III: The Expedition Begins

The door closed behind Leona with a quiet thud, but its echo resonated in the silence of Julian Santiago’s office. He remained standing, watching the empty space where she had been. A faint scent of tropical flowers and damp earth lingered in the sterile, air-conditioned room—a fragrant, wild intrusion from a world he knew nothing about. It was the scent of his new wife.

His grandfather, Don Antonio, a man who seemed to command the very air around him, broke the silence. "Is it done?" he asked, a hint of impatience in his voice.

Julian turned, his professional mask back in place. He had perfected this mask over years of high-stakes business deals. It was a face of unreadable calm, a shield against emotion. “The contract is signed. The legal team has confirmed everything is in order. We have full access to the land, pending her cooperation with the local government.” He spoke in the clipped, efficient tone of a CEO delivering a quarterly report.

Don Antonio leaned back, a flicker of satisfaction in his eyes. “Good. The sooner you get that plant, the sooner we can start the clinical trials. Your sister is not getting any younger, Julian.”

The words were a calculated strike, aimed at the one chink in Julian’s armor. Julian had dedicated his life to science and business, believing in facts, data, and logic. Emotions were an inconvenient variable. But his sister, Sofia, was his weakness. He thought of her last email, a short, tired message about her latest doctor’s appointment. He could picture her pale face, her fragile smile that was fading a little more with each passing week. The genetic curse was a ticking time bomb, and Julian, the genius who had always found a solution, was running out of time. The Dahon ng Buhay was no longer just a project; it was a race against oblivion.

"I’m leaving for Palawan tonight,” Julian said, his mind already spinning with logistics. “I’ll assemble a small, highly-trained team. Only our most trusted people. No one else needs to know the true purpose of this expedition.”

“Hindi ka makakarating doon na mag-isa,” Don Antonio stated, a look of disapproval on his face. He knew his grandson's preference for isolation. “Leona will be there. She knows the forest better than any of your people. You will be her husband, not just a man with a permit. She is your first and most important contact. This is about more than just a piece of paper, Julian. This is about trust. You will need to earn it.”

Julian’s jaw tightened. The thought of being in the same space as Leona Reyes, with her fiery temper and her hostile glares, made his meticulously planned world feel unbalanced. He had seen the way she looked at him, as if he were a disease. And in a way, he was. He was the cure for his family’s curse, and the poison to everything she held dear. He found her complete lack of compromise both infuriating and, to his surprise, a little intriguing. She was a puzzle, a variable he couldn't control with a spreadsheet.

“I am aware of my obligations, Grandfather,” Julian replied, his voice a low hum of controlled frustration. “I will handle her. For now, my team is all that matters. I need the best geologists, botanists, and security personnel on site as soon as possible.”

Don Antonio just gave him a long, appraising look. "She is a problem, Julian. But a problem you can solve. You always have."

Julian left the office, the faint, wild scent of the Palawan air now completely gone, replaced by the clinical odor of the building. He went to his private laboratory, a stark, white space filled with state-of-the-art equipment. He moved with a sense of purpose, a renewed focus. His team was already there, meticulously preparing for the trip. Dr. Ramirez, his lead botanist, held a tray of sterile equipment. "Sir, we have the latest GPS trackers and drones ready for deployment. We’ve also analyzed all the public satellite data of the region. Everything is ready."

Julian nodded, his mind a whirlwind of information. He pulled up a holographic map of the Palawan rainforest, its green, sprawling expanse a digital tapestry of a world he had only seen on screens. He zoomed in on the coordinates Leona's foundation had provided to his legal team, the very sector she had mentioned earlier. He saw the winding river, the dense canopy, the remote location that made it so difficult to access. He ran a hand through his hair, a rare moment of visible fatigue. The path was clear, but the road was a different matter. He had all the technology in the world, but he had a feeling this would come down to something more primal. The jungle had its own rules.

No problem is unsolvable, he told himself. He had a team, money, and now, a legal right to be there. He was prepared for any obstacle the jungle could throw at him. But he wasn’t prepared for the human element. For a wife who looked at him with such pure, unadulterated hatred. He had dealt with angry business rivals, but this was different. This was a personal, visceral anger that he couldn’t comprehend. It was a force of nature in a woman, and that fascinated him.

That night, Julian’s private helicopter lifted off from his personal helipad, the city lights of Manila a shimmering carpet below. He sat inside the comfortable cabin, reviewing the files one last time. His team was silent, focused on their own preparations. The hum of the rotors was the only sound. He closed his eyes, and a different image came to mind—not of his frail sister, but of Leona, her sharp eyes and her fierce resolve. He was on his way to the rainforest to find a plant that held a miracle, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he was walking into a trap. He was a scientist who dealt in facts, but what lay ahead was a volatile, unpredictable variable. A force of nature he had foolishly underestimated.

Julian Santiago was about to step into her world. And he knew, with a certainty that chilled him to the bone, that the real discovery wouldn’t be the plant. It would be something far more dangerous.