Keifer's POV
Fvck that Mykel. Because of him, my fist hurts like hell. He pissed me off when I saw him, so I couldn't stop myself.
I made sure I broke every bone in his body. If I could've killed him, I would've. But he wouldn't experience suffering if I ended his life right away.
He should be thankful, I gave him mercy. "Where have you been?" Keigan asked me.
"Somewhere. Roaming around."
He chuckled in disbelief. "Roaming around? And it took you almost 5 days?"
"I didn't notice the time."
"It's days, Kuya, you've been gone for days if you didn't notice it." He said and walked away.
I couldn't help but stare at him. What the doctor said about him… It makes me worried about my brother's mental health. I hope he's wrong, and it's not DID that's affecting Keigan.
I noticed Honey approaching me. She discreetly glanced at Keigan before speaking.
"Your girlfriend is out of the hospital."
"That's good." I said and started to walk. She followed me.
"Did you throw the phone away?"
She nodded before handing me a paper.
"Your cousin told you to work on this."
My forehead creased. The timing of that is amazing. I just accepted the paper and read it.
It looks like my position in the company has upgraded. From being the coffee maker and photocopy guy, now I'll be facing potential shareholders and investors.
I turned my back on Honey and headed straight out of the suites. My strides were large as I made my way to the elevator and out of the hotel.
My driver opened the door for me.
"Sir."
"Watson Enterprise now." I said while getting inside the car.
He quickly closed the door and got in the driver's seat. He started the car, and I continued reading.
Even the potential companies we could invest in were listed. I stared at one particular company.
Fernandez Corporation or known as Fer Corp. Michael Angelo Fernandez as the CEO of the local company.
Looks like I have something I can use against him. I smirked thinking about that idea.
My smile disappeared when the car stopped. The door opened, and I quickly headed inside the building. Employees greeted me while I remained stiff. I went straight to Clyde's office.
He was sitting in his swivel chair. He immediately stood up and approached me.
"You're late." He said. "We have a meeting to attend."
I arched a brow.
"We?"
He also arched a brow.
"Part of your training."
I nodded shortly before following him. We headed straight to the conference room. I sat at the empty chair beside the secretaries of the managers while Clyde sat at the end of the long table.
"Let's start." He said.
They turned on the projector, and the person in front started speaking. I listened attentively.
The meeting lasted for three hours. I thought it would be over, but Clyde took me to his next meeting with investors. He even included me in his meeting with the Finance department.
The day ended with me attending meeting after meeting with him.
"Please tell me this is the last time we'll attend a meeting together." I said as we entered his office.
"Unfortunately, this is not the last time." He answered before walking toward his executive table.
"By the way, you have to visit the youngest elder. I heard he's not feeling well."
"Uncle Kier."
"What happened?"
"Why don't you find out?" He said without looking at me.
I almost punched his face. If I hadn't thought about the items he had just replaced because of the things we broke during our last fight.
I turned and walked out. My steps were big as I left the building. As usual, my driver was already waiting. I got into the car and asked him to drive to Uncle Kier's house.
His house was by the river, far from the city and the other Watsons. He chose to live away and separate himself because he didn't want to be part of the greed of the other Elders. No wonder my Grandfather trusted him with the key to the Watson bank.
The trip took several hours, and when we reached his house, a cold breeze greeted us.
"Where's Uncle?" I asked the butler.
"He's in the patio. I'll bring you to him." He said and walked ahead.
I followed him. Uncle Kier's house was simple. A house of an ordinary person living an ordinary life. He really preferred the simple life, unlike the other Watsons.
The butler opened the sliding door and pointed to Uncle, who was sitting in the rocking chair.
I walked toward him.
"Uncle Kier."
He looked at me with sleepy eyes.
"You disturb me."
"Sorry, I heard you're not feeling well. So, I decided to pay a visit."
He laughed shortly.
"But you're the only one who thought to visit me."
Did he just speak Tagalog?
"W-what? You j-just spoke—."
"Tagalog? B*tch please! I can speak 8 languages fluently."
Btch please?
Where on earth did he learn those words? I never imagined the most respectful youngest elder would say such a word.
I couldn't help but laugh at what I heard from him.
"Seriously, Uncle. You don't look sick."
He pointed to the bench not far from him. I took it and placed it beside him so I could sit.
"I'm not sick. I just feel dizzy after talking to the eldest."
He's talking about the first-born Elder. I know they don't get along. I also know that he's one of the reasons why Uncle Kier chose to live away.
"Why?"
"His breath smells." He answered, and we both laughed in unison.
