Chapter 204 - The Islet Mystery 20

"I'll make another cup of coffee for you," Ryan offered as he gave Shiela a squeezing hug before releasing her. The others were already taking a break as each took turns in using the bathroom. It was already late into the night, and none of them wavered in fatigue. Only Chloe was asleep, and Allie placed her in the bed.

'Neil, are you really fond of Myrtle Shade?" Shiela tried to test the water and see how Ryan would react. It earned them the attention of everyone as they refilled their cups.

"Yes, because my family owns this."

"Wow, so you own all those Myrtle Shade Cafes in the country?" Jane queried as she, herself, was fond of Myrtle Shade.

"We offer franchising opportunities, and I am so amazed at how the people embrace it," Ryan answered casually as he continued stirring Shiela's steaming mug. 

"But why are you not offering all the creamer flavors in instant packs?" Cherry butted in, curious to know more about the beverage, which enslaved her mother.

"If we are going to do that, our shops will go bankrupt since the people can have it in instant packs. However, we accept special orders for important events."

What Ryan just revealed, made sense. If they were going to offer all the flavors in instant packs, the coffee lovers' intense addiction would stop. They could no longer mix into their cups the powdered extract of Chara's blooms.

"What is your source of coffee beans, dear?" Mrs. Lopez chimed in. 

"The choicest Arabica beans we grow in Luzon and Mindanao. We take great care in growing those trees and spend a tremendous amount of money to impose special farming techniques. One of these days, I will invite all of you there."

"Wow, I'm excited!" Cherry exclaimed, and Allie got pleased with the change that she saw in her. Perhaps, the emotional release helped her become the happy person that she was until Andrew came into her life.

When everyone returned to their places to continue their sharing, Shiela began to tremble. Even before she started, tears were already dripping from her eyes. Ryan squeezed her hand to comfort her. Above all, he was in dire need to know the truth.

Collecting strength from all of them who dared to share their deep secrets, she inhaled deeply and slowly, and then she opened her mouth to speak.

"I was in college when I fell in love with," she paused and threw Ryan a glance, and the latter responded by squeezing her hand, "Neil. Our secret relationship got deeper, and by the time we graduated in college, I was five months pregnant."

"I hide the truth from my father because I didn't want to disappoint him. He worked hard to provide for my needs, and I didn't want to see him hurting because of me. I applied for a job in Japan, and before any of those companies replied through my mail, the college dean requested to see me. She informed me that MS Sciences, Inc., offered me a job and that I would work in Japan. And to make me accept the job, as they said they saw in me some potentials, they would give me a one-year advance salary."

"I was happy. To work in Japan would help me hide my pregnancy until my son would be big enough and I would introduce him to my father. I want to spare my father the burden of taking care of me and my baby's needs. Because, Ryan disappeared after I told him about my pregnancy, and I was left all alone."

"I signed the contract, and the manager gave me right away the check which had a million in it. I was surprised, only to learn later that it was a payment for deceiving me. After all, money is just a toy for them. One day, a private helicopter that took me, landed in a place which until now I couldn't tell where it was."

"They offered me freedom in exchange for abortion, but I begged to work for them and forget about returning home as long as I can be with my baby. Somehow, they allowed it until I gave birth to the child. I swear he was healthy when the doctor placed him in my abdomen, but my exhaustion and pain dragged me to sleep."

"When I woke up, they informed me that the baby died. They said he died because I was eclamptic and that the baby was also strangulated due to cord coil. After a few days, they showed me the grave."

Shiela cried hard after telling this, and she couldn't speak anymore. Ryan's eyes turned dark, and everyone saw his trembling hands. He held Shiela in his arms, and his teeth were grinding in anger. He knew Shiela was not lying.

"How were you able to return?" all of them threw the question almost simultaneously.

Shiela was still sobbing hard, but she had come to a firm decision to let go of her fears and tell the truth. She had been a prisoner of her fears for a long time.

"Someone injected a drug into my vein, and they did it for many days. They said it was medicine, but the one who injected it mocked me during my last dose. He wished me good luck because, as he said,  it was for my fake freedom. Once the drug would have its full effect on me, I would forget everything and would suffer an irreversible type of amnesia."

"What happened then?" Ryan broke his silence finally. Every cell of his body was screaming in anger and humiliation.

"They dropped me somewhere in the city, thinking that in a few days, I will totally lose my mind.  I did not, but my health gave way after that. I was able to contact my father, and he brought me to the hospital. The turn of events was fast. After three days, I could no longer move my limbs until I got intubated for many days." Shiela made it sure not to mention about the antidote. If Jullien was a scientist, then her failure to discover it's great therapeutic effect was a shame.

"God is so good because dad found ways to support all my medical needs, and after three years, I was able to walk again."

____

Ryan got lost in his thoughts. His mind went back to that day when one of his trusted men told him that someone wanted to talk to him. He was fuming in anger in the knowledge that the only woman he loved,  sold their baby for a million peso. He entered his room to release his anger and let his fingers dance and fly over the keyboards, producing a beautiful sound of loneliness, anger, and frustration.

When he slammed the keyboards to end the music, the man spoke and knelt behind him.

"Sir, please save my daughter. I will serve you all my life, just please let her live."

A strange feeling of unrest pushed him to see the man's daughter. To his indescribable shock, as his whole body went trembling in anxiety that he almost went limp on the floor, she saw Shiela's beautiful face. In her mouth and nose were tubings attached to beeping machines. The sight broke his heart a thousand times.

"Doc, do everything to save her life..."