“Godmother is around,” someone announced and everyone looked up as Ruby Yu appeared at the very top of the spiral stairs that had a red carpet from top to bottom. Many were anxious to have an audience with her, because even in this top circle, she had the highest position.It felt like deja vu for Gift and Zenith as they also walked slowly towards the center, but unlike the first time, neither of them were jealous and a few other things had happened in reverse and there was a heavy air between the both of them, with neither of them being able to look into eachother's eyes. Or rather, they tried as the approached the others, but it felt like electricity zaps and they would look away the instant the tried, sure yet unsure at the same time what was going on and this could be related to what happened ten minutes back. Zenith had left the Washington’s to find Gift exactly ten minutes prior to that time and he had found her sulking in a corner haven emptied two flutes of champagne and w
They gathered around Ruby Yu who walked down elegantly with a glass of wine in her left hand while holding the feathers of the Russian styled royal dress she had tried on back inside the room. “This really looks good on you, it kind of fits the theme more…” “Did I say too much, I'm sorry, I just…” “No it's fine, I think it's a better fit too. Let's continue looking through the closet for what you like,” and like that they continued, but she had held onto Gifts words and tried it on, this wearing her second dress for the party. Ruby Yu and Gift had an eye contact at that moment that she was having a flashback and they both smiled. “You look really good,” “Thank you,” we mouthed back before turning her attention to the crowd and hiding her smile. “Whoa, she looks so out of this world.” “She looks just like she’s in her thirties,” people started to whisper and murmur between themselves as she continued her descent. While all of that was happening and people were captivated by her
So when Ruby Yu called out his name as the newest member of the Clover secret Club, he was more dazed than he could afford. Zenith was too preoccupied with what Gift was doing to process the question that had just being asked and while everyone burst out in that murmur, Gift had continued her acts to prove possessiveness over Zenith. Ruby Yu's eyes scanned around before settling once again in Gift's direction, except this time, she wasn't the only one she was looking at. Those in that direction got louder as they thought, “she looked at me, I'm definitely the newest member,” they said between themselves as the invitees boasted of their connections amongst the already existing members, while others scampered around trying to make new connections. Ruby Yu relished in the feeling of being above them as she looked down. Her descent down the stairs hadn't reached the foot of the stairs as she stopped midway where she used as her podium to address the others. As she looked away from Gi
Zenith tried to release his hand from Gift, but she only held unto him even more. Ruby Yu chuckled and once again turned to the crowd with the brightest of smiles, making the good relationship they had very obvious as both older members and invitees who could only look forward to the next year for a chance of joining the secret club felt anxious as they wanted to form a connection with this person that Ruby Yu was so proud to show off. “Must be royalty.”“Or maybe a secret child of mafia family,” they whispered between themselves..But not one of them would have thought, until moments later when they saw Ruby Yu and Gift chatting naturally and happily, that the person they were all looking up to and ready to kneel for was a twenty year old orphan on the wheelchair. Until then,Ruby Yu planned to continue having her fun. 'One untrained child will not ruin my mood for the night,” she thought as she glanced around.“Did you all know what the theme for today's anniversary was?” She sudd
“Why are you being so shy? We've shared a room together in the hospital.”“It was different, we had separate beds then,” Gift protested. “There's no difference if we will be sharing a bed as big as this come on, don't let it go to waste, godmother won't be happy,” he winked at her and she felt a sudden urge to punch him.“You are doing this intentionally, right?” “What do you mean? I just want to sleep with the woman I like, why? Do you hate me so much that…”“You know I don’t and can’t hate you,” Gift felt her words going nowhere and turned around. “I’m tired, I’ll go take my bath first.”“That means you love me,” Zenith said to himself but loud enough for Olivia to hear. “Let me know if you need any help.” he shouted after her but she ignored him only to have to call him back ten minutes later.“Zenith, can you please pass me the towel?” Gift shouted when she realized that there was nothing to dry her body. “Sure,” Zenith was more than glad to do so and they went through another t
Gift woke up earlier the next morning and snuggled closer to the pillow she was hugging, it felt so plush and comfortable like the teddy bear she used to hug to sleep when she was at the orphanage. It brought a smile to her face as she tried to go back to sleep. The feeling was too nice to ignore, until she wanted to stretch her leg and bumped into something. ‘Was my pillow always this big?’ she wondered to herself as she fluttered her eyes open slowly, adjusting to the brightness of the room but without letting go of her fluffy pillow until she realised that it wasn't what she thought. Startled, she tried to let go of Zenith's hand that she was hoping unto a little too affectionately for the type of relationship they had, but when she tried to get away, she felt his hand on her back, holding her close to him as if scared of letting go. She froze when Zenith grunted and watched his eyelashes flutter open without being able to take her eyes off and with extreme jealousy for how lon
