CHAPTER 24
I sat alone in my bedroom and called Jordan.
The phone rang twice before his cheerful voice answered.
"Hey, my love."
"Hi, Mom!"
Just hearing his voice eased something inside me.
"You like Aunt Violet's place?" I asked softly.
"Mom, this place is awesome!" he said excitedly. "She has the latest collection of almost everything. And my room has all these wildlife pictures everywhere. She also promised to take me to an archery range."
A small smile touched my lips.
"Good. Enjoy yourself, baby."
There was a brief silence before I spoke again.
"Can you hand the phone to your aunt for me?"
A few seconds later, Violet answered.
"Talk to me."
"Well…" I sighed heavily. "Kora and I had an argument. A really bad one. She left and went to stay with her boyfriend."
There was a pause.
"Wow," Violet muttered. "That was unexpected."
"I know, right?" I rubbed my forehead tiredly. "Anyway… please take care of yourselves. And kiss my son for me."
"Goodnight, Brandi."
Click.
I slowly lowered the phone and stared into the darkness of my room.
Sleep never came easily to me. Insomnia had become another demon I carried around like a second skin.
So while the rest of the house slept, I remained awake—thinking.
Thinking about Felipe.
About Don Fernandez.
About the map.
The deeper I looked at everything, the more one thing became painfully clear: nobody connected to that map existed without ties to Don Fernandez. Nobody.
And somehow, Felipe sat right in the middle of it all like a snake hiding beneath flowers.
I didn't need convincing anymore.
That man knew something.
The following morning, I woke up early and prepared breakfast for everyone. Cooking usually helped calm my thoughts, even if only temporarily. The smell of eggs, toast, and coffee slowly filled the house as the ladies gathered around the kitchen island one by one.
Marissa looked exhausted. Dark circles sat beneath her eyes.
"I couldn't sleep last night," she admitted while rubbing her temples. "So I grabbed my computer and started digging into Felipe."
Indira immediately looked interested. "And? What did you find?"
Marissa leaned forward slightly.
"Well… first I checked immigration records. There's no Felipe matching his description who entered Singapore through any airport."
That immediately caught my attention.
"So I dug deeper," she continued. "Made a few calls. Pulled some favors. Eventually I found out his real name isn't Felipe."
The room fell silent.
"What's his real name?" Lupita asked quietly.
"Julio Fernandez."
The surname alone sent chills down my spine.
I frowned. "Okay… but how does him being Julio Fernandez help us exactly?"
Marissa's expression darkened.
"This is where things become interesting."
She opened her laptop and turned it toward us.
"I ran his real name through every database I could access. Social media, archived accounts, criminal connections—everything."
Her finger tapped against the screen.
"And on one of his old pages, there was a picture of him standing beside Don Fernandez."
My stomach tightened instantly.
"Underneath the photo," Marissa continued slowly, "the caption read: 'Uncle through everything.'"
Silence crashed over the room.
Nobody moved.
Nobody even breathed properly.
Because now it all made sense.
Felipe wasn't just connected to Don Fernandez.
He was family.
And suddenly, every smile, every dodge, every suspicious glance around our house felt far more sinister than before.
"He's Don Fernandez's nephew," Indira whispered in disbelief.
"And that," Marissa said grimly, "explains exactly why he wants the map."