He really knows how to make fun of the Eldest. He may be strict sometimes and scary, but the real him will always be like this.
"He scolded me because I helped you." He explained in a serious tone. "They loathe you that they forgot who you are in this family."
I've already accepted that fact.
He looked away and sighed. "I loathe this family from the day I was born. Because of my last name, people always look at me differently."
"Is that the reason why you never involved yourself with their businesses?"
He wrinkled his nose as if thinking carefully about it.
"Sort of." He chuckled. "I'm the outcast of the family. The youngest and most careless."
"Yet the smartest."
He shook his head. "Your grandfather is the smartest. He knew his monster son would kill him for his money, so he decided to name his inheritance to you. And your mother made sure that no one would dare to touch you."
But that was also the reason for his death. In protecting me and the inheritance, he couldn't protect himself.
I still wonder if it would have been better if the inheritance wasn't named after me.
"Uncle…" I called him. "Why didn't he give you the inheritance?"
"I told you, I'm careless. That company would've ended up bankrupt." He said and laughed.
I chuckled a bit. "Are you happy with your life now?"
"I'd be happier if my wife were here sitting and talking to me."
He's one of the Watsons who only had one wife, or never had another woman in his life aside from his wife.
A bit rare in this family.
"How did you manage to have only one woman in your life?"
He creased his forehead. "What a stupid question."
"Because you're one of the few Watsons that I know with only one woman."
He looked at me seriously. I scratched my head.
Looks like I've gone too far with the questions.
"Are you planning to have more than one woman?" He asked.
I immediately shook my head. "N-no. Of course not."
Having another woman aside from my Jay-jay is definitely a no. She's more than enough for me, so why would I look for someone else?
"Then you answer your own question."
I chuckled while shaking my head. He's right. It's really a stupid question. But my smile quickly faded when I remembered something.
Maybe he could help me.
"Do you know how to overcome the curse?"
He suddenly laughed loudly. He almost choked, so he sat up straight. The butler, whom I didn't know had stayed, immediately handed him some water.
He returned the glass after drinking.
"There's no such thing as a Watson curse."
I know there's no curse. But I still like to call it that. Because we become different when we love, and it's not normal.
"I-I know, but the thing is—."
"It's happening to you." He said and raised a brow.
I simply nodded.
"It's not a curse. The thing that happens to you is because of Watson's attitude."
He said and sighed. "The possessiveness, superiority, and pride."
The major attitude of a Watson.
"What should I do? I hurt her because of those traits."
"I was about to ask, then I remembered why." He looked at me intently. "Don't push yourself to remove that part of you, but learn to control it."
"That's exactly what I'm trying to do."
He gave me a questionable look. "Are you?"
Am I?
For the past few weeks, I've been trying to control it the way I think it should be. Or maybe I'm doing it the wrong way.
"I-I don't know if I'm doing it right."
"Why don't you go back from the start? Try to change your tactics, maybe it'll work now. If not, then change tactics again."
"I don't have enough time." I said, and he sighed.
He stood up slowly. I immediately tried to help him, but he shrugged my hands away. The butler immediately bowed in front of him.
"Mister, anything you need?"
"Drop the Mister, it's only my grandson." He said and walked back inside the house.
I followed him. He continued walking until he reached his room. He looked at his butler, who also followed us.
"Cook some dinner for us and prepare the guest room. My grandson will stay here tonight." He said and looked at me. "You stay here. I'll just get something."
I nodded shortly as he entered his room. I didn't bother to sneak a peek. I didn't know what he was going to get, but whatever it was, I knew it could help me.
I decided to call Keigan on the landline. I called the hotel, and they connected me to our suite.
"Make sure you'll be back early in the morning. I want you to meet someone."
I mentally rolled my eyes. "Yeah. Sure."
We ended the call without any proper discussions or goodbyes. I also called Honey to leave Keigan in her care. After learning what I did from his doctor, I was even more worried about him.
"Your brother is talking to a woman. I have a bad feeling about it." She said, and I could sense her irritation.
"What did they talk about?"
"I couldn't hear clearly, but the woman said she knew you because of her old friend."
My eyebrows knitted. Who is she? I know her from who? I've encountered so many women before, but I don't remember any of them.
"I'll take care of it tomorrow." I said and bid our goodbyes before ending the call.
I hung up the phone and turned back to Uncle's room. I almost stepped back when I saw him standing and staring at me from there.
"S-sorry. I used your telephone without permission."
He chuckled softly. "A Watson never says sorry." He shook his head. "Looks like I'm not alone in this family."
