20 You are the Riddle (2/2)

”Good afternoon,” I say to break his focus from his work.

He looks up at me and I can see the courteous smile on his face. ”Good afternoon, Miss Aguinaldo.”

Somehow, Atty. Guevarra does not even bother to ask who my friend is. I suppose his wide knowledge of the elite families had led him to deduce who Eloisa is.The silence that follows us is tormenting.

I clear my throat and began speaking my words. ”I will be frank, Atty. Guevarra.”

”Of course,” he says kindly.

I do not know whether I should be deceived by his courteous smile, but this lie has to stop. Many people have already died. How come his conscience has not yet been tormented? ”Are you the lover of the current heir of the RSC or not?”

Somehow, he just laughs at the question. It was as if I told him the most ludicrous of all truths. With this, Eloisa suddenly hits the young lawyer's table with her fist to stop the laughter. ”My friend asked you a question, Atty. Guevarra! Answer her! This is no laughing matter.”

Now, I do not know if she took any drugs or alcohol, but certainly, her acts are working. Atty. Guevarra stopped laughing, but I could still feel Eloisa's temper raging.

”Quite sorry, Miss Acosta, but I cannot help but laugh at Rose's question.”

”Oh, you must certainly admit it. Why did you suspiciously help Rose in times of need? Was it because you are my friend's lover?”

He must have thought we were kidding. As he looks into Eloisa's eyes of fury, his smile dies down. ”I am not her lover. I cannot be her lover.”

”Denial is always key. Behind that 'Nathan' name lies the full name of Jonathan.”

”I do not know where you would get such an idea, but I hope you are in your mind to think it so. Miss Acosta, many have heard about your vices, but do not accuse me of such. You are right about my full name, Jonathan, but I am not her lover. I cannot be one.”

Once more, Eloisa bangs the table to get his attention, but Atty. Guevarra does not even flinch. Even though his papers scattered all over his office, he does not even take his attention off us. It was as if we are fighting different truths altogether.

”You lie!” she exclaims.

Suddenly, Atty. Guevarra's patience dies out. He raises from his seat and begins taking his stand. ”I am not her lover and I cannot be one! Can't you understand?”

”And, why is that? Certainly, you are lying your way out!”

”Why would I take my own sister as a lover? Think about that!”

Finally, that had shocked me. Emma has a brother? Atty. Nathan Guevarra is her brother? How? I don't understand. Out of shock, Eloisa turns to me to verify the truth, but I could not help but also stand agape. Her anger dies out when she heard the words, but her pondering does not stop. Did Raphael Concepcion also turn this young man away?

”Sister?” I stammer quietly. ”How can she be your sister?”

Seeing our agape faces, he sighs quietly and sits. It was a truth he cannot have spoken. ”I am the son of my father's mistress,” he continues. ”Jasmine Javier, my father's mistress who also happens to be the cousin of Emma's mother, Lerine, is my mother.”

As I hear his confession, there was only one question I had in my mind and I had to ask it. ”If you are a Javier through your mother's blood, what is your relation to Ysabel Javier?”

”She's the twin sister I never met. Father put us both in separate adoption centers to prevent us from ever knowing our heritage. This was designed to keep his wife from ever knowing his adultery. Unfortunately, this all failed. Mother wanted us out of the adoption center, but it took her a long time to find where we are. She thought that she would find us both in one center, but she only found me. When she learned the Ysabel is in another center, mother went to the center only to learn that another kindly couple adopted her. When she was married, I became a Guevarra through the goodwill of my stepfather. He treated me like his own child.”

In our shock, Eloisa and I fall into the sofa set and ponder upon this. ”And, you are more than willing to imprison her?”

”Rosanna, justice should be served through the paupers and the princes. There should be no bias. Even if we are blood relatives, she will have to face charges.”

A thought comes to me. Many deaths occurred because Ysabel wants to stop anyone else from tearing her supposed fortunes into pieces.

”Then, you have a claim to the RSC,” I say in realization.

”No, I don't. Father did not acknowledge me. Certainly, Ysabel would have no claim, but as the firstborn, she does. She is trapped in a limbo between being an heir and being ousted, but it will all have to rely on the will of my father.”

I came here to find out whether Atty. Guevarra is that damned lover to get this over with, but he is not the one. ”Atty. Guevarra, might I ask, how can one be a tenth on his first, a fourth on his second, and on his last be the same as his second? If you may, please answer it. It is for your dying half-sister.”

I know it was a futile question, but as a lawyer, he must know at least a little bit on how I am to derive the answer.

Unexpectedly, I cannot believe he would try. ”I do not know my sister that much. Our interactions go as far as inside the walls of Word Miracle Church. We knew of our father's infidelity, but we did not go far as to let him know that we know. I suggest that you look into the bible. She has always been religious.”

Nothing is moving forward in this ordeal. Everything I do opens another can of worms. Just when I thought I know of everything, there it comes to destroy it. I know nothing about Ysabel. The people who do refuse to speak about her. How will I know what to do? The man in the riddle only leads to a dead end. Just when I thought I had everything figured out, everything comes crashing down. What do I do now?