WISH TO BE RICH

DUTY TO LIVE

"Please son, have a seat," Jaxon said to Johnathan as the nurse went to help him sit upright while the doctor was checking on his vitals on the monitors.

Johnathan looked all around his father and he couldn't understand why he had all of these things hooked up to him.

"Umm dad, are you okay? You’re going to be fine, right?" Johnathan asked with a terrified tone.

Jaxon laughed then suddenly he started to cough. The nurse hurriedly helped him with a glass of water.

"First things first son, how have you been all these years?" Jaxon asked then reached forward and caressed Johnathan’s face "Look how big you've gotten but you still have the same face Sonia gave you"

"Sonia? Is that my mother's name?" Johnathan asked.

Jaxon sighed and leaned back on the pillow, put behind him by the nurse for his back.

"Yes she is, my beautiful and beloved Sonia but before you ask to see her, it's sad for me to say that she's no longer here with us. She passed away fifteen years ago"

Johnathan felt that news in his core and he didn't know when a tear fell down his eyes.

"How did it happen?" Johnathan asked, sniffling.

"It was a heart disease just like what you also have" Jaxon smiled sadly, trying to comfort Johnathan but Johnathan's entire world felt like it was crumbling right in front of him.

Johnathan grabbed his chest "I got this disease from mom?"

"Please don't hate your mother because of this son, I know wholeheartedly that she never would have had a child if she knew she had a sickness like that in the first place or that it would be inherited by you"

Johnathan was a little bit speechless at the moment.

"But I'm happy she gave birth to you, that we both did because it means I have something of hers to cherish while I'm still alive and kicking."

Hearing those words, Johnathan’s dipped head quickly rose to look at his father's eyes.

"Wait dad, don't tell me that you're that sick. Are you dying?" Johnathan asked, grimacing dejectedly and desperately.

Jaxon smiled, trying to deflect the question "I know you must have asked Abraham how he found you but this is how"

Jaxon reached for his phone from the nurse then he showed Johnathan his screen. It was the live stream the students in Molly's room took of him earlier in the day.

Johnathan's eyes widened when he realized what it was.

"I stumbled on this ad that took me to this website and this was on the front page because of how popular it was," Jaxon said and Johnathan's eyes flicked to the views underneath the stream.

"My humiliation was seen by a quarter of a million people? My reputation is over. If life was hard before then it's about to become a million times worse" Johnathan said, grabbing his hair in worry.

Jaxon gave the phone to the nurse and grimaced at Johnathan.

"I was curious about what the kids behind the camera were saying but what is this you're saying about a hard time? Are the kids in school bullying you?" Jaxon asked.

Just the look Johnathan gave his father was enough for Jaxon to know exactly what Johnathan had been through for a while now and he looked at Abraham, frowning with displeasure.

Jaxon placed a hand on Johnathan's lap and said "This is all my fault, if you hadn't been taken away from me and your mother then you would have lived a life of luxury and as a Cross, there's nobody who would have dared tried to mess with you"

"Is our family that important?" Johnathan asked.

"Of course son, there's only seven families more important than ours and a handful of families just as important as ours in the entire world and trust me, none of those families would be caught dead in a low-class school like the one Abraham found you in"

"Primrose High-school is low class?" Johnathan asked with a blown mind.

"For a family like ours, a mediocre school like that doesn't even fall under the radar of possible places to send our workers’ kids. It'll be a complete shame now clean your eyes son and don't let mediocrities like that bother you"

Johnathan cleaned the tears in his eyes and then smiled for his father but just as quickly as he smiled so did the sadness he felt come back.

"What's the matter, son?" Jaxon asked.

"I'm happy to have found my real family and I have an amazing father but I'm sad that I'm going to die and leave all of this behind very soon. I don't want to die dad" Johnathan said, about to cry.

Jaxon quickly grabbed Johnathan's shoulders and stared right into his eyes, saying "What makes you think you're going to die?"

"B-but, I have the same heart disease that my mother died from."

Jaxon chuckled "Listen here son, your mother only died because we couldn’t find a heart donor that matched her in time, and after losing you and me being in the condition that I'm in, she had already given up hope so she didn't care about healing herself"

Johnathan gulped as his eyes blinked rapidly.

"What if I don't find a donor that matches me too? I only have three months, maybe less so what if—" Johnathan said in a panic.

Jaxon pulled his son closer and smiled at him "There's nothing to worry about finding a compatible donor because your father is going to give you his heart."

"What?!" Johnathan exclaimed, trying to pull himself free from Jaxon's grip but Jaxon held him firmly.

"My heart is all your son and as the new heir of the Cross family group, it's your responsibility— no, it's your duty to take it and live!"