Chapter 50 : The Attack

Angela descended the orchard's stairs, shivering in the cold wind. She scanned the area for any movement, the thin fog adding an eerie touch to the scene. Her purpose was to verify if the ghostly figure she saw in the pink room, which resembled Esmeralda, was real. Despite her confusion and exhaustion, she was determined to find out the truth.
"Where are you?" Angela called out, refusing to be fooled by any tricks. She firmly believed that the lady in white was not a mere ghost. As she ventured further into the darkened orchard, some lamppost bulbs flickered while others remained unlit. Despite the unsettling atmosphere, Angela pressed on, resolute not to be scared.
Suddenly, a noise from behind startled her, and a man's shadow darted toward her, throwing something that caused a sharp pain in her jaw and neck. Angela let out a scream. Just then, another figure appeared and confronted her attacker, leading to a struggle that ended with both men falling. Angela's vision blurred, and she caught a glimpse of the lady in white standing in the darkness before losing consciousness.
Angela's memories were a haze as she woke up in the pink room, attended to by a doctor who recommended taking her to the hospital. Feeling groggy, she slipped back into sleep. When she stirred again, she found herself in a white hospital room, with a nurse tending to something on the left side. On the right, Leonardo lay asleep on a couch. Realizing she was in the hospital, Angela tried to move but found her hands restrained.
Struggling to speak, she managed to mumble, "Leonardo." Concerned, Leonardo rushed to her side and asked her how she was feeling, bombarding her with questions. But Angela's pain was too intense to provide detailed answers. The doctors administered an injection to help ease her discomfort.
In agony, she asked, "What happened to my face?"
Gently holding her hand, Leonardo revealed, "Someone threw acid on your face, Angela."
Angela's tearful voice trembled as she recounted her harrowing experience, "I saw the lady in white down in the orchards, possibly Esmeralda's ghost, with her long hair flowing in the breeze. As I stood there, a man suddenly appeared from the darkness and threw stinging liquid on my face." Describing the incident, she recalled, "The lady in white struck him, and he fell; then everything went black."

Investigators arrived at her hospital room to question her about the attack. Angela repeated the man's description several times to the attentive lady investigator, emphasizing his cap and baggy clothing, but she couldn't recall the identity of the lady in white.

After spending a few days in the hospital, Angela returned to her pink room, grateful that the acid only caused damage to her chin and shoulder, though it left an unsightly scar. Mrs. Gale expressed sympathy and wished for the assailant to be punished, even muttering about hurting his back. Mrs. Vera, too, was disturbed by the events unfolding in the mansion.
One afternoon, Mrs. Vera questioned Angela about possible conflicts she might have had with someone who could wish her harm. While Lara Chavez seemed like a potential enemy, the assailant's description didn't match her appearance; Angela had seen a man with a concealed face wearing a cap.
The mystery of the lady in white and her attacker remained puzzling, adding to the unsettling atmosphere at the mansion.
As the night came, Angela couldn’t sleep and examined her face in the mirror. Several weeks had passed, but the scar was still painful. Tears began to roll down her cheeks. She tried to recall what happened. And then she saw herself running to the orchards to look for the lady in white, instead and man’s figure came out from the dark, and threw acid unto her face before she got unconscious, a white figure appeared from the man’s back. And hit the man's head with something hard, and fell on the ground, screaming in pain.
“Oh, my God,” Angela remembered everything and ran to Leonardo’s room. She opened it swiftly and jolted Leonardo. “The lady in white saved me,” Angela’s voice was trembling, “I…I’m certain. She saved me…I’m looking for her, and she saved me.”
“Calm down, Angela,” Leonardo pacified her.
"She's wearing a wedding gown." Angela shook her head as she told Leonardo what she had remembered.
Leonardo was listening to Angela as she kept replaying what she had seen. And he didn't say anything. He had his take on the event. "Perhaps the lady in white was just your imagination, Angela."
"You're cynical," Angela said to Leonardo.
"No," Leonardo replied, "I'm just being logical. Yes, I believe you were attacked by a man, but to be saved by a lady in a wedding gown is... unimaginable and illogical."
"And you thought I was just making a story about the lady in white," Angela sighed. "That... I'm insanely picturing her as my savior that night."
Leonardo's silence made Angela stopped on insisting. And it was frustrating for her not to be heard. She knew what she saw, and that’s important to her. And she repeated, “I’m not lying. The woman in a wedding gown saved me.”
“They find you alone in the orchards,” Leonardo recalled, “They saw no man and a woman in a wedding gown.” He sighed, “And my speculation was it was Lara, disguising herself as a man.”
Angela felt that there was no reason to insist and fell silent.
“I already told the police to investigate Lara,” Leonardo pulled Angela’s hand and gripped it, “Soon, she’ll be caught.”
The following morning, Angela sat alone at the dining table, her coffee untouched. The pain still lingered, but she had other pressing matters on her mind. Mrs. Gale emerged from the back door and greeted her, "Good morning."
"Good morning," Angela replied listlessly. She looked at Mrs. Gale and asked, "Does Mrs. Vera own a white gown?"
Mrs. Gale furrowed her brow, "No, I haven't seen a white gown or a wedding gown in Mrs. Vera's closet. White isn't her favorite color."
Later that afternoon, the investigator arrived to meet with Leonardo. They sat on steel chairs on the lawn, with Angela by Leonardo's side. Mr. Smith, the balding investigator, had been diligently tracking Lara's movements for weeks. Leonardo had provided him with all the necessary information.
"Miss Chavez has been missing for several weeks," the investigator stated firmly.
"What?" Angela couldn't believe what she was hearing.
The investigator explained that he had searched Lara's apartment and office. Her colleagues reported her absence, and they were genuinely concerned. "Lara was last seen on October 17," he added matter-of-factly.
Angela whispered, "That's the day she came to the restaurant," glancing at Leonardo for confirmation, and he nodded.
"Yes, that's the exact date she was last seen by her landlady, and when she had that encounter with you," the investigator affirmed, looking at Angela questioningly. "Do you think she could have been the assailant who attacked you the following night?"
Angela reiterated that her attacker was a man wearing a cap. Despite the darkness, she was certain it was a male. Fatigue weighed heavily on her as the investigation progressed, and Leonardo was deeply concerned about her well-being and safety.
Later that night, at eight o'clock, they all gathered in the living room. Mrs. Gale had taken the initiative to hire a locksmith, who replaced all the house and gate locks for added security. Additionally, they now had a new guard on duty. Amid these precautions, the elderly gardener was let go due to concerns that he might have left the gate open before departing the premises. Angela sat quietly, her fingers gently tracing the scar from the burn on her face.
Leonardo voiced his suspicions, "If Lara is truly missing, then it's possible she could be the attacker. Maybe she had a motive to harm you, Angela, and now she's on the loose."
Angela, however, remained steadfast in her belief that the assailant was a man and not Lara Chavez. She held onto this conviction but kept it to herself for the time being.