Chapter 10: Chapter 10

My hands trembled as soon as my eyes reached the bottom of the page. My secretary took the tab from my hand, perhaps afraid I would drop it on the floor. Every mysterious word James told me before was all coming back, worsening the tumult  I felt inside.

"This is a huge investment, James. Are you serious about your offer?" I recalled him asking this. I couldn't believe he would drop a business to a stranger easily, knowing he had given it a huge chunk of his time.

"Of course!" he answered seriously, making me frown in disbelief. "In the name of friendship I had with your dad, and also because that wealth doesn't matter anymore."

I then understood what he meant because, like dad, all the energy he spent on his businesses dissolved like bubbles as the government confiscated or closed them. And my dad was a businessman all his life, only that he linked himself with people who enjoyed doing things that were against the law.

I even couldn't judge dad for who he was because he made me understand. And he explained that once in his life, he got so desperate that he was forced to cling upon the lethal blades of immediate but wicked solutions. And who was I to condemn him? We all do something wrong when put in challenging situations, though I still believe that rational thinking should come forward with brilliant and upright people. If I were in his place, I would have chosen defeat and loss instead of succumbing to darkness.

However, it was their choice to pick things that ended in destruction. Made decisions they couldn't take back once done. I could only wish they knew beforehand that the aftermath of their deeds affected, not only them but their loved ones as well.

To think, the impulse of dad's blind decisions sent mom and me to far places away from their world, far from the people who knew him, and far from the people who might use us against him. I may have lived a life of luxury, but money couldn't buy true happiness. And no amount of expensive things could fill the loneliness that consumed me every day.

Look, I may be running Jamella branches very well, but I was in Cambridge, oceans apart from my father's world, and continents apart from my mother's home in the Philippines.

"Menchie, can you help me look into this Giga Spider Corporation?" I called out when my mind didn't kick in.

I could even feel the shivers wrapping around my heart as the truth slowly sank in. James was finally convicted for whatever crimes he did. He knew the magnitude of his punishment; that's maybe why he turned the companies over to me. But aside from selling and smuggling illegal things, what else did he do? Did he kill someone? Did he lead a group of mercenaries or assassins to attack a prominent person? So many questions popped into my mind, and all of them made me decide I should see James.

"Miss Ella, here," came Ella's voice, bringing me back to my senses, "Giga Spiders is one of the largest trading companies in Japan that supplies almost everything from textile, school, educational materials, to digital gadgets."

I sighed. Those were the ways they hoarded limited-edition products from various companies and sold them to the markets at soaring prices. Or, they produced counterfeit or knockoff products, hiding them behind their front items. Only they knew how many ways they distributed their illegal goods through the cover of their brands. And one thing I was sure of was that prohibited drugs were one of them.

"What are their markets, Chie?"

"Asia and several other third-world countries."

"Help me get private investigators."

Menchie looked up and gave me a quick stare but nodded afterward. "In a while, Miss Ella."

I went to the pantry and grabbed the container of ground coffee beans. Pulling a filter, I placed it on the coffee maker's basket before pouring in the coffee granules. My thoughts were still on James while I waited for my coffee to brew. My heart seemed punctured as sweet memories flooded my mind, but somehow, I couldn't bring myself to cry.

When the sound of the brewing stopped, I hurried to get myself a cup. I had always liked lattes ever since James influenced me into it, but I wanted it black this time.

"Miss Ella, let me do that," Menchie said as she suddenly appeared at the door; her worried gaze added another prick into my heart.

She had become a close friend, the sole witness of my short romance with James. However, she didn't stop calling me Miss Ella, and I also didn't insist. Because no matter how friendless I was, I still tried to put a gap between us. I'd never even once invited her into the house.

"It's done. Just get yourself another one." I walked back to my office, but I sat by the coffee table beside the floor-to-ceiling window. This way, I could look into the busy streets below and the towering buildings outside.

I began sipping my cup when my last memory with James three months ago played in my mind. I was in the Fullerton Hotel in Singapore at that time, enjoying a three-day vacation with him.

"I will be swamped the next few weeks," James said while we cuddled in our bed." I may not be able to see you for a long time."

"Are you really on pills?"

"Yes," I lied. The only way to battle against my loneliness was to have a child with him. But he didn't like the idea, saying he didn't want me to have a bad seed.

"You should be careful. I don't want you complaining in the future that I have no time for our kids."

He sounded bored, but his voice gave away. I sensed trouble and regret, perhaps a traumatic experience in the past.

"James, tell me. Do you have children?"

He fell silent for a while before his breath tickled my scalp again. He was cuddling me from behind, his face into my head.

"Does it matter?"

"I just want to know."

"A son."

"Where is he now?"

"With my family."

"The mother?" I asked, believing his claim that he was single.

"Nah, I don't know. The last time I knew, she was a mistress of my cousin."

"Name?"

"Maezy."

"Last name?"

"I don't know," he said, flipping me over for another kiss.

I laughed, but I believed what he said. I knew there had been several women in his life, and I was a virgin, but I couldn't care less. I had accepted him for whoever he was, just as I had accepted dad.