The Last Option
Chapter Seventy-One: Plan in Development

Rebecca watched Bernard intently for a few more minutes after Bernadette had left, before getting up and going in search of him. From where he was standing he seemed to look a little thoughtful, perhaps affected by whatever happened between the two of them. She would arrive pretending not to have seen anything and replace him by chance, setting her plan to win him over once and for all.

"At the hotel reception they told me that you had already left," she said when she was next to Bernard. "I assumed you would be here and I was not mistaken. How are you?"

Despite the sudden encounter with her, Bernard did not seem surprised. Rather he was partly glad that he appeared, so he would forget the sad impasse between her and Bernadette. He pretended to be fine and greeted her with mock enthusiasm.

"Hello! I thought you wouldn't make it and that's why I came to walk a bit, ending up here in this place. Have you had breakfast yet?"

"Why the hell do I keep asking that?" Bernard thought. "I must have a serious problem with food."

"No, I haven't had breakfast yet and I would like to do it in this place", Rebecca sat opposite Bernard at the table, after a few seconds the waiter approached to write down her order.

"Have you heard from Bernadette?" she asked cynically. "She hasn't answered my calls or responded to my messages. If I don't see her I'll start to worry."

"No, I haven't heard from her either," Bernard replied. "I think it must be because I don't have her phone number, and she doesn't have mine either."

Rebecca confirmed from his response that something had indeed happened between Bernadette and him, and whatever it was seemed to have ended because of the way she left. She suspected that it might have been because of Bernadette, who must have fallen in love with him and tried to win him over. Of course, he turned her down.

"Right, we haven't shared our numbers. Tell me yours and I'll write it down in the phone's memory, and then you write mine down."

"Do you think it is necessary, given that I will soon be leaving this city?"

"I am also from New York; we can continue to be friends there when I return one day. Also, today's phones can communicate anywhere in the world. You can call me from there while I'm still here."

"You are right, technology shortening borders and uniting people no matter how far apart they are. But as the saying goes: ladies first." Bernard hadn't learned his new number yet, so he sought to muddle through that way. Once she had given him her number he would dial it and she could see his on her screen and save it.

So it happened, having each other's numbers from that moment on.

"Do you want Bernadette's?" Rebecca knew he would probably say no, but she offered it anyway, partly so it would not seem like she did not want him to have it or was jealous of her.

"Sure! Please tell me."

To her surprise, he wished had it too, maybe because he wanted to hear from her in the future. Bernadette would be no match for her anyway, so she gave the number to him, pretending to do it willingly.

"I'll wait a while longer to call her and see if she is okay," Rebecca said. "It's Sunday and maybe she had a lot going on last night."

"Busy night without us? I don't believe it! I will also wait to call her later."

"Well, one never knows. She must also have a life that doesn't include us, or at least me, who knows her a little better."

"Well, we'll hear from her later."

At that moment the waiter brought Rebecca what she had ordered for breakfast and she began to eat briskly. Bernard watched her thinking about when she would start her performance to convince him to be with her.

He even doubted for a moment that she had those intentions, but knowing how little he knew her, she would not miss the opportunity to increase her fortune and have more money to spend. If in such a case he was wrong and she did not have that purpose, then he would be the one who would do everything he had planned to return what belonged to little Nathan.

"So, when are you going back to New York?" Rebecca asked without diverting her attention from the plate in front of her.

"It's Sunday, I thought I would come back tomorrow. I want to contemplate the wonders of this city one more day."

"It sounds good to me. Can I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead."

"That treatment you speak of for your disease, why does it have to be something as aggressive as chemotherapy? I understand that this is used in cases of cancer", she stopped eating and looked at him scrutinizingly, as if the question implied some kind of test to answer a greater concern.

"Honestly, I don't know. All I know is what my doctor told me in his message. Look."

Bernard pulled out his phone and searched for the message.

"It says something about a protein," he handed her the phone and she took it to read the message. At that time, she thought that she had not searched for anything on the internet about the disease and its treatments. If she had more doubts she would do it later. She had to be one hundred percent sure that Bernard was who he said he was and that he really was sick, although she also thought that Phil had clarified the first point for her, and now she was seeing proof of the second.

No, he wasn't lying. The doubts were clarified.

"I was thinking about taking that treatment or not," Bernard said when she had returned the cell phone to him.

"You don't think it works?"

"As you said, it is a very aggressive treatment, as well as invasive, and I have seen that it does not help many people with cancer, dying anyway. I think it will be a waste of time, as well as hair."

Bernard forced a smile.

"I think that with cancer it is something different, perhaps it will result with Amyloidosis. You cannot dismiss that option outright. If your doctor proposes it, it's because he thinks it might work. Don't be discouraged." "Well, I will see when I get back to New York."

"You really need someone who cares about you, Bernard. May that someone be with you if you decide to do the treatment; I replace it incredible that you have absolutely no one you can count on right now." "You already told me that, remember? And I had already told you no, that I don't have anyone. Maybe my lawyer, but he would just see that my fortune was donated to charity."

Hearing that, Rebecca felt a slight chill that ran down her spine and fortunately it was not noticeable on a physical level. A whole fortune donated to charity? Oh my God! She had to convince him to be with her, and soon. Then she would make sure that his fortune had a better destination: her.

"You know? To be honest, I also replace it incredible that I don't have anyone to share my life with. First of all, because I haven't had any luck with the women who have approached me. And secondly, because it is something that I have promoted due to my illness. With the exception of SF Goldcorp, and because it was raised by my parents, everything in my life sucks."

"SF Goldcorp?" Rebecca thought. "Is that the name of his company?"

A rather common name, but at the same time striking.

"Don't think that way, Bernard. Perhaps you have not yet found the right person who truly cares about you."

"I don't know if that will be true, because I think I've been waiting for a few years for that to happen. What is true is that the only ones who really cared are dead. When my parents died, a large part of my life also died. I miss them so much, you know? It is a huge void that cannot be filled with anything."

"You're right Bernard, many people do not understand what parents do for their children. When you mature and see how life really is, you realize that they always did the best for us."

"From the way you talk, I imagine that your parents do anything for you, right?"

"Well, they did when they were alive too. Believe it or not, I'm just like you."

"Really? I'm so sorry, Rebecca. How long ago did they die?"

"They have a little more time than yours, but let's not talk about that, shall we? It saddens me to talk about them."

"Okay. It also affects me to talk about mine."

As the conversation became a little more intimate for both of them, Rebecca decided to go all-in on a risky play and take a step forward in executing her plan.

It was time to be the real Rebecca.

She put the already empty plate to one side and stared at it as she searched for the words she needed. She had to tell him who she was, but she decided she wouldn't make it there. She would have to replace a better place. "Can we go? I would like to walk a bit and look at the lake or the fountain."

"Well, if that is what you want, let's go."

Bernard paid the bill and they headed for the large artificial lake near them, arriving in a few minutes. When they had contemplated it for a long time, Rebecca turned to him and looked into his eyes again before beginning to speak. "Listen, Bernard, since you've been open and honest with me, I have something to tell you. I think it's time for you to know more about me and my family."

"Please don't feel compelled to tell me the intimate things about your life, Rebecca. I will do nothing with knowing it."

Bernard already suspected what she was going to tell him. Rebecca took a deep breath before starting to speak. "Well, I think yes. Sanders, was my mother's maiden name. My real last name is Hicks. I am Rebecca Hicks."