“Gift, I promise you that I can never be disloyal to you, you have to believe me,” Zenith sounded desperate as he was kneeling in front of gift. “Of courses what did I expect of someone like you,” she groaned as she looked away from him when he grabbed her wrists and and kissed the back of her palm. “Mama, how did we get here?” He lowered his head, feeling regretful as a sigh left his lips, but he didn't stop rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb to appease. Her. How they got there? Oh! Gift knew. She knew it very much, and although she somewhat blamed herself, but she couldn't bring herself to back down. Although Zenith had apologized, she still felt embarrassed and a little hurt because of her misunderstanding. “Hmmpf,” she looked to the side, but unable to focus on the TV displayed in front of her as her mind went back to barely 30 minutes ago, after she had sent Olivia to school. It was the second day since they came back from the ship cruise, there had been more goin
He could hear the emergency bells go off in his head as his eyes widened in realization. With it came the urgent need to explain himself. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that.” His words were rushed as she searched her eyes for anything that could make him feel safe, rather she smirked without the smile reaching her eyes. Unlike the normal times when he could read her emotions, when she was pissed or even trying to hide a blush, he knew it was different this time. There was nothing there. “Oh really?” She folded her arms in front of her chest. “Yes, I know that came out wrong, but that's not what I meant. I hope you don't misunderstand.” “Misunderstand? But why would I do that? After all, I'm not the one you're dressing up to go on a date with. I would only be overstepping my boundaries if I misunderstood,” another smirk that didn't reach her eyes. “I know you're angry, but I wasn't lying when I said that I don't plan on it being a real date.”“But why? You're so well dresse
Gift's POV Today is the happiest day of my life, or rather each day has been getting happier for me ever since I met him, my boyfriend. We've had a lot of rocky days of course, but seeing him standing in that expensive suit, dressing to match my rhinestone dress which he had gotten for me to celebrate my matriculation just makes me feel even more happier and I have no doubt that he would find a way to make me happier woman by this time tomorrow. I can't help but smile at the thought of all the things he has put together and worked on for us to get here. He changed himself to fit me, a one of a kind man. “Gifty, where's my daughter?” I heard someone call from a distance as I looked around and saw Ruby Yu. She looked unlike how I'd ever seen her all the times we've met either physically or through video calls cos not once have I ever seen her in a pair of denim skirt and a white short sleeved button up shirt. I gasped as I walked up to hug her, “you look so stunning mom, I thought
“Who taught you how to make this” he asked with a voice so soft she had to be sure it was the same meanie talking to her. “No one. It's my first time making this,” she confessed.“How about your mother? She must have cooked this for you when you were younger, right?” He asked as if he was talking to a child, trying his best to be careful with his words“Uhn? I grew up in an orphanage,” She stuttered as she tried to form the words that failed to form. She wanted to tell him to stop acting nice as she had learned to be unrestrained and speak for herself over the months, however, there was a glistening in his eyes that made her stop. Something wasn't right. She watched as he set the chop sticks aside with shaky hands before rinsing a fork and grabbing a small ceramic plate for himself as he sat on a stool. After serving himself a small portion of everything which was a surprise for the young man who was around to assist in the supervision that he stood and watched with his mouth sligh
An hour down and the kitchen was left with just six of the original contestants; Gift, Beauty's mom, an Italian through and through, the lady with a fringe from earlier and two others who seemed to be sisters. “We can do this. Let's learn under Master Luca together,” the sisters cheered for themselves as they continued cooking, arranging the ingredients and trying their best to stay till the end. “It's a little too soon to address me as your master, don't you think?” Chef Luca said coldly and the ladies went silent, but that didn't diminish the brightness in their eyes. They were set and the determination was evident. Gift wasn't lacking behind either although she was with nobody to cheer for her beside her, she worked between sitting and standing while trying her best to remember and incorporate the basics that she had learnt over time. She only had her motivation and occasionally water and candy breaks to keep her company and that satisfied her. “And where do you think you're
