The Heir - Stay ll

Chapter 20: revelation

ZACHARY

"I'm so hungry" matamlay na saad ni Zyle habang nakasandal sa pader.
Currently, nasa loob kami ngayon ng kulungan. "Not even a bar of signal is here. The voice message wasn't sent."

It only has been two hours but it already feels like forever. We can't just wait here and die. I tried to look around and find an idea, but I couldn't bring myself to think properly.

"You know what Zaczac, why don't we just sing? Baka makuha pa natin yung attention nung isa nating clone."

I ignored him, simply answering as 'you sing by yourself.' And so, Zyle actually started singing.

Our eyes rounded when someone sang along with Zyle. The voice was deeper and honestly sounds better, it couldn't be just an echo. We immediately tried to sneak our eyes outside the bars para hanapin kung sino iyon.

"Hell-loe?" Zyle said.

"Yeah" Someone replied.

"Say 'hi' if you're not a ghost"

"Hi"

Zyle stared at me, wide eyed. "Zac, I think it's a ghost trying to pretend human"

"I am not. Pero pagkatapos na rin ng matagal na panahon, you could say I'm no longer a human"

"Wait, I know that voice!" Zyle's scared face suddenly turned to an excited one. "Damn! Cole Cyrus is that you?!"

Nakarinig kami ng kaluskos mula sa kabilang kulungan papunta sa ilalim. Suddenly, a man appeared right before our eyes.

"Wait, you're not Cole Cyrus..." said Zyle, I was about to speak when he hushed my mouth. "Don't speak, I remember him..." He closed his eyes tightly trying to remember the name. "I knew it starts with J..."

"Zhang Ji." I just said to stop him from the burden of 'knowing the answer but not remembering what' struggle.

"Can I ask how did you suddenly exist here?" Tanong ni Zyle

"Sabi na ngaba eh, anak nga kayong dalawa ng ZuoChen."

"ZuoChen?"

"Zuo Hang, Li Chen. You know?"

"Who's Li Chen?"

"Pangalan ng mama niyo nung nagpapanggap pa siyang lalaki noon. Teka, hindi ba yun kinwento sayo ng magulang nyo?"

"Why would mommy pretend as a male?"

"Ah, ibig sabihin hindi nga kinwento"

Zyle was about to ask him about our parents before when I interrupted him. "Don't shift the topic to us. How did you, Zhang Ji aka Cole Cyrus, became a captive here?"

"Zaczac, It's Tito Zhang Ji. Not just Zhang Ji"

"Fine, Tito Zhang Ji."

"Mahabang istorya kung paano ako napunta rito. It's been fifteen years."

We stared at him with furrowed brows. He doesn't look like he's been captivated here for fifteen years at all. His hair is well cut, not even a spot of mustache in his mouth. He doesn't have a stinking smell too.

The sound of Zyle's noisy stomach echoed in the place. Tito Zhang Ji laughed, his hand pressed a certain block in the wall, and a sound of movements underground was heard. Iyon rin ang narinig namin kanina bago sya lumitaw rito.

An underground path was revealed before us. Zyle was having second thoughts about going through at first, pero nang sabihin ni Tito Ji na may pagkain roon ay siya pa ang naunang tumakbo. Hindi na ako nagulat nang marinig siyang madapa.

Hindi namin napigilang mamangha nang bumungad samin ang isang kwarto underground. It was well organized. A shower, a refrigerator, a double decked bed and more things a home has.

"How-HOW??"

"This is what you call, 'madiskarte." Shu Ji smirked.

"But do they even know you have such things down here?"

"Nope. Si Mitch lang ang nakakaalam. Siya ang tumulong sakin naiset-up ito."

"I knew it, JiMitch is still sailing up until now. Rumours said that the time you disappeared, you lived a happily ever after with Tita."

"That wasn't the situation, actually. Ang totoo nyan, baliktad pa nga."

We remained silent.

"Decades ago nung 'nilusob' namin ang dating teritoryo ng mga Yao. They all died pagkatapos sumabog ng bomba, but one tried to survive."

"Tita Mitch?"

"No. Her grandfather. The boss. Li Fei's greatest rival." He paused and sighed. "Umalis lahat sina Zhixin dahil nabaril ang tatay niyo that time. Ako lang ang natira dahil ayokong iwan si Mitch."-he made a deep sigh.- "At ayun nga, yung masamang damo niyang Lolo na hindi na halos makagalaw ay kinausap ako. Sinabi niya saakin ang mga potion na inembento niya para makapamuhay ng patay."

"No... way.."

"Wala na akong pakialam kung anong imposible nung mga oras na yon. Sinunod ko lang ang sinabi niya and there, nabuhay si Mitch, ang Lolo nya, at pati yung Ding Xian na yon. Maliban na ngalang sa tatay ni Mitch."

"Do you regret doing it?"

"Oo sobra. Pero hindi rin. Hindi ko alam."

"So what happened next?"

"Kinailangan kong umalis at bumalik sa kompanya para magdebut. Nilihim ko lahat ng tungkol sa Yao at wala ni isang pinagsabihan. Pagkatapos ng disbandment, bumalik ako sa bagong teritoryo ng Yao. Nalaman ko nalang na ipinagbubuntis na pala ni Mitch ang anak nila ni Ding Xian.

"Galit na galit ako. Parang mawawala ako sa sarili pagkatapos ng lahat. Ginamit ko iyong potion na ninakaw ko noon, at ginamit para buhayin si Kaycee. Gusto kong magtulungan kaming dalawa na maghiganti sa mga Yao."

Pero hindi pumayag si Kaycee. Dahil sakanya kaya namulat ako sa katotohanan pagkatapos mabaliw sa galit. Nagkaroon kami ng anak."

I started to speak. "From my research, Kaycee and Tito Jiaxin were close back then before she died."

"Oo. Kaya nga tanggap na tanggap ko yung sama ng loob sakin ni Jiaxin nung malaman niya ang nagawa ko.

"Noon ring panahong iyon ay nagtatago ako mula sa mga Yao. Marami na akong nalalamang sikreto na hindi nila gugustuhing maisiwalat ko. Dinala ko ang anak ko sa pinagkakatiwalaang kaibigan para masigurong ligtas siya. Nagrecord ako ng mga kanta na naniniwala akong tatangkilikin ng madla. At ang perang makukuha doon ay para lahat sa kinabukasan niya."

"So you really are her father?!"-gulat na sabi ni Zyle.- "Do you know how she's living right now?"

"Anong ibig mong sabihin?"

"Do you know that up until today, she was still humiliated because of your 'pinagkakatiwalaan' friend's disguise as Cole Cyrus, and now she's selling karnes in the palengke, and-oh yes! I was supposed to help her enter the Entertainment!"

"So you're saying that my daughter is suffering right now?!"

"Well, she once was living in luxury not until people find out that Cole Cyrus is simply lip syncing your voice. By the way, additional fact, I am your daughter's boyfriend and I can say that I have taken care of her very well."

Zyle's words just gave him mixed emotions.

"Anyways, my name is Zachary and his name is Zylester." I introduced. "Now that we told you about your daughter, sabihan mo rin kami tungkol sa Yao, and how were they connected to Harper."

"Sinong Harper?"

"I swear why does these parents right now have no idea what's happening with their children? First Harper, then Mitch for Zeiri, and now Zhang Ji for Ygraine. Whoever's making us face this situations, I will-" I cutted Zyle's words.

"Harper is our brother. Were triplets."
I said. "Nevermind, I will talk to him myself. How do we get out of this prison?"