CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
**MANUEL**
Adrian parked the car and we both alighted. We started hearing whispers from the mouths of the people lingering around the premises.
"Aren't those Manuel Collins and Adrian Carter?" I heard someone whisper, not so quietly.
"Wow! They look so handsome!!!"
"This is the first time I'm seeing them in real life and they both look so hot. What are they doing here tho?" One asked her friend whisperingly.
"This is a public restaurant and don't you know that Adrian Carter owns this place?" Her friend answered her.
I smirked as I listened to the different comments coming from the mouths of various people as we walked into the restaurant. Adrian looked unaffected by these comments and compliments.
We got in
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX **MANUEL**I took the beauty goddess over to where Adrian parked the car earlier and she started gawking at it. She looked as if she had just seen the most beautiful car ever."Is this your car?" She asked dumbly."No, it's for my friend." I replied."Wow, it looks so beautiful. That friend of yours must be super rich." She said dreamily."Wait until you see mine, you'll faint upon setting your eyes on it." I boasted and she hissed."Whatever fool. Open this fucking car and let's go buy my new phone. I have to go to work, I don't have time for this." She snapped while glancing at her wristwatch. Is this the same girl that was staring at the car dreamily? This goddess has really got some mood swing.We got into Adrian's car and I sta
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVENHONEY CROWN RESTAURANT **MANAGER'S OFFICE** **ADRIAN**"Good afternoon Sir." Mrs. Williams greeted me timidly. If I had not known her, I would have thought she was a gentle woman but in reality, she is not gentle at all and that is why she's still working for me."Good afternoon Mrs. Williams. I came to see how everything has been going. How is everything going?""Everything has been fine Sir. Lots of customers have been coming daily and sales have been going smoothly. We even had to restock the food items twice last week." She said smiling."Wow! That's nice. Are the employees performing their duties well enough?" I asked."Yes, they are doing great. But there are some of them that comes late sometimes and alw
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT **BRIANNA** I woke up from a three hours nap and I felt great. I released a loud yawn and I immediately perceived a bad smell. I looked around to check where the smell was coming from before I realized that it was my breath that was smelling like that. Geez! I haven't brushed my teeth since morning and I ate with an unbrushed teeth. I haven't even taken my bath yet. Damn! I feel very dirty today. I better go and get myself cleaned up. I stood up and went to the bathroom. I brushed my teeth and took my bath, I also made sure I washed my hair because it has been quite sometime since I washed it. After freshening up, I blow-dried my hair with my old hair dryer and got dressed in a top and jean shorts before going downstairs. Mom was sitting on the couch and was focused on reading and outdated magazine.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINEFEW DAYS LATER**#EVENING **MARIANNA**We are finally through with our exams and I am feeling so excited. The twenty students that won't the scholarships will be announced tomorrow and I can't wait to find out who the students are going to be.I came back from school and hour ago and did the necessary things I had to do before I got dressed to go to work. Mom was taking a nap while Brianna was still at work. I left a short note on mom's bedside table to let her know that I have gone to work so that she won't be wondering where I went to when she wakes up.My workplace is twenty minutes or so away from here so I chose to walk there instead of wasting money to take a bus. It would also be a sort of exercise for me. I got to work some min
CHAPTER THIRTY*AC ORGANIZATIONS**BRIANNA'S OFFICE* **BRIANNA**I was in my office, busy replying some important emails that needed to be replied on behalf of Mr. Adrian when suddenly, the intercom buzzed. I already knew the person that was calling before I picked it up. I answered the call and placed it on my ear."Good day boss." I greeted coldly. Since that incident outside my house, where Mr. Adrian and I argued, I had been ignoring him since I came back to work. I only talked to him whenever it is work-related."Come to my office now." He spoke rudely without even bothering to acknowledge my greeting and he hung up immediately. I rolled my eyes at his rudeness but I shouldn't really be surprised because that is how he is.I closed my laptop and stood up. I walked out of my office
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE **BRIANNA**I stormed out of the meeting room in anger. Mr. Adrian always has a way to rile me up but there's no way I'm gonna quit this job because of his silliness and teach him lessons he'll never forget to always remind him that he can't behave anyhow towards everybody.I was walking to my office when somebody suddenly grabbed me and pulled me into a dark corner. I was about to scream but a hand clamped over my mouth. I bit the hand but the person refused to remove the hand from my mouth."Shah, don't scream and stop biting my hand. It's me." A slightly familiar voice whispered and I recognized it almost immediately."I recognize you now. Can you take your hand off now?" I attempted to say but it came out muffled so I hit his hand and he brought his hand down.&n
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWOCRESCENT VALLEY HIGH**MARIANNA'S CLASSROOM** **MARIANNA**"Genes are hereditary units or basic units of inheritance. They are located in chromosomes and are responsible for the transmission of characters from parents to offsprings......" Our biology teacher, Mr. Edward read out of the biology textbook. I was already getting sleepy because the class was very boring and Mr. Edward was not even doing anything to make the class lively and entertaining. All he was did was just reading out of the textbook.I rested my head on my hands and dozed off for some time before Mr. Edward's booming voice woke me up."Marianna Jackson, are you sleeping in my class?" He asked coldly."No sir, I wasn't sleeping." I lied through my teeth."What were
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE*NEXT DAY* **MARIANNA** I woke up to the loud noise coming from the blender. Mom must be making her fruit juice already. I looked towards Brianna's bed and saw that she was not lying on it and the bed was already made. She must have left for work. I remembered when I told Brianna about the scholarship stuff. She was really happy.~~FLASHBACK~~"Hey sis! What are you doing?" I asked when I entered the room and sat beside her."Ugh! I'm just going through these files that needs to be cross-checked." She groaned."Oh okay. There's something I have to tell you though." I said solemnly."Okay... What is that?" She asked halfheartedly, her sole attention on the files in front of her."I passed the scholarship exams and I'll be resuming in ROYAL GATE HIGH SCHOOL on Monday." I dropped the bombshell and Brianna tore her focus away from the files to look at me.
