Mr. President: You Are The Daddy Of My Triplets - Chapter 275

Chapter 275: 275- Delinda?

Marissa was tracing patterns on the armrest of her couch. They had spent the whole day sitting here on the sofa with Sophie beside her who was concerned about her friend.

Another nightfall had arrived, and the kids were sent to bed with Emily. Marissa kept herself strong throughout the day for the kids’ sake.

They asked about Rafael’s absence and were told that their father had to travel for business’s sake. They also questioned about the woman who was dirty and sitting outside their living room. Marissa just asked the kids to ignore her.

She didn’t want to put anything negative into their little minds. For the last five years, she had this hunch that she would need to tell her kids about their father. However, she made a blunder. She never thought of telling them about Nina. Or her parents. Or Valerie.

Kids don’t only require parents’ love. Both sets of grandparents, uncles, and aunts were equally important if they were alive.

She couldn’t tell them that her parents or Rafael’s mom were dead.

Now she was in a fix.

Telling her kids that the woman sitting outside was merely a beggar could cause her to feel self-inflicted guilt in front of them.

“What are you thinking?” Sophie’s hand held hers and intertwined their fingers. Marissa rested the side of her face on her friend’s shoulder.

After doing this several times on her husband’s shoulder, now it felt strange.

You made me your habitual and now you are nowhere to be found.

“Sophie!” she whispered.

“Hmm?”

“Do you think he has left me again?”

“No, silly!” Sophie placed her arm around her friend, “he was crazy about you. I saw it in his eyes.”

“Perhaps,” she straightened and looked into Sophie’s eyes, “you should go home… go … go and stay with Joseph… you both should be together.”

“Now stop saying this rubbish, love. We are friends for a reason. And no… I’m not leaving you…”

She slapped Marissa’s shoulder and pulled her back to her side, “I hope that Dean and Joseph can find anything.”

Marissa stayed there silently, “Can you bring me coffee!” she tried to make those puppy eyes, but Sophie shook her head with tightly clenched lips.

“Marissa Sinclair. How many cups of coffee are you planning to drink? For God’s sake, go to sleep. You have been up since last night and now you need to sleep.”

“And I wasn’t alone!” Marissa pointed out, “At least my ass isn’t leaving this couch, but you have been on your toes since then…”

“Stop it, silly. I’m your friend. Don’t forget that.”

“Don’t you get tired of being my friend?” Marissa asked her and that took Sophie by surprise.

“Shut up. I’m not answering that. You aren’t in your senses.”

Marissa placed her head back with a shrug. But when the door opened and Dean walked inside, she shot up from the couch rushing to him, “Dean! Any news? Have you found him? Please tell me you did!”

Dean whose face was grim, shook his head slowly. He didn’t need to say a word. The answer was clear.

“You… you are his assistant… how is it possible you don’t know where he is?” She ran her fingers through her hair, gripping it tightly like she wanted to peel it right off her scalp.

Where was Rafael?

What would she tell her kids tomorrow, when they would ask about their father?

For how long she could give them lame excuses?

“Oh! Why is he doing that?” she hid her face behind her palms, “I don’t know what I did to deserve this.”

“You did nothing,” Dean was at once close to her, pulling her hands away from her face, “Stop blaming yourself.”

They all looked up when there was a knock on the door. Marissa rushed, thinking that it was Rafael.

“Joseph?” she looked behind him but there was no one standing there who would wink at her secretly and then pull her to him.

She was missing him. She was missing his arms around her. His words … that he used to whisper near her ears.

Joseph held her close to him and brought her inside, “Nina would stay there?” he pointed outside with his thumb.

“Marissa sent her food this evening,” Sophie informed him and made them sit on the sofa.

“Joseph,” she took another couch right across them, “did you check the hospitals?”

Marissa’s face shot up with a horrified expression, “Hospitals?”

“Yeah,” Joseph held her hand gently, “what if he had an accident?” he then looked back at Sophie, “I checked all the hospitals. Airports. Railway stations… bus stands…” With a sigh, he leaned back.

The tiredness was evident on his face, “I’ve hired an investigator too. He is working on it.”

Marissa wished this was all a dream. She wished that it was just a nightmare and would go away once she would wake up.

