You are his father

At ten o'clock the next day, Ms. Coral walked through the front door of the hospital with Ethan by her side, his expression deadpan and stiff, and yet, a sense of fear of what meeting this somewhat stranger would make him feel.

They approached the front desk and then Ms. Coral smiled at the lady at the desk, saying, “I was here yesterday morning and this is my son, and we are here to see-”

“Right! Yes! Please, ma’am, follow me this way.” The nurse behind the desk spoke as she stood up from her seat and gestured to the right corridor before leading the way.

Hesitantly, Ethan followed behind the two ladies quietly, wondering what his father looked like because his mother confessed to him when he was old enough to understand that she burned all of all of his father pictures when she received the divorce paper from his father's lawyer, changed his and her last name to her father last name, and decided to do nothing with his father or memories of him.

Because of how in tears she was and the pain in her eyes, Ethan never asked any further questions about his father, not his name, how his face looked, or why his father left, just knowing that he abandoned them, and that was enough to hate him for all his days.

Finally, the nurse stopped at a room in the private ward, and she knocked before entering along with Ms. Coral, and then the door shut in Ethan's face.

Clutching his fists, Ethan took deep breaths and reminded himself that it was okay. He was doing this for his mom.

Then he grabbed the door handle, turned it, and walked inside, immediately halting in his steps as his eyes widened and his heart stopped for a second.

“Ethan, meet your father.” Ms. Coral said with a small smile, pointing to a handsome silver fox, who was staring at Ethan from across the room.

For a while, Ethan couldn't speak and only stared at his dad, unable to believe that the man in front of him was his actual deadbeat father.

“You are Ethan, Ethan ... my boy?” The older gentleman's voice echoed in Ethan's ear.

But he didn't answer and turned on his heel, walking out of the room, ignoring his mother's cries, “Ethan, wait, please!”

His pace increased as he heard her rushing after him, and when he was halfway through the hallway, Ms. Coral suddenly grabbed his arm and cried out, “Son, please, talk to me! What's going on? Do you know him?” 

Frowning slightly, Ethan looked away from his mother, answering, “Yes... and I have been living under his roof for three years now, mother.” 

“Oh, my God! No! Ethan, You never… You don't talk to me…” Ms. Coral choked out.

“That man in there is my boss, mother. And for three years, I have seen how he loved his wife, cherished his other children, treated the six of them like treasures, and gave them everything that they wanted. But what about me? What about his first son? Am I so fucking irrelevant that he had to be dying to think about me!”

“Honey, you are not irrelevant-”

“He can die, and I wouldn't give a shit!!”

Before Ms. Coral could say anything else, Ethan walked off, leaving his mother crying and confused and hurt in the empty hallway.

After a brief while, Ms. Coral pulled herself together and bashed into Mr. Rider's room.

After she shut the door, Mr. Rider scowled and asked in a cold tone, “Are you going to talk to your son or not?” 

“ That's it?! That's all you have to say… You are unbelievable, Harrison.” Ms. Coral let out with trembling lips as she shook her head.

When she turned on her heel to leave, his serious tone made her halt in her steps, “Him doing this for me will give him a better future.”

“You are his father... He doesn't need to go through surgery to save your life before you can see that...” Ms. Coral replied in a strong tone.

As Mr. Rider watched her reach for the doorknob, his face hardened, and he lashed out, “Five million dollars is at stake here for him, Coral. Talk some sense into your boy!” 

When she opened the door, she froze as she saw Ethan standing there, and silently, she stepped outside, shut the door, and then stretched her hand out to her son before hesitating to touch him.

But Ethan suddenly grabbed her, pulled her into his arms, and hugged her tightly, kissing the top of her head as he thought, ‘Five million... Nah, after twenty-nine years, I think I am worth and deserve more than that from that deadbeat, plus a payback toward all of them.’

When Ms. Coral withdrew from her son's arm, she looked into his eyes and saw in him nothing, no emotions, and just emptiness, and that broke her heart to see him so unreadable and detached.

“I’m sorry, Ethan.” She whispered inaudibly.

A faint smile appeared on his lips for a second and then it disappeared as he walked past his mother, leaving her confused, and she immediately turned to see him pushing the door open.

“Ethan,” Ms. Coral whispered before the door could close behind him.

When Ethan's eyes locked with Mr. Rider’s, he asked coldly, “What do you want from me?” 

“Ethan,” Mr. Rider scowled.

“It’s been twenty-nine years since you left. So forgive me if my tone is not that welcoming and I don't want my time wasted with useless words, so go straight to the point, please.” 

A slight frown appeared on Mr. Rider’s face, and then he said, “You are right. Abandoning you was-”

“My kidney, my blood... What is it?” 

Silence filled the space between them for several seconds until Mr. Rider finally spoke. “...Your bone marrow if it is a match... I have this sickness called ‘Severe aplastic anaemia,’ and it's a rare condition in which the body stops producing enough new blood cells, so...”

“You need me to go through surgery for you?” Ethan calmly interrupted.

Looking at Ethan's dark eyes for several moments, Mr. Rider said, “Yes, I guess I do if you are a match, but it's not free. I am willing to pay you five million to go through with the surgery.”

Hearing his father say those words to his face after years of neglect and giving him abandonment issues made him mad, but he still nodded, giving Mr. Rider his answer, “Fine.”

“So you are willing to accept my offer?” Mr. Rider asked, a smile appearing on his lips.

“No, I agreed to get tested to see if my bone marrow is the perfect match for you, and if it is, we can then discuss my offer.”

“Fine, you-”

“When can I do the test?” 

Annoyed by his son’s attitude, Mr. Rider cleared his throat, taking a moment to  calm himself before responding, “We can do it now if you are okay with that.”

