Chapter XI - Finding Out the Truth

Two Months Later

Chelsea was sitting on her chair in the office. It's Wednesday and that means Rebecca was in school to study. She already told her daughter that Michael will accompany Rebecca in her practice today due to the workload Chelsea had. Thankfully, Michael agreed to her easily and she didn't need to beg him.

After New Year's celebration, they had gotten back on their normal day. Having works and school to attend to and the frown in the morning from hearing the irritating sound of an alarm. Rebecca kept improving every other day and Chelsea was rather proud of it. Michael still has a stern but polite command to everyone when he's working.

Now, Chelsea was busy again with another book that just had come to her mind and was excited to finish it. She was now getting better and looking forward to new hope and joy in her heart which was strange to her because she didn't like to look forward due to some circumstances. She noticed that she had been feeling better after Christmas.

The memories that she will cherish. Getting quality time with another family, treating her with kindness, and the feeling that she was belonged and welcomed to the family. It just gave her a new way to look for life and be grateful for it.

She also remembered the things she had with her friends. The constant bantering of Michael and Tom made her amused and entertained, sharing funny moments, and just be themselves with each other. Tom made her laugh out loud while Michael gave her a deeper connection with him.

Michael was very supportive of her, listening to her past memories and understanding her sorrow and hurt of being away from her husband. She was also comfortable telling her horrible past and how her life was now today.

Being with him gets her light and comfortable feeling, which made them have a slight touch of arms and looking at each other gaze. They were obviously not aware of each other's actions and only thought of it as a friendly gesture.

Chelsea stopped daydreaming and continued her story. Her new book was all about a newly created universe where all creature has a specific task to do in their life from the beginning when they were born but, a young man want to be free and escape from reality.

Chelsea was into writing a part where the young man started questioning what's his true purpose and isolating himself from everyone. Suddenly her telephone rang making her jumped from her seat. She took the phone and answered the line with professionalism.

"Collins speaking," Chelsea said, introducing herself to the person who called her.

"Hello, Mrs. Collins. This is Willard Larson from the police department," the man informed her. Chelsea gasped knowing that Mr. Larson was the one who's in charge of Esmond Collins' case.

She thought that after many years of waiting, today, they updated her husband's case. It was unbelievable after getting old from waiting for single news from the police and here it is.

"Y-yes?" Chelsea stuttered still processing who called her.

"Can I talk to you personally about your husband's case?" the man said softly.

"Why? W-what did you discover?" she said getting worried and confused about the man's request.

"Did you found him?" Chelsea said having her hopes high thinking that her suffering will be done and she can finally be free from being locked in her own emotion.

"Please, Mrs. Collins. Personal communication is needed regarding the things that I will talk to you about," he said pleadingly and softly, not wanting the woman on the other line to be upset.

"Why? What's wrong?" Chelsea said getting really worried and anxious about the topic to be discussed. The man didn't answer her and she knew that he will not tell her on the phone, she sighed, knowing that she will follow his request. "Fine, you can go to my house," she said with a low tone. "Did you know where it's located, right?" Chelsea continued, asking the man if he knows where he's going.

"Yes, ma'am," he answered. "It's recorded here in your husband's file," he added.

"That's settled then," she said. "See you here," she continued, wanting to end their conversation due to the anxiousness and excitement she felt upon the information he wanted to report to her.

"Later," Mr. Larson finally said with a nod and cut the line immediately to head to her house.

Chelsea dropped her phone where it belongs and she stood up to pace in her office. She didn't know what to feel, what to do, and what to act. It was nerve-wracking to her. She decided to go to the kitchen and leave her office. When Chelsea was inside the kitchen, she grabbed a glass of water to calm herself. She can't help but think of the possibilities of what Mr. Larson will be going to say to her particularly in the worst-case scenario.

After she drank her water, she went to the living room and seat on the couch, and waited for Mr. Larson to arrive. A while later, a knocked on her door made her become more nervous and made her heart pump so fast and loud.

She went to the door for her to opened it and made her guest came inside to discuss the situation of her husband. "This way," Chelsea said while she led him to the living room. They sat on the couch and Chelsea looked towards Mr. Larson, waiting for him to speak. "You can speak now," she said, getting impatient and clamped her hands to stop it from shaking.

"We found the body of your husband," he looked at her with grief.

"T-the body?" Chelsea said not understanding him fully. She furrowed her eyebrow with teary eyes. She needed to know the full story before she reacted badly, not wanting to overreact if and have a wrong understanding of his message.

"Yes, Mrs. Collins," he said slowly and watching her carefully. "We found him dead at the abandoned building at our neighbor city," he elaborated. "It was evident that he was tortured before they killed him, burned at the upper body up to his face and cuts and bruises displayed on his body with his own blood," he continued looking at Chelsea sympathetically and looking at her with sad eyes.

Chelsea didn't move for a minute making Mr. Larson worried at her state of mind. "You say dead?" she looked at him with no emotion on her face. "and my husband at the same time?" she continued, feeling numb inside.

"Y-yes, Mrs. Collins," he said hesitantly. Chelsea just looked at him silently making him uncomfortable.

"How did you know that the person is my husband when you said his body was burned up to his face making him unrecognizable," she said still her face is unreadable.

"We made genetic tests from the body and it was confirmed that it was Esmond Collins," he explained calmly. "If you want to know more detailed information about it, we can go to the quarters," he suggested.

"Not now," she said shortly. "If you please, Mr. Larson, can you visit at another time?" she continued still with no emotion. The man nodded understandably, he stood and looked at Chelsea who's looking directly into space, seemingly her mind not present in her surroundings.

"Thank you for inviting me, I will see you again when you are ready," he said then turned around to head to the door and opened it for him to exit.

