“How are you, Romina? Are you taking good care of Cassie? Were you able to do anything when you were räpëd? Keep this in mind; All it takes is a sedative, and you won’t remember a thing. You better brace yourself for my comeback.”
Bernard brought the ransom money to Robert at the hotel. He asked whether he was sure about what he was doing and Robert told him that was what he had to do. He thanked him for delivering the money and walked away. On his way out, Carlos offered to go with him but Robert refused, saying that the kids’ lives would be in danger if he didn’t go alone.
“My daughter’s life is at stake here,” Carlos argued. “I also want to rescue Marga.” Robert gave Carlos a look and carried on without another word, Carlos followed. Alvin watched secretly as they went. He called Hector and told him that Robert was bringing the money.
“You know what you have to do, right?” Hector asked. “Don’t mess this up or you’ll end up ruining everything.”
Daniela was crying and praying for her daughter’s safety when Mina came in. She asked Danny girl to be strong and recounted to her about how she had given birth to Cassie and how she had difficulty breathing at the time. Kristoff was agitated. He tried calling both Cassie and Marga on the phone but their lines couldn’t be reached. “Keep them safe,” he prayed in between sobs. “I can’t afford to lose her.”
The girls had been moved to an abandoned warehouse. Marga was still going on with her ranting. She threatened Hector that the cops would find and arrest him. Hector ordered her to shut up and asked whether she believed her father would be able to pay.
“My whole world revolves around Cassie,” Mina wailed back at the hotel. “I don’t know what I’ll do if anything happens to her.”
“I don’t know what I’ll do either if anything happens to Marga,” Daniela sobbed.
Back at the warehouse, Marga was still ranting, asking why they had chosen to pay for Cassie’s release when she wasn’t even related to them. Robert and Carlos arrived at the drop off point. A second later, a taxi pulled over next to them and Robert was surprised and upset at who it was. Alvin.
“What are you doing here?” Robert demanded.
“I just wanna help,” Alvin claimed. “I’m worried about Cassie.”I figured you could use my help too.”
“Help? How do you plan on helping us? They’ll only get more upset if they see you. Leave. Leave!” Robert started shoving him. “Get out of here.”
Robert walked into the warehouse with the ransom money, a bag in each hand. He called the kidnapper on the phone and told him that he was there and he had brought the full money he had demanded. “Where are the children?” He called out after the phone call. “I have the money.”
Cassie and Marga heard him from inside. Marga called out to her grandpa and Hector ordered her to be quiet. A moment later, two masked goons approached Robert. One of them pulled a gun on him. “Give us the money.”
“Where are the children?” Robert asked.
“Hand it over.”
“Give it to us,” the other goon added.
One of the goons checked the bag Robert was carrying. He took out a bundle of money and waved it through the air triumphantly. Robert resisted when the goon tried to take the bag from him. “Where are the children?” he repeated.
The goon pulled a güñ on him again.
“I did what you wanted,” Robert went on, unfazed. “So do what you promised. I won’t give you the money until you bring the kids to me. Go ahead! K!ll me! You’ll rot in jail for the rest of your life.”
“Let it go,” the goon said, trying in vain to snatch the bag from Robert’s grip.
Robert held on steadily. “I know you just want the money. Here it is. I brought the money, so give us back the kids.”
The scoundrel released his hold on the bag when he realized that he was losing the battle. Masked Hector was watching the scene secretly. He brought out the girls a second later. Cassie and Marga were crying out to him relentlessly and Robert told them not to be afraid. Carlos had sneaked into the warehouse, unnoticed.
“Don’t hurt the children,” Robert pleaded. “Please. Let them go.”
“First, the cash,” masked Hector said.
“No. Release them first.”
“First, the cash!”
“Grandpa,” Marga wailed.
“Daddy, please,” Cassie cried.
Robert glared angrily at the scoundrels. Meanwhile, Carlos was tiptoeing over. Robert dumped one of the bags on the floor and asked for the girls to be released. Hector shoved them forward and they stumbled into Robert’s arms.
“Get out of here,” Robert said to both girls. “Run.” Carlos came out of hiding and eventually ushered the girls out.