CHAPTER SEVENTY SEVENTWO MONTHS LATER**BRIANNA**Adrian really fulfilled his promise about paying for my mom's treatment. After we came back from our trip to Spain, Adrian got in contact with his personal doctor and my mom was admitted in their hospital. She has been in the hospital for a month and few weeks now and finally got home today."It's good to have you home, mom." I said as I hugged her again. She was looking more healthy and wasn't as skinny as she was before. "It's good to be home." She chuckled as she hugged me back. I missed inhaling her flowery scent."Thanks for everything, Adrian. I couldn't imagine this happening without your help." I said to Adrian who was sitting on the couch and he smiled at me briefly."It's fine, no need for you to thank me." He uttered."Okay! What do y'all want for lunch? Homemade food or should we order?" I asked enthusiastically."We should definitely order." Marianna chipped in excitedly."Pizza and soda, anyone?" I asked."Yes!" Everybo
CHAPTER SEVENTY SIX**BRIANNA**I was woken up by the loud sound of the blender coming from downstairs. It sounded like a machine was in the house or something. I looked around me and noticed that I was laying on the blood and was covered by the duvet. I raised the duvet and saw that I was naked underneath it. It was at that moment, I remembered everything that happened last night. My cheeks flamed hot when I remembered every single details of what happened. How will I face Adrian after what happened last night?A frustrated groan left my mouth.After some minutes, I heard footsteps coming towards my room so I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep. I heard him walk into the room and I also heard the clatter of something being dropped on the bedside table. I peeled my eyes open slightly to see what he was doing and I saw him open the curtains, letting the sunlight inside and the room became brighter."I know you're awake." I heard him say, with his back facing me and I flinched slightl
CHAPTER SEVENTY FIVEEVENING; AROUND 7 P.M.**BRIANNA**We were just getting home after a long day of visiting Museo Nacional del Prado. I must admit, that was the best museum I have ever been to in my life. Not like I have been to any museum, but I have a feeling that that would be the best one ever.We saw a lot of paintings by popular artists. Some of them were The Garden of Early Delights, a triptych oil painting by Hieronymus Bosch; we also saw Las Meninas, a painting by Diego Velazquez and we saw the painting "Saturn Devouring His Son" by Francisco Goya. Saturn Devouring His Son was the one that captivated me the most and I didn't even know the reason why.Back to the present time, Adrian and I just stepped into the house with me on his back. He gave me a piggyback ride on our way home because of how tired I was. Now, he was helping me take off my sneakers."You're so sweet." I murmured while playing with his hair as he his sitting on the floor in front of me."I do my best." H
CHAPTER SEVENTY FOUR**BRIANNA**I peeled my eyes open when I suddenly felt the bright rays of sunshine on my face. The first thing my eyes came in contact with was Adrian who had a small smile on his face."Good morning, Sunshine!" He greeted cheerily."Good morning." I replied out, my voice sounding like a frog's that I almost couldn't recognize it. "What time is it?" I asked, attempting to get into a sitting position but I quickly decided against it when a strong wave of headache hit me.I groaned loudly."You probably shouldn't do that. You're hungover." Adrian said, coming to sit beside me with a bottle of water and aspirin in hand."Ugh! How much did I drink last night?" I asked, moaning in pain."Around five shot glasses, I guess you're a lightweight because I wasn't even affected by the drink." He said with a teasing smile."Geez! How did I drink that much?" I exclaimed and took the bottle of water and aspirin from him when he offered them to me.I took the aspirin and gulped
CHAPTER SEVENTY THREETWO DAYS LATER**BRIANNA**After two days of meeting with the investors, Mr. Gomez and his partner finally decided to invest in A.C. Robotics (one of the companies under Adrian's name) and now, Adrian and I are going out to celebrate."Adrian, where exactly are we going?" I asked him for the umpteenth time. This is the question I have been asking him ever since we got into the car and he began driving to God knows where.He sighed exasperatedly at my question."You won't stop asking me this question till I answer you, right?" He grumbled."Nope!" I said, popping the 'p'."Fine, we're going to a club to celebrate our win." He finally answered."Wow, really?" I asked, my eyes lighting up."Yeah, we're going to drink and dance. But nobody is getting drunk, at least not me because I have to drive." He uttered."That's a cool idea." I clapped enthusiastically.Minutes later, Adrian pulled over in front of a building with "The Dinero Lounge" written in neon light. We a
