Chapter53

When Edmundo had settled down, Rita smiled sweetly. She could see the questions burning in his parent's eyes. Rita had come to learn one thing especially ftom Senator Brabra, if there was one thing he detested, it was murder. The intentional killing of somebody. He hated it with a passion and now his son was about to commit one. "Rita... What do you mean, murder?",he asked. He pushed his food away apparently loosing his appetite. Magdalene had a lost look in her eyes as she didn't know what to do. "Well... Your-" "Pay no attention to Rita, she says things she doesn't know about", Edmundo said, cutting her off. "Well, I hope so. We can't have something as scandalous associated with this family", he said. "Oh, you have no idea on what you're up against. To be honest, I really hope your son doesn't put this family in trouble one day", Rita said. Magdalene looked as if she had swallowed a big Apple that got stick in her throat. Her eyes darted about, looking for what's not lost. Rita took satisfaction in knowing she had shaken this family and they didn't know the right direction to follow. "I'm sure my son knows that", Magdalene chuckled nervously. "I sure hope he does", Rita said, sipping her wine. Edmundo remained quiet, giving her a death glare. If looks could kill, Rita would have been six feet under. She stared at him bravely, openly challenging him. Gone were the days when she was scared of him, when she was scared of knowing what he'll do if he finds out she had wronged him somehow. Now, she was bold, bolder than before and she knew she could talk to him back anyhow she liked. He didn't own her and he had no right to lord over her and to hell with whatever he thought about her. The rest of the food was eaten in silence and Rita was grateful for this. She couldn't stand their insistent chatter. "We'll have the bakers here tomorrow evening. They've brought some samples we can choose from for the dinner party on Saturday. Rita, would you like to have a look?", Magdalene asked. She didn't know if it was an honest offer. Magdalene had the gift of false pretense and she never failed to use it on unsuspecting victims. "Oh, I would love to but I can't. I'm going out very early that morning to see some clients", she said, politely. There was no use talking rudely to them since she would soon be leaving their house. She was just bidding her time, counting down to the day she would finally leave. "Where are you going?", Edmundo asked, rudely. "Are you hard of hearing or something? Didn't you hear what I just said", Rita said. Thankfully, he remained quiet, giving her a hateful look. It was now confirmed that she hated him with passion and there was no way she would go back on that. "Well, as long as you'll be attending the dinner party I have no problems with that", Senator Brabra smiled. "Yes", Magdalene intoned. Rita didn't understand why they were suddenly being nice to her but she was not a fool. She knew that beneath that niceness was a heart full of wickedness. After all, this family was one of the most powerful and most feared family. It wouldn't do her good to lower her guard. They might act nice but Rita sure as hell wouldn't do that. The following day, Rita was at work when she got a call from Francis. Her heart raced, her thoughts going wild. "Hello", she croaked. "Miss Anderson... I have some news", Francis said. "Go... Go on", Rita stuttered. She didn't know what she'll do if they reported that Rodrigo was dead. There was no doubt about she would join a convent rather than getting married to a pig like Edmundo. "The subject was sighted in a remote village on the outskirts of the country", he said. "Are you sure about this?" Rita asked. She couldn't afford her hopes to be raised again only to have them dashed. She loved Rodrigo too much to play with her heart. "We're still looking but we're certain he's the one we saw" Francis said. "Okay.. okay, I hope so. Please keep me posted the minute you get anything", Rita said. "Will do", Francis said before cutting the call. Rita relaxed back on her chair, toying with her pen. If it was certified that Rodrigo was the one seen, she would waste no time in flying to whatever village it was. For the first time since his disappearance, Rita was a bit relieved that they were making a headway. Francis and his team of investigators wouldn't make a mistake about something as sensitive as this. They knew what their job entailed and giving false reports would lower their credibility. "Ma'am, the investors from the flour mill are here for the meeting", Yasmin said. Rita had forgotten all about her meeting with them. All her whole mind had been solely focused on finding Rodrigo. The investors were one of the first phases of her expansion of the empire. She wanted to expand the empire's GDP which would cut across many facets and the flour mill was the first phase of the expansion project. "Okay, please prepare the conference room. Tell them to give me five minutes, I'll be there shortly", Rita said. "Okay ma'am", Yasmin said. Rita brought out her notes were she had written important points. If she was to win the hearts of the investors, she had to be handy with the facts and figures concerning the expansion stage. These men were smart but she had to be smarter than them. Rita walked towards the conference room with Yasmin in tow. There was a pang of pain in her heart because she knew if Rodrigo was here, he would have been the one to accompany her. She pushed the conference door open to be greeted by three men who stood up as a sign of respect. "Gentlemen, please sit down. Thank you", Rita smiled politely.