Chapter 5 : Caroline's Secret

- I am the mistress of your late son, Robert Young. His true wife, his true lover. I filled in the gaps in that disgusting marriage, healed him from the torments of the idiot he called Ada Young's daughter-in-law. I was with him, when Ada was rolling in her own bed with the gardener.

>> When the tragic accident happened, I cried for days, which turned into weeks, months, years and decades. I tried to kill myself, look at the marks on my wrists. They do not heal to this day. I was his secretary at the time, at Buffet Young and Associates. I know your son has broken the tradition of the Youngs, of following the path of science and medicine. He studied law, and lost his life. He was as good in his law career as you and your ancestors in science and medicine. He rejected me several times, he humiliated me. One night he arranged dinner at a restaurant. I went, and waited for hours and hours until the first rays of dawn touched. They were about to kick the place out, until Robert arrived. It wasn't very wordy, but I didn't care. I ran into his embrace, and he dropped me on the hard asphalt. I hurt my knees. I begged him to come back, but he never saw me again. Left me in debt for a dinner I didn't try. He was starving, but he disappeared just like him. I was never after the Youngs' money, instead I spent fortunes on ways to win that man over. Expensive gifts, fabulous trips and cosmetic treatments that turned out to be a scam. I ended up broke, covered in unpayable debts. I was a prostitute. I ended up outraged by a fat mobster. I got pregnant with Albert. He threatened me, he gave me money to have an abortion. I refused, how would I be able to kill my own child? That's when I met Lorcan Blake, and he rescued me. It turned out that I was a partner in the Buffet, that is, I always had the man of my dreams by my side and I never realized it.

>>When Robert found out about his wife's prank, he came to me. We made love like the gods, they were two wonderful months. Even in those days, I was unable to reveal to him that I incurred debts trying to win him over. He told me everything, everything. Everything.

>> And because of that, I know you have a son in prison. We are talking about Ivan Young. A doctor. An investigator. I use treatments not approved by the medical community, to treat patients with life-threatening diseases. As a consequence, they died. The families denounced him for malpractice and since then he has been imprisoned. Approximately thirty years. I follow them closely, as much as possible. Recently, he had a fight with a very dangerous guy. Who threatens to kill him. Thanks to my contacts that I am not going to reveal how I got, I can avoid losing another child. It is a very strong pain right? Don't you want to go through the same thing again? I understand, I almost lost Albert when he was in my womb. It is something from which one cannot recover.

Gerald fell into the chair. I felt between a rock and a hard place. Either he gave his granddaughter to a stranger, or he lost his only son. He would rather die than face either path.

"Your life is of no use to me, old Gerald Young."

He did not believe his son was innocent, he knew that he really committed those crimes. But if he believed in his ends, he made illegal use of medicine to save lives. He believed in the famous phrase "the end justifies the means"

'It's not all black either, Mr Young. If Albert makes a mistake, Sophie benefits financially. I know they have a lot of money, it shows for miles. But you will not always be there to take care of her. If something happens to him? Have you thought about what will happen to your money after your death? Money never hurts, as they say it's better to cry in a Ferrari than under a bridge.

Gerald sighed. I know I felt heavy, useless and with no way out.

-I agree. Sophie is going to marry her son.

Sophie was painting a picture. It was about some white birds flying through the sky, surrounded by lamps. I had read that in an Asian town, at a party they used to throw lights into the air. It was a very colorful spectacle.

Somebody knocked on the door.

And it is open.

He turned around, expecting to greet his grandfather.

- Who are you? - He asked defensively, when he saw a young man.

His dress was very elegant, his cow-licked hairstyle would have been amusing to him, if it hadn't been for the somewhat unpleasant surprise that someone other than his grandfather showed up. He didn't look like he was an employee of the mansion. Was your grandfather okay?

Was he a mugger?

Why would he steal from the mansion, if it was clear that pussycat must belong to an upper middle class?

He picked up his brush, imagining it to be a sword. If he stuck the back end of the brush in his eye, he could blind him and defend himself. Also ruin his impeccable and neat blue suit, with light blue watercolor.

-I am the prince, who comes to rescue Rapunzel from her tower. He bowed to her with a big smile. His eyes sparkled, as if he had seen the most beautiful thing in the world. Because Sophie dazzled him with her beauty. He was taller than him, he was five feet seven. She had eyes as clear as honey, very long blond hair full of curls, and with full cheeks. She was slim, with pale porcelain skin.

