Chapter 5

He wished to say no but he couldn't. Maybe it was better that his father sees the woman that took care of him and gave him everything that he could ever ask for, no matter how little it may seem.

"Sure, come see her," John uttered with full sarcasm.

With no words left to say, John led his father to his foster mother's ward which was a few meters away from the doctor's office. There, the old butler was still available, clearly waiting for John's and his master's arrival.

"Butler Chad, you may leave now. My son will move into the mansion today, make preparations for that." With those words, the butler gave a slight nod and left.

A wave of silence followed suit as Mr. Sebastian stared at the sickly woman on the bed.

It was worse than he imagined. At that point, he asked himself, how could his son settle for something less? Everything about John's foster mother irritated him, her skinny face, her pale body, her financial status– they all gave him some sort of irritable feeling. How could someone even look like this?

"So this is the woman, huh, John? You robbed yourself of a good life for fifteen years just to settle with this?" Mr. Sebastian no longer cared what John would think of him. He thought he could understand since she was the one that took care of him while he was stray but hell no, he was disappointed at his son.

He had always stalked John from the moment he ran away from home. He saw his son settle for a two-bedroomed bungalow that had no water or electricity. Mr. Sebastian also had to watch his son get ridiculed by his wife and mother-in-law because he had no good job which was mostly his doing.

Joblessness results in poverty, poverty results in desperation, and desperation results in John crawling back to him. Just like he had planned.

At the same time, John was pissed. The last thing he would do was to watch his father insult her. He knew his mother was partly conscious and she could hear every single goddamn useless word that came out from his father's mouth.

"You have seen her, leave, I will meet you in a short while." John blurted out with gritted teeth but hell no, Mr. Sebastian had deemed it necessary to listen to whatever John had planned to say. After all, John was now bound to a contract that clearly states he does not have a will of his own, anything he does has to be allowed by Mr. Sebastian.

Damn! He should have read that agreement.

"It's either you say whatever you planned to say or we leave… together!"

John sighed.

He drifted his gaze from his father to his foster mother.

How the heck was he supposed to break the news to her? He had planned to tell her the good news about her treatment but he was certain that her happiness would be cut short when she finally heard that he was departing from her.

It was easy to give her hope that he would be visiting but again, his father. His father might never allow that.

"Mother." He called, only for Mr. Sebastian to roll his eyes at his words.

She made no sign that she could hear him but John knew she was awake so he chose to continue with his words. "I have good news for you, your bills have been paid. You will be treated soon." He let out a deep sardonic chuckle. His next words won't be so pleasant to hear.

"But I'm afraid that this might be the last time we will ever get to see each other again. It's the sacrifice I had to make to save your life." He held her by the hand, caressing it lightly, never wanting to let go of her hand.

Mr. Sebastian could never get even more irritated. John had never acted in such a way toward him even when he was a kid, so why direct such love to someone he didn't share a blood relation with?

"I have no time for this, John. You have said your goodbye. Let's leave. I have assigned someone to take care of her, you don't have to keep wallowing here, she's not dying."

John couldn't agree more, remaining in her ward was a pain in the ass for everyone involved including his foster mother.

He let out another sigh. If only the tumor hadn't interfered with her ability to speak, then it would have been better if he heard the word 'goodbye' from her. Without any further ado, John walked out of the room at a slow pace while his father followed suit but not without taking one more glance at her.

****

John and Mr. Sebastian could be seen in Mr. Sebastian's limousine, their destination, Mr. Sebastian's villa. They had said no word to each other since they left the hospital.

Mr. Sebastian's thoughts were filled with how John had appreciated that woman in the hospital. He hated to admit but he wished John had treated him that way. He acted tough but deep down, he wanted John to see him as a fatherly figure.

"Did you read the contract?" Mr. Sebastian asked.

"No."

"If you did, you should have seen a section that says you will be the CEO of my businesses, both legal and in the underground business world."

John zeroed his eyes on his father. His last set of words wasn't new to John. Even as a child, John was introduced to the underground business where he gained mastery in gunfighting and going undercover to take out his father's opponents.

That was how he learned that one can't always be filthy wealthy without being involved in an illegal business. John might want to deny it but he sure learned a lot based on business from his father.

"You still do that?" John asked, only for Mr. Sebastian to let out a loud intimidating chuckle.

"Of course, I do. It's my main source of wealth but now, it is yours. You will take over because you crawled back to me just in time. I am being double-crossed by an associate, you will take him down."

John could only hiss. He hadn't even stayed for a day with his father but he had already proposed a deal but just before he could tell his father how displeased he was, the limousine came to a halt.

Without a word, Mr. Sebastian got down from the car and John knew it was his queue to follow suit.

Sigh. He zeroed his eyes on every space of the mansion's premises. It seemed too sudden to be true to be back at the place he grew up, locked up away from the world.

The sound of Mr. Sebastian's intentional cough brought John back to reality. Though he felt embarrassed, John walked past his father, into the house, only to be welcomed by a 'cursed' view.

There she was. The only reason why his mother was dead. The one thing that his father was head over heels for but his gaze was also drawn to a young man who was close to his father's second wife.

Was that her son? He asked himself.

There was no way he could be her son. It has been fifteen years since he left the house. There was no way that the man he was setting his gaze on was aged fifteen. No way! Does that mean that his father had borne a child with this woman even before his mother died?

"John, meet your stepmother and stepbrother, Luke."