Chapter 6

"Papa died in an accident and Mama...," Zavier looked at the middle-aged woman who looked helpless in the wheelchair, "...lost her sanity?" His eyes seemed to hurt looking at the mother whose bead looked as empty and lifeless as a doll "This... all happened not long after I left?"

Zavier approached the mother who had been so kind as to adopt him, an orphanage child, and take care of him like his own biological son. He knelt before her, and touched her pale face.

'Cold,' Zavier thought with a frown. He then placed his hand on her wrist, checking her pulse. 'This is-!' The man's gaze turned cold as he stood up.

Zavier's mind replayed the story his sister had told him earlier.

After he was found to be the murderer of the Bintara Family's heir and sentenced to life imprisonment on the Island of the Eye, his father's family company was affected by the stock drop. However, this did not stop the father from defending his son and insisting that Zavier was framed. This led everyone to consider him insane and he ended up being kicked out of the company's director position by his own extended family in order to no longer influence the company's shares.

Being kicked out of the company, dropped from the family register, and losing his son sent Zavier's father into a depression. As if that wasn't sad enough, the man also lost his life by becoming a victim of a hit-and-run after returning home drunk from a bar.

It was losing both husband and son at the same time that led Zavier's adoptive mother to behave in a desperate manner and attempt to hang herself. Luckily, Gabriela found her mother before it was too late. However, the brain damage caused the woman to live like she was dead.

"Gabriela, all this time, how did you survive alone?" Zavier asked carefully.

"The inheritance left by Father...," the girl replied briefly with a bitter smile gracing her face. "Also the help from Lily."

Hearing the name that had just escaped Gabriela's lips, Zavier froze. 'Lily?'

Never did Zavier think that he would hear that name again after so long. Lily was Zavier's schoolmate, a girl so beautiful, but with a fate that was not so good. Zavier and his family had once provided assistance to the girl's family in times of hardship, and after paying their debts, Lily and her family left the city.

Who would have guessed that someone who wasn't even family would help her family in times of trouble?

Zavier's eyes closed, vowing inwardly that he would meet that woman to repay the favor.

"What about the Forger Family?" asked Zavier again.

Gabriela could only shake her head. Then, she added, "However, Uncle Frederick came and introduced a doctor to examine Mama." The girl snorted. "Maybe that's his way of atoning for ending up being chosen to succeed Father as the company's president director and abandoning us in times of trouble."

Gabriela's words made Zavier radiate a murderous aura. The man was certain his father's death was not that simple, and his uncle-who had always wanted the Forger Group's presidency-was definitely involved in all of this. Now, Gabriela was saying he was helping his mother out of guilt?

'Is it really that easy?' Zavier thought with a mocking smile. He told Gabriela, "No need to accept the doctor's visit again, I'll cure Mama."

Gabriela who heard Zavier's words was surprised. "What do you mean?" she asked with her eyebrows knitted together. "All the experts I've visited with Lily's help have said that you won't recover, even Uncle Frederick's doctor said he could only ease your pain!"

As he opened his briefcase and took out a scroll, Zavier said, "Gabriela, take it easy." He expanded the scroll, leaving Gabriela stunned to see a barrage of silver needles of various lengths and thicknesses. "I'll save Mama!"

"Wait!" Gabriela shouted as Zavier pulled out one long, thin silver needle and aimed it at her mother's head. "Sis! What are you going to do?"

With a calm face, Zavier said, "Heal Mama." The man wore a confident smile. "Gabriela, trust me with everything."

Hearing Zavier's deep voice and the calmness radiating from the man, Gabriela could not help but step back. The confidence radiating from her brother's whole body made the girl unable to refuse to obey.

When Gabriela calmed down, Zavier faced her mother. Nimbly, the man stuck a number of needles in several parts of his mother's head and body.

Zavier's skill in acting with the needles left Gabriela stunned. She seemed to be looking at someone who was creating a miracle.

Only after fifteen minutes had passed and Zavier was pulling out the needles one by one to insert them into a small tube of water, was Gabriela able to move her body again and say, "D-done?"

"Hm," Zavier replied as he cleaned and tidied up his equipment. "It's done."

Gabriela took her mother's hand and touched her face to make sure she was okay. At that moment, the girl felt her mother's finger suddenly move.

"Zavier!" Gabriela's shriek made Zavier turn his head. "Mama's finger is moving! Mama's finger moved!"

The shock made Zavier smile slightly. He continued tidying up his equipment as he declared, "Give me ten days, and Mama will stand like she used to."

Hearing this, Gabriela looked at her brother in amazement. 'What exactly happened in the past ten years?'

Gabriela knew her brother had always been smart, but that only applied to running a company and managing finances, not traditional medicine like this!

While Gabriela was busy thinking about that, Zavier suddenly asked a question, "Did you take any medicine?" He pulled out a small scalpel - the kind used for surgery - and walked over to Gabriela and her mother. "Can you get it?" he asked when he saw his sister nodding.

Gabriela gave her brother a puzzled look, with a face full of questions, 'What else are you going to do?'

However, this time, despite her questions, Gabriela no longer held Zavier back and hurried to carry out her brother's orders. "Here," the girl said, showing the medicine she always gave her mother.

Grabbing one of the tablets in the small tube, Zavier's eyes seemed to sharpen. "Did Uncle Frederick's doctor give it to you?" the man asked, followed by a nod of Gabriela's head. Zavier snorted as he placed the tube on the table. "Interesting tactic," he commented as he approached his mother again, leaving Gabriela confused.

"Zavier?" Gabriela looked confused, then turned frantic when she saw Zavier slash the tip of her mother's index finger. "What the—" However, her words caught in her throat and her eyes widened when she saw the blood dripping out of her mother's fingertip was pitch black. "Why... why is Mama's blood like that?" she asked. "I-it doesn't look normal."

Zavier wore an angry smile as he watched the blood flow from his mother's fingertip into the small tube. "This is perfectly normal," the man said coldly. "It's perfectly normal when the medicine our 'good' uncle gave us is poison."