The Billionaire's First-Born

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The rising sun shone softly on the vast land. The sun's rays add color to the green land. Seeing this kind of scenery in the morning made my day. I feel like another chapter of my life is being written by destiny once again.

Every chapter we have in life begins with the sunrise. Some people even say that hope begins whenever the first day appears in the morning. I looked at the sun that was now slowly rising on the green land not far from the rock formation where I was.

The slanting rays of the sun cast some shadows on the ground. I saw some birds flying not far in the forest on the other side of the field. It looks like they are now preparing to fly and find another place to stay when the sun goes down later.

I sighed deeply and became mesmerized by the cold breeze that the cold morning brought. I slowly closed my eyes and felt the gentle breeze before I decided to open my eyes. I raised my lips for a smile before I decided to stretch my arms.

It's too early for me to stay here on the farm. My father is still at home, and it seems like he will get up late now because of what happened last night. Mom went to the market early even though I know that she was curious about what Monique did earlier.

I bent down on my knees and distracted myself by thinking about a lot of things. It's a good thing that the breeze is a bit cooler in the rock formation caused by the calm sea not far from where I was, so somehow I can't almost feel the heat from the bright sun.

I don’t know how many hours I stayed in that position. I just woke up with a pat on my shoulder from my father, who I didn't realize was now standing by my side looking at me.

"How long have you been here, Solanna?" he asked before he smiled at me.

I could do nothing but raise my head and wipe my eyes before I turned to look at him. I tried to reciprocate his smile with mine, which made his smile widen a bit.

"I don't know," I said.

I turned to look at the bright light coming from the sunlight. The sun has already set, and its rays are not that hot, but if I stay here for another minute, my skin might burn.

Just like what we planned last week, I helped my dad plow the farm. I saw him busy herding the buffaloes not far from us, and instead of bothering myself to stare at what he was doing, I decided to focus my attention on my work.

My father told me a while ago that Marco wanted to come here to help us, which made my brows raise a bit of confusion. I thought he was sick. Why would he come here if he was sick?

Didn’t they know their youngest son was sick?

Just as I expected, I saw Marco approaching the nipa hut. He's holding a basket, and it seems like I already know what that basket is for. I wanted to wonder when I didn’t see Monique with him, but when I remembered what happened this morning, I decided to shrug and let myself continue my work.

If she has a problem, she can tell us. That's why we're family. We are here to support each other and we will never judge her, no matter what her problem is.

For me, it looks like whatever her problem is, I know that it’s kind of deep. I know her, and whenever she has a problem, she's too brave to tell us. She never cried just because of a simple problem, so when I saw her crying this morning, I couldn't help but feel so confused.

"I thought you were sick," I said when Marco approached the tree where I was.

It's been two hours since I started to plow the field. I took a break two minutes ago because I felt dizzy due to the scorching heat of the sun.

He smiled at me before he sat on the chaff I was sitting on. He was carrying a basket containing vegetables he had harvested earlier, so I couldn't help but smile secretly at him.

He's too young to help on the farm. We forbade him from helping us on the farm. He should enjoy his childhood. He should play with kids his age instead of helping out and working here on the farm.

But then, even though we scolded and banned him several times, he insisted on helping us. He never asked us for anything in return for his work, and it made us proud of him.

Marco reminds me of my younger self. Just like him, I realized, at a very young age, the bitterness of reality. Just like him, I also suffered a lot of hardships back then. I am the first child of my parents, so I am obliged to help them, even with small things related to their work.

Sometimes it comes to mind what do I looked like when I was young and working on the farm back then. What would I look like when I wore overalls while working in the middle of the field and venturing into the scorching heat of the sun?

I wonder what I looked like back then.

I tried to ask my mom for my pictures when I was a child, but she couldn’t show me anything. I tried to ask my dad if I was wearing overalls back then, but he couldn't answer me. I just want to see some evidence that I worked on the farm back then, but they were unable to provide it to me.

When I was a kid, my teacher asked us for a picture of our younger selves so we could put something in our portfolio. I told my parents about that and asked for my pictures at that time, but instead of providing one, they kept on explaining and telling me that they didn’t have a camera during those times. But when mom gave birth to Monique, that’s when they started to film her life. They did the same to Marco, while I have nothing.

Yes, I have a lot of pictures with them when I was a teen, but when I was a child, there's nothing.

It never entered my mind to envy my siblings either, even though it's a bit unfair for me. It never entered my mind to be jealous and hate them just because of the shortcomings of my parents. I never blamed them for my resentment of my parents because I knew they have nothing to do with it.

