Marcel heard the full story from Eli. It turned out that Marcel had been found unconscious that morning by the caretaker, and was immediately taken to hospital because there were no signs of life in his veins.
"Everyone is already thinking the worst," Eli said with a tense face, as if the incident had just happened yesterday. "Mr Marcel was completely motionless, pale, with his eyes tightly closed ...."Marcel shuddered, why did his story look more gruesome through other people's eyes?"But thankfully Mr Marcel recovered very quickly," Eli continued with an extremely relieved face. "He can even do his usual activities."Marcel, who had just helped the gardener cut down the reeds, nodded vaguely as he rested for a moment. Eli poured two cups of hot tea for him and the gardener, who was still working."Is Mr Marcel still going strong?" asked Mail, the gardener who had been working with Marcel all morning."Still, Sir!" nodded Marcel with a smile."Don't push it, you've been sick." Mail reminded him. "I'll do the rest.""Thank you, Sir!" said Marcel, finishing his tea and standing up.Once inside the house, he was greeted by Ciko. Shirley's second brother was the one who bothered her the most."A failed suicide attempt, huh?" Ciko scoffed. "Poor thing, that's because your life is still under contract with our family! Unless you pay off your mum and dad's debts, then you'll be free to take your life!"Marcel didn't respond to Ciko's nasty words. Anyone knew that he was indeed a means of redeeming the debt for the losses his parents had incurred against the Delvino family."Marcel, come quickly!" shouted Shirley from the second floor of their room.Marcel immediately ran up the stairs two at a time and quickly arrived in front of Shirley's room."What's with the shouting?" Marcel asked his wife, he was always amazed by Shirley's loud voice that could reach any room in the house."Quickly take my dirty clothes to the back, do you wash them?" Shirley ordered as she thrust a basket of dirty clothes at Marcel. "This is a dress that can be easily damaged by using the washing machine, so you have to wash my clothes with your hands. Remember?"Marcel had no other answer but yes.After that, endless chores were heaped on Marcel by his brothers-in-law, even though there were many servants in the house that they could freely order around.However, they deliberately ordered Marcel to live there as a debt redemption for his parents. So from heavy work to trivial work, they would burden Marcel and consider it as a legitimate debt installment.Yes, Marcel, who did not inherit a penny, was forced to redeem his mother and father's debt using the time and energy he had."I've finished my homework, so I'm going to the lab for a while." Marcel told Eli. "Please tell Nana if she or anyone else asks where I'm going.""Yes, Sir!" nodded Eli. He and the other servants had called Marcel 'sir' in the past, but Ronnie had forbidden them."He's a son-in-law in this house, but a debt-redeeming son-in-law." Ronnie explained to his servants at the time. "So no one calls him 'sir,' remember that!"Marcel personally didn't mind it, he just got sick of people calling him 'sir.'***Arriving at the lab located in the basement of the Delvino residence, Marcel immediately shuffled through the glass cabinets that contained files that had been neglected since his parents' departure.According to the story, it was in the lab that Marcel's father and mother often conducted research on formulas that were predicted to extend human life. However, as their experiments were unsuccessful, the Delvino family withdrew their money and demanded compensation for some of the funds that had been used for the experiments."Your mum and dad left a lot of files there," Herman said once. "You can go through them any time you want."And here Marcel was now, in the middle of a mountain of files, filled with the scribbled hands of his parents.For a few moments, Marcel focused on randomly reading the research journals they had done in the lab. In addition, he also found a will stating that Marcel was entitled to the lab."Aren't they dead yet?" muttered, Marcel while shaking his head. "What kind of inheritance is this?"Of course, Marcel couldn't understand why his parents would leave him a dirty lab and tubes filled with chemicals when he had no idea what they were for.But wait! Marcel's eyes suddenly saw another sentence written clearly by his father. He began to reread the will, sentence by sentence.It turned out that they had not only bequeathed a second-hand lab to Marcel, but also a scientist named Meru and her daughter, Venya."What, continue your parents' research?" Herman frowned as Marcel faced him in the study. "For what?"Marcel thought for a while, he