FALLING IN LOVE WITH HIM - HER FIRST LOVE

How would he ever forget that he had left Felicity on her own to die and had no clue if she survived or not?

The guilt, the pain, the bitterness and the regret, Johnathan felt them all at once. He needed to overcome those disturbing emotions somehow. So he thought to follow some traces of humanity.

He pitied Sebastian enough to show some mercy upon him.

'You were a good man, Sebastian, and you deserve respect.'

He didn't know if Alexander made it home alive or if he reached Felicity before she could die and saved her. Johnathan had committed enough sins for life, and he decided not to give up on this one single chance to earn a small concession for himself. He could do one small good deed.

Sebastian deserved a better death, and he definitely deserved a respectful funeral, a proper goodbye from his loved ones.

"Rouvin, let's do a small favour for Alexander. I'm sure he'll appreciate it too," Johnathan said, his lips curling downward in pity. "Make sure Sebastian's body reaches Alexander," he ordered and added as an afterthought, "In good condition."

Rouvin nodded and immediately got to work. With one anonymous phone call, he had made arrangements to send Sebastian to the nearest hospital with Alexander's contact information for the doctors to reach.

Johnathan and Rouvin worked all night as they had too much work to do, from destroying the truck to erasing every detail of its existence. Johnathan used money in abundance, and though it was a bit of a struggle to reach the designated persons of the district regional transport office in the middle of the night, it brought the expected results in the end.

It seemed there was nothing in this world that he couldn't buy with his money.

The next day, early in the morning, with the help of the address he found in the regional transport office records, he visited Antony's residence.

"Alexander Hunter has another name, another hidden identity in the crime world. He's none other than the mafia lord Alessandro Carlo himself." It was all Johnathan had to reveal, and he knew after that Benson Aiken and his brother-in-law Antony would do as he says.

His plan was foolproof, and he successfully convinced them that Alexander would kill them all for stealing his baby. With Sebastian being dead, they had no proof to prove their innocence, and Alexander wouldn't believe anyone else.

But to Johnathan's surprise, Benson still wanted to take Hera to John Williams. Johnathan understood that they were thinking of the promised money.

"No problem. If you don't believe me, then go ahead and take Alexander's baby to them. I'll be waiting here until you come back," the prince proposed with an assuring smile.

When Benson and Antony left with Hera to deliver her to the said address, Johnathan patiently waited outside their house. The cunning smile that played on his lips and the smugness dancing in his eyes was the confirmation of his perfect plan. He had ordered Deacon to attack Williams' house and kill everyone. His only warning was that he wanted Hera returned to him alive.

If Johnathan wanted, he would have taken Hera back from them by paying them more money and later, Deacon or Rouvin could help him get rid of that baby.

He had another easy option, and he could kill them all and take Hera's possession. Christopher Castellanos had sent his son to destroy all the evidence of Hera's existence, and Johnathan decided he could do that without killing Hera.

Before meeting Hera for real, Johnathan had every intention of fulfilling his father's wish. But the moment he saw her, he felt a strange pull by an invisible rope, and something compelled him to carry her. One look into her big forest green eyes was all it took for him to change his decision. No matter what, he couldn't bring himself to even think of killing her.

When Benson and Antony reached Williams' residence, they heard gunshots, and Deacon's voice boomed louder than the firing bullets when he ordered to kill everyone associated with the baby. Scared for their lives, Benson and Antony turned on their heels and luckily for them, they found Rouvin waiting for them with a car.

As soon as Rouvin brought them back, Johnathan offered them money in local currency, and the bundle of cash made them speechless. They had never seen so much money in their lives.

The deal was simple.

They would keep Hera with them and take care of her from now on, and Johnathan promised to provide money for her upbringing once every six months until Hera turns eighteen.

Benson agreed without any objection when Johnathan imposed the condition that they should move and change their living location every six months. He assured them that it was necessary for their safety so that Alexander wouldn't find them because if he did, he would kill them all.

Johnathan burned Hera's birth certificate and passport, erasing every trace of her existence as his father wanted. He destroyed both Alexander's and Sebastian's letter to the ex-cop John Williams.

"We would require them someday in future to prove her identity," Rouvin suggested. Johnathan scoffed and took Hera into his arms. "No, Rouvin. She doesn't need any paper to prove her identity. Her face itself is enough proof," the prince declared, showing the baby's face to Rouvin. The latter nodded with a raised eyebrow and a smile.

Baby Hera stared at Johnathan with her wide eyes, measuring the stranger's face. The platinum-gold chain in her neck caught the light and shimmered under the reflection. Johnathan's heart skipped a beat as his eyes recognised the name on the heart pendant. His fingers traced the engraved letters.

'Felicity.'

Bending his head, he kissed Hera's cheek and handed her back to Benson's wife, Liezel.

"Let her keep this chain with her. It's her mother's," Johnathan commanded. He was robbing everything that belonged to Hera, her identity, her family, and her happiness. He wanted Hera to have at least a piece of Felicity in her life in the form of that chain. Felicity chose Hera as her daughter, and Johnathan wouldn't change that.

'You'll always be Hera's mother, Felicity.'

Johnathan made a story for Benson to recite and remember that Hera was a love child born to Benson's dead sister and her gang leader boyfriend.

"Your sister's name is Felicity, and her boyfriend is Hunter. If ever Hera asks about her father, tell her you don't know anything about him except that name. He was a dangerous gang leader, and you don't keep any connection with him," Johnathan concluded the story.

Hera's new caretakers agreed to Johnathan's every command. He assured them that he would provide a fake adoption certificate when Hera joins the school and until then, they had to keep her safe and hidden from the world.

'You'll never find your daughter, Alexander Hunter.'

There would be two narratives waiting for Alexander. Either Hera drowned in that lake and died, or whoever attacked John Williams' house had killed her. Every proof and logic would lead him to the same conclusion.

Alexander Hunter's daughter Hera Hunter was dead.

Glancing at Hera one last time, Johnathan turned on his heels and left.