Chapter 5 The Secret

The morning sickness struck violently.

Alexa doubled over in the dingy restroom stall of the staff quarters, clutching after her stomach as wave after wave of nausea crashed over her.

She bit her lip to avoid crying out. Crying out would raise questions, she thought.

Questions she wasn't ready to answer.

She rinsed her mouth in the sink, staring at the pale girl in the mirror.

"Is this really me?"

She asked a question ironically.

The girl who looked back looked nothing like the heiress who once wore satin robes and diamond bracelets. Nor like Alexa, the barmaid with secrets hidden behind mascara and a soft smile.

She looked like a ghost.

Life in Manila had never been this kind but this .. this was cruelty wrapped in chaos.

Chaos she puts herself in by trying to do good.

The pregnancy changed everything.

The shifts were longer, and the whispers were louder. Her back aches from carrying a laundry basket up flights of stairs.

The tumbling of the elevator made her head spin sporadically.

Her skin, once radiant. Now dulled with fatigue. Still, she showed up every single day.

Until her body started fighting back.

Twice she collapsed in the linen closet. Another time, she almost threw up on a guest's bedsheets.

Her supervisor pulled her aside, with a look of distaste.

"You look ill Cortez, if you are not fit to work, dozens are waiting to replace you. "

Alexa forced a smile. "It's just The flu ma'am I'll manage.

She always managed. But it was getting harder to lie to herself.

That night she sat in her shared apartment, holding the clinic appointment slip in trembling hands.

Saturday - 3:00 PM Manila Women's Health Centre, Consultation.

Suddenly she was startled by a snap of fingers, bringing her from a deep thought.

It was Lisa, the middle-aged lady who rescued Alexa when she was striving for survival.

A very kind and understanding woman who was more like an elder sister and a mother to her.

Lisa had been too busy with work to notice how Alexa was coping, but seeing how pale she looked.

It was obvious that being stressed from work couldn't be the reason for her sudden behaviour change.

"You are pregnant!"

Lisa said with hesitation which got Alexa trembling and lost for words.

"It is simple, you know abortion is legally prohibited in the Philippines.

"You have two choices".

"Tell me who's responsible so we go look for him.

Or You spend half of your years looking after a child without a father, which puts every other thing on hold for you.

But Alexa's decision was made as she stared at Miss Lisa remorsefully.

Cold, quiet, final.

Not because she didn't want the child, but because she had no choice.

No evidence. No features.

What kind of life would she offer a child?

Working twelve-hour shifts, living in fear of being caught, shamed.

And what would she say when the child asks about his or her father.

" I don't know his name. Just his eyes. Just his voice".

No, it was easier this way, and cleaner.

Even though it shattered her.

Friday- At Everett Grand.

Her routine changed abruptly when she was summoned to the 28th floor, the executive suites. A surprise promotion, "A test" they said.

The hallway smelled like mahogany and imported cologne. The carpet was thick enough to silence footsteps.

She entered Room 2803, expecting another mundane cleanup. But the moment she stepped in her breath caught.

The room was pristine, yet something felt familiar like déǰ̣à vu whispered from the walls.

There was a half-buttoned shirt tossed over the couch. A glass tipped on its side. A folded passport was left carelessly on the desk.

She moved to make the bed and then stopped.

She saw a silver bracelet gleaming beneath the pillow.

Her bracelet!

The one she wore that night. The one she lost.

Her fingers trembled as she picked it up, and then turned towards the desk.

The passport started back at her like a ghost from the past.

"James Everett?"

Her knees gave away, and then she sat on the edge of the couch.

It all came crashing back. His face, the warmth of his arms, the desperation in his eyes as he slurred the name Lily.

The scent of scotch and sadness, the feel of him in her arms.

Their lips collided like waves in the storm.

"He was the one". She thought.

James Everett, her boss. The man whose empire she scrubbed toilets for. The father of her child.

While deep in thought, her phone buzzed.

It was a text from her colleague, Trina:

" Hey girl, found your bracelet in Room 2803. Also saw Mr Everret's passport."

" Was that your mystery man? Lol".

Alexa stared at the screen, heart thudding like a drum.

Mystery man.

No longer a mystery

But with truth came terror.

James Everett wasn't just rich. He was powerful. Untouchable. A king in a world she barely survived in.

If she confronted him, he'd never have believed her. Why would he? He probably didn't even remember that night. They were both drunk. Confused strangers in the dark.

And who would believe her, a broke low-level cleaner claiming to be carrying the heir's child?

No one. Not even him.

She made the choice again

She would keep it to herself.

She would carry on with the abortion

And she would bury the truth where no one could dig up, not even Miss Lisa.

Saturday - 2:24 PM

Outside the shaft clinic is hidden in the deepest part of a village called Mangol.

Alexa stood on the sidewalk, a slip carrying a description in her hand, wrapped in a tattered jacket.

The sky was grey

Her limbs heavy

Her heart was pounding, like it knew something she didn't.

Inside, women waited quietly. Ladies dressed like nurses called names.

Clipboard shuffled.

"Cortez" someone called

She froze.

For one brief second, she almost turned away.

But then she took a deep breath and stepped forward and that was when it happened.

A screech of tyres.

A scream

A horn blaring

Alexa turned her head just in time to see a delivery truck, skidding towards the curb.

The world tilted.

Metal slammed into flesh.

It all went dark!.

Some days Later in an unknown hospital.

Beeping lights. Muffled voices.

"She's waking up"

"Careful". She has trauma to the head"

"Memory loss, no ID. She's lucky to be alive.

Alexa opened her eyes.

Or did she?

Because nothing looked familiar.

She tried to speak, but only a moan came out.

"Where am I"

" Shh".... a nurse soothed. "You are in safe hands"

"Who... am I"

She asked out of curiosity.

The nurse gave a sad smile.

"We were hoping you'd tell us".

Alexa closed her eyes.

One face appeared behind her lids, soft chiselled, golden eyes full of sadness.

She didn't know who he was.

But something told her that he knew her.