himself did not know the exact reason why he was interested in continuing his parents' research."I thought it couldn't hurt, Dad." Marcel replied. "Because it turns out that my parents also left a scientist and his daughter for ...."Marcel stopped his speech when Herman smiled, as if underestimating his plans."Is the scientist you're referring to, Mr Meru?" guessed Herman.Marcel nodded and said, "Yes, Mr Meru and also his daughter named Venya."Herman was now unabashed in his laughter."What you should know about Mr Meru is that he has been crazy ever since your parents left the lab," Herman said slowly. "So, what do you expect from a mad scientist?"Marcel was silent for a long time, listening to his father-in-law's explanation."Maybe I can ask his daughter for help," Marcel said later. "I'll keep trying, Dad. Who knows, if one or two of my parents' inventions work out, it could at least pay back some of the damage they've caused."Herman took a deep breath."Suit yourself," he said disinterestedly. "But I assure you that I won't give you another penny to fund your research, on the contrary, the loss will be even greater if your research has a bad impact on the neighborhood."Marcel was stunned, he was a business graduate who understood chemical formulas."If you don't dare, don't do it," said Herman. "The risk is high, your whole life may not be enough to pay off all their debts."Marcel sighed, then excused himself from Herman's presence. Honestly, his instincts were disturbed after he read about the inheritance left by his mother's father.To Be Continued-Marcel walked through the yard in the cold night air. He opened the cellar door and climbed down the stairs to enter the lab.The lights were dimly lit when Marcel entered, the stale air piercing his nose and making him hold back the feeling of sneezing.Marcel wasn't surprised that the air in the lab wasn't very good, since no one had cleaned it since it had been abandoned for a while.The first thing Marcel did was to tidy up the lab, as there were a lot of abandoned tables and equipment, even some of the tubes of various sizes were broken due to not being used for a long time."I'm not sure if I can do it," Marcel grunted with a heavy sigh, he cast his eyes around and his mental state dropped even further as he found the deadlock attacking him in all directions.Who was he going to rebuild this lab with? He was a business graduate who had nothing to do with science.Marcel was pensive for a long time after disposing of the broken tubes. The night was so quiet that even the slightes
Marcel frowned as he watched Venya guide Meru towards a glass cabinet filled with small tubes."What have you been doing here?" Venya asked in a soft tone as she looked at Meru. "Do you know what those tubes are for?"Marcel was silent as he observed Meru's sudden silence and inactivity."I ... my daughter used to accompany me!" said Meru while nodding."I am your daughter," Venya said patiently and compassionately. "We used to do research here together, there was Mr Fabi too ....""No! My daughter is still young, she doesn't understand anything yet!" Meru argued.Marcel continued to observe the interaction between Venya and Meru, after all, the two of them were his only hope of extricating himself from his current situation."My father has been like this since Mr Fabi and Mrs Lana left," Venya said slowly. "Maybe with us resuming this research, who knows, my father could recover?"Marcel was silent for a moment."The problem is that we also need a lot of money to continue the researc
That morning, Marcel helped Nana prepare breakfast for the entire Delvino family. Sweat streamed down his forehead and down the back of his neck while Shirley and the others chatted and ate."Mr Marcel, eat in our room first." Nana whispered when she saw Marcel sitting miserably by the operating washing machine."Later, Nana." Marcel replied in a low voice, he glanced at Shirley who was busy eating the crispy chicken thighs that were served. Not to mention the greedy voice of Ciko, who was busy grinding black pepper beef, which made Herman admonish him to be more polite at the dinner table.Marcel held his stomach, which was sore because he had not been filled with anything, but had been forced to work hard to help with the household chores."I'm so full!" exclaimed Ciko as she reached for a tissue to wipe her lips."Eat more politely next time," Herman said flatly. "After this, mum and dad will attend a meeting with a client from the company that produces the drill ....""I remember
