Rebirth of a Rose

81. I Lied

Dong Fu observed that Jia was refusing to repeat her words. He sighed, "The ones with whom you spoke earlier, were not me. What's so bad about repeating the story?" Dong Fu's question was left unanswered by her.

She lowered her head with shame, or maybe she was just enjoying her own space. Dong Fu continued, "He loved you even when the blood ran through his veins was different from yours. Do your actions make you feel guilty?"

Jia looked up, staring at other's blue eyes with arrogance, "I don't feel guilty, it was his job to look after us. My parents raised him, fed him, educated him."

Dong Fu answered calmly, "Of course, and he never backed away from his responsibilities. He sent money to the family, even during the darkest times of his life."

Jia laughed, "The money he sent? It was peanuts to what we needed. Did he ever know that my father was sick?"

Dong Fu's eyes widened with surprise, that was something he didn't know. "Go on, this might be your last chance to pour all the hatred out."

Jia chuckled as tears flowed down her eyes, "Why someone as poor as my parents would want to adopt a nobody? My father was suffering from skin cancer, him being away was only an excuse. His health condition was bad, the only way for him to stay alive was to have constant medical supervision. We didn't want Fu to find out about it, so my mother lied saying that he worked in another city. There were things we didn't want him to know. Also, my father living separately was to keep the infection away from us. He would visit once in a year when his health condition was better."

"The only reason my parents looked after that wild child was because someone asked them to. They received money every month to look after him. Though it wasn't much, the remainder after settling for his food and clothing expenses, was enough to pay for dad's medical bills."

Dong Fu blocked his emotions, his heart was thumping aloud, wanting to inquire further. But being desperate, wouldn't get him anywhere, "That still didn't give you right to kill him."

Jia shrugged her shoulders, "Not like we cared for him, he was just another paycheck. Even though he earned millions, he sent a little portion of it to my mom. Yes, he bought me things that I asked for. Branded shoes, cars, makeup, clothes, but it wasn't enough. We didn't have a liquid cash deposit, we couldn't spend as we wanted. We knew that the paycheck would stop eventually. He would have gotten married and have his own family. With the money gone, so would have been our comfortable lives."

"That was the reason to murder him? Because you thought he would abandon your family?" Dong Fu was deeply hurt. He had never thought of them as strangers. He sent more than enough for them to live in luxury. The people whom he cared for treated him like a monthly salary. His worth was so low in the eyes of these people, that it all came down to few currency notes.

Jia wiped her tears, "He valued others more than us." She laughed mockingly, "You should have seen the villa he gifted to his manager Sam." She chuckled making a face. "Fu came to me one day, saying that he has prepared a huge surprise for my birthday that year. I was very excited and asked his secretary what he was up to. She informed me that he was busy building a villa. I asked her to take me to the site, and oh god it was so amazing. Later I found out he gifted it to Sam, what I received was a two week vacation trip to the Caribbean Islands with my friends. I was so stupid to think he would gift me anything valuable."