Chapter 2

She just lay down in her bed when the Dela Vegas family got home. She didn't say much but it was still a different feeling to be put in the hot seat. That young man seemed to be kind but it also felt like he was hiding his true feelings. Why did he put shrimp on her plate earlier? She wanted shrimp because it was one of her favorites. Was it too obvious that she wanted to pick shrimp?

"It's embarrassing," she said to herself. She just covered her face with a pillow because she was still embarrassed to this day. It seemed like she was too obvious earlier for Darren to notice it.

"What? Are you excited about that?” She turned to the door when her sister spoke so she sat on the bed.

"No, why would I be thrilled?"

"Since you're getting married to Darren. I'm always happy every time daddy makes you do something but I'm not happy now! Why, of all the people who can marry you, why should it be Darren?! Why not just me?”

Trina chuckled. "If you really want to marry him that badly, why don't you talk to daddy? That way my life would be peaceful too."

"You're pretending you're not happy, but the truth is you're excited. It's so obvious! If you really didn't want to marry him, why didn't you refuse?”

Trina just sighed. It looked like Joyce was head over heels for that guy.

"I did. I told Daddy but I couldn't do anything. Why don't you talk to Daddy that you will be the one to marry him? That way I'll be happy with you, Sister," she just answered softly, and then laid down on the bed.

She didn't want to argue with her sister because they always end up fighting. Then she would end up getting scolded because she was the only one who didn't seem to belong to this family. Her father wasn't angry with her all the time. He was kind but he always prioritized business over his children's feelings.

Trina heard the door slam shut.

She sleeps in a soft bed and eats delicious food. She has everything but it always seems like something is missing. Something is missing in her heart. All she needs was support and love from her family, but she would never experience that again.

Joyce went down the stairs and went straight to her father's office in their house where she knocked. When her father spoke, she entered.

"What do you need to come to my office at this hour?" he asked while still looking at the laptop.

"Why Trina? Why did you let Trina marry Darren Dela Vegas, Dad?!”

It caught her father's attention so he turned to her.

"And what do you want, Joyce? You want me to send you and marry him instead? Every time I ask you to do something, you always point to Trina. And there Trina is, always the obedient one. Why would I bother asking you if you'll just point Trina again?"

"But, Dad, this is different from what you usually tell me to do. Why didn't you try to talk to me first? I might agree, right? Like now, I'm willing to do that, so I wish you would have at least talked to me first."

"Stop pretending like you care about my every decision, Joyce. Trina always follows me. She will complain, yes, but she will follow in the end. I've tried to talk to you, but you're hard to please. You want to follow because you like that young man, right? If that's the reason why you'll follow me this time, because it will benefit you, I won't talk to you anymore, Joyce. I will still talk to Trina and I will let her marry the young Dela Vegas, so don't talk to me about your sister's upcoming wedding. Now, leave,” her father asked softly.

Joyce left the office annoyed.

Zack just shook his head and continued what he had been doing.

Emily saw that her daughter left her husband's office angrily so she entered it as well. Zack felt his wife enter but he didn't look at her and continued typing on the laptop.

"You planned to make peace with the Dela Vegas. Why didn't you tell me?"

"It was also sudden when the Dela Vegas asked me if I wanted to merge with them. I agreed and that was the only exchange, to marry their son to one of my daughters," he answered while continuing to work.

"Why did you immediately think of Trina? You know that she is only your illegitimate daughter. Isn't it embarrassing to marry her to them? It's a big shame for their family, Zack."

Zack's anger was restrained because of what his wife said. Whether it was an illegitimate child or not, there was no shame in that. His mistake was not his daughter's fault.

"You are in favor of marriage because Joyce likes that young man? When did your daughter listen to me, Emily."

"You might not convince her sometimes, but you're not sure about other things, right?"

"Like this? Is that so? Even if I told you sooner, I will still be talking to Trina. I have the same story with Dela Vegas but they find Trina different from her sister. I didn't say embarrassing things about Joyce. I just said that she is more active outside than Trina who is always inside the house. They like Trina for their son even though they haven't seen her yet. I told them too that Trina is my daughter from another woman but they don't care about it. So why are you more worried than the parents of the future groom?"

"But isn't Trina against the marriage?"

"Whether she likes it or not, you can't do anything about my decision. Joyce is not more interested in business than Trina. Mr. Dela Vegas also asked me what the two of them are interested in. When he found out that Trina likes drawing clothes, he also said that I should marry Trina to Darren. It's not just me who wanted Trina but also the Dela Vegas family," he explained more but Emily laughed and looked at her husband in annoyance.

"Since she is the daughter of the woman you are obsessed with, you prefer a good life for her because you want to make up for it. You're so unfair, Zack!” she exclaimed, annoyed.

"Stop blaming Trina, Emily! I made a mistake. I admit that, but I have never been unfair to my children."

"Because that was your mistake and you won't regret it! Because you loved that woman, you now love your daughter even more even though she is dead!"

"Stop with your dramas, Emily!" he said angrily. He even punched his table because his wife was starting to do the same. It's been a long time since that happened but until now he still opens up about the mistake he made.

"I regret that I cheated on you before, but I never regret that Trina became my daughter. From the beginning, I gave Joyce everything she needed but Trina experienced all the difficulties in life. Shall we still argue about this, Emily? We are no longer children for such things. If it's just because of the marriage that's why we are doing this, ask the Dela Vegas instead to cancel their wedding and tell them that you want Joyce and Darren to get married," he said, annoyed. And then he sat on his chair and faced the laptop again.