“Marissa! Honey!” Sophie walked up to her, and crouched down, “Why don’t you take some rest? You need to stay fresh for the kids’ sake.”

“And what if he needs me, Sophie?” tears started running down her cheeks, “What if he is calling for me out there and I’m too busy sleeping in a comfy bed,” a sob escaped her lips.

The first time when she left him, it wasn’t this painful. But now she felt like someone had punched the breath out of her lungs.

They all bolted when heard a knock on the glass wall.

Nina!

“Marissa. I’m sorry. Please let me see the kids!” she begged in a tired voice.

Marissa ignored her plea and looked up at Dean, “Shouldn’t we take police help?”

“I went there,” Joseph spoke, “the rule is that the person should be gone for twenty-four hours after the last contact then he will be eligible for a missing report.”

“Crap!” Marissa got up and started pacing in frustration, “It’s already twenty-four hours…”

“No, it’s not,” Dean said softly and fixed his glasses on the bridge of his nose, “Everyone saw him in the event. There was wide media coverage plus the paparazzi was also there. The public saw him attending the event.”

Marissa gathered her long hair and tied them into a rough bun. Rafael liked it a lot.

“You look classy no matter what you wear, what hairstyle you make,” Marissa felt her heart bleed.

“Where the hell are you, Husband?” she muttered and took a stool near the counter.

Chewing her lower lip, she got up clumsily and went to the coffee machine, “Anyone wants coffee?” she started pouring water into it kettle.

“Mar! Stop that coffee shit! Go to sleep! You need…”

“No!” Marissa slammed the electric kettle on the counter, “Why do you want me to sleep? To attend the kids? What would they do without a father?”

There was stunned silence in the room. Nobody was expecting her outburst like this.

“What would sleep bring to me except a few hours of … of ignorance? Th- That everything is fine when everything is not. Nothing is fine right now, Sophie,”

Her resolve broke and she choked on her words, “Nothing is fine. Nothing can be fine without him.”

Her hands trembled and tears welled up in her eyes before she knew it, her tears spilled over and she covered her face, crying softly.

Her shoulders were shaking with each sob and the rest of them didn’t know how to move. Marissa who was showing strength seemed to be on the verge of giving up.

Before Sophie or Dean could go to her, the glass wall rattled again with the pounding of fists, “Marissa. What happened? Why are you crying? Please let me in. Don’t worry about kids. You don’t need to worry about them.”

Sophie spun around to give Nina a shut-up call. Nobody was interested in her drama anymore. She made a point to ask Marissa to throw the woman out of there as soon as possible.

Before she could snap at her, the intercom rang loudly making them jump slightly, startled by the noise.

Joseph who was seated on the couch, stood up and walked over to answer it. Pressing the receiver to his ear, his face seemed to grow tense.

After a moment he turned to Marissa, “Call is from the gate security. The police officers are here and want to see you.”

Marissa’s heart dropped as she wiped the tears off her face. She silently nodded and gestured for Joseph to call them in. She picked up a coffee cup to place it near the kettle but then stopped. Her eyes stayed on Joseph.

Joseph spoke in the receiver, “Send them in.”

Marissa’s heartbeat was racing, her thoughts were swirling with panic.

Why were police here? Had they found something about Rafael? Was he alright?

Dean moved to the door, to let the officers in. The taller one removed his cap and addressed Marissa in a polite but firm tone.

“Ma’am. We understand you must be distressed due to Mr. Rafael’s absence. We assure you; that we can file your complaint after around two hours.”

Marissa nodded and folded her arms on her chest, “You aren’t here to let me know about this two-hour window, officer. What is this? Why are you here?”

Without hesitation, the shorter one stepped ahead, “We need to ask you about Delinda. Do you know her?”

Delinda?

“Of course, I know her,” Her voice shook slightly, “We got hired by MSin at the same time as caterers. We stayed good friends for some time.”

Later she decided to go against me and team up with Valerie.

“What about her, officer?”

“This evening, she went to Silvercrest Falls, we don’t know about the reason why was she there. One hour back we discovered her body. I’m sorry but she’s dead.”

Marissa who was holding the coffee cup, dropped it. Delinda was dead? Oh God! What was going on here?