His Ruthless Pursuit

***

I stumbled against a tree trunk and rushed to get up from the ground. I desperately tried to catch my breath, but my chest was burning, and my heart was aching. 

I got back up to my feet and continued running through the woods. I came to an abrupt stop when I reached an old graveyard.

All the graves were covered in grass, their tombstones shattered to pieces except for one grave in particular. I hesitantly took a step forward. I sucked in a deep breath before carefully walking over to the only standing tombstone in the entire graveyard.

I frowned when I saw my name engraved on the tombstone. 

"Hera Delacruz."

Something was written in fine print under my name, so knelt in front of the grave before narrowing my eyes to better my vision. 

"Like father, like daughter." I read the fine print out loud. I wildly shook my head before getting up from where I was sitting and the ground beneath my feet gave way from under me. 

A scream left my mouth as I fell into the grave.

***

"Mommy!"

"Mommy, wake up!" 

I heard Mila yelling in my ears so I tiredly pried my eyes open. I smiled when I found Mila looking down at me. Thank god that was just a dream.

"Hi, Mommy!" She excitedly told me and I pulled her into my chest. 

"Merry Christmas, Mija!" I told her before placing kisses all over her face and she laughed wildly. 

"Merry Christmas, Mommy!" She yelled at me so I pulled back from her. 

We both went to her room and I grabbed a syringe from her drawer along with a vial of insulin. I quickly fixed a shot for her and she carefully lifted her shirt to her ribcage. I pinched her delicate skin in between my thumb and index finger before gently injecting her with insulin. I placed a cotton ball on the injected area before giving her a high five.

"All done," I uttered before discarding the syringe, and she fixed her shirt before she took my hand in hers. 

"We should go buy you some new insulin pens." 

"It's okay, Mommy." She shortly responded. 

"No, we have to," I argued with her in a gentle tone. 

"I wonder if Santa came last night," I told her while tapping my chin, hoping to change the subject. "Should we go check?" I asked her and her face instantly lit up.

"I'll beat you there!" Mila told me before she ran out of the room and my eyes widened. 

"Mila, don't run in the house!" I yelled after her, knowing that it was in vain. I wrapped one of Mila's blankets around my shoulders before leaving the room.

I bumped into someone and instantly scrunched up my nose. 

Jasmine! Such an annoying smell. 

I stepped back and found an angry Cara in front of me. What is she doing here at six thirty am? Wait, does she live here? 

"I'm sorry I wasn't looking where I was going," I told her, and she huffed out in frustration before she wordlessly stormed away from me. I looked at her in shock until she was completely out of my sight. I wonder what her deal is.

I went downstairs, entered the living room, and found Mila sitting in front of the Christmas tree. 

"Seems like Santa made it after all," I told her and she nodded at me with a smile on her face.

I decided to stay up last night after Mateo left to wrap all of Mila's Christmas presents. Mila started opening her presents and I frowned lightly when I saw my name scribbled onto a piece of paper that was attached to a present. 

I opened the box and found my favorite chocolates inside. I smiled before I placed one into my mouth. I gave Mila one and she thanked me before eating it. 

"You have no idea how much I missed these," I told her while I looked down at the chocolates in my hands. 

Tiago must've bought these for me. 

Mateo and Tiago are the only two people who know that these are my favorite chocolates. And since they obviously didn't come from Mateo, it has to be Tiago who sent them. I'll thank him at dinner tonight. 

I had to stop buying these a long time ago. I only eat what Mila eats now. 

I got up from where I was sitting and made my way into the kitchen and put the chocolates away in the pantry.

My dad used to give us these with a cup of hot chocolate every Christmas morning. Those days seem so far away now, but the memories are still fresh. 

Images of my brother Joaquín suddenly flooded my mind. I think about him every single day. He was such a beautiful boy, I wonder what he looks like now. Maybe he looks like our dad. 

I haven't seen him in seven whole years. 

I felt a tear rolling down my cheek, so I quickly wiped it away before going back to Mila, who was now seemingly done unwrapping her presents. 

I sat down next to her and she sat on my lap before thanking me for getting her so many presents.

I know I haven't always been the luckiest wife, daughter, or sister but I'm definitely the luckiest mom. I mean, I get to raise the most precious little girl in the world, and she's all mine.

***

It was snowing outside and I sat cuddled up with Mila in my arms. We were covered with a fluffy cream-colored blanket. 

"Mommy, when is Mateo coming back?" Mila curiously asked me.

"You'll see him at dinner." I told her and she frowned at me.

