C48: Megan

Three days later, Arthur and Vincent arrived, just as how Arthur said it. Without wasting any more time, he immediately reserved in a restaurant for dinner. I arrived at the restaurant half an hour earlier than the meeting time, but I realized that it would be embarrassing to sit there alone, so I decided to wait outside.

There had been no sign of pedestrians on the streets, and under the starless sky, there were only faint lights in the distance.

"Are you waiting for someone, miss?" the guard asked, his facial expression was stern. "This restaurant is reserved for Arthur Castillo. He reserved the entire thing for tonight."

"The whole restaurant? So it's only for his date or something like that?" I replied, raising my eyebrow.

"I can't give you information about that. You're his date, aren't you?"

I broke eye contact, and I forced an awkward smile as I looked up. "I'm … I'm his girlfriend."

"Seems like a rich kid," his lips curved up in a smile, his eyes softened. "I remember now. Isn't he the vice mayor's son?"

"He is. How did you know? Was he that popular?"

"No, but I find it intriguing that a 21-year old boy would reserve an entire restaurant, so I made a little research. You should go inside because you mosquitoes might bite your skin here."

"Thank you, sir. But I'll be good."

"If you'll be the wife of the vice mayor's son, you shouldn't keep a low profile. Aren't you used to being treated like a princess?"

"Gahh ~ it's nothing like that!" I felt my cheeks getting hotter, but thankfully the light outside the restaurant is dim, so I doubt that he'll notice. "I mean, that escalated quickly."

The guard's smile faded into a frown. "What's with you kids nowadays? You shouldn't date anyone if you're not planning to marry them. You'll get tired investing your emotions to people if relationships would be a repeated trial-and-error style."

What he said surely made sense, but I don't think he has the right to lecture me. For one, he's a guard, we're not close. But there's no point acting like I know better. After all, he's just expressing his opinions.

Around two minutes later, a black car stopped in front of the restaurant, and Arthur came out from the passenger's seat. He walked slower than usual, and each step feels like a challenge to him.

"Hey, you don't look so good. Did something happen to your foot?" my worry of him being injured made sense when he lifted a small part of his pants, revealing a cast. "Gosh, what happened?"

"This stubborn guy," a voice from behind began, revealing Vincent, his brother, whose voice becomes louder with each step that he makes. "… fell off the stairs around a couple of hours ago when he was rushing to go here. I had to bring him to the hospital. I told him that he needs to stay, but he keeps on insisting for us to go here. He couldn't drive, so I had to do it on his behalf. Bro, I'll be going. Call me when you guys are done; I'll pick you up." Vincent waved his hand as he turns back, but Arthur pulled Vincent's shirt from behind.

"I want you to stay. I didn't reserve this for the two of us alone." Arthur said, his voice monotone.

Vincent jeered and threw a daggered look at Arthur. "What, you want me to be your third wheel or something? Because I'm not interested. I don't need your pity."

"It's not that," Arthur kept his calm despite Vincent's mockery, which made Vincent take it seriously. "I wouldn't call this as a date, but I need us to talk about important matters in private. That's why the two of you are here." The moment Arthur said 'important matters' gave me the shivers. What is he planning? All I thought was, this is a date, and it'll only be the two of us.

Vincent let out a sigh and rolled his eyes as he walked ahead of us, keeping the car keys in his pocket. Arthur and I followed, and he didn't speak a word. He is, just like before, not a romantic person, but I get the vibe that this conversation wouldn't be about us.

Arthur and I sat next to each other, with Vincent seating across us. I can't help but feel the awkwardness, but I suppose I'll need to tolerate this for the next hour or so. He asked for the menu, and he chose the meal good for three that includes buttered chicken, tempura, fried rice, salad. He also picked a slice of blueberry cheesecake for each of us. I get the feeling that he planned all these even before coming here, because he didn't even take him a minute to browse the menu. When he finally made the order, Vincent broke the ice.

He leaned back to his seat and crossed his arms, his eyes fixed on Arthur's. "So, what now? What's running in your mind? What's the important thing that you want to talk about? It smells fishy because you were rushing earlier."

"I wanted to buy something for Meg at first, so I was rushing. I bought something for her back in Canada, but I couldn't find it earlier when I looked at my baggage. I must've misplaced it. I planned this dinner, but having an accident isn't a part of it." Arthur explained.

"Since when did you reserve this place?" Vincent asked.

"I know the manager here, so I messaged her online a week ago. I'll go straight to the point. This dinner is meant for our family issues to be discussed, as well as the relationship between the three of us."

"Let's go for the relationship between the three of us. What is unclear here? You have her, I'm on my own. Is there something else to discuss that matter?" Vincent is getting carried away by his annoyance, and now I'm seeing the Vincent that I used to know – he's far from the Vincent that I met the last time we saw each other, the Vincent that I talked to at the school's rooftop.

"I'd like to set that aside. For now, I want us to talk about our brother and everything in between – Kuya Victor."

The emotions from Vincent's face faded. Arthur lowered his voice so that nobody can hear about the conversation because it's confidential. Knowing that we're talking about a murder here, every word can make the situation critical.

"Father finally told me everything that the entire family knows. I made my research and my father told me that the things that I found out were true. Vincent, I know that you're already aware of everything, and yet, I was the only one who was left clueless. You people hid everything from me, and the thing I don't understand is why." Arthur paused and took a glass of water to drink.

"What do you know?"

"Everything. It means the things that mom told you. Dad told me about who Victor is. Who he is, how he became a part of our lives, the reasons why they kept him from us, and even the reason why he needed to be disposed of."

"Isn't the word 'disposed' kind of harsh?" I asked, but Arthur didn't bother to look at me.

