Alvarez's Father

"You are that witness, right? You were the little girl at that mansion that night, right?" He continued as Lane's tears slowly dripped on her cheeks. Alvarez knew that Lanie was the only witness that night when he read the diary of his father.

"Please tell me, Lanie, please." He approached her and held her in both arms.

"Please tell me. I will protect you as he protects you." She looked at him and all she saw was the sincerity and determination in his eyes. She wiped her tears and slowly nodded at him. Alvarez supported her and made her sit on the sofa. He waited for her until she composed herself. Even though he was desperate to know the whole story, he doesn't want to force Lanie. He didn't say anything, his presence was enough to make her feel safe and that someone was finally here to listen to her except Jake.

"How did you know that I was that girl?" Lanie asked in the middle of the silence. He sighed, "My father was one of the officers assigned that night. He said he saw you leave the mansion together with your Grandmother. He went back to the mansion to gather more evidence and he saw you." Lanie looked at him, and their eyes met.

"Why did he let us leave that night?" She saw the hesitation in his eyes but in the end, he surrendered, "Because he saw how traumatized you are and how your Grandmother determined to take you out away from that mansion."

"Where is he now? Your father," he asked. His mood suddenly changed.

"He died- No. Someone killed him. Months after the massacre, my father and his team were still investigating the case, then a memo from the Chief arrived saying that the case was already closed and ordered to stop the investigation. Weeks after that, they heard that the Chief became a senator. They believed that someone was behind that, and that's why they continued the investigation secretly. They continued to investigate until they finally had a clue about the real killers of the Gerpacios. One day, I received a call that my father died in a car crash while they were on their way to find someone. And that someone was you." She can't believe what he was saying to her right now. Suddenly, she remembered what she saw that night at Kathy's party. Those images... were true. She just thought she was just hallucinating but that was true. She looked at Alvarez's wrist and saw the silver watch. An old silver watch. 

"That watch..." Alvarez looked at his wrist and smiled sadly before nodding.

"Yeah. This watch belonged to him." He said. Lanie gulped and nodded. What she saw before were the memories... of his father. 

"The files and evidence they gathered were in our house. I studied all of them, and I already knew that you were that witness. I also knew who those three people were. I already knew them before you went to me and asked for the CCTV footage in the mansion." He continued.

He faced her; his attention was fully on her. She saw the gentleness in his eyes before he said the words that made her heart beat widely.

"Now, can you tell me what happened that night?"

Lanie only stared at Alvarez after what he said. She heard the loud beating of her heart. Her hands were shaking. She doesn't know what to do. Should she tell him the truth?

He sighed and let go of her. "I'm sorry. You don't have to tell me if you are not ready. I can wait, Lanie." He said and gave her a gentle smile.

"My psychiatrist told me that if I voice out what the things in my mind are, I can at least breathe. It will not be hard for me anymore." she slowly said.

"But, I don't know how. It's easy to say but hard to do because I know that many people around me will get hurt if I said any words about what happened 14 years ago. I know everything will be in chaos if I reveal it. Why do they have to be involved in this? They are making it harder for me to speak." Her voice cracked. Alvarez looked at her, confused at what she said.

"What do you mean?" She breathed heavily and bit my lip.

"My friends… Althea, Penelope, and Mark are involved in this mess," she said that made him more confused so she continued. "Week after I started working at the hotel, Althea got hired, then Penelope, and lastly, Mark. Remember when I said that I always find people around me suspicious? Well, not at all people but in some people, including them."