Between 2 Hearts – Episode 43

Naomi entered the room with her father behind her. She turned to him, frowning.

“Child, please let me explain,” her father said, but Naomi’s anger was evident.

“You knew about this?” she asked, her voice trembling with emotion. Her father nodded.

“For heaven’s sake, Dad! Why?” She asked frustratedly.

“I did it for you. I don’t like the fact that you and your sister are struggling to get a job,” her father explained.

“Did we complain about it? I can’t believe you still communicate with her. That woman abandoned us years ago. She’s not part of us anymore,” 

“I know, child. I just thought I could help,” her father said, looking regretful.

“You did, but in the wrong way. That woman is not part of us anymore. She ceased to be one of us the day she chose her wealthy family over us,” She said, her words filled with hurt and anger.

“I’m sorry,” 

“Please don’t do this again. It’s better being a beggar on the street than working in her company,” 

“I promise… Come here,” her father said, pulling her into a warm hug. “I’m sorry,” he repeated.

“It’s okay, Dad. It’s better this way. We’ve been living fine without her,” She said, and they pulled away from each other.

“I love you, dear,” he said, smiling.

“I love you too, Dad,” Naomi replied, and they smiled at each other.

   “So, why didn’t you tell me you were working in Alex’s company?” he asked, and Naomi sighed.

“I didn’t know he owns the company until I found out,” she replied.

“He told me you resigned because of the pressure from his mother and her sister,” 

“Yes, I don’t want to get into trouble with them. It’s better I quit than have no peace of mind there,” 

“He begged to have you back,” 

“You know I can’t go back, Dad. His mother…” she trailed off.

“I know. He swore that he won’t allow anything to happen to you, and I believed him,” her father said, and Naomi sighed.

Meanwhile, Mia was alone with the guys in the living room. She was feeling nervous with the way Nathan kept staring at her, and she was trying everything possible to avoid eye contact with him. Alex, on the other hand, kept looking towards the direction where Naomi and her father went, worried about their conversation.

Nathan kept staring at Mia until he stood up and moved to where she was sitting.

 “Can we talk?” he asked firmly, just as she was about to reply.

Naomi and her father came out, and Mia rushed to Naomi’s side.

 “Are you okay?” she asked, and Naomi nodded.

“Um, Your Highness, you two are still here,” Mr. Daniels asked, noticing the guys were still in his living room.

    “Yes, we just want to know if everything is fine,” Alex said.

“Yes, everything is fine,” Naomi replied.

“Okay, that’s good to know. We’ll take our leave now,” Alex said, and they bid their farewells.

As they waved goodbye, the ladies let out a deep breath as soon as they disappeared from view.

 “Finally!” they exclaimed in unison, and their father raised an eyebrow at them.

Along the driveway, Alex and Nathan boarded a cab home. “Why didn’t you say anything to her?” Alex asked, turning to Nathan.

“I just don’t know how to start. I hope she comes back to the company,” Nathan replied.

“It’s not going to be easy to bring them back. We just have to keep trying,” he said, and they fell silent for a while. “Do you want to stop by my place first?” Alex asked, breaking the silence, and Nathan nodded.

At the palace, everyone was still in a state of worry.

 “I can’t take this anymore. We need to file a report. It’s been over 24 hours, and there’s no sign of them yet,” Elora said, her voice filled with anxiety.

“Yes, let’s involve the police,” Diva agreed.

“Let me phone the DPO,” King Luke said, dialing the DPO’s number on his phone.

Just then, one of the guards rushed in.

 “Your Majesty, the prince and his friend are back,” he announced, and everyone stood up quickly.

   

  “What, they’re back?” Queen Lala asked, and the guard nodded.

“Where did you see them?” Mrs. Adams asked.

“I just saw them far from the gate, walking towards the palace building,” he replied, and everyone rushed out quickly.

They came outside to see Alex and Nathan walking towards the palace, relief washing over their faces. Elora and Diva rushed to hug their men tight in their arms.

“I told you they’d be fine,” King Luke said, smiling.

The rest of the family joined in the hugging, and after a few minutes, they all went inside.

“What happened to you two?” Mr. Adams asked.

“Nothing happened,” Nathan replied, shrugging.

“Then where did you two disappear to since last night?” Anna asked.

“We just hung out,” Alex replied nonchalantly.

“Do you know how worried we were, thinking something bad had happened to you two?” Queen Lala asked.

“We even thought you two were kidnapped,” Josh said.

“Don’t you ever scare us like that again,” Elora said, holding Alex firmly.

“Was that the reason why you guys were here?” Nathan asked.

“Yes, we were planning on going to the station,” Mrs. Adams replied.

“That wasn’t necessary,” Alex said.

“Your phones were off,” King Luke said.

“Yeah, it ran out of battery,” Nathan explained.

“I was so worried,” Diva said, holding Nathan tightly.

  

  After some minutes, the both families bid each other goodbye as Nathan left with his family. Alex entered his room with Elora behind him. He moved to the closet to take off his clothes, and suddenly, he felt a hug behind him.

“I miss you, please don’t ever scare me like this again. I don’t know what I will do without you,” she said, her voice filled with emotion. Alex sighed and turned to her, caressing her face.

“I’m sorry if I made you worried,” he said softly. 

“I’m happy that you’re here now.” She made a move to kiss his lips, but Alex turned his face away.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, looking confused.

 “Nothing, I just need to freshen up,” he said, using that as an excuse to leave for the bathroom.

 Elora sighed and sat down on the bed.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Ruth finally managed to get through to the girls on the phone. She was alone in the room, talking with them.

“Finally, I was so worried you guys’ phone wasn’t connecting. What happened?” she asked.

“I was trying to reach you guys because of what was happening in the palace,” she continued, waiting for their reaction.

“The prince and his friend went missing, and the families were worried about them, but thank goodness they’re back safe,” she said, relieved.

“What? They were with you ladies in the house?” she asked, surprised, on the phone. 

Unbeknownst to her, one of the palace spies overheard her conversation through the back window and was taken aback. The spy quickly sneaked back, her expression turning sinister.

“Really, the crown prince and his friend were in Naomi’s house all this while they were searching for them… Hmm, the queen must hear about this. This is an act of kidnapping,” the spy thought to herself, smirking as she walked away.

“Thank goodness nothing happened to them. You two should be careful too; no one should hear about this—that they spent the night there with you guys. It would be too tough to handle,” Mrs. Ruth advised, before bidding each other goodnight and hanging up.

TBC