Sebastian's Obsession

Chapter 6

Time flies so fast. It's been third week now since Donato had raised a petition in the court of appeal. I am the plaintiff, while Sebastian is the defendant. And next month would be the final trial for the court to render a judgment on the matter. It'll be the last bit of hope for me and where my fate lies.

Sebastian and I have previously met twice in the courtroom and never in those trials did he forget to make me feel so little. He has always shown his dominion. His power. His possession. And that fighting him in court is just a waste of time. But I don't care.

Or maybe I do.

If Aunt doesn't show up until the last trial, it will be the end of me. Stale has already tracked her down, but she does not stay in one spot for long. She kept shifting locations, making it difficult for me to find her. I hired agents to keep track of her locations, and now I just got a message saying she's in Cebu.

Canais is too far away from Cebu because it is in the Philippines. Booking a flight only for the purpose of flying there is a bit of a bother. And I'm not even sure whether she'll be there when I arrive.

It's definitely a total hassle and a waste of money.

But still, here I am in the airport, waiting for the boarding call. Fortunately, there was still an open flight to the Philippines when I arrived. And without a doubt, I took it and paid for it. I only brought this little purse with me. No luggage. No luxury item. Just me and my mini-bag as I was in a hurry.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of Philippine Airlines, it is my pleasure to welcome you aboard flight 1006 with service to Andora and continuing service to Manila..."

I didn't pay much attention to the stewards' general boarding announcement. She says a lot more, such as the usual boarding reminder and preparation. I immediately turned off my phone as the plane began to depart.

My flight will probably take 6 hours, as per the steward's announcement, before I arrive in the Philippines. Worst of all, I know nothing about the place. I recently found out that my Aunt is in Cebu, but I'm not sure where that is. The Philippines is not a very small nation, undoubtedly it will take me a lot longer to go around just to find that particular city. But since I'm not that stupid. I had planned everything before booking a flight to a destination I was unfamiliar with. I had requested my agent to do the job ahead of time so that when I got there, I wouldn't have to do any work. Certainly, I'm going to just approach Aunt and see what else I can do for her.

I boarded another flight to Cebu after landing in Manila. This is such an effort just to visit Aunt, and I hope she will be delighted to see me after betraying me and causing problems in my life.

"Send me the address?" I demanded after I landed safely in MCIA. And because I was unfamiliar with the area, I depended exclusively on my Apple Maps while waiting for the agent to send me their location and where they had apprehended my Aunt.

It wasn't long until my phone beeped and a specific location was supplied for it. I rented a cab while following the tracker.

The agent sent me another message, this time with the name of the hotel where they are staying. "Do you know where the Royal Hotel is, Sir?" I asked the cab driver. If there's someone who knows where that place is, it will probably be the driver. It is expected that, as a driver, he'll probably know the winding roads of Cebu.

"Yes, ma'am. Uh, it's in Mabolo," he said almost stutteringly.

"Okay cool, bring me there."

"Is this your first time coming here, Ma'am?" the driver asked as we were stuck in a traffic jam. Perhaps it's his way of keeping me entertained so I don't become bored.

"Yeah," I said shortly. I checked my wristwatch again and saw that we'd been stalled here for 20 minutes. I had no idea Cebu was crowded — streets filled with different vehicles, vendors, and street children were everywhere.

After infinity, we finally arrived at the location. I immediately paid the fare and went inside the hotel. It doesn't look luxurious at all, it was very simple with a bit of modern design just to make the interior look appealing.

"Hi, Ma'am, how may I help you?" the receptionist spoke as I neared the reception desk. But before I could even open my lips, the agent came.

He looks at the woman. "She's a guest," he says. With a hesitant expression on her face, the receptionist looked at me and then back to Greg before slowly nodding.

"Where's Aunt?" I asked as we entered the elevator. Greg and Ash are Mr. Stale's agents, whom I personally hire for this subject.

"In the room."

As the door of the unit opened, a very familiar face greeted me. She looks proud and annoyed at the same time while staring at Ash. Aun Natasha's head slowly turned in my direction. Her eyes immediately widened in horror after realizing who had come.

Surprise.

