Chapter 229 - The Islet Mystery 45

Inside an Intensive Care Unit, a man was lying don on a bed, attached to multiple beeping machines. In his mouth was an endotracheal tube,  attached to a mechanical ventilator. In his nose, a feeding tube for his oral medications and food. His intravenous fluids were hanging into two IV stands, its tubings passing through infusion pumps. There were no voices heard but the beeps and the pumping of the machines sounded like a call to the gates of Hades.

Mr. Te went inside the room, in his hands was a brown envelope. He glanced at the nurse and the latter cringed at his glare. "I need some privacy. I want to talk to my parents."

The nurse stood up and looked at the eye of Mrs. Yu who was sitting quietly by the bedside of her dying husband. Mrs. Yu understood what the nurse implied, so she nodded and the nurse went out right away.

"Ma, I want both of you to sign the transfer of our land's ownership into my name. Papa is dying already and among your children, I am the only one capable of making an income out of this. My older brother is illiterate and your menopausal child is still so young, so this property would only be wasted."

"Gerome, you know that your brother will not agree that. We never hide the fact that we adopted you from our neighbor who died. And besides, my other relatives will not agree to that. A few years from now, Ryan will grow up and has to decide also regarding this family inheritance."

Gerome flushed in anger in hearing her and he yelled at her in anger. "Should you always remind me that I am not your son? That I am the son of a drug addict who killed my mother?"

Mrs. Yu shivered in fear as she tried to defend herself. "Jerome, you know that we love and accept you as our real son."

"It's not true, Ma, because if you are not lying to yourself, you should have trusted me enough to manage this property."

"Gerome, it's not what I mean. I just have to do what is right. We have other properties that we purchased. We will transfer it to your name. Just spare the coffee plantation. It's the legacy of the Yu's."

Gerome reached out his hand to the tubing attached to Mr. Yu's mouth and to the mechanical ventilator which assisted his respiration.

"Do you see this?"

Mrs. Yu looked at him in horror. Though she didn't understand much the mechanism of actions this machine did, she was not too stupid enough to understand, that if the tubing was disconnected, it could mean his husband's death.

"No, please. Don't do it to your father Gerome."

"You know he is not my father. I was already in high school when you took me into your home."

"Your father loves you, Gerome. Please don't do that."

Gerome laughed mischievously. "A killer has no heart, Ma, and Papa is not my real father. My intention is just to be able to return you the favor of taking me into your home. If I will be the one to manage this, this could bring us a fortune."

"You can still do it without the need of transferring the ownership. You are siblings so you can talk about this."

Gerome got impatient and he roared. "Are you going to sign this or not?"

Because of fear, Mrs. Yu signed the documents. He also dipped the thumbs of Mr. Yu into a stamp pad afterward, then pressed it on the document.

When Gerome finally left, Mr. Yu moved, to the surprise of Mrs. Yu. She ran outside and called the nurse and Mr. Yu gestured to write something on a paper.

"Gather some Chara flowers in our homeplace and let me drink."

________

Gerome Te was already graduating in high school when the Yu's adopted him. Because of his diligence in school and his determination, he graduated in college with honors. He was a friend of Gavin Sy since high school, and his family's influence on him, made him yearn for a life of wealth and fame. He borrowed funds from the Sy's and cultivated the coffee plantation until he became the biggest exporter of gourmet Arabica Beans. When both Gerome and Gavin got married, they made a pact, that they would marry their children in the future and train them to become the successor of their businesses.

A few days after the transfer of ownership, Mr. Yu recovered and was discharged. However, the hospital bill was too big. On top of that, Ryan got sick of severe pneumonia and Gerome paid the hospital bill. They thought it was out of kindness that Gerome did it for them but one day after he got married to a rich woman, he came to talk to them.

"You owe me a huge amount, so in order to be able to pay, you will work for me as housekeepers. My wife has bought an island somewhere in Papa's hometown, so I will assign both of you as caretakers. To return you another favor, Ryan will stay with us and I will also adopt him as our son."

Robbed from all their properties including the coffee plantation, they had no choice but to follow Gerome's orders. He was also able to threaten the older son of the old couple to keep his mouth shut.

______

Mr. & Mrs. Lopez, Mr. Dioko, Cherry and Jane shuddered at the revelation and goosebumps crept into their spines.

"So, you mean Ry, you're father is your foster brother?"

"Yes," Ryan nodded, his eyes glistened with unshed tears.

"Where's your older brother now?" Mr. Dioko asked, too horrified at Mr. Te's wickedness.

"I keep him away from them. It was he who revealed everything to me, including their sins on Shiela. I only agree to execute his revenge against you because I have not succeeded yet in gathering all the pieces of evidence against him. I also believe that somewhere, my parents and my son are still alive."