C15 Chapter Fifteen

"This is the happiest day of my entire life and I am so proud to be here with every single one of you." Ethan Milburn spoke to everyone seated at the big dining table. The table was surrounded by members of the Milburn family and close business associates. Just beside Ethan Sat was his younger brother Alvaro Milburn who was born from a different mother, a Spaniard who their father fell in love with while on a business trip in Spain. It was a happy day, a lovely day and a day he had waited to see for a very long time. His son, Mc Ethan finally accepted to meet with him. Two days back, they had done a DNA test which proved that Mc was indeed his offspring and this day, they gathered to celebrate the arrival of Mr Ethan's one and only true son Mc Ethan.

"I lived my entire life knowing that this young man seated here was living a very normal life somewhere. I longed to see how he looked and to see the man he's become, but I never got any of that. Just when I was just about to lose hope, when I accepted that maybe I'm not meant to see him in this lifetime, Arjun Khan brought me the good news that he found my son, and today here he is." He smiled brightly despite the feeling of death that took over his body for so long as a result of cancer.

"I'd like to make a toast. To family!" He raised his glass of wine.

"To family." Everyone else said, raising their glasses.

Mc didn't believe how happy he was, he could've never imagined finding joy in the midst of people he never knew, talked to or bonded with before. But the few previous days he spoke to his father was enough for him to know exactly the kind of man he was, a serious minded business man with a heart to love and care, a careful man who watched his steps in everything he did, and most importantly, he was a man that was ready to be loving father. But so far, Mc was more comfortable with Mr Khan than any other person in the Milburn house, the simple Indian man had already made him feel so at ease with him through his very funny jokes and friendly conversations. It was a whole new experience, a whole new feeling and a whole new lifestyle.

Everyone around the big dining table looked so happy and were blooming with smiles as they raised their glasses to the toast.

"Stop! Everybody stop!" One of the female servants shouted after the toast. "Don't drink the wine!" she added and everyone froze with the glass of wine they were about to drink to the toast.

"What is wrong with her?" Mr. Ethan asked curiously.

"What is it Emily?" Arjun Khan stood up walking closer to her. He knew she had something important to say, he knew Emily to be one of the most hardworking and pure hearted maids in the mansion, so if she behaved like that in front of very important guests on an important occasion, there must be a reason for it.

"Talk to me Emily, is there anything wrong?" He put a hand around her shoulders in the friendly way he always did. He was a nice and easy going man who never let his status get in the way of relating with the lower class.

"You shouldn't drink because..." She choked on her words and she paused to clear her throat."

"Because what?" Khan was still calm and everyone else was quiet. The room was very quiet and they just listened carefully.

"The drinks... The food, they are poisoned!"

"What!" Almost every single person exclaimed.

"She can't be serious. What the hell is wrong with this girl?" John stood up powerfully with anger and no one understood why he was the only one to react like that when everyone else just wanted to hear more from Emily the maid.

"Let her speak. Quiet every one of you. Go on Emily, speak." The head, Mr. Ethan said then coughed a little, "Tell us how you know about this." He added.

"We were getting the food ready but at that time, I was the only one in the kitchen, I was pressed so I went to use the restroom..." She paused, put her head down in fear and Khan could feel her shivering, so he took his arm off her shoulders and assured her, "go on Emily, it's ok."

"I went to use the restroom and just when I was about to come back to the kitchen, I saw the young master in the kitc..." she choked again and now she was crying. She was a young girl exactly 22 years and still in college, she only worked part time at the Milburn house and Ethan was ok with it since he knew it helped her pay her tuition. It was the first time she'd been in that kind of situation and she didn't know how to say such big news to high profile people who sat very calmly just listening to her.

She tried to calm herself and try again.

"When I was out of the restroom, I saw young master and he was pouring something in the food, all the food!"

"What about the drinks? They are sealed, you can't pour anything in the sealed drinks." Alvaro, Ethan's brother asked.

