CHAPTER 2

TRIANA immediately went home after her date with Caleb. She was still stoked! She couldn’t help herself from smiling while walking going inside the house. But she halted when she saw the twins standing near the main door, waiting for her. 

“Where have you been?” Travis asked, looking bored. Beside him was Tristan, holding a tablet. 

The twins were identical, and the only noticeable differences were their haircut and height. Travis was taller but chubby with short curly hair, while Tristan was slimmer with messy curls. Triana already visualized these two being a girl magnet once they grew up. At their age, a lot of girls from their class had a crush on them. 

“Mom is waiting for you,” Tristan seemed impatient. He immediately turned his back on her while Travis held her arm. 

“I think Mom is kind of mad,” Travis pointed out to their mother, sitting on the couch while her arms crossed. 

“Why, what happened?” her forehead creased. 

Her brother shrugged. “I don’t know. Ah, there was a guy who came here earlier.”

“And?”

“Mom suddenly became agitated. Better talk to her. I’m also worried.”

“All right, I’ll talk to her.” She gently tapped his shoulder before he left and hurriedly went up the stairs. 

She silently walked toward her mom and kissed her on the cheek. 

“Mom, is there a problem? You look bothered.”

“Let’s talk inside the library.” Her mom stood up, and Triana felt uneasy while she followed. Just by the look on her face, she could already tell that she was troubled by something. She knew her mother. 

“I have something to tell you.” Lucia tried to think of the right words to say. They sat down facing each other between the rectangular mahogany table when they got inside the mini library. 

“What about it, Mom?”

Lucia raised her chin and met her daughter’s eyes. “Our company is on the verge of closing, and I need your help to save it.”

Triana stared at her mother in disbelief. “What do you mean?”

“I only learned about this three years ago. Your dad hides this from us. That our company is at a substantial loss even before the pandemic.” Lucia bit her lower lip while she studied Triana’s flabbergasted face. 

“W-What do you want me to do? Do you want me to take over?”

Lucia hardly shook her head. “Management is not the problem, well, at least for now. But we are losing the majority of the shares, and our investors are leaving. We should be thankful to your late dad’s friend. Without his help, we might have lost the company that Trevor built with his blood and sweat.”

“I thought everything was going well! It had been three years since dad left us. The AGC is doing well, right?”

Lucia averted her gaze. “I gave a Special Power of Attorney to Akhil to manage everything, and in turn, he helped us without finances… with only one condition.”

Triana’s heartbeat suddenly became erratic. “W-What condition?”

“To save the company, we have to amalgamate our business with his. And for that to happen, we need to merge our family as well… you must marry his son.”

Triana felt as if a bomb had exploded in her face when she heard those words. However, she had a hint about it. But having listened to the confirmation from her mother’s mouth made her shocked. 

Her lips opened, but no words came out. She was too stunned to process everything. 

“I’m sorry, Ria. I know this is too much for you.”

“No. No!” Triana hardly shook her head when everything sank in her mind. She thought everything she heard inside this library three years ago would not happen. But why now? Why did this have to take place when her heart finally found the right man? 

“Ria, think about your brothers. We’re beggars now, and we’re living on someone’s mercy. All our properties have been put into a mortgage and sold by your dad, including this house. Haven’t you noticed that we only have two housemaids now? It’s because we can’t afford to have more!”

Triana gently massaged her temple. “This is just a joke, right?”

“I’m really sorry. I only ask a favor from Akhil to let you finish your master’s degree first, since you were too young three years ago.”

“Why me? I don’t care even if we get poor. I can get a decent job! I have enough savings and investments!”

“What about Travis and Tristan? They’re too young. They are not used to living a poor life.”

Triana’s jaw dropped. “This is unfair! Travis and Tristan had a trust fund, right? Their future is secured!”

“No, Ria. Your dad withdrew their trust funds, including yours. Bless his soul, I don’t want to tell you this, but Trevor had been addicted to gambling for almost two decades! And Akhil financed everything since your dad passed away. That includes your schooling at Harvard.”

“Damn!” She was enraged as she clenched and unclenched her fists. She was ecstatic earlier, and now everything seemed to be falling apart. Who would have thought that her life would change in just a blink? 