“You tell me why you decided to choose this particular cucumber even though it's already starting to ripen?” He asked and the lady who had a fringe gulped and adjusted her expression before answering him. “This is a family dish and although people would not go for the ripe cucumber when buying in the market, I chose it so that that part could be served for the younger ones, l-like the child dish…,” she cleared her throat with a little stutter before continuing, “since the cucumber is not going to be steamed according to the recipe, this is the best way to make it easier for the child,” she said nervously, blinking up to ten times per second. Chef Luca had a straight face as he dropped the cucumber back in the ingredients plates before turning to look at Gift and saying with so much tenacity, “the competition can start, but I'll have you know that I won't hesitate to kick you out for the slightest of errors. Do your best if you want to prove yourself!” He said as the stuttering lady
“You are only standing here because you're lucky I will do anything for my godmother,” The moment chef Luca returned to the kitchen, he glared at her and Gift knew that he wasn't lying about that one, so she nodded and offered a small smile which he didn't bother to appreciate.but the moment he turned away from her, she let out a sigh of relief but she knew how much he valued ruby Yu from the way he personalized ‘godmother’. At this moment, Gift and Winifred had already set their ingredients on the table and were having mini talks until the next phase of the cooking competition would start when there was suddenly a noise coming from the storage area where they went to pick their ingredients.As they turned their head to the side, they saw the pompous lady from earlier who was bragging about her servants run out if the storage room with tears in her eyes. “You just wait until my I tell my husband about this,” she cleared her throat and sniffled before pausing to raise her head up so
“I like puppies more than cats,” Beauty said as she carried the furry car that had two long white stripes running from the back of its two ears to the tail where they joined as one, making the fail complete white on the top and black underneath. “Them leave my cat alone, you aren't even being true to yourself,” Olivia scoffed as she took a sit beside her and started to pet the other two kittens that had run to her laps. “The cat's for your mother, plus you named this very beautiful cat after me. How could I not pet it when we sure the same name?” Beauty argued back as she hugged the cat closer, her hand still brushing it's fur on the back. “I wish she gave Jonold my full name too, but instead she made me share with this fatty,” Arnold lamented as he kissed the face of the cat on his laps. All four of them were seated on a cushion with Beauty,Jornold and two other cats whose owners they didn't know. “Are you blind or do you need me to remind you that I basically can't gain too much
She had some friends who supported her this time, unlike those who considered her as competition back at the orphanage. This time around, her distraction was the genuine love she recieved from her family and not from someone who wanted to bring her down. She was genuinely supported, however, unlike those times when those exam papers were marked without a care for who owned them, those times when they grades were given fairly and without partiality, Gift felt a heavy dose of partiality weigh on her. Winifred squeezed her hand to support her,but they both decided to let it go. “I'll just raise my hand next time,” Gift muttered tl herself and hoped that was really the case. “Now you all will move on to picking out the ingredients as described in the recipes. Just twenty minutes for this stage and there is just enough for everyone.” The Italian in white said and they all nodded stiff for a moment. Him saying just enough for everyone sounded like a declaration of scarcity for Gift and
“These recipe is so strange, I never even knew that such a combination could exist,” Gift muttered to herself as she picked up the small pamphlet that was handed to all thirty of the contestants. While every single one of them was each given the same meal to cook, it was still all strange to them as Winifred and Gift showed eachother their pamphlet and they were able to.confurm it when others started murmuring. Just one dish written in Italian and English, Luca Bellucci family meal, but even those who claimed to have cooking certificates have the little pamphlet the same confusing look as Gift. It was safe to say that they were about to cook a meal based in written steps and no idea of how to go about it or how it should even taste beforehand. Some of them had never even heard of it before.Gift who didn't have the luxury to eat many foreign food due to her financial status before had spent the past two months watching YouTube videos, because she had gotten another helpful tip fro
“Please cooperate,” he was past being stubborn and had to lower himself to make Gift concede. There was still the issue with the cats and the children which included Joseph, Beauty and Olivia as it so turned out that Beauty's mom had connections enough to let her know about the competition and what better way to form a good relationship than cooking together. However, she had gone in ahead while leaving beauty with Olivia and Joseph after begging and confirming that there would be no traces of Scarlet or any friends with a gun. “The kids, but not Zenith. He can't go to somewhere like that, it'll stress him,” Gift said as she remembered how Zenith had to be rushed to the hospital at midnight of the night the cat's were first adopted. He had tried to force himself to adapt to the pets by hugging them through the night but there was only little his body could take then. However he didn't give up the two months that followed, training himself and diligently following the doctor's presc