The Letter of Evelyn - #9

 

Evelyn for a while could not speak. She was shocked, she could not believe that Nelson was dead. Her body trembled, and her tears rolled down her cheek. And as the reality came through in her, it felts like she was hit by a thousand volts of electricity from the many lightning that struct her.

“Oh, my God! My God!” and Evelyn wept. Teresa came to her daughter and hugged her.

“I am sorry, Evelyn, I am sorry.” Teresa said to her daughter.

“Mama, I could not understand it. Why? What happened?”

“A robbery gone wrong.” Teresa answered.

Precisely on the day that I am discharged from the clinic, I learned that Nelson was dead. A robbery gone wrong. I could not understand it, Dr. Edgar Montero. Why? Why must Nelson die when everything for us will be okay already? We made plans; we will have a child again. I will be a good wife to him; I will make him happy, because I learned to love him. He is a good man, why he must die? Why?

It was a robbery gone wrong. Four men that night did home invasion with the help of the security guard that connive with the robbers. The gardener, an old man who worked in the family for many years also dead, when he tried to help Nelson; lucky for the two servants who locked themselves in their room, they survived. The robbers forced Nelson to open the safe that Nelson had in the bedroom. Nelson did what they asked but when there’s no money in the safe as Nelson never kept cash in the house, the rubbers shot him on the head.

You know, Dr. Edgar Montero, I asked GOD why? Why must Nelson die? I thought God hated me that much to punish me like this. I made the sins, not Nelson. Nelson did nothing wrong. He made a mistake, and that mistake was only for him loving me. Because his love to me, he suffered so many pains. I am already changed. I am already ready to pay back to Nelson what I had done to him, but because he was gone I could not anymore. I could not let him feel anymore the love he yearned from me, the affection that now I deeply feel towards him. We were full of dreams together, but he is no more. For the first time in my life, I am afraid about what will happen tomorrow, of the future, and I ask myself, what now Evelyn? What now?

 NELSON had no immediate family. I am married to him, but I never had asked him why he was alone, why he had no family, in one word, Dr. Edgar Montero, I knew nothing about my husband.

My parents and me, managed the funeral of Nelson. Many people attended the funeral, even the mayor of our town, because Nelson was known in our place as a philanthropist. He has dignitaries’ friends and acquaintances. I am mourning and so the whole town.

There were some people who raised their eyebrows seeing me in black and mourning. They found me a hypocrite especially those who knew the history of my life with Nelson and with Roy. My mourning, for these people was only a pretend.

Nelson was buried near the grave of our son, Sonny. Every day I come to their grave, lamenting, crying, asking forgiveness, my mother and my father did not like it. They thought I was losing my mind as I kept talking to dead people.

After one month, the lawyer of Nelson came to the house of my parents. He said, he wants an appointment to talk about the testament of Nelson. In the appointment the lawyer of Nelson from the USA will also come.

The day of the appointment, Evelyn was with her parents. Sitting on the long table were three lawyers from the USA with their respective secretaries. Nelson’s lawyer in the Philippines have two more Filipino lawyers on his side and a secretary.

The lawyers from the USA outlined to Evelyn with all the supporting papers, all the properties of Nelson in Amerika, his businesses, and his investment in stocks. Nelson was rich, extremely rich. Also, in the Philippines he owned many properties and investments. Nelson was becoming rich everyday while sleeping.

The lawyers in the Philippines also outlined all the wealth of Nelson in the Philippines and read the testaments that Nelson had drawn up one week before he died.

According to the testaments, Evelyn will be the sole heir of all wealth in the Philippines and in the USA. Nelson has no known family.

It did not register with Evelyn all that was discussed in that meeting, she pushed all the papers to her father and Carlos was the one who will read and scrutinized. What Evelyn was thinking was that she was rich, extremely rich.

Suddenly, I became extremely rich. I must be happy but to tell you the truth Dr. Edgar Montero, I am not happy. Before, when I learned that my father was bankrupt and that we were poor, seemed it was the end of the world. I was born with a golden spoon so to speak and suddenly there’s nothing anymore.

I became angry to my parents; I blamed them, but you know, that time, I learned something about what is real life. I began to understand the pains but when came the money of Nelson; I forgot it all, and returned to what I am; a selfish, narcissist and no empathy person.

Now, I will be swimming with money again. What will I do with all the money I inherit? I will not spend it to meth because I had promised to myself, to my parents, to Nelson, that whatever, I will never touched the poison; besides, I can buy a truck load of Meth, and I guess, the amount would not even shake the one percent of the total amount of wealth I inherited.

I am afraid, Dr. Edgar Montero, afraid what this wealth could bring to me. I could not understand how a person could acquire such huge wealth. Now I understand a bit about Nelson, he had focused his life in acquiring his wealth forgetting his own personal happiness. For the last moment, Nelson tried to reach the happiness he had discarded but Nelson made a mistake to choose me because I destroyed it for him.

Nelson was also a mystery to me. How come he had no family? He must also have a mother and a father at least. Where were they?

Also, about the twenty-five million pesos Nelson gave to my father, Nelson said to me that I am rich because of that twenty-five million pesos, what does Nelson meant by that?

“The lawyers are waiting for your decision.” Carlos reminded Evelyn about the matters with the lawyers concerning Nelson’s wealth but now would be Evelyn’s wealth.

“Papa, I give you the authority. You decide.”

“Evelyn, they wanted to know what you will do, will you change everything, or all must be the same construction of management as of Nelson?”

“Let it be the same, Papa. I know nothing about business.” Evelyn said to her father.

“Okay, I had read and studied well all the papers. The papers are all okay. You must realize that there are many people working in the company of Nelson. If there will be no changes, then nobody loses job.”

“Papa be my personal manager. I understand there are people who managed the company of Nelson, and I think they are doing good. But as I said I know nothing about business and honestly, I am not interested. Do what you think is good, Papa.”

“Okay.”

I gave my father the authority to manage all the businesses and properties of Nelson. I said to my father; I am not interested of the wealth of Nelson. It is enough for me to have an allowance, just enough so that I could not do rare things that will bring me again to the lowest level of life.

Boredom and depression; grieve and regrets, I do not know anymore what I will do of my life. Sometimes, I thought to finish my worthless life, but I am also a coward to commit suicide, then I received a telephone call from Adora. Adora is a daughter of a congressman. I get to know Adora in the rehabilitation clinic. Her family lived in the big city of Manila and Adora like me was also addicted with the drugs Meth. It was also her boyfriend that brought the Meth to her life. We have about the same story how we got Meth into our lives. Her parents chosen the rehabilitation in our town to avoid scandal. Adora told her that all acquaintances and friends thought that she was only on vacation in America.

 “Evelyn, remember me? Adora!” the voice that Evelyn heard at the other end of the line was overly excited and happy. ****to be continued****