"Needle!" Emily said almost a whisper.

"What did you say?" Ethan was more curious than ever.

"Needle, he injected the poison in the bottles through the soft caps. But not all the wine, he only did it to the ones with a soft cap."

"That is ridiculous!" John Shouted to the discomfort of everyone at the dining table. "You can't possibly believe that I did something like that. This girl is crazy!" He looked around and saw the faces, he could tell that almost everyone believed he was capable of doing something like that, he had given them every reason to believe so because of his behaviour right from childhood and the anger issues he suddenly developed after finding out that Mc was the real son to Ethan Milburn, the man who raised him.

"Wait, dad you can't... You don't believe I did that do you? Please tell me you don't believe this girl, she's a liar, she is a big liar!" He turned to his father for support and to seek words of trust from him.

"I don't know what to believe, John." Ethan answered softly then reached for a menthol lozenge in the pockets of his trousers.

"This girl is lying to all of you. Someone must have paid her to do this. She wants to ruin me and she wants to ruin this entire family. She is paid to do this!"

Mc turned to look at Emily, he knew not to judge a book by its cover but by her looks, she was calm, innocent and wasn't close to seem like someone who would think of such evil. But he kept his mouth shut, this was his first time dining with the family and he believed he shouldn't speak or let his feelings known about the issue. But deep down, he already knew the kind of evil that John was capable of, he'd already gone through hell trying to fight John's evil plans on him.

"Listen to me everyone!" Ethan screamed and the room went quiet. He coughed so hard after screaming that loud, it was bad for his health and he knew he was only struggling to stay alive as the cancer kept eating him up every second that passed. "Emily, your accusations carry a lot of weight. Do you have any evidence?" Ethan asked, coughing again.

"Yes sir I do have evidence." The pretty young girl walked straight to Mr. Ethan while scrolling through her smartphone. She stood beside him and played a video on her phone then gave it to him. The head of the house was shocked to see his adopted son, John Milburn stealthily walking into the kitchen to mix a dangerous substance in the food that was being prepared for the happy occasion. Emily was a smart girl and already knew that she would have to provide evidence for such a big crime, so she recorded every single thing that John did, and there it was, playing right in front of his father.

"Oh my days!" Alvaro exclaimed. "You must be the devil himself from the pit of hell!" He added before rushing to the other side of the table to turn John's face the other way with a very dirty slap!

"How could you do this John? After everything I've done for you?" Ethan had never been that disappointed.

"You want to eliminate your entire family? You want everyone on this table to meet their graves? You dirty pig!" Alvaro emptied his bucket of anger all on John and then gave him another slap on his cheek!

Mc had not said a single word. All he did was listen.

"You have gone against everything this family stands for. I've always known that my days to leave this earth are close. I am happy to finally meet Mc Milburn, my real Son. Sure, It is going to be one of the last things I do before dying. But disowning you will surely be one of them too!"

"Oh my God! Dad?" John fell on his knees begging. "Please father, I am sorry for my horrible mistake. I don't know what came over me. I honestly regret everything I did." He walked on his knees to where his father sat. “Please dad, I know I'm not worthy of a place in your heart, but I plead for your forgiveness.”

"Just look at the devil pleading for mercy. One more opportunity and he'll try his evil again, and this time, he'll make sure he wipes us all." Alvaro said before he walked towards Emily and he looked her right in the eyes, "tell you what little cook, you just saved this entire family and I owe you. Always remember that." He walked out of the dining room with so much rage you could feel it in how hard his shoes matched the tiles.

John only cared about his father's properties and he got so crazy about the fear and his jealousy of losing it to Mc, and that jealousy already started to cost him a lot.

"I say this in front of every single one of you in this room. I will be taking legal processes of disinheritance. John will not inherit a single property from me. Call the cops, he needs to be taken away right now for attempted murder. And from this day onwards, I will never look at you the same way ever again, until I take my last breath." Ethan Milburn concluded.