Romancing A Banking Magnate (Full English Version)

Chapter 3

Katrina heaved a sigh as she looked at her father's face. The corners of her eyes moistened in distress as she took another deep, long breath. Her heart wanted to break at the sight. Her father's life was sustained by advanced medical apparatus, and he was breathing through the aid of oxygen.

He was currently in a coma. The doctor didn't give her assurance if his father would still recover or not, and she was dead worried.

Oh, God! The thought that her father's life was floating in limbo made her shoulders shook unabashedly. Melancholic sobs vibrated in her throat, until she couldn't contain them anymore. She broke in tears, her heart was breaking apart as she covered her mouth.

What was happening to her family? First, it was her mom. Now, it was her father.

They had just emotionally commemorated the second death anniversary of her mother. And now this, her father, too, was in the brink of death.

God, she really couldn't bear it if her father would leave them as well. Knock on wood, but, God, please, don't! She couldn't bear that.

What would happen to her and Brenda if ever? Her younger sister was still schooling, just like her. Brenda was taking up Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management in the Ateneo de Davao University (ADDU). She was still in her second year in college. And she, too, was studying in ADDU as a law student. She still had more than a year to painstakingly burn her brows before she could be a lawyer.

Surely, they need their father. They already lost their mother, and losing another parent would be a big blow that they couldn't handle. Her family would surely crumple and scatter to pieces.

She sobbed harder. Her shoulders shook as emotions washed through her, as tears streamed down her damp cheeks. It was such an ordeal to sit beside her father, and to see his dire condition. She really couldn't help but be worried of him.

Actually, she wasn't really worried of her and Brenda's future should their father die. She was more worried of his condition, of his situation. She just didn't want their father to leave them yet, and be reunited with their mother in heaven. She loved her father so much, and the thought of losing him was already breaking her heart apart. If she could just do something, she surely wouldn't allow it. She would do her best to keep her father alive. If only the decision was hers to make!

She sighed desperately. She was still distraught when she wiped her tears with her fingers. She couldn't believe that this kind of mess would happen to her father. He suffered from a stroke when he received a letter from the bank, informing him that he only had a month left to pay for his debt, and failure to do so would allow the bank to sequester their farm.

Her father made their twenty hectares of land in Davao City a collateral when he loaned money from the bank. The property was a lush farmland which had been their source of income for a long time. It was teeming with fruit bearing trees such as mango, durian, and mangosteen. A good portion of it was a productive banana plantation.

Ronaldo, her father, inherited the farm from his parents. He was doing well in managing their primary source of livelihood as she grew up. They would always enjoy a bountiful harvest, and their life was pretty good. It was full of happiness and love. But not lately.

Things drastically changed when her mother died in a car accident. Since then, her father became miserable and depressed. She knew why. He blamed himself for the death of his wife.

She actually understood how he felt. It wasn't easy when he was the driver of the ill-fated car that crashed at the back of the bus. Her father survived the accident, but her mother didn't. And it left Ronaldo very devastated.