PART 2 – “MY HUSBAND LEFT OUR THREE CHILDREN TO DIE OF THIRST… BUT THE WOMAN FOUND IN HIS HOTEL REVEALED A SECRET THAT MADE ME SHAKE!”

“Nikola’s mother?”

The doctor’s voice echoed in the hallway.

I jumped out of the chair.

“It’s me! What happened?”

The doctor still had his surgical mask pulled down under his chin. His gaze was serious.

“Your son has developed a dangerous electrolyte imbalance. Dehydration is serious and requires close monitoring.”

“Will he die?”

I didn’t recognize my voice.

“We are doing everything medically possible to stabilize him. For now, he is responding to treatment.”

I grabbed the wall.

“Can I see him?”

“For a while. But you have to be prepared.”

I followed him.

Nikolas was lying in a small hospital bed.

His little face, once full of life, looked frighteningly pale.

A tube carried fluids to his tiny hand.

A monitor was monitoring his pulse.

I approached slowly.

“My Nicholas…”

I gently touched his hair.

“Mom is here.”

For a moment nothing happened.

Then his little fingers moved.

I cried without being able to hold back.

“Well done, my boy. Stay with me.”

The doctor put his hand on my shoulder.

“His brother is in better condition, but he also needs hospitalization. Your daughter is also being examined.”

Three children.

Three innocent creatures.

And a father who had disappeared.

When I returned to the hallway, Police Officer Konstantinou was waiting for me.

“Mrs. Papadopoulou, I need to explain to you what we found.”

I sat across from him.

“Tell me.”

“Your ex-husband was in a hotel near Aristotelous Square. With him was a woman named Vasiliki Manoli.”

The name meant nothing to me.

“His partner?”

“That’s what it looks like.”

I clenched my hands.

“And what did he say?”

The policeman hesitated.

“She claims that Dimitris had told her that the children were with you.”

I remained motionless.

“With me?”

“Yes”.

“But I left it to him!”

“We know it.”

“Then why did he lie to her?”

The policeman opened an envelope.

“Mrs. Manoli also told us that Dimitris had been discussing a plan for weeks to present you as an unfit mother.”

I felt a weight on my chest.

“What plan?”

“We have not yet confirmed everything he claims. But he gave us an audio recording in which Dimitris talks about an impending complaint against you.”

“A complaint about what?”

Konstantinou looked at me.

“For abandonment of minors.”

I couldn’t speak.

Then I started laughing nervously.

“But he gave up!”

“That’s exactly what we’re investigating.”

The police officer who was accompanying him, Maria Theodorou, approached.

“Mrs. Papadopoulou, there’s something else you should know.”

“What else could there be?”

“A message was found on Dimitris’s cell phone that he had prepared but not sent.”

“To whom?”

“To you.”

He read me a short excerpt:

“Anna never really cared about the children. She left them alone and disappeared. I’m trying to save my family.”

I felt my face burning.

“Did this man want to blame me for what he himself did?”

“There are strong indications that he was preparing a false narrative. But we don’t yet know all of his motives.”

I got up.

“I want to see him.”

“It’s not a good idea right now.”

“He’s the father of my children!”

“And the case is being investigated criminally.”

I put my hands to my face.

I didn’t know what hurt me more.

That Dimitris had left our children without help.

Or that maybe he had planned to use their tragedy against me.

A short while later, Eleni left the exam room.

A nurse was holding her hand.

My little girl was wearing clean hospital clothes.

Her eyes were red.

“Mama;”

I ran and hugged her.

“Here I am.”

“Will Nicholas be okay?”

“The doctors are taking care of him.”

He nodded.

Then he leaned towards my ear.

“Mom, I need to tell you something.”

“What, my love?”

He looked towards the police officers.

“Dad didn’t just leave.”

I felt my heart stop.

“What do you mean?”

Eleni squeezed my hand.

“Before he left, he was talking on the phone with someone.”

“What did he say?”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“He said that if everything went as he had arranged, you would never see the children again.”

And then I realized that what had happened wasn’t just a horrible abandonment.

It was possible that something even darker was hidden behind it.

CONTINUED IN PART 3…