Your Father's Whereabouts.

"I can't accept this," Hugo said, pulling out his phone. "Does your father know about it?"

'Yes, as expected, father will oppose,' Santiago reasoned.

"He knows, your son already informed him," Lola replied, as she cast a glance at Santiago, who averted his gaze to avoid hers.

Hugo sighed tiredly, slid his phone back into his pocket, and asked Lola, "Is he on board with this nonsense?" He was curious.

"No, he tried to stop me, but I was determined, which is why I came out today to tell you all about it. In three months, we'll go to court, "Lola stated.

Hugo was about to say something when Paula interrupted, "oh leave her alone, stop trying to change her mind, it's for the best if she wants to divorce our son."

Hugo and Santiago exchanged shocked looks with Paula.

'No, why is Mom backing this?' Santiago inquired.

'Of course she'd support the only way to finally get me out of her son's life,' Lola thought as her lips arched into a cold smile.

"I'm glad mother agrees; after all, it's the only way to get me out of your son's life," Lola said as Paula frowned.

"Lola, you would never make such a decision without careful thought. Please explain what is happening "Hugo trying to persuade Lola.

'He is correct, but this is the only solution I could come up with after much thought,' Lola reasoned.

"I've said everything I have to say," she replied, turning to climb the stairs.

'How is this happening?' Hugo thought as he stared at Santiago, He came up behind him and grabbed his collar.

"Exactly what did you do?" Hugo yelled angrily as Livia and Paula both grabbed his arm.

"She asked for a divorce, so I'm giving it to her," Santiago replied, as Livia yelled, still attempting to free Santiago from his father's grasp, "father, please don't do this," and Paula yelled, "he is your son," as they both tried to pull his hand away from Santiago's collar.

"You are you calling father!" Hugo yanked Livia's hand away from his arm, causing her to fall to the ground.

When Santiago noticed this, he pushed his father back, knelt by Livia's side, and assisted her in getting up.

"Do you feel okay?" As Santiago inquired, Livia nodded.

"Are you insane father, you could have killed your grandchild, can't you see she's pregnant with my child?" Santiago yelled at his father.

"What?" Hugo and Paula mumbled.

"Do you mean your and Lola's child?" Hugo asked.

"No, I'm talking about I..." Santiago started to speak but was cut off when Livia tugged on his shirt. Santiago glanced at her and she looked at him and shook her head .

'Damn, I nearly revealed that this child isn't Lola's,' Santiago reflected.

"Wait a minute, what were you going to say?" Hugo inquired yet again.

"Nothing," Santiago said, shaking his head.

"I'm sure you did something to sway her decision," Hugo said, pointing to Santiago.

"Let's go, Paula," Hugo said as he walked out the door, Paula close behind.

***

Lola's phone buzzed as she entered her room, indicating that she had received a message. She decided to freshen up first before checking it .

Few minutes late, she came out from the bathroom, put on her nightgown and went to her bed.

She picked up her phone to see who had sent the message, and it was Luis.

Luis: [Are you sleeping?]

Luis: [Did you make it home safely?]

Lola sighed deeply as she settled into her bed, staring at her phone. Another message notification appeared as she was about to turn off her phone.

Luis: [Have you eaten yet?]

Luis: [Do you still have an headache?]

She opened a reply window on her phone and her thumb moved to the keyboard to type a reply, but she stopped herself, cleared the reply, and simply placed the device face down on her nightstand and closed her eyes.

Her phone buzzed again, and she picked it up. Luis had sent another message.

Luis: [Please respond right away; I know you're awake and seeing the messages I've been sending you.]

Luis: [Even if you don't respond, I'll keep sending until you do.]

Luis:[Funny face emoji.]

Luis: [Fine, Goodnight and have a good night sleep. ]

Lola fixed her gaze on the last message. She wanted to respond, she wanted to say goodnight to him, but she couldn't. She turned off her phone, returned it to her nightstand, and sat properly on her bed.

***

The following day...

Lola awoke to the buzzing sound of her phone, opened her eyes, and stretched her hands to the nightstand where she had placed her phone. Lola stared at it for a moment before realising she was in her own room, sighed and mumbled, " It was just a dream."