Maybe because it's my fault, and I don't want to blame my parents either, because they don't even know how I feel. I don’t blame them, and I will never do that to them just because of a picture.

Marco leaned his head on my shoulder, which made me turn to look at him and chuckle a bit.

"Yes, I am," he said, which made my lips pucker a bit. "Thanks for the oranges you bought for me last night. Somehow my fever went down because of the fruits you bought for me." My lips raised for a bit in a smile. He then raised his head and turned to look at me with confused eyes. "Where did you get the money to buy those oranges? The oranges you bought last night looked expensive."

I stopped a bit for a while before I replied, "That's from my savings, and don't worry because you deserve expensive things," before I pinched his cheeks.

He rolled his eyes at me, but the smile etched in his lips remained. He said, "We are not rich, and we don't deserve expensive things," before he removed my hands from my face. "You should save for your future, Solanna. Every cent is important."

"Just because of oranges, you can now educate me?" I said, trying to make our conversation light because he looked so serious while looking at me. "It looks expensive, but it's actually cheap!"

"Expensive or not, you should save your money."

I puckered my lips and no longer responded to his sermons. We stayed at our position while remaining silent, and no one spoke to us. He looks so serious. My baby brother looked so damn serious, while I, on the other hand, puckered my lips just because I was embarrassed by what he said earlier.

It's okay, Solanna. He doesn't have any idea that the oranges he ate came from Blake. Yeah, that's Blake! He was the one who bought oranges for him, not me. So somehow I didn't touch my savings.

If he only knew where the oranges I gave him last night came from, he would assume that I have a boyfriend even though I don't have one. It's a good thing that he thought that the money I bought for the oranges came from my savings.

I secretly rolled my eyes at the thoughts that were gradually entering my mind. My thoughts feel like a whirlwind, and I can't put them into words.

I felt my face reddening a bit because of what happened last night between us. My lips pursed a bit when I found out that he wasn't a bad person, and there was nothing wrong with that I decided to make friends with him, right? If I had the chance to see him again, I would not ignore and avoid him.

"What's with your smile?" Marco asked.

I almost jumped because of the shock in his voice. I held my chest and jokingly pinched his ear, which made him chuckled.

"I was just asking you," he said before he caressed what I had done to him. "What's with your smile, Solanna?"

"It was just nothing!"

"Nothing?" he asked, which made me nod.

We teased each other for a couple of minutes before we decided to continue our work. I stayed at the barn house near the nipa hut while Marco decided to stay at the nipa hut to arrange the vegetables he harvested.

"I forgot to ask him about Monique's whereabouts today," I mumbled to myself before shaking my head and returning to work.

I don't know when I finished my work. Tired, I went to the nipa hut to get my lunch. I saw my father, who had not finished what he was doing, and instead of approaching him, I went straight to the nipa hut where Marco was waiting.

"Are you the one who prepared lunch, Marco?" I asked, when I stepped inside the nipa hut.

I saw him sitting in the wooden chair while caressing his stomach.

I approached his seat and tapped his back when I noticed that he was acting weirdly and in pain. I asked, "Are you okay? Is there something wrong, Marco?" before I kneeled at his side while looking at his face. "Marco, tell me what's the problem."

I saw the sweat on his head, and it seems like whatever he is feeling right now is currently torturing him.

"Marco..."

"My stomach hurts a lot," he said before he tried to get up from his seat while still holding his abdomen. I saw the bead of sweat dripping from his forehead, and it seemed like he was in pain based on the way he carress himself. "Don't worry, Solana. I-I'm okay."

"B-But—"

He smiled at me even though the pain was visible on his face. "I can handle this," he said before he slowly approached the wooden table where the lunch he had prepared this morning lay. "I was the one who p-prepared your lunch. M-Monique wasn't home when I woke up earlier."

My face furrowed because of what he said.

"Where did she go?"

He shrugged while still holding his stomach. He replied, "I-I don't know. I don't have any idea where she is," before he turned his back on me.

Monique was crying just this morning, and it seems like I just saw her problematic this morning. Couldn't she have a problem?

What if they force her to drink liquor again?

Is she rebelling against our parents? If so, why the hell is she doing that?

I saw Marco standing near the wooden table. He wasn't moving, so I couldn't help but feel confused. Based on his actions a while ago, it seems like he also has a problem with his body now.

I hurriedly walked closer to him, and to my surprise, he quickly lost consciousness. It's a good thing that I quickly got behind him and I myself grabbed his body when he lost consciousness.

I laid him on the floor and hurriedly tapped his cheeks, but he did not respond to my gentle slaps on him.

"Wake up, Marco!"