Chapter 73: His parents treatment to him
"It’s about your parents’ death."
Michael’s eyes widened as he heard this. Could there really be something underneath the whole accident?
He always thought it was odd and couldn’t make sense of the whole thing, but the police and everyone else were letting it die as though it was nothing.
Since there was no evidence to back up the so-called suspicion, no one decided to look into the matter further.
If Nana said there was something about his parents’ death, then there had to be something. After all, she was the closest to the family.
"Were you--?"
Nana put her finger over her lips to stop him from saving more. She glanced at Pedro and said,
"It’s nice to see you again, Mister Lawyer."
"Yes, likewise." Pedro said and then moved his suspicious gaze to Michael.
Just what were those two on about?
Well, if they didn’t want him to hear, then he would just mind his business.
"I guess I’ll give you space to talk then." He said and got up. "The funeral is almost over, and people have started leaving. If you want to pay your last respects, then be sure to do it before it ends."
Pedro left, and Nana took his place.
There weren’t people sitting around them, so it was a convenient place to hold a conversation.
"Is Pedro suspicious?" Michael asked, but Nan shook her head.
"No." She said. "But in things like this, you can’t exactly trust anyone."
"Then did you decide to tell me?" Michael asked, and she looked at him seriously.
"Because you’re their son." Her words hit heavy on his heart. "I think you deserve to know, if no one else knows. But I ask that you believe me."
It seemed like she was unsure of her own words.
"It’s something that even I myself would not believe if I had not witnessed it firsthand." She said, and Michael began to ponder.
Was it the impossible? Something supernatural?
"Michael, I watched you grow, and I treat you like my own son." She said. "I know the kind of person you are. So when Mark brought up that ugly accusation against you," Michael flinched. "I knew he had tried to do something to you."
She noticed the horrid expression on Michael’s face and sighed.
"Just as I thought. He was always a bad one, that child." She said. "And he has always harmed you. It was too bad the master bad madam were never able to open his eyes and see the evil that he committed."
Yes, the people around Michael who cared for him saw clearly with their two eyes how unfairly he had been treated. How much he had been neglected, and how painful his upbringing had been.
But they were amazed that, despite all of that, Michael did not turn out to be a bad child. He did not retaliate or try to play tricks like his brother did. Instead, he worked hard, and then harder, and harder again.
That was how he lived, hoping to be seen by his parents while accepting their little praises as an acknowledgement, whereas they only used that as an opportunity to compare with the eldest.
"You’re doing good." They would say. "But when Mark was your age," they would add.
But Michael did not give up. The little praises were all he cared about, and he shunned the comparison, telling himself he would do better next time.
But was that really okay? His parents... Were they doing the right thing?
Of course, they weren’t.
And they were being manipulated by their cunning eldest son without even realizing it.
They are like puppets in his grasp.
It was also thanks to Mark that his parents threw him away without a second thought. Such a cruel thing to do to one’s own child.
"Oh, poor boy, you’ve really suffered." Nana exclaimed, looking at him with a pitiful gaze, and Michael clenched his fist, his blood boiling in his veins.
"You said you wanted to say something about my parents’ death?" He asked, reminding the old lady why she had sat there to begin with.
"Yes," she said.
"Before that, let me ask you this." Michael said. "Did my father ever mention why he had a change of heart?" He asked, and Nana went silent.
It did seem strange that Mr Rodolfo, who rarely got involved with Michael, had said things like that and even given him everything as an apology.
"Child, listen to what I’m about to tell you."
It suddenly got tense. Nana saw this and let out a hard sigh. Her chest felt heavy.
"Before that, I want to tell you about something that happened before your birth." She said. "I believe it was the root of your brother’s hatred."
Michael’s mind immediately flashed back to when Mark told him that he had snatched his opportunity from him when he was still a zygote.
So, was this it? Finally. Someone to explain it for him clearly.
"Please, continue." Michael said, anxious to know the truth.
He wanted to know what it was that he had stolen that made him Mark’s number one enemy.
"I know this because I’ve worked for a few influential families before I started growing old and couldn’t keep up with the trends." She said and cleared her throat.
What she meant was that she couldn’t keep up with the demands of the high class. The super rich who were above even the Rodolfo’s.
"I had seen and witnessed such a thing in two high families, but I never expected to witness it in your family as well. I didn’t know your family had such connections."
"What is it? What are you talking about?" Michael asked, unable to understand her words because she was speaking somewhat in riddles.
What did working in other Hugh class families have to do with his birth, and why did his brother hate him? He wished she would get to the point and stop making him so desperately anxious.
"It was a ceremony that I didn’t fully understand its purpose." She said, once again talking in riddles, but he guessed she was old and needed to put the words appropriately if she did not want to miss the important detail, but he was dying to know. "And it had a weird name as well."
"What was the name of the ceremony?" Michael asked with an impatient yet calm tone. He didn’t want to attract attention to them.
"It was called the ’female selection’."
As soon as Michael heard this, he felt his heart thump, and he exclaimed in disbelief.
"What?"