“I am,” Ethan replied.

Since he didn’t need to kiss his son to get him to agree to the surgery, Mr. Rider realized that he had nothing else he cared to talk about with his son so he gave a slight cough and said, “I will call the doctor then.”

A moment later, Ms. Coral sat in the hallway, wanting to give her son some privacy with his father and yet, scared that the room was quiet, way too quiet than she thought it was going to be.

Subconsciously, she looked to her right and saw the doctor walking down the corridor toward her, and immediately she stood up and quickly followed him inside.

Walking over to her son, Ms. Coral tapped his arm and asked, “What’s going on, son?”

“Ethan has agreed to do the test and see if his bone marrow matched mine.” Mr. Rider said.

The doctor looked over at Ethan with this friendly expression and asked, “So you are willing to give your bone marrow to Mr. Rider?”

“No,” Ethan replied bluntly.

A tense silence hung in the air for several minutes, and while it felt awkward for the doctor, he smiled in the tension and said, “I don't follow,”

“I agree to be tested to see if I am a match, and that's all I agreed to,” Ethan repeated, glaring at his father.

Mr. Rider looked taken aback by his son's words, but he shook it off and simply said, “Of course, Ethan, whatever you want.”

Not understanding the conversation, Ms. Coral frowned at Mr. Rider and then looked up at her son with a comforting smile.

“Okay then. Let's get you tested...” The doctor said.

Later on that day, The room was quiet as Ethan sat by his mother, and Mr. Rider watched him anxiously, knowing that he had tested a couple of people and none of them was a match... He needed Ethan's test to come out with a positive result because time was running out for him more quickly than he thought it would.

When the sound of the door finally opening broke the atmosphere, everyone turned their heads to see who had entered.

The moment the doctor walked into the room, he read the atmosphere and knew not to beat around the bush, saying, “We have a match. Ethan's bone marrow is perfect to be used for the surgery. He is what you need.”

A sigh of relief escaped Mr. Rider's lip, closing his eyes, muttering, “That Is good.”

“Well, we just need Mr. Harwe's consent so we can go through with the procedure and get the surgery done.” The doctor said.

“Well, son,” Mr. Rider began with a small chuckle, turning his head to look at him, “How much will it cost?”

“I am glad you called me ‘son’ because my price is, I want the title of your first son and child, your last name, and my rightful place within the Rider mansion. I want my full birthright as your son and to benefit off you as your five children do.” 

The room became dead silent after Ethan's words as his father stared at him with a blank look on his face, unable to believe what he had heard. 

“Don’t try to bite more than you can chew, son. Take the five million, and you and your mother can start somewhere fresh.” Mr. Rider finally said after clearing his throat a few times.

Nodding silently, Ethan got up from the chair and  stared his father directly in the eye with a cocky smile that showed he wasn’t intimidated by the old man’s words and calmly said, "I wish you the best of luck."

Then he looked down at Ms. Coral, making her concerned by the relaxed expression on his face, and uttered, "Let's go, Mom."

"Huh?... Okay..." Ms. Coral stuttered, waking from her seat.

Silently, Mr. Rider watched Ethan take five steps, and then he shouted, infuriated within, yet desperate, "Wait, son!"

Stopping in his step, the corner of Ethan's lips raised slightly before he could turn on his heels and face his father, saying, "Yes?"

"Seven Million," Mr. Rider replied, swallowing nervously and trying to keep his emotions at bay. "My last offer," 

"I see," Ethan mumbled, not a single sign of care in his expression. "Well, that's good for you then... I am out."

Anger surged through Mr. Rider as he watched his son turn his back on him for the second time and he shouted, "Do you know what this will do to me, bringing a bastard into my marital home?!"

"A bastard," Ethan laughed as he turned to stare at his father with this amused look on his face. "Wow! I knew that was coming, after all, you have been my boss for three years, but honestly, I wasn't really for it."

"Ethan,"

"Get a lawyer to make my demands official, or you can find yourself a new bone marrow donor. That's my final offer."

The doctor and Ms. Coral looked uneasy at the sudden tension  between them as Mr. Rider glared at his son and exclaimed, "You have been in that household for three years, and you know what it's like, so why would you want to get mixed up in that?!" 

Snorting, Ethan let out, "You are not denying me what I want because you care about me-”

"You are right. I don't want you because where I am now in life, you don't have the qualification to stand by my side as one of my sons. You can't live up to it, and not to talk about the scandals and rumors that me accepting you is going to cost my family." Mr. Rider let out.

"You selfish bastard," Ms. Coral whispered beneath her breath, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

“Well, everyone has freedom of choice and if that’s yours, I can’t beg you to change it, but my mind is made up.” Ethan casually said. 

When Mr. Rider met Ethan’s eyes, he could see it in his son's stare that this was it… he was not going to get that bone marrow without accepting his demands... he knew that Ethan wouldn’t budge until they reached that point… and it didn’t take long for him to realize he already lost any chance he had of winning. 

With a defeated sigh, he looked away from his son in disappointment and half-heartedly let out, “Fine... I will get my lawyer-”

“Good. I will come with mine too tomorrow. You know, just so I don't get screwed up in the deal.” Ethan replied, cutting him off. “See you tomorrow then, father.” 

When her son turned to leave, a sense of panic hit Ms. Coral hard when she saw the resentment that clouded Mr. Rider's expression like he dread the idea of accepting Ethan, and she knew her son was not going to get his father's favor and acceptance easily, which meant his life was about to take a difficult path from then on.

‘Ethan, son, why would you want such fate for yourself, huh?’ Ms. Coral cried in her head as she walked after her son, staring at his back.