I noticed he was holding a thick book. I observed it and realized it was a photo album. He walked toward me and handed it over.
He put his arm around me and gently pushed me to start walking.
"What is this for?" I asked while walking.
"Time to reminisce the past."
We continued walking until we reached the dining area. Uncle's butler was there, preparing the table.
"The food will be ready in a minute, Sir."
Uncle's butler said and motioned for us to sit.
We did, and I put the photo album down. I opened it, and my eyebrows raised at the first picture that greeted me. It was more like a hand sketch but printed as a photo.
"That's our great-grandfather." He said, pointing to it. "He's a pirate."
So that's the reason why we have lots of gold.
I stared at the face in the photo. Even though it was just a hand sketch, it still managed to show the superiority of my ancestor.
"But I thought Watsons are more into the good side. Politicians, officers, business owners, a duke, or part of the royal family."
"I guess he's an exception." He said and motioned for me to turn the page.
The second image was photo-printed, but it had the black-and-white with a yellowish tint. It was so old that if you held it wrong, it could tear.
It showed what I believed was a whole family, from grandparents to great-grandchildren. There were probably more than 50 people in the photo. No one was smiling, or even looked happy.
"That's the family before World War I."
No wonder why it looks so old.
The next page showed parts of the past war. Several men were holding guns, and some were sitting next to corpses. There were more pages with old pictures, from the war to the rebuilding of the town.
But the war photos stopped and were replaced by pictures of a palace and men standing next to Queen Victoria.
So we're really related to the royal family. Jay-jay will definitely laugh at me if I tell her about this.
I continued looking until I stopped at a picture of seven men. I recognized five of them. It was Uncle Kier and the four Elders of the family.
But who are the other two?
"That's your grandfather. The one who left you with the inheritance." He said and pointed to the man at the center.
I stared at him, and for some reason, I saw myself in him. From his posture to the way he glared, we also looked alike. I kept staring at him until I noticed the man next to him.
I pointed at him. "Who's this?"
"That…" He paused and stared at the photo. "That's our older brother. He passed away at a young age."
"W-why?"
"Suicide, but I know it's more than that." He said, and he removed the photo from the album. "We found him hanging in a rope inside our old barn. Your grandfather and I knew that he couldn't do such a thing, but the Eldest convinced the whole family that he killed himself because a woman broke his heart."
He's talking about the current Firstborn Elder. Looks like he wasn't really the eldest, and something bad happened to the family back then.
"Is that really the reason?"
He shook his head. "That would never happen. I know him; he always protected us and always, always reminded us that he'd never leave us."
"You think someone did that to him?"
"Yes, but no further investigation was done, and it was never proven to our parents." He put the photo back in the album. "I know someone did this to him. He was supposed to be the inheritor."
I chuckled a bit. "Very suspicious."
He turned the page. I looked at the next photo, and it was as if I wanted to burn it. It was my Dad's baby picture.
"The monster." I whispered.
I paused, thinking. If my grandfather wasn't the oldest or next in line, why did he get the inheritance?
"Uncle." I said, and he turned the page. "If my grandfather is not the oldest, how come he received the inheritance?"
I heard his soft laugh. "Your grandfather is being slick as fvck. He impregnated the Eldest's wife and took the child away—that's your father, by the way. To make it short, the Eldest turned into a beast, and our parents lost their trust. They decided to give it to your grandfather."
I chuckled and shook my head. Now, I know where I got that slick attitude.
He turned the pages again, and I saw my Dad in his teenage days. He looked exactly like Keigan. They were like twins in appearance. There was someone else in the picture, and I thought they were his cousins, but there was one who stood out. I looked at him strangely because he looked familiar.
This can't be.
"W-who's this guy?"
I saw the disappointment on his face. "Remember that I told you about my older brother, and he got broken-hearted because of a woman?" I nodded shortly. "That woman got pregnant by a different man. When my brother died, they blamed her and made her life like a living hell until she decided to kill herself while she was in the last month of her pregnancy." He sighed and rested his back against the chair. "We managed to save the baby before she lost her breath."
I looked at the man who seemed familiar to me.
"It's him."
"Yes, and we named him Angel. Your grandfather decided to adopt him."
He really looked familiar, and it felt like I saw him before, but I couldn't tell where or when.
"Where is he now?"
"He's dead." He answered shortly. I looked at him in shock. "I-i…"
"More than 20 years now."
He died before I was born. It doesn't make any sense. If that's the case, where and when did I see him, and how? I couldn't stop thinking about someone I knew who looked like him.
Demon.