CHAPTER 17: THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH

I read through the second page over and over again, not just twice but several times. Still in disbelief and still utterly astounded at what I just pored over, my mind was in total circles. A lot of thoughts push their way through inside my head and I can’t seem to answer every single query I had in mind. I was completely speechless. I couldn’t find any words where I could simplify what I just read to myself.


The letter was short and precise, but certainly an earth-shattering one. Its content was straight to the point and didn’t even go around the bush. The validity of the letter and its authenticity was sealed with a dry seal and was signed by the enigmatic chairman itself whose dignified name and hand-written signature lay at the bottom right side of the page.


“Jesus Christ Almighty! How could this be true? Was this a stupid prank? Because this certainly can’t be fucking real!” I shouted at myself with extreme non-belief, still in deep and chilling shock.


I read the entire content for the very last time and let everything totally sink in me. After doing so and confirming that I scanned every detail correctly, I swiftly headed back to my room to get my phone. Once I had it with me, I returned to the living room and pressed the last number who contacted me earlier this evening. It rang several times and I was about to end the call, thinking that she must be in her time of rest already, when suddenly the other line answered.


“Hello, Miss Watsons! I believed you read through the content of the letter. Have you made up your mind, Mam?”


“Actually, I haven’t made up my mind yet. But yes, I’m done reading every part of the letter, Attorney.”


“It was stated there at the farthest end of the letter that it is of utmost importance that you grace the company with your presence and see Mr. Hunt the soonest, Miss Watsons. I could arrange your flight now if you wish to depart as soon as tomorrow.”


“I couldn’t fly there at the moment yet. I still need to attend my father’s burial tomorrow and I also need to talk to my ex-husband with regards to our daughter. I am aware that I would be required to stay there for quite some time, so I must talk to my ex-husband first to arrange everything for my daughter’s sake.”


“I understand, Mam. Kindly get in touch with me when you plan to leave, so I could arrange all the necessary arrangements for you. I will inform Mr. Hunt regarding this as well. Is there anything else that you wish to know, Miss Watsons? Clarifications perhaps?”


“Yes! There were a lot actually. Although all the major points were stated in the letter, there are still a lot that I need clarifications and verifications of. These were all new to me and I can’t willed myself to believe an inch of everything.”


“That’s highly understandable, Mam. If I was in your shoes, I would also feel the same way. Now please, kindly tell me what part of the letter that you need clarifications or verifications of.”


“All of it. Walk me through all of it, please.”


A long silence surfaced amidst us as I awaited for her to start explaining everything to me. After what seemed to be like a month-long wait for me, she finally spoke up.


“As I told you earlier this evening, Miss Watsons, the Chairman and CEO of Hunt Global Corporation was in a very delicate condition as of the moment. His health condition was indefinite and no one can foresee what could happen in the near future. But as advised by his doctors, Mr. Hunt could only have less than a year to live. Only a miracle could save him and his critical state, because his illnesses were rather rare.”


“Then why me? Doesn’t he have any immediate family perhaps or even close relatives?”


“Mr. Hunt was the only son of his deceased parents, Mam. He doesn’t have any illegitimate siblings. As for his relatives, he only had a few from both his parents’ sides that none of them he trusted.”


“How about his own family? His wife or his offspring?”


“His wife died two years after she gave birth to their child, Mam. Mr. Hunt didn’t remarry and also didn’t indulge himself with other women after that. The only one he trusted whom he also considered as his brother from a different family was his dear friend and butler, Mr. Gregory McConner,” She momentarily paused and seemed to wait for me to react, but no words came out from me, so she continued. “Aside from Mr. McConner, Mr. Hunt trusted no one else from his family. And now that he was facing a very crucial time in his life, he hired all the top investigators here in New York City to continue the search for the only person who could justify his very existence here on Earth, which was unfortunately unfruitful through the past decades' searches.”


“What does this all have to do with me then?”


“Haven’t you read that part, Miss Watsons? It was clearly stated in the letter.”


“I read about it, but it seems too good to be true. If you know what I mean.”


“The infant who was born at the hospital, twenty four years ago, was kidnapped days after its delivery. The culprit had been located and had been punished long ago, but the child remained unfound. Even with Mr. Hunt's massive connections and wealth, no one had discovered where the child's location might be, until last month. After more than two decades of endless searches all across the globe, finally the truth was revealed and known. Mr. Hunt finally found the whereabouts of his one and only offspring. And you certainly knew who that is, Miss Watsons.”


I am currently at the memorial park the next day where my said legal father was about to be buried and forever rest in peace. I excluded myself from everyone else and stood at the farthest end of the crowd as my so-called legal family gathered closely together in front. Michelle urged me a while ago to stay beside them in front, but I can’t force myself to be even close to them, not after everything was revealed to me the night before.


Just like during the time at the hospital, no tears were shed from my eyes even when the coffin was already six feet under the ground. While almost everyone was wailing in misery and despair, especially the ones closest to the dead, I remained unattached from them and my surroundings.


What Attorney Sparks and I had conversed the night before, which took us hours before finally concluding, made me distant from everyone even more. The conversation gave me a more vivid conviction that what I am doing and feeling now was definitely the right thing to do and specifically the right thing to feel.


Pieces from the past were slowly interconnecting with each other. Although there was still a lot that wasn’t unraveled to me due to limited time last night and still needed some explaining and enlightening for me to grasp the whole truth, I was slowly beginning to see the greater picture of why everything from my past occurred in such a way it had. Little by little, I learned to understand and gradually comprehend why everyone treated me so indifferent way back then. A lighthouse was lightened amidst my sea of darkness, which gave me the direction and the answers to my longtime queries.


Now partially acquiring the knowledge of the truth, I am even more determined now to end everything between me and the family I grew up with. There’s no more reason for me to hold back and feel any regret of what I intend to do. It greatly pained me and I somewhat feel regretful of the time wasted in vain, because I was deprived of the life which I should have lived and be with the family that I should have belonged to, but I am much happier now knowing that the life I thought was my world isn’t mine after all.