Chapter 11: The Confession

"Dad!!! Seriously!!! I thought your doctor said that your health condition had worsened, so how come you are at home looking healthy as usual?" Sarah asked her uncle, who was in the sitting watching the news being displayed on the television.

Actually, Sarah had received a call from her uncle a week after returning to England. He was requesting for her to return to New York City because he had something very important he wanted to discuss with her, but this time around, Sarah didn't even think twice before refusing. She had many things to take care of in England and wasn't going to allow her uncle to make her waste more time in addition to the one she had wasted recently.

Two days after her refusal, she was startled to receive an urgent call from her uncle’s doctor. The doctor informed her that her uncle’s health had significantly worsened, and they urgently needed her presence. The gravity of the situation left her with no time to waste. Without hesitation, she canceled all her meetings and quickly booked the first available flight to New York City, determined to be by her uncle’s side as soon as possible.

When she returned home, she was shocked to find her uncle sitting in the living room, watching the news. She had expected him to still be in the hospital, recovering, but instead, he looked surprisingly healthy. His appearance and demeanor completely contradicted the urgent call she had received, leaving her confused.

"Well, the truth is that I was sick, but I'm fine now" her uncle said to her in reply.

Sarah stood in the doorway, her eyes narrowing as she took in the sight of her uncle sitting comfortably in the living room, looking perfectly healthy. "What do you mean by 'being fine now'?" she asked, her voice laced with confusion. "Your doctor called me just an hour ago, saying your health had worsened and that my presence was urgently needed. So, how come you're sitting here, looking perfectly fine and showing no signs of illness?" She crossed her arms, her inquisitive look never leaving his face.

Her uncle looked at her with a calm expression, as if nothing were amiss. "Just as I said earlier, Sarah, I’m fine now," he replied nonchalantly. "There’s no need to worry about me. I’m in good shape. And why do you sound like you aren’t happy that I’ve recovered?" He leaned back, watching her carefully, as if he trying to read her reaction.

"Of course I'm happy that you have recovered, so do you mind telling me what you suffered from and also the medications prescribed to you by the doctor? Mind you, it must contain Toady's date," Sarah said to her uncle, but he remained silent while looking at her.

"Dad, just admit it already; you weren't sick, or am I lying?" Sarah asked him while frowning angrily.

"Alright, I admit it; I wasn't sick; I only wanted you to come back," Sarah's uncle said to him after some minutes of silence.

"I knew it," Sarah exclaimed while glaring angrily at her uncle.

"Come on, Dad, how could you do such a thing to me? You almost gave me a heart attack for crying out loud," Sarah said to her uncle before walking to the couch and collapsing on it, leaving her luggage behind.

"Well, I wouldn't have put up the act if you had listened to me and come back when I asked you to," Sarah's uncle said to her before calling one of the maids to get her a cup of juice.

"I must admit you got me this time around, but next time you will have to come up with something very appealing before I will accept your return to New York City unless it's for business purposes," Sarah said to her uncle, and at the same time, one of the maids came down and handed Sarah the cup of juice.

"Please take the luggage to her room while going back," Sarah's uncle said to the maid, who nodded in reply before taking the small luggage Sarah had brought with her and walking to the stairs.

Sarah had been in a hurry to go and see her uncle, whom she thought was sick, and due to that, she didn't even settle down to park her belongings; she only took one of the smallest luggage she had and parked things that were important to her inside.

"Now that I'm finally back, can I know the reason why you had to put up with all this in order to make me return?" Sarah asked her uncle, who had his gaze glued to the television.

"Have you seen the news?" Sarah's uncle asked her.

"I don't watch the news; I'm not in my early eighties yet," Sarah said to her uncle before taking out her phone and scrolling through her messages.

"I'm fully aware of that, but I will advise you to watch the news sometimes; it will really do you some good, and it will also help you to be updated with some news like that of the company of your ex-husband being on the edge of bankruptcy after two of his ships sank," Sarah uncle said to her, but she only nodded in reply, causing him to furrow his brows at her.

He was expecting her to be surprised or something like that, not the cold reaction she gave him.

"Let me guess; you are already aware of it, right?" Her uncle asked her.

"Yes, of course, and I must admit that it serves him right; this is just the beginning of his tribulations. Now back to my question: why did you ask me to come back? Don't tell me that it's because of Xavier's company that it's on the brink of bankruptcy," Sarah said to her uncle.

"Actually, it's because of it, and it's also not because of it," Sarah's uncle said to her, and immediately she narrowed her brows at him.

"It's not because of it because I don't care about Xavier's company nor Xavier himself; it's because of it because I just got in touch with one of Xavier's clients who ordered some goods from him but wasn't able to get them because his goods were among the goods that sank in Xavier's ship," Sarah's uncle explained to her.

"And what do you want me to do about that?" Sarah asked him with an inquisitive look.

"I want you to convince him to buy the goods from us. From what I heard, the goods he wants cost millions of dollars, and you know what that means for the company," Sarah's uncle said to her.

"Since you were the one who got his contact, why don't you try convincing him instead?" Sarah asked her uncle.

"I won't do that for two reasons: first, I have handed everything over to you, and second, you said that I shouldn't get myself involved with your revenge mission on Xavier; so are you doing it or not?" He said to her.

"As long as it's something that will pump money into the company and at the same time ruin Xavier, I will do it. By the way, I have a confession to make," she said to him.

"Ok, go on; just like a priest, there's nothing that you will say here that will leave here," he said to her.

"My confession is that I'm the one who sank Xavier's ships," she said to him.

"What!!!" Sarah's uncle exclaimed in surprise.

To be continued...