Hector pulled a gun on Robert. “Drop the bag. Drop it now.”
Robert glanced at the goons, a resolved look on his face. Alvin had also sneaked into the warehouse, unnoticed. Robert threw the bag at Hector and he caught it and ran off with one of the goons. The other goon went to pick up the first bag Robert had dropped earlier. Police sirens sounded in the distance.
Robert grabbed a stick and smashed him. He began dragging the bag away. The goon recovered and fired just as soon as Alvin came out of hiding. A bullet stroke Alvin and Robert ran for cover when the scoundrel fired off more shots. Back at the hotel, Mina asked Daniela if there was any news and Daniela told her that Carlos hadn’t called yet.
Kulas came in. “Daniela. Romina,” he said. “Don’t worry. Carlos and Robert will both be fine.”
“But how do you know?” Mina asked.
“Robert and I had a deal.”
Flashback : Robert told Kulas to leave the situation for him to handle since his plan had backfired earlier. Kulas warned him that the kidñäppers were likely professionals.
“How do you know?” Robert asked.
“I was a cop,” Kulas replied. “The kidñäppers really planned out every detail on how they kidñäppered Cassie and Marga. You want to meet up with them. It’s dangerous. We don’t know if they’ll let the girls go once they get the money. You cannot face them alone.”
“I am confident that you’re concerned with the kids’ safety. You should call the police so they won’t suspect me. I will just message you where the final drop off point will be.”
“Remember. Be extra careful. We’re dealing with criminals here.”
Present : Kulas told Mina that they couldn’t do anything now except to wait and hope that the plan had gone on successfully. The drop off point was crawling with the police. Robert asked some paramedics to treat Alvin and he was escorted into an ambulance. Marga gave her statement to an officer and thanked her father for coming to her aid. Cassie also gave her statement. Robert walked over to her. “Cassie.”
Cassie turned, crying. “Daddy.”
“It’s okay,” Robert consoled with a hug. “It’s over. We’re going home. Am really sorry. This won’t happen again. It’s okay, dear.”
Marga came over to thank her grandpa and Robert pulled her into the hug. Jude joined them and told Robert that the chief wanted to talk to him. Cassie asked Marga if she was okay and Marga told her to stop pretending to be nice since the kidñäppers were supposed to release her alone.
“I’ll never leave you there,” Cassie said. “I was able to escape. But I chose to go back even though it was dangerous because I was worried about you. We don’t leave family behind.”
“So what do you want me to do? Say thank you?”
“I’m not asking you to do that.”
“Cassie, no matter what you do, it wouldn’t change the fact that you were the reason we were kidñäpped. So if you think I should be grateful for what you did, dream on. Truth is I wouldn’t be in this situation if it weren’t for you.”
Cassie and Marga arrived at the mansion and reunited with their respective mothers. Mina consoled her daughter as she kept on crying. Robert told her to let him know if she needed anything. “Cassie, we’re so thankful you and Marga are safe,” Mina cried. “Your dad kept his promise.”
Cassie glanced at her father, still crying. Mina hugged her again and Robert joined in the embrace. Hector arrived at his gambling den with his men and the bag of money they had escaped with.
“Great. We can now go on vacation,” one of the men said.
“Do you want me to open it for you, boss?” another guy asked.
Hector gave him a look. “You’re crazy. I don’t trust you. Where’s the other bag?”
“The police arrived so we weren’t able to take it.”
“So none of you even bothered to take the other bag? How are we going to split this one?”
“That’s enough for us, boss.”
“Alright. Let’s split the money,” Hector decided. “But I’ll get the bigger share.”
“Wait, boss, what?” a goon said.
Hector gave him a look. “You have a problem with that? If you just grabbed the other bag, we’d have more to divide among ourselves.”
Hector opened the bag and took out a bundle of money. He stared at the bag and the money in horror. “Damn it!” he hissed through gritted teeth, slamming the bundle of money on the floor. Yeah, you guessed it. It was counterfeit money. “That bästärd tricked me. You won’t get away with this. You’ll pay for this, Robert Mondragon.”
Back at the mansion, Kulas and his family arrived with some officers. The one-eyed-old man hugged his bratty granddaughter and promised her that whoever had done that to her would pay. Jude asked to talk to the girls to help in their investigation but Mina and Robert told him to wait until the next day.