Trina was outside the door. She didn't go through with her knocking. She just smiled because she thought that her father didn't love her because she always treated her coldly. She just didn't notice that her father valued her too.

'I never regret having Trina as my daughter.' Those words echoed again in her ears. It was nice to hear when her father defended her.

She filled her jug with water and then went back to her room. Even if they didn't often have time with her father, it was enough for her to know that he cared for her at least a little. She was happy with that.

She closed her eyes and went to sleep with a smile on her face even though she was still thinking about the marriage that would happen even if she didn't want it.

The next day, she left her room and went straight to the kitchen, where their maids were preparing breakfast. She sat down and caught her father reading a newspaper. Even though they were in modern times, he still loved to read the newspaper.

"Milk, ma'am?" the maid asked Trina. She shook her head.

"I bought you a lot of new clothes, Trina, as well as heels because when you get ready for the wedding that's what you will wear. You will be with that young Dela Vegas. As for you, Joyce, I put money in your account. Buy what you want to buy because you might not like what I'm going to buy," her father said.

"Thank you," Trina answered.

Joyce rolled her eyes because she still hasn't accepted that Trina would marry the man she wanted for a long time. If only she had known that this would happen one day, she would have done what her father asked her to do. Because from the beginning, she was the one who he always ordered around. But she always tells him to let Trina do it since she wasn't interested in his business.

After they finished eating, Trina went to the garden. She just looked at her cell phone when it beeped. She frowned when she saw that the text was from an unknown number.

We need to see each other now. Exactly 9 am in a coffee shop nearby in your company. If not, you will not like what I am going to do with you. Do not associate with anyone.

-Darren

She read the text from Darren. What are they going to talk about? And where did he get her number? And who was he to order her around like this?

She was tired when she looked at the time. It was eight o'clock so she only had one hour left to dress up. She got up and went to her room to take a shower. She even noticed the scattered shopping bags on her bed so she opened one. Since she didn't like to buy her clothes even though her father gives her an allowance. It was better to save so she could pull something out when needed. She wore the clothes inside the shopping bag since most of her clothes were used and old.

She stayed in her bathroom for thirty minutes before she got out and got dressed. All the things her father bought were beautiful and it seemed that they were even tailored to fit her body. She looked at the heels there. She only took a 3-inch one because she would probably regret wearing something higher later.

When she finished, she left her room. Her sister was sitting in the living room and looked at her.

"And where are you going all dressed up?" It was a straight question.

"I'm just going somewhere for a while. I'll leave you for now."

"Whatever! Do whatever you want. If you want to, never come back. That's fine too," she said and then turned her eyes to the show she was watching.

Trina went out and got into the car that she rarely used. She didn't pay attention to what her sister said.

She just looked at her watch when she got stuck in traffic. It was only five minutes and the young man might be there. It was like he couldn't wait. Since he called her out of the blue, she couldn't do anything because the road was jammed. When she got out of the traffic, she quickly drove her car until she reached the coffee shop that Darren was talking about. She went inside and looked around. She just turned to the other side when someone waved and saw Darren with raised eyebrows.

"Sorry, just stuck in traffic," she apologized then sat down.

Darren called the waiter first and then ordered something for them to eat. He didn't speak at first. He looked at Trina's whole body and he saw her beauty and then he grinned.

"Girls are always girls. Did you put on makeup?" he asked, causing Trina to laugh because of his confidence to say that to her. She just followed her father on what to wear. She didn't put anything on her face except for the lip tint on her lips. She was just naturally beautiful.

"What do you think of me? Does it look like I like you? Hello, I think you overdid it with arrogance. Please take it easy because you're the only one who will embarrass yourself in the end. What are you expecting? That every woman will like you? Well, not me.”

"Then why did you accept this marriage?" he asked. They turned to look at the waiter who had just arrived.

"Enjoy, ma'am, sir," he said before leaving.

Trina returned her attention to the young man. "What about you? Why did you agree to this marriage? Why are you asking me when you agreed to the marriage yourself? Hmmm?”

His eyebrows raised at her retort. Darren looked at Trina in annoyance because of her answer.

"I'm not going to waste time anymore, woman. I want you to tell your parents that you're going to cancel the marriage." After saying this directly, Trina smirked because she was finally not the only one who didn't like this marriage. She had an ally.

"As far as I know, it was your parents who approached my father. Why didn't you talk to your parents?"

"Why do you keep on returning my questions to me?" Darren tried to suppress his anger.

"Because even though you can do it yourself, you're still asking me to do it. You're the guy but you're still talking to me? Let's say I talked to my Daddy and he didn't agree. What are you going to do? Aren't you going to talk to your parents anyway?"

"You're worthless," Darren said. He thought he could count on her, but she just returned everything to him.

Trina glared at Darren. "You do it if you want to because even if I talk to my father, nothing will change. I'm telling you because I was going to talk to him last night but I heard my stepmother arguing about the wedding and he's not willing to cancel it," she said.

Darren sighed. "If you won't say anything else, I'll leave," he said but before he could stand up, flashes from the cameras blinded their eyes. They looked at it at the same time and their eyes widened when they saw the paparazzi.

“Damn!” Darren said weakly as they took pictures of them one after the other. Darren quickly removed his coat and blocked Trina's face but it was too late.