Chapter Thirty-Six
Damian needed Angela the most at this crucial hour. It would be difficult to cope and go back to normal but he had to.
Damian's dad had sent him a private message on his phone before ending his life. Damian had checked it when he had received a call from Harry while the policemen were investigating. It stated that his father had left Damian his grandfather's huge inheritance and also all of his own savings, his houses, and other properties.
He wrote that Damian should inform everyone of the cause of his death as depression. He should declare that his dad had been depressed ever since Damian's mom left them, but tried hard to face reality. He loved his work as a doctor and when several operations caused the deaths of patients, his license was suspended and he lost his job at the hospital. He was a very good doctor but his excessive drinking was the cause of his downfall and eventual death.
Damian was confused. Was that the actual cause of his dad's death? He showed Angela the last message that his dad wrote to him. Angela thought hard,"I think uncle Ronald didn't want anyone else to know the cause of his suicide, " she said. Damian agreed.
"There's the electronic safe to check also which contains the evidence against the Lockharts. Do you think they have a hand in this? Did they frame uncle Ronald and snatch away his license?" Suggested Angela.
"I don't know Angel. The police have sealed his room before I could extract the safe. It is built into his closet, so maybe the police won't touch it. After the investigation is over, we can go and check. Once I get the evidence, I won't let the Lockharts go. I'll finish them," said Damian with fire in his eyes. Angela supported him, calmed him down, and swore to be with him at every step of his life. Damian calmed down considerably.
After an hour Damian and Angela came down. All four friends hugged together.
"Thanks, guys, it means a lot to me to have each of you here. Can you stay the night please?" Damian pleaded and they all agreed. The whole day they tried to make Damian calm down and behave normally. Harry and Steffi too came to meet them. Adam came over with some of Angela's stuff, clothes, necessities that she would require.
Her dad had been called away to California for a week to help his brother sell the cafe as well as their grandmother's properties and divide the money amongst the grandchildren.
Angela was thankful to Adam for his thoughtfulness. Adam went to work and Alex too dropped by before leaving for his school. Arnold was at home since he had just returned from the hospital after conducting a major surgery. He came over to check up on Damian too.
The investigation was over in a week and the police sealed the case since it was a suicide caused by depression and no one was to blame for it. They sanitized Damian's dad's room and removed the seal. Juliette had gone back to her apartment and Xavion had too but Angela stayed with Damian. Her brothers didn't take it well but given the conditions, they didn't object openly to her.
Xavion came over to Damian's house and they decided to check the electronic safe that Damian's dad had mentioned. They went upstairs to Damian's dad's room.
Damian looked at all his dad's things and a feeling of melancholy and loneliness spread over him. He really didn't want to connect with his mom since she hadn't called him or spoken to him once ever since she had left. If she really loved him, she would have called. She was happy with her own life with a man she loved. Maybe she had forgotten him and he didn't want to disrupt her peace and happiness.
He sighed, he had to do what his dad had asked him to do. Maybe that night his dad had told him about the safe and its password so that he could find the evidence himself after his dad's death.
"Damian, I've found the safe, " said Xavion, and Damian went into the walk-in closet. He went closer to the safe.
"The password is my grandma's date of birth. Her birthday was on the 10th of May. I don't know the year," said Damian, with hopelessness.
"She was 75 years old when she died eight years ago, right?" Asked Angela. Damian nodded and his eyes shone as he calculated the year of her birth.
Damian punched the number 10051937 to open the safe but nothing happened. It didn't unlock. "Try the mm/dd/yy format, " suggested Xavion.
He did the same but nothing. He tried the year first, month, day format, still nothing. He punched in the year, day, month format, and to everyone's relief the safe unlocked. Holding onto their breaths they peered inside as Damian opened the door.
Inside were a lot of property papers, inheritance documents, legal documents. There was a box containing a few pen drives. However what caught Damian's eye was a bright red envelope marked,
Important: For You Damian
Damian took out the envelope and opened it. There was a letter inside addressed to him which he took out and read.
Dear Damian,
Under stressful circumstances, I had to take the decision to end my life. The last few years, I had discovered a huge illegal organ trafficking system going on in the Lockhart group of Hospitals. All the evidence is contained in the pen drives kept in a box in this safe. I had to be very careful and discreetly do this investigation, so I had been away from home for many days. I was under 24 hours of surveillance by the Lockharts. I tried to look too inebriated and wasted so that they wouldn't be suspicious.
Damian, I don't want you to fall into any sort of trouble. You're the only treasure I have. I want you to grow up and find true love and live a fulfilling and happy life unlike me. Don't once think I didn't love you. Believe me, I did. I loved you too much. Once the Lockharts would have realized that I had accumulated evidence against them, they would have finished me as well as you. I had to save you. My life is already finished. I had found love and lost it but you, my son should fight for your love and win the battle.
The Lockharts were suspicious on the day before your birthday and snatched my license away and terminated my job at their hospital. They also had framed me with false allegations that I was the cause of the death of several of their patients due to my drunken negligence. But believe me, I have evidence that the patients died as their organs were extracted illegally.
Read very carefully Damian and do only what I instruct you to do. Our house as well as you and Angela are being stalked 24/7. Do not go to the police or do anything foolish.
Just call Harry and Steffi and give them all the evidence. Tell them to fly to Colorado to Steffi's dad and hand over the evidence to him. He has collected more evidence from ex-employees and they're all planning to go to the Interpol.
The inheritance papers are all there. I didn't get much time to go into the legal proceedings for a transfer. I'm sure you are smart enough to hire a lawyer and sort it all out.
Last, but not least, take care of Angela. Protect her with your last breath as she's the only family you have left after me. (I can't consider your biological mom as a family since she has never bothered to answer my calls or called to ask about you after she had left.
God bless you, Damian, I will always be looking after you from above as your guiding angel. If you miss me look up in the sky, you'll see the brightest star. That would be me, my son, smiling down at you.
Love dad.
Damian sat like a statue after reading the note. He handed it over to Xavion and Angela. They read it and sat like statues too. They were too confused and overwhelmed to discuss anything else.
After a long silence, Xavion sighed and asked, "Should I call Harry and Steffi?"
Damian nodded silently. Xavion summoned them, asking them to bring a backpack with them. Angela hugged Damian, pulling his face onto her shoulders and holding him tightly. "Why did dad mention you as my family, Angel?" He asked in confusion. How could Angela be his family yet? Did his dad know that he loved her and wanted to marry her? If not what did he actually mean?
Angela shook her head. "I don't know Damian," she said with a sigh.
Harry and Steffi came in after fifteen minutes. They showed them the letter Damian's dad left for him. They sorted out the documents and evidence and Harry stuffed it into the backpack that he brought with him. They booked their flight to Colorado and left Damian's house with a promise to update them about the latest developments.
Damian sighed in relief. At least he had been able to do what his dad had asked him to do. He hoped that soon his dad's name could be cleared and he could retrieve his dad's license back. As for Caitlyn, he would deal with her once all this was sorted out.