A Wrong Surrogate for the CEO-Chapter 125: He knew where Lara was

"I’m alright. You don’t have to worry about me, but I am okay. I just wanted to let you know."

That was all the text message said. And even though the number it was sent from wasn’t saved, even though Lisa knew it could have been from anyone, she knew that it was from no one else but Lara.

She sat up, and her heart pounded violently in her chest. Lara said she was okay. But she didn’t mention where she was.

The fact that she was okay was a good thing though, yeah? It alleviated some of the worries in Lisa’s heart.

A part of her wondered why Lara had texted her of all people though. She could have reached out to her friend instead, or even to Kayla.

But to have intentionally reached out to her? Weird. Lisa pushed the thoughts away though. Thinking about it wasn’t going to give her any answers, and Lisa was really really sleepy.

So instead of sending an SOS to everyone just to tell them that Lara was okay like a part of her wanted to, Lara placed the phone on her bedside, turned around, and slept.

~~

Lisa’s head was pounding. A migraine was ravaging through her brain, and the pain was intense enough that it made her vision hazy.

But none of the people sitting before her cared about her migraine.

They were in fact, very mad at Lisa.

Curtis, most especially.

"You got that text hours ago and you didn’t think it was appropriate to let either of us know? To let me know?" Curtis asked.

His anger was like a living thing, and it wrapped around him, fueling his words as he spoke.

Lisa gently massaged her forehead as she responded.

"I’m sorry. It’s just that I got the message in the middle of the night. I would have been sleeping any other day, and if I had, I would not have seen it until this morning. So I just figured that you guys would be asleep. I didn’t want to wake either of you up because of that," she explained.

Her words were supposed to be comforting, but instead, it made Curtis explode with anger.

"When will you ever learn, mother? When? You just decided that none of us, that I, wouldn’t want to see the text because it was midnight and you assumed that I was sleeping? Seriously? I haven’t had even an hour of sleep since she left, Mother. How could I sleep, when my wife was out there, leaving me here to wonder if she is safe or not?"

His voice broke at the end, and the mixture of pain and rage made Lisa’s heart ache. Regret slammed into her, flooding her bones.

She shook her head as tears stung the back of her eyes. Lisa’s lips parted to speak, but Curtis interrupted her.

"Lara is my wife. And I would want to know everything about her. All the time. Doesn’t matter what the fucking time is. She is my wife!"

Lisa nodded. "Yes. She is. And I am so sorry. I just...I assumed...I should not have assumed. Please, forgive me," Lisa said to her son, and her gaze cut over to stare at Kayla.

Kayla only sighed and shook her head. "Lara is my friend too. I deserved to know."

"I know. I’m sorry. I was wrong."

Silence stretched between the four of them, and even though Curtis was still smoldering with anger, he said nothing.

Laura looked around. She sat up with a sigh. Lisa had sent them all a text a few hours earlier that Lara contacted her.

All three of them — Curtis, Laura and Kayla — had rushed over immediately. They were all eager for news and waited to know what Lara had said.

But when they saw the text, when they figured out that Lisa had gotten the message several hours ago and had fallen asleep instead of reaching out, a fight had broken out between Curtis and his mother.

Everyone seemed calmer now though, but Laura sighed again before she spoke.

"That’s it then? Lara didn’t send any other message apart from that?" she asked. Lisa sniffed and shook her head.

"That’s all. I...I tried calling the number this morning, but it says the number does not exist," she responded.

Her words made Curtis curse inwardly. "If you had reached out to me immediately you got that message, we could have traced the number before she switched it off and probably destroyed it," he snapped.

Lisa shrunk away from him but said nothing. Laura instantly interrupted what she knew was about to be another flare up from Curtis.

"Please stop being so pissed. I understand how you feel, but you’re being a jerk right now. Anyone could have fallen asleep, Curtis. Stop making it sound as if she committed a crime," Laura snapped at her brother.

Curtis looked as though he was going to say something else, but Laura’s stare stopped him. In his sister’s eyes, he saw her order to back down. He saw her understanding, and her disapproval. He saw it, and even though he was still mad at his mother, Curtis gritted his teeth and swallowed his words.

He looked away. Lisa gave a shuddering sigh of relief.

Kayla spoke next. "At least we know that she’s safe. And alive. That has to count for something."

Nobody spoke at her words, but Curtis ran a hand down his face. Kayla was right. Knowing that Lara was okay made him feel better, even if it was just a tiny bit.

If only he knew where she was. If only she mentioned where she was.

Lisa cleared her throat and was about to say something when Curtis’s phone rang. For a moment, they all thought it was Lara.

But it wasn’t.

"Lazarus. Did you find anything?" he asked curtly. Lisa, Laura and Kayla watched as Curtis listened to his bodyguard, his face betraying nothing.

When he hung up almost immediately after, there was a weird energy around him. They all instantly knew that something was up.

Curtis took a deep breath before he said anything. "Lazarus has managed to trace that number. He knows where Lara is."