CHAPTER SEVENTY TWO**BRIANNA**"Brianna... Wake up." I felt someone tap me but I snuggled closer to the soft pillow."Five more minutes mom..." I moaned and I heard a deep chuckle that didn't sound like my mother."Wake up, we're running late." I heard again ad the person shook me and I slowly peeled my eyes open. It took a second for me to remember that I wasn't at home and the person that was waking me was not my mom, but Adrian. I also remembered that I was no longer in California but in Madrid, Spain."Good morning, sunshine!" He smiled at me brightly."Good morning!" I said and tried to smile at him, but it came out more like a grimace."Ooh, you're not a morning person." He laughed."I hate mornings." I grumbled."Unfortunately, we have to go. It's almost 11 and the meeting with the investors is by 12. And I know it takes a while for y'all ladies to get dressed." He uttered and I quickly got out of bed."Thanks for waking me up. Let me go take my bath." I said and went towards
CHAPTER SEVENTY ONE**BRIANNA**"We will be landing in a minute!" The booming voice of the pilot woke me up from my nap. I raised my head from Adrian's shoulder and rubbed my eyes so that I could see clearly. Adrian was also asleep so I tapped him and he woke up."The pilot said that the plane will be landing soon." I muttered to him and he nodded."Flight attendants, prepare for landing please. Passengers, sit tight and buckle your seatbelts, we'll be landing now." The pilot announced once more.A few seconds later, I felt the pressure of the jet moving downwards and I gripped the armrest tightly, just like I did when we were about to take off. Turns out, I was still scared of flying.“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to A. C. Private Airport. Local time is 3:26 a.m. and the temperature is warm at 22°C.For your safety and comfort, please remain seated with your seat belt fastened until the Captain turns off the Fasten Seat Belt sign. This will indicate that we have parked at the gate a
CHAPTER SEVENTY**BRIANNA**I woke up on a bed a few hours later. I looked out the window to see that we were still flying. The flight from California to Spain takes over eleven hours so it's understandable. Everywhere was dark and my stomach growled, reminding me that the last time I ate was in the morning.I strode to the main area of the jet to find Adrian in his laptop. He must be working. Me eyes raked over his body, stopping at the part where his shirt was unbuttoned and I could see his bare chest with curly hair around it.He must have seen me come in or noticed that I was seriously checking him out because he raised his head and our eyes locked. A playful smirk formed on his face."Checking me out, huh?" He asked playfully. "Don't worry, I'm all yours and I ain't going nowhere."He said that with a wink and my face went hot."I wasn't checking you out." I rolled my eyes."Hoe could one look so hot?" I muttered to myself and went to sit beside him."Huh huh, in sure you weren't
CHAPTER SIXTY NINE**BRIANNA**I got another shock when I set my eyes on the jet. The jet was coated in gold! Gold I tell you! I turned to face Adrian in surprise."Is that real gold?" I asked him dumbly and he laughed."Yes, it's real gold. You don't expect to see me having anything to do with fake gold do you?" He chuckled."Wow, you're really more richer than I thought." I breathed in surprise."Don't think too much about it. Let's go." He said as he intertwined his hand with mine and led me up the steps of the jet.I was more amazed when we were inside the jet. From where I was standing, I could see that it had eights seats, each the size of a single seater couch. And they even have tables in front of them. I feel like a villager right now."Close your mouth before a fly finds it way inside. Your jaw is practically on the floor right now." Adrian joked and I snapped my mouth close in embarrassment."Whatever." I grumbled and sauntered over to one of the seats. I planted my butt o