"He was used as payment back then. Isn't that close to disposing? They had a son. They paid the criminals with their son. What word do you expect me to say? At first, I hated the idea of having an older brother because I found him suspicious, but after knowing his story, I felt pity, than hatred."

"Who would've thought that you have a heart?" Vincent mocked, as if amused with Arthur's confession, and yet, Arthur didn't give the slightest hint of him being pissed by his brother.

"Before we left the country, I hired a private investigator to research who he is since I couldn't research on my own. The investigator found it hard to research about him because there's a piece of the limited information that can be found related to him, so I had to hire a hacker as well. The private investigator tracked his government IDs, and his name doesn't exist. Therefore, even his driver's license was faked. So even before, he was called Mort Lancelot Real but his name wasn't registered in the government records. What he found was the birth record of Victor Castillo, with our parents written as his parents. On the other hand, the hacker was the one who researched about the family that he was from, what they do, the people related to them – all of it. The only thing that they couldn't find was the evidence that he's been murdering people. He was too good at cleaning his tracks. The people who raised him are easily tracked, but the details about his businesses … they're all zero. It gave me the idea that he's only accepting all transactions via cash because bank records can be used too, although I don't know much about how that works."

"You hired a private investigator and a hacker? Dude, I can't believe you'll do all these things. I knew that it's possible for you to do some research, but to reach the point where you'll hire such people? I wasn't expecting that," Vincent's expression softened after questioning Arthur. "You said you feel bad about him, and you no longer hate him. What made you feel that? Also, don't you think that hiring a hacker is too much?"

"Does that make me different from our corrupt parents? Didn't they do illegal things too for them to climb to the top? The things that I made were hardly 1% of what they did," Arthur shrugged. "I reflected about what he's gone through. My conclusion is, he abandoned all the things that can distinguish him. His goal is for his existence not to be known. When I asked dad, he was also fooled that his name was Lancelot. It was Victor all along, it was the one registered in the National Statistics Office. Yet, this fact was hidden from him, too. He was raised to kill, without knowing that he was being fooled by them."

"In that case, how did he go to school if he's not using Lancelot as his name?" I asked, getting more curious as Arthur explains everything.

"I wasn't able to trace that far. I'm certain that by this day, he already knows about everything about him since the people who raised him are in jail now."

Meanwhile, the restaurant staff started serving our food, and the three of us took portions of what we can eat in our plates. These are some of my favorites – the buttered chicken smells so good, so does the tempura. I wish I can eat without guarding myself, but I have to maintain my diet. The food gave me relief after discussing a serious topic, and the only thing that I can feel right now is bliss. It's not like I can eat food this good every day.

"Going back," Arthur began. "I already knew about our father's involvement in how the mayor and he kept on winning the elections. You've probably noticed the political dynasty. The mayor would always be a Mortalla, and the vice mayor would be a Castillo. When I dug through this, our grandfather was one of the past mayors, and the father of the current mayor was also in the position. They're working together, and I don't even have the stomach to discuss further."

"They had people killed, and other dirty businesses, yes. I don't have the slightest interest in politics, so I wouldn't choose to inherit that kind of blood. I'd rather be successful in life with my hard work. I may be a jerk, but I know the limits." Vincent concluded.

"Look who's admitting that he's a jerk," Arthur chuckled. "I'd say something similar. I don't want to be like the rest of them either. I do admit, however, that the way how I researched isn't proper."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm a jerk, yes. Are you happy now? Even your girlfriend knows that. Still, you hired a private investigator and hacker … yes, those are something. Where did you get the money?"

The way the twins talk makes me feel like I'm not supposed to be here, especially because the information that they're exchanging is confidential family issues. Why did Arthur bring me here, anyway?

"Don't we have all the wealth ever since we were born?" Arthur smiled, and yet, sadness can be seen in his eyes. "All from corruption. How shameful. You can say that I did all of those because I know that you people are hiding something from me. I wouldn't reach that far if you told me sooner. I'm impressed with how they managed to track everything, though. I was more than satisfied, it was worth the price."

"So, what are the two of you planning to do then regarding the secrets of your family?" I asked, finally finding the right moment to.

"I want to have a clean family reputation, but you can't just give away all these data. The family's gonna be a wreck. I should at least have a plan B in case all these are revealed to the public."

Vincent sighed. "The two of us aren't likely to be in jail, because we're not directly involved here since we're only knowing all of these things right now. I believe we discussed enough this."

"I believe so, too." Arthur nodded as he took a bite of the cut buttered chicken. "Sorry if you had to hear all of these, Meg. You must be disappointed with our family's reputation. I just thought that you should know about this, too. I don't see ignorance as bliss. The more you know, the better."

"You want to marry her, right? That's why you want her to know about our family's darkest secrets." Vincent flashed an expression that I couldn't read – I wish I know what he's thinking at the moment, but whatever that is, it's embarrassing, and I'm out of words.

"You can think whatever you want. Shall we talk about the three of us?" Arthur suggested while taking another piece of the tempura into his plate.

"What about it?" I asked, and the longer it takes him to speak, the better I feel.

"Let me say it. You guys can date. Sure, I'm a bit jealous, but I don't want to dwell on these feelings any longer. I'm going to move on eventually, just give me time. After all, I can already see that Arthur's serious about the relationship," Vincent retorted before Arthur says anything else.

"I want to be fair here. It'll be fine for me to see the two of you talk, I'm sorry if I warned you last time that you shouldn't get closer to her. As long as you have good intentions, I won't mind the two of you talking. After all, we're going to be in one family later on. So we should learn to love, accept, and respect our differences."