After Ciko was satisfied with humiliating him in front of Nana, Marcel went to the lab on an empty stomach because he didn't want to eat anything the Delvino family gave him anymore.Venya had just finished cleaning Meru's body when Marcel appeared."How did you and your father eat?" Marcel asked curiously. "Do you feel comfortable living here? Do you need to clean the place first ....?""No, it's better like this so that none of the Delvino family members will be interested in entering this lab." Venya shook his head disapprovingly. "The important thing is that there is a place for me and my father to sleep ...."Marcel shrugged and did not insist."Speaking of eating, how was it?" Marcel repeated curiously."Don't worry, we have a formula that if taken can cause a sensation of fullness for the next two-three days." Venya explained."Are you serious?" Marcel was wide-eyed. "How is that possible?"Venya took a breath and replied, "It can't be helped ... we had to live frugally after t
Marcel looked flatly at his brothers-in-law."I don't think this is a good time to torture our brother-in-law," Ronnie commented. "Mum and Dad said that if Marcel doesn't want to eat, we shouldn't force him."Ciko snorted."Gosh, that's what mum used to say to us." She commented. "We don't need to tell mum ....""Huft, boring!" Alvon chided, he was Marcel's brother-in-law who was neutral - never defending Marcel, but also never trying to prevent the abuse from happening in front of his eyes."Ron, today, I'll just tell Marcel to clean up all the leftovers." Shirley intervened. "No more fuss, remember, he almost killed himself yesterday because of you."Marcel wondered why Shirley was defending him this time, though of course that only sparked laughter from the mouths of Ronnie and Ciko."That's just because your husband is mentally weak!" scoffed Ciko. "A real man wouldn't be as weak as him!"Marcel resisted the urge to answer his brother-in-law's insults."Even his life refuses to le
Alvon glanced at one of his brothers."I'm not interested, except for their research on astronomy." He emphasized."Who invited you?" said Ciko, reaching for a tissue to wipe his lips. "How is it, brother?"He turned to Ronnie, who was still enjoying his cup of warm milk."This late at night?" responded Ronnie thoughtfully."It's not night yet, after all, Marcel only has free time right now." Ciko explained. "During the day, he has to be a maid."Ronnie chuckled, while Shirley remained silent. She still held a grudge because Marcel had asked her to eat her siblings' leftovers.In the lab, Marcel watched Venya work."We have to clean up first," Venya said as she checked the supply of vials in the cupboard. "We have to sort out which ones can still be used."Marcel nodded and said, "Which part should I clean? There are still tubes that contain chemicals, and one of them I drank once ....""What?" Venya looked at Marcel with a furrowed brow. "Which one did you drink?"Marcel was silent a
"Here's to that sassy mouth of yours!" exclaimed Ronnie as he smashed Marcel's jaw with his fist. "Argh, bastard!"He cursed as his hand hit something hard."What's wrong, brother?""What's wrong?"Coki and Alvon turned their attention towards Ronnie who was rubbing his knuckles.Marcel himself was confused when suddenly his brother-in-law shouted while he gave no resistance."What did Marcel do to you?" asked Coki in a probing tone. "Why are you in so much pain?"Ronnie didn't answer immediately, especially since he still didn't know exactly what had caused his hand to hit a piece of iron.He was sure that he had hit Marcel's jaw, but why was his brother-in-law standing still?"Answer me, brother! What did you do to Marcel?" asked Ciko urgently."Never mind, let's not talk about it!" replied Ronnie firmly. "Let's leave this place, let them continue their failed research ... and we should prepare to celebrate their failure."Ciko and Alvon looked at each other briefly at their eldest
"Can't you tell me what the characteristics of the liquid you drank were?" asked Venya as she searched among the glass cabinets."I don't remember," Marcel replied immediately. "I was in a frenzy, so I just grabbed the chemicals and downed them."Venya then faced Marcel and looked at him seriously."Do you still remember which tube you took?" She asked again."No, I told you that I just grabbed it." Marcel explained. "Is it important for us to know what liquid I drank? All that matters is that I'm okay in the end."Venya sighed."Of course it's important, because to my knowledge, none of the formula stock here is safe for consumption." She explained. "But never mind ... we'll have a hard time finding a trace of it, since there are no remains of the liquid you drank."Marcel nodded, he did not remember anything about what happened after he drank the liquid and fell into a coma."Then what do we do now?" Marcel asked curiously. "I don't understand at all, so I'll just handle the funding