As though she had just witnessed death in front of her. Her wrists and feet are bound, and her mouth is taped shut. It appears as if they have abducted her. She looks pitiful in that position and gone is her elegant posture.

"Hello, Aunt. Long time no see," I uttered, a smirk plastered on my face.

"Do you miss me?"

I removed the tape from her mouth so she could speak. As I stared deep into her soul, her mouth trembled and her hand twitched. She looks so authentic and innocent, so how the heck does she have the nerve to deceive me?

"How's life serving you, Aunt?" I wondered, "Happy?"

Aunt instantly knelt, clutching both of her hands.

"I'm sorry, Win," she said, "please forgive me." As tears streamed down her face, she sought to grasp my hand. Hearing her weep made my heart clench, but were her tears genuine? Is she remorseful that I discovered her terrible deeds? Because if she was truly sorry, she wouldn't have done this in the first place.

"Why did you do that to me, Aunt? What went wrong with us for you to stab me like that?" I whispered wearily.

To be honest, I'm already emotionally drained, mentally exhausted, and physically tired. All I want is to live and survive this chaotic world. I did not step on someone or hurt someone, just to survive this life race. My journey was also not easy, but I earnestly strived to exist. So why can't others do the same? Why must they need to deceive, steal, and betray someone else's hard work?

I rake my finger through my hair in frustration when she remains silent."Come on, Aunt. Tell me, why did you sell the company? The one my parents developed for years? Why is it so simple for you to sell something that wasn't yours, to begin with? Just why?"

"I'm sorry, Win," she said, lowering herself and averting her sight from mine.

I subconsciously tossed the cup that my hands had grabbed from the table toward the wall. Aunt flickered from the impact. Without a doubt, I am really frustrated. Fck apologies. I need an explanation, not a goddamn apology.

"I don't need your apology, Aunt! I demand an explanation! Why? Why did you betray me? You know that I trust you so much. I treated you as my second mother. But...why?" I exclaimed angrily.

I'm really trying to keep my anger in control, to prevent my temper from exploding. But her replies just tend to irritate me further. We are no longer children who choose to apologize when we make a mistake. We're old enough to make excuses. I want her to accept responsibility and explain why she did what she did in the first place. It's that simple.

"I'm tired of guiding you, Winter."

"Bullshit!"

That is by far the most ridiculous explanation I have ever heard. She's sick of guiding me, therefore she's selling the company? That doesn't make sense at all. If she's tired, she could just leave because I'll understand. Even if it's hard, I'll understand. I am not too selfish to cage her, to stop her from enjoying her life. If only she says that. If only she had just peacefully left and did not further betray me. But she did not and she chose to hurt me.

I shook my head in disbelief, hitting the wall in rage as tears streamed down my cheeks. I'm in pain. My entire body is in pain, and it is suffocating me.

"You can just leave, Aunt; why sell the company?" I whispered, my voice scratchy.

"I'm sorry; I was blinded by money and thought selling the company would fulfill my ambitions," she confessed.

"If you're genuinely sorry, help me reclaim my company. Attend my last trial and be my witness. Accept your mistake and fess it up. Or maybe this is all just words and you're not actually sorry."

She looked at me with guilty eyes before opening her mouth. "I...I'll help you get the company back," Aunt stuttered and stopped. As if she's having a second thought to add something.

I furrowed my brows, waiting. "What now?" She clasped both of her hands as if doing that gave her courage.

"But I've already spent the money," she added.

"How much did you charge Sebastian for the company?"

"$700,000,000,000"

"How much money do you still have on you?"

"$500,000" she admitted.

Wow. That's half of my savings. How will I be able to patch it up when I don't even have enough money left in my savings account? Out of exasperation, I did a facepalm. I was perplexed as to how she had spent such a significant quantity of money in a very short period of time. She had just squandered a billion dollars on who knows what. This is impossible for me to believe.

If ever, I need to labor until I'll become a hunchback just to pay for that money. And I don't know how many years it will take me to save that much. I quit. There's no hope of getting that company back to me. And even if I can. I still can't pay Sebastian. My savings aren't enough. This fight was brutal. I heaved a sigh as I slowly accepted defeat. Why did I even fight in the beginning when I knew I'd lose in the end? How stupid I am to believe in miracles and chances.