"Why does Mateo work so much?" She curiously questioned. 

"Well, Mateo is the boss so that means that he has to be present at all his meetings. He can't miss them because if he does, people will think he's a bad boss." I told Mila and she slowly nodded in understanding. 

"I understand, Mommy." She said before she wrapped her arms around me. I turned the TV on, and we decided to watch The Grinch.

A sudden knock came from the door so I got up from the couch. The house seems so quiet today, there's not a single worker in sight. 

I opened the door and found Santiago standing in front of me so I smiled at him. "Please come in," I told him, and he entered the house before he shrugged his coat off, and I hung it up. I took the snow-covered scarf from his neck before I hung it up next to his coat. 

"Do you want me to put these in the dryer?" I asked him and he nodded at me. 

"Please do." He told me and I laughed lightly before we went down the hall to the laundry room. I threw his coat and scarf into a dryer before we left the laundry room. Tiago threw his arms around my shoulders from behind, and together, we entered the living room. 

"Santiago meet Mila, my daughter. Mila meet your Uncle Tiago." I told Mila and she slowly looked up at us. 

"Hi," Mila said in a bubbly tone and Tiago looked at me in shock. 

"Hi, you look just like your mom." He told Mila and I smiled at his words. "She's so cute." He told me. 

"Thanks!" Mila told him and he smiled at her cheekiness. She quickly went back to watching the movie. So I turned to face Tiago again.

"What's up?" I asked wanting to know why he was here. 

"I just came by to wish you a merry Christmas." He said and I hugged him. 

"Merry Christmas," I pulled back from him. "And thanks for the chocolates," I told him and he frowned at me. 

"Chocolates? What chocolates?" Tiago asked me in confusion. 

"The ones you sent me," I told him and he frowned at me. 

"I didn't send you any chocolates. Was my name on the card?" He asked me and I shook my head at him. 

"No, but you and Mateo are the only two people who know about those specific chocolates," I told Tiago. "So I figured that if Mateo didn't send them, it had to be you," I told Tiago and he shook his head at me. 

"It wasn't me, Hera." He told me in a serious tone and I frowned deeply before I shook my head. 

"What do you mean it wasn't you?" I asked him in confusion. "Who else would buy them for me?"

"Well who else knows that you like them?" He curiously asked and I shook my head at him. 

"He wouldn't-"

"Fuck no! Joaquín?" Tiago asked me with a smile of disbelief on his face and I nodded at him.

"Do you think it was him?" I asked Tiago. 

"Joaquín? No. That's impossible. I mean how does he even know that you're back?" Tiago uttered in confusion. "Maybe you have a stalker or a secret admirer." He suggested so I shook my head at him.

"God forbid," I whispered under my breath, and the room dawned in silence. 

"Didn't Joaquín cut you off though?" Tiago questioned. 

"I mean, it was seven years ago," I told him, and he nodded slowly. 

"And a lot can change in seven years." He agreed and I nodded at him. 

"Exactly! Tiago, this could mean that my brother still thinks about me. This has to be a sign." I told Tiago and his eyes softened on me. 

"Why did he anonymously send you chocolates though?" Tiago questioned and my smile dropped from my face. 

He's right, it is weird that he's anonymously sending me chocolates after seven years of no contact. 

"I mean why not chocolates? Maybe he's trying to break the ice or something." I tried to give my brother the benefit of the doubt and Tiago just shrugged at me. 

Something isn't adding up, Joaquín doesn't like mystery or playing games. He's the most honest person I know. So why would he anonymously send me a gift?

Tiago's phone started ringing. He excused himself before he answered the call. I went over to Mila and listened to Tiago's call.

"Rafe." He uttered in a greeting manner.

"Alright, I'll be right there," Tiago said before he listened to whatever Rafe was telling him. 

"I'll be there in ten minutes, mano," Tiago said before briefly glancing down at his watch. "Alright, I'll do it." He impatiently uttered before ending the call. 

"I have to go." He told me before placing a kiss on my forehead. He gave Mila a high five before heading for the door.

"Be safe!" I told him and he nodded at me. "Wait your clothes," I told him before I got up to go grab his clothes. 

After fetching his clothes from the laundry room, I handed them to him, and he thanked me before leaving the house. 

"Let's go get ready for dinner, baby girl," I told Mila and she excitedly got up from where she was sitting and followed me upstairs to her room. 

Tonight will be a long night and Lola will be there to make it even longer. I haven't seen Mateo since last night. I think he's avoiding me but at some point, he'll have no other choice but to answer my questions.