She was wearing a floor-length pink dress, white rabbit-shaped slippers. Her hands, and her cheeks, and her white apron were stained with paint, but she still seemed to him the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. I even noticed that she was hip and had large breasts.

Sophie snapped back into an attack pose.

-If you keep bothering me, I'm going to stick the tip of my brush in your eyes. - He said, looking straight at him, hiding his fear. - I'm not afraid of you, assailant.

-Assailant? - He pointed out, pouting - Do I look like an assailant?

-If we judge books by their cover, and people by their appearance, I'm afraid we're lost. It is well known that those who steal the most wear a suit and tie, and have the face of a lamb.

-Good is true. You are very well informed of the external world. - I accept Albert. - I'm not going to hurt you, or you or anyone. I just want to meet you. I will not put an inch of my foot in your tower, I promise.

Sophie lowered her guard, she had to be honest with herself. The idea of ​​talking to someone other than her grandfather, of meeting someone else, was seductive. Whether or not her grandfather challenged her was something she was willing to face.

I breathe and count to ten. What if that young man was the prince coming to rescue her from confinement?

What if he was the prince who dragged Rapunzel out of her tower?

Well, she wasn't going to throw her hair and have him run through it. It was very long, past her waist.

-She called me Sophie Young, or the Rapunzel of the 21st century. I am also known as the prison maiden. - He introduced himself, tried to laugh at his own condition.

-A pleasure, princess. I am Albert Blake.

- Nice for me too. I'm sorry we can't do much. I can't even shake your hand.

- Does not matter. I also know why you are here. It's because of your illness.

-Alright. We both already know that. - Sophie didn't want to talk about it, it was boring.

- I want to meet you. to Sophie. Not sick or weird. What things do you like to do here? What are your dreams?

Sophie was very excited. Someone asks about his wishes and not about his illness, which seemed to say who he was.

- I'm a doctor. I want to find the cure for deadly diseases. I want to help people, I want to heal wounds. I want to eradicate cancer, malaria, cirrhosis...

-What you say sounds like fantasy and science fiction. The typical clichéd mad scientist. And due to his ambition to find the cure for deadly diseases, he unleashes chaos on the world. Do you watch a lot of movies here?

-I have television and Internet, but I like reading dusty books more. My favorite genres are fantasy and science fiction.

- Me too. We could play online one day.

-Yes, from time to time also video games.

- How did you study medicine here? Did the teachers come to teach you? Private classes?

-About. My grandfather taught at the University and has good teaching skills. He taught me everything. The rest of the disciplines I learned on my own, I sometimes read history. I still find out about novels.

-Ahem, excuse me for questioning you, there's something strange here. Albert asked with great curiosity. The young woman interested him very much. - It is easy for me to imagine someone locked up studying law, finance, letters or fine arts. Many books... but... medicine? Aren't you supposed to have labs or something? Shouldn't you know how to use a microscope? Is it true that medical students steal bodies from cemeteries and morgues to study them?

- Hey no. What a crazy story. Well, sometimes I did study parts of the human body that my grandfather sent me.

- And where ? Because I don't see any microscopes around here.

- No, en el lab.

Albert opened his mouth as much as he could. A laboratory in a tower?

- That's crazy. I feel inside the Frankenstein movie. And what built it especially for you?

- No, it was already. Since before he was born.

- And why would someone have a laboratory on the top floor of their house?

- The Young family stands out for having participated in very important investigations. For generations. Almost all the members were doctors, biologists, chemists, geologists, biochemists or physicists. I suppose they had their personal projects, and they did them here. It is a very old place. And I confess that I don't know him at all, there are things that my grandfather hasn't let me touch.

-MMM. Makes sense. I can't imagine Einstein, Tesla, Darwin, Curie being very far from their passion, science.

- If true. There are real scientists who have had laboratories in their homes, it's not just a thing from horror movies.

- Your grandfather does not store zombie viruses or something like that? How about a crazy creature?

Sophie laughed at the comment.

-Ha ha ha. You're funny. Land, Albert. In real life you can't create zombie viruses, Frankensteins, or time machines. It must be some very delicate cell culture, nothing more. Or perhaps sperm, eggs or embryos of billionaires, who distrust ordinary laboratories and have asked the Young for a favor.

Sophie wished that young man never left, because having company was fun for him.

And that young man had no desire to leave.