Chapter 3 - WHAT CORA SAW
Mika met me outside the hospital room with two coffees and no comforting lies.
“The title still names A.V. Prime Holdings,” she said.
I closed my eyes.
Seven years earlier, my accountant had recommended that the company buy the property. My mother had lifelong permission to live there.
She had never owned the shares.
She had never been a director.
She could not give Rafael something that wasn’t hers to transfer.
“He has documents,” I said.
“So do people selling bridges.”
Then Mika saw my face.
“What else?”
I showed her the video.
Cora had propped her phone behind something on a kitchen shelf. Most of the frame showed her shoulder and the edge of the counter.
Rafael stood near the refrigerator.
Bianca held several sheets of paper.
“She won’t understand those,” Cora said.
“She doesn’t need to,” Bianca replied. “She needs to sign.”
“Mrs. Lourdes asked for Andrea.”
“Andrea is busy.”
Cora moved closer to the papers.
“This says she’s giving him authority over property.”
Rafael grabbed them away.
“Go upstairs.”
“No.”
That single word changed his face.
The camera shook. Something struck the counter.
Cora stumbled into view, holding her cheek.
Then Rafael spoke the sentence I had already heard.
“Your mistake was thinking Andrea would believe you.”
The recording ended with Bianca looking directly toward the shelf.
Mika watched it twice.
“We preserve the original,” she said. “And we don’t confront them with everything we have.”
Inside the room, a physician explained that my mother was dehydrated and needed further assessment. The medication package required careful review.
“Some medicines can affect alertness,” he said. “We need to establish what she actually received and why.”
“Can she recover?”
“We’ll take it one step at a time.”
No miracle promise.
I trusted him more for that.
Daniel arrived near midnight wearing a delivery uniform.
He held a grocery bag full of printed emails, bus receipts, and missing-person paperwork.
“I went to the clinic,” he said. “They told me she discharged herself.”
“Did the police investigate?”
“I reported it. I kept going back. Every time, there was another explanation.”
His jaw tightened.
“I thought you knew.”
That hurt more than an accusation.
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
A man introduced himself as a loan recovery officer.
“I’m trying to reach the authorized representative for the Alabang property.”
Mika held out her hand for the phone.
The man continued before I could pass it over.
“We need to discuss the funds released against your corporate guarantee.”
“How much?”
“Eighteen million pesos.”
May you like
Mika stopped reaching.
And for the first time that night, she looked frightened.