Chelsea left alone still not moving. She was thinking what was Mr. Larson just uttered earlier. She knew that it has a great chance that this will happen and was ready for it to come but reality hits differently. It was unbelievable yet believable, she can't comprehend and still asking herself if all of it was true, she can't accept this.

It seemed she was trapped in a cage full of nightmares, it felt that she was inside her own body unable to control herself but her mind continued to think deeply and find relief from the cruelty of reality, she didn't want and need it.

Having a complex thought about it, Chelsea dropped her head, held her head, and leaned towards the end of the couch. She tightly pressed her head with both of her hands, thinking that it will stop her from misery.

"Ugh!" she groaned with a lace of frustration and desperation. "I-I don't w-want this..." she muttered silently with a stutter. A tear came to her right eye then followed by a river flow of her salty tears. She can't take it, it was like she was instantly struck by a full of negative emotions. She can't think properly and all she could see was a blurred image from her eyes and muffled sound around her but all she could hear was her own voice.

She moved her arm forward to cover her face. She started to sob quietly wanting nobody to hear her even if she's the only one present in her house. Chelsea curled on her couch and thought of her loving husband. She can't help but whimper about it, it was all gone, he was gone. She didn't even manage to try harder to find him, she felt useless.

The man earlier said that he was tortured while she just waited for him to magically come back to her. It made her feel guilty and remorseful, she just didn't do something. It was stupid of her, and now, she was getting angry at herself.

She screamed, releasing the anger that bubbled up inside her. She thought that her life was useless. She laughed with bitterness, her life was a fucking circus and she was the clown. It seemed like it's a joke playing around her, it was difficult to differentiate between reality and dream.

"Why?!" she shouted to no one. Now, getting angry at everything. She sat up immediately and throw all the things that she can see near her and then punched the couch finding nothing to throw.

Chelsea stopped realizing that her actions were useless. She cried loudly, foolish of her to think it can solve all of her problems. Her hands started to tremble and numb getting too much of emotions today. "Why..." she whispered to herself as she covered her face with both of her hands. After she calmed down for a while, she wiped her tears with her hands and decided to stand up to head to the kitchen. She grabbed a glass of water and drank it quickly and went to her own room.

She lay down on her bed and hugged her blanket to start crying again. She was not in the condition to continue her work and thought that it was better to have a moment to herself. She fell asleep with her drained emotions, puffy eyes, and strained tears on her cheeks.

In another location, Michael and Rebecca were enjoying eating ice cream after a session for teaching and learning about acting. While Rebecca was busy having her ice cream, he decided to call Chelsea to inform her that they will be going to her house to drop Rebecca, as Chelsea said. He picked his phone and started to dial her number. He waited for Chelsea to answer her phone but she didn't answer it. Michael repeated it three times but it always ended unanswered. He then decided to chat her.

Chelsea was awakened by her phone ringing placed at the table near the bed. She extended her arm to reach for her phone but to her disappointment when she opened her phone the call ended. She saw that it was from Michael and planned to call him back but he text her instead.

'We will be there soon' -Michael

She looked at the message for a long time and decided to call him. She took a deep breath and dialed his number which Michael answered immediately.

"Michael?" Chelsea said faintly still weak from her emotional breakdown earlier.

"Yes?" he asked. "Rebecca was just finishing her ice cream and will be leaving to drop her there," Michael informed her.

"About that, Michael," Chelsea continued, sniffing a little bit, knowing that she's getting emotional.

"C-can Rebecca stay with your family for a while?" she asked hesitantly. "I don't want Rebecca to see me in this condition," she mumbled silently to herself forgetting that Michael was listening to the other line.

"What condition?" he asked. "What happened? Are you ok?" he continued having a clear worried tone laced in his tone. She didn't reply to his question which tells everything to him. "Chelsea?" he said not sure if she was listening or just simply ignoring him.

"Can you do my request, Michael?" Chelsea asked with a waver in her voice, wanting to hear if the man agreed to her. She was holding her emotions back and didn't know when will she burst it out.

"Of course, Chelsea. You know that you two are always welcome," he finally answered, earning a sigh from her.

"Thank you," she said with a heavy heart. Chelsea leaked a river of tears again from both of her eyes, not having the strength to hold back her feelings. She cried silently but she had escaped a sniffed and whimper from her mouth and was obviously heard by the man on the other line.

"What happened?" Michael asked now really concerned about her and wearing a furrowed eyebrows and a frown on his face.

"I-I c-can't ta- talk pro- perly," she said now sobbing hardly on her phone which greatly concerned Michael. "S-so- sorr- -y," she apologized for her behavior. Chelsea was a slave by her own emotion that made her act foolishly at her friend, it frustrated her that she wanted to talk about it but she couldn't for the result of numbing and trembling mouth.

"I will be coming there," he announced still having his worried tone earlier. Then, he ended the call and looked down at the little food devouring child who's almost finished her food. "Alright, are you done, Reb?" he asked the little girl beside him.

"Yup, done!" she exclaimed as she swallowed the last part of her ice cream.

"Good, I will be taking you to Grand Pam. Your mother was having a problem today," he informed her partly saying the truth while they began walking to his car.

"Oh," she said with a frown a bit disappointed that she will not be seeing her mother.

"Don't be sad, Reb. I'm sure your Grand Pam will be making her special cookies," he said with a smile looking at Rebecca, not wanting her to be disappointed and worried about her mother. Rebecca beamed at his statement and continued to walk until they arrived at his car. They sat in their respectful place and started driving towards his place to drop down Rebecca and have a quality time with her Grand Pam.

Michael parked his car and they both went out. He guided Rebecca towards the door and opened the door for them to enter, only to meet the woman they were looking for.