“In that case, we have some questions for you,” an officer said.
“How about the kidñäppers?” Robert asked. “Did they get away?”
“We’re doing all we can to find them. We already got a statement from the guy you were with.”
“Who?” Carlos asked. “Vin?”
“What happened to him?” Robert asked.
“He got discharged from the hospital.”
Mina was confused. “But what happened to him? Why are you asking?”
“He saved me,” Robert announced. “He’s also the reason why I was able to save the kids.
Alvin arrived at the gambling den and Hector greeted him with a blow to his wound. Alvin doubled over in pain. “What was that for?” he asked.
“You bästärd,” Hector barked. “Why didn’t you follow the plan?”
“I’m sorry, Hector. I didn’t know you were there. You’re the one who didn’t follow the plan. Why were you going to k!ll Robert? That wasn’t part of the plan.”
“So what? He tried to fight back. He didn’t want to hand over the money.”
“The important thing is that I earned his trust. You got the money, didn’t you?”
“Money?” Hector opened the bag and threw some money at him. “Here’s your money. That bästärd. He føøled me. I won’t let this slide. I’ll get back at him.”
The police had left the mansion and Cassie was asleep in her room. Marga was resting in the guests room with her mother. Jude came entered the living room, a bag in his hand. “Mr. Robert. Here’s all your money, sir.”
Robert took the bag and opened it. It was all there.
“Why do you still have the money?” Carlos asked, confused.
“I took a risk,” Robert replied. “I didn’t give them the money.”
Flashback : Bernard met up with Robert at the hotel. He told him that the money he had been able to get wasn’t enough because there was too much paperwork.
“I need more time,” Bernard said.
“We don’t have time. We need to make them believe that we got the money.”
Present : Robert told Mina, Carlos and co that he had to do that because the money wasn’t enough and they didn’t have time. “That was too dangerous,” Mina pointed out. “What if you got hurt?”
“Didn’t I tell you I’d save Cassie and Marga no matter what it takes?”
Cassie was staring at a family portrait in her room when her father came in and asked why she wasn’t resting. “Everything’s going to be alright,” Robert said. “Did they hurt you?” he added, checking her face and wrists. Robert’s face suddenly burned with rage. “They hurt? They did this to you?”
“Daddy, am fine,” Cassie said.
“No, you’re not. This is my fault. I should have protected you. I’m sorry.”
“Dad, you saved me. That’s more than enough for me, daddy.”
“I failed you. You shouldn’t have gone through all this.”
“You shouldn’t say that, dad. You almost died because of me. You shouldn’t have done that. How can you risk your life just to save me?”
“I’ll do anything for you because you’re my daughter.”
“Is that really the truth, dad?”
Mina walked into the room.
“Daddy, am I really your daughter?” Cassie asked, crying.
Marga was also having her own personal ‘crying-festival’ in the guests room. Daniela assured her that they wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her whether they had money or not.
“Don’t worry,” Danny girl said. “We’ll eventually find out who did this to you. And I will make them pay. They’re gonna regret doing this to my daughter.”
Cassie was still crying in her room, pleading with Robert to tell her the truth. Robert however insisted that she was her daughter. Mina still stood by the doorway, her face torn with conflict. “It’s true, Cassie,” she said. “It’s true that Robert isn’t your father.”
Robert protested and told Mina to stop but Mina was determined for Cassie to know the truth. The commotion drew the attention of everyone else. As Cassie kept on crying, Mina apologized to her for keeping it a secret. Robert was very upset that Mina had told Cassie the truth. Mina said Cassie had been through a lot and deserved to know the truth.
“What if she asks you about her real father,” Robert said. “What will you tell her? That you were räpëd? That her real father is a criminal?”
“I’ve been a selfish mother for choosing my fear over my daughter’s peace of mind,” Mina said. “Cassie’s a sweet and kind child. She doesn’t deserve to suffer like this. That’s why I can’t keep on lying to her.”