As they searched for the device, her fingers grazed across the smooth wood surface, as they searched for the device. Once her fingers closed around it,She flipped open her phone, squinting through the screen.

As her fingers swiped across the screen to unlock her phone, she subconsciously smiled. It wasn't until she realised who was calling that she moved her finger to the answer button. As her hand hovered above the green 'Accept' button, she considered not answering the call, but she sighed and pressed the green button before pressing the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" Lola mumbled into the receiver.

" Do you still intend to divorce Santiago? Huh? You know what I'm capable of if you continue with this divorce, withdrawing from your company was just phase one," a familiar deep grouchy voice replied.

Lola didn't respond, instead letting out a long sigh.

She knew he'd bring up his concern about this again; her father isn't going to let this go. She didn't know what he'd do next, but she was certain it wouldn't be good. And she wasn't at all prepared to deal with him. No, not yet.

He rambled on about her divorce plans until she finally yanked the phone from her ear and hung up. Lola crawled under her sheets in her queen sized bed as soon as the phone disconnected, curling herself into a ball and burying her face in her pillows, trying to block everything out, ignoring the headache that blossomed in her temples.

"Get out of bed; it's time to go to work." Lola muttered to herself as she stood up from the soft, white covers. She finished her morning routine and went to work.

***

Later...

Luis sat in a plush white armchair in a penthouse suite on the top floor of New Mexico's tallest skyscraper, watching the sun set over the city. He leaned back into the soft cushioning of the chair, thinking to himself, "What a beautiful city." As his thoughts wandered, he held an ice blue drink in one hand and sipped it slowly. The sky was dark blue with pink and orange streaks; it was almost breathtaking.

He could hear cars and people passing by below him on the street, some cars honking at each other, people simply laughing and chatting. It was an incredible sound that he wanted to remember forever. He sighed quietly; it seemed so peaceful here, and he wished he could share it with Lola.

Luis then stood up and entered the living room, taking the TV remote from the couch and turning on the TV. The news was the first thing that came up.

The headline read, 'DIAS PREZ and PREZ EMPIRE separation.'

He sighed tiredly and turned it off.

"PREZ EMPIRE has left DIAS PREZ? Is that why Lola approached me?" He muttered something to himself.

When his phone rang, he picked it up and said, "Hello."

"It's been a while, Mr Borbón," his secretary, Mr Javier, said.

Luis's brow furrowed at the sound of the familiar voice, and he pulled his phone away from his ear to see who had called.

On his screen, the caller ID 'Annoying ass secertary' was visible.

Luis closed his eyes and cursed quietly.

"Mr. Borbón, I'm hoping you won't hang up on me like you did the last time "He stated.

Luis cleared his throat and returned the phone to his ear, saying, "Oh! Mr Javier, it has been a while."

"Anyway, let me cut to the chase," Javier began.

"I have something important to tell you, but first I want to ask you a very important question," he trailed off.

Luis sighed deeply and pinched the bridge of his nose, "speak."

"When are you returning to the office?" He yelled, his voice frustrated.

"Is that how you define an important question? I work from home, don't I?" Luis replied.

"Well, that's no excuse," Javier grumbled.

"I'm the boss, I can do whatever I want." Luis huffed and crossed his arms across his chest.

"I know you're the boss, but you can't be absent from your office forever, what if a staff member tries to..." snorted Javier.

Luis cut him off with a matter-of-fact response, "That's why I have you there, don't I?"

"But what if I was not trustworthy? What would you do ?"

"I wouldn't have chosen you as my secretary," Luis responded.

"You make an excellent point, but..."

"You say too many buts, I'm hanging up now because you obviously have nothing important to say," Luis said flatly.

"Ah no, I do have something important to say," Javier said again before Luis could hang up.

"Alright, speak," Luis said.

"The agent you hired discovered a clue about your father's whereabouts."

Luis's breath hitched, but it didn't show on the other end of the line. He was trying not to panic, so he asked, "What kind of clue?" His voice sounded desperate, and his hand gripped the phone even tighter.