“Please, forgive me. I don’t know what to do. I have met Akhil’s son before, and I know he’ll be a good husband. You two will make a good pair.” Lucia’s eyes welled up with tears. She pitied her daughter, but she couldn’t think of any solution. They are drowning in colossal debts. 

“Mom, I can’t marry a stranger. I’m in love with someone else, and I just got engaged.” She showed her mother the engagement ring in her hand. 

Lucia breathed out sharply. “If your boyfriend is a billionaire that can help us with our debts, go marry him. If not, forget about him. He’s useless.”

“Mom!” She suddenly stood up, and her palm hit the wooden table. 

He loved Caleb, and he was a self-made millionaire. But she didn’t want him to be involved in their family problem. Besides, she was not after his money. It would be unfair on Caleb’s part to pay off all their debts. Aside from his assets were not that big to save their asses from bankruptcy and embarrassment. 

“Ria, please consider this option. If it were only me, I wouldn’t have a problem being poor. I am just thinking of the twins’ future.”

Liar!

She sat back again and gripped her hair in frustration. Her mom was trying to use her guilt. If she was selfish, she could elope with Caleb to marry him and let them handle the problem. But she loved the twins so much that she would sacrifice anything for them. 

What should she do? 

“THAT is unfair, Dad! I’m totally against it!” Devance clenched his fist hard as soon as he heard his father’s announcement. They were currently in Kuala Lumpur after attending his cousin’s wedding. 

“Dev, we’ve already talked about this.” His mother said calmly. 

“Arranged marriage? Oh, come on! Are we still in the fifteenth century?” He couldn’t conceal his great frustration. 

At the moment, they were having dinner. His parents would go back to the United Kingdom the next day since they would attend an important business convention. His father, Akhil Chaudhary, happened to be one of the richest Nepali in the world. He was the first businessman from his country to enter the Forbes billionaire list. 

“I’ve already chosen a suitable wife for you. She is the daughter of my old friend.” Akhil said as if stating a fact while eating his favorite spicy momo. It was an authentic Nepali dish similar to dumplings. 

“Kanchha, listen to your dad. He only wants the best for you,” his mom said in a low voice. Her mother, Gracia Ayala, was a well-known Filipino-Spanish supermodel during her time. And now she was his father’s private secretary, the reason they were always together, especially on business travels. It was not a secret and his father’s only excuse so that he could be with his mother all the time because he loved her so much.

“Come on, bro. There is always a divorce in case you can’t stand your soon-to-be wife.” His elder sister, Dexa, joked after she sipped her wine. 

“Shut up!” he looked at her with a warning. 

Dexa rolled her eyes. “I had an arranged marriage, and everything went well.” She shrugged. 

He turned to his sister again. “You married a celebrity because you cried to dad to get him for you. Pathetic!”

She scowled at Devance. Dexa attempted to answer back, but their father glared at them. There was a warning look in his eyes. 

“My decision is final. If you don’t marry her, I will disinherit you.” Akhil said seriously and chugged the red wine from his glass. 

Devance felt as if the time suddenly stopped when his father uttered those words. But he managed to laugh aloud. 

“You’re joking, Dad. Of course, you can’t do that! I’m your only son and your heir to your business empire.”

Meanwhile, Dexa and Gracia remained still because they knew he would explode if they provoked their patriarch. 

“I’m a billionaire, not you. I can always donate ninety-nine percent of my wealth to charity. I’m not kidding. You’ll not receive a single dime from me.”

Devance was out of words to say. He glanced at his father, who seemed unbothered while eating his momo. 

“My answer is still no.” Devance stood up and wiped his mouth with the table napkin, “Excuse me.”

He suddenly lost his appetite to eat. He hurriedly went to his suite and changed his clothes. He wanted to get some fresh air. He couldn’t believe that his father was dead serious about arranging her marriage to a stranger. 

Damn it! His jaw flexed. In case his father disinherited him for good, he could still live a simple life. He had enough savings to start a new life. Besides, he had a lot of investments. And one more thing, he could retire early and live a hermit life in the Himalayas. That way, he would not care about the world, and he would have peace of mind.