The Bartolomes had settled back home. Carlos wondered out loud how Cassie had found out the truth about her identity. Marga admitted to accidentally telling Cassie the truth when she had feared for her life. She pleaded with her parents not to get mad at her. Cassie was crying in her room, realizing that Daniela and Marga treated her so badly because she wasn’t Robert’s real daughter. Esther and Neil tried comforting her.
“I wanted to know the truth for so long,” Cassie cried. “But I didn’t know it hurts this much.”
“That’s the reason I chose not to tell you,” Mina said, walking into the room. “I didn’t want you to know the truth because you might think you were a mistake.”
“What do you mean, mamma?”
“Cassie… Cassie…I was räpëd,” Mina cried. “And you were born from it.”
Cassie was dumbfounded. “You were räpëd, mamma?”
Robert entered the room as Mina began to narrate the incident from the bachelorette party to how Robert had taken responsibility for her. “I’m ashamed of myself,” Mina sobbed. “That’s why I couldn’t tell you about your identity. Cassie, dear. Can you please forgive me? I’m so sorry.” Mina hugged and consoled her daughter as she cried some more while Robert left the room in annoyance.
Hector asked Alvin to go back to the hospital the next day so that the doctors could attend to him. “And get your head checked,” he added. “Let’s see if they can treat your stupidity.”
Alvin asked him to give him a break since he had already apologized. Hector told him that he would be the one to carry out his plan from now on. “How will you do that?” Alvin asked. “The cops are looking all over for you.”
“I’m not like you. I actually use my brain. None of the kids saw my face so they couldn’t tell anyone who I am.”
“You know Robert won’t stop until someone pays for what happened to Cassie, right?”
“I’ll take care of that. Just keep extorting money from that woman.”
At the Tejada residence, Kristoff was beating himself up for not being able to do anything to help Cassie. Bernard told him that there was nothing he could have done, adding that he had to look out for them since they had been through a lot. Robert was sulking by the poolside when Cassie approached him. She asked to have a talk with him and Robert asked her to forgive him and her mother for hurting her by keeping the truth from her. Cassie hugged him and cried, telling him that she could never get mad at him.
“You took care of mamma and gave me everything,” Cassie sobbed. “I’m lucky to have you as my father. I will never replace you with anyone, daddy.”
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
The next morning, Cassie and Marga narrated their ordeal to the police. Marga was scared that the kidnappers would get back at her for reporting them to the police, and Carlos promised to protect her. Back at the mansion, the police announced that they would start doing a sketch of the goon the girls had seen. Cassie sat dejectedly after they left.
Robert stared at her for a while. “Ice cream?” he asked.
Cassie smiled and nodded and a maid brought them three cups of ice cream. Robert gave Cassie and Mina each. “For you. For my løvë. And for daddy. Cheers.”
Carlos suggested that they plan for Marga’s birthday to cheer her up. Daniela was against the idea, and so was Marga. She told her father that they had to find a new house because she was sure her grandpa was mad at her for telling Cassie the truth. “What if he tells us to leave this house?” Marga worried.
“Don’t worry dear,” Danny said. “I’ll talk to your grandfather.”
Robert talked to some officers at Camila and asked them to do everything in their power to bring the kidnappers to justice. Meanwhile, Cassie was asleep in her room back at the mansion. Mina came in and sat by her side. She then had a phone call. “Hello.”
“How are you, Romina?” Hector asked. “Are you taking good care of Cassie?”
Mina glanced at Cassie and hurried out. “You bästärd. Are you the one who kidñäpped my daughter?”
“And am capable of abducting them again. Considering what you and your husband did to me.”
“You won’t be able to do that,” Mina declared.
“That’s what you think,” Hector shot back. “You don’t know me. Remember this. I’ll come back for you. And I’ll make sure you never see your daughter again.”
“You’ll have to get through my grave first before you can do that.”
Hector laughed. “Who you trying to fool, Romina? Were you able to do anything when you were räpëd?”
Mina was taken by surprise.
“Did they catch anyone?” Hector went on. “No. Keep this in mind; All it takes is a sedative, and you won’t remember a thing. You better brace yourself for my comeback.”
Mina was frantic. The shock held her senses captive for a while. “Hello?” she gasped. “Hello?” The line went dead and Romina looked on in agitation.
