hendrix retorted.

“Woah! Chill dude! I'm not your enemy!” Giro, his friend, laughed boisterously, “Since you're not in the mood for chitchat, I have something for you..” he said with a hint of grin from his tone.

Hendrix narrowed his eyes.

Giro was his friend who owned a security company. He asked him for help to gather information about his wife because he had been curious about her family.

“Say it,” he commanded.

There was a long paused before Giro spoke again, “There's a high chance that your wife faked her identity”

Hendrix stiffened and his grip on the phone tightened. He had been investigating Margaux for three years already since they got married only because he was curious of her background. However, all those years, Giro and his team always reached a dead end whenever they found information from her family name.

“I found out that there are Hermani from England. However, after digging their family tree, there's no Margaux Hermani there, but..” Giro paused as if hesitating to say it.

“What is it?” he asked impatiently.

His friend heaved a sigh as if he was nervous. It piqued his curiosity.

“But.. There's a person named Daisy Hermani..” Giro trailed.

Hendrix was losing his patience, “What about her?”

“Well.. she's beautiful so I naturally investigated her..”

His jaw hardened after hearing it. He tried hard not to shout at his friend because he might stop helping him about Margaux.

“That's how I found out that she has a best friend named Margaux,” Giro breathed then he clicked his tongue, “I know it might be just a coincidence but it's just too weird for me that there's no informations about her, just like your wife when I checked her background”

It was Hendrix's turn to pause. Then he finally queried, “What's her name?”

“Margarette Margaux Montello”

“Montello?”

For some reason, he thought of the Montellos from England, who were one of the powerful families in the country. Their status was like next to the royal family since they were actually related to them.

“I have a hunch that she's from the Montellos in England, but you know how private they are and only few actually know how many members in the family they have..” said Giro thoughtfully.

“Have you seen the photos of the woman?”

“Not yet. Daisy only posts either her pictures or her cats. She never released any group pictures. If there's a photo with her best friend, it's just their hands or legs but no face”

Hendrix shut his eyes and massaged his temples. It's getting complicated the more he tries to dig about his wife.

“Call me if you found something again,” he said dismissively then quickly ended the call while waiting for Giro to respond.

He already thought that the woman he married was not ordinary. Given her foreign appearance, her habits and interests were quite odd for an ordinary person. Like traveling around the world.

He learned that when Giro gave him a copy of her travel history before she came to the Philippines.

“Sir, are you ready?” his secretary showed up again.

Hendrix stood up and left his office without saying a word. He went straight to the basement and drove off to his appointment with Dr. Santiago alone.

“Mr. Mondragon,” Dr. Santiago extended his hand towards him.

Hendrix quickly accepted it and smiled, “Dr. Santiago, thank you for approving my appointment,” he said politely.

“Don't mention it. I heard a lot about you, and all of it were only good things,“ Dr. Santiago beamed.

Relieved, Hendrix nodded before carefully placing the partnership proposal on the center table and sat straight, “I won't beat around the bushes. I came here to talk about partnership with your hospital”

Dr. Santiago nodded.

He couldn't tell whether he was interested or not. But by the way he was just casually scanning the proposal in his hand, it seemed like he was going to reject it right away.

“M Corp is really expanding,” the Doctor stated, then lifted his gaze to him, “My daughter prepared a banquet for my wife. I want to discuss this matter there, if it's okay with you”

Hendrix brows slightly frowned. He was never fond of attending events although it was part of the business. For him, it was a waste of time. However, his likes and feelings had nothing to do with the company, thus, he immediately nodded in agreement.

“It's my pleasure, Dr. Santiago,” he said and plastered a calculated smile.

“Great. I will inform my daughter about your arrival so she can send your invitation as soon as possible. And don't forget to bring to bring your wife”

The frown in Hendrix's face didn't disappear as he drove to the villa. He kept thinking how he would force his wife to go out and go with him to a banquet.

His thoughts just got interrupted by the ringing from his phone. After seeing it was his friend, he quickly accepted it.

“What did you get?” he queried.

“That's not what I called for”

The creases on his forehead deepened as he didn't expect Giro's answer. “Why did you call, then?” he asked impatiently.

“I think I saw your wife here at the airport..”