Chapter 3

"Is it true that you two are in a relationship? Are you seeing each other secretly?” some paparazzi asked one after another. Darren stood up. He approached Trina and held her on both shoulders while placing his coat on her head.

"Excuse me," Darren said, but no one moved to let them pass.

“Damn it!” Darren cursed weakly because they couldn't leave where they were.

"Excuse me, ma'am. You are bothering our customers. Let's just go outside if possible." The manager of the coffee shop begged, and the other staff also took action to let the paparazzi out. Darren and Trina sat down again when the paparazzi left.

"Look what happened." He held back his annoyance because it seemed that what happened had gotten worse because of their secret meeting.

"Are you blaming me? You know we are in a public place, Darren, so don't blame me. You chose this place, not me."

Darren massaged his temples. Seeing the paparazzi outside, they didn't have anywhere else to go. A few minutes later, their phones rang at the same time.

"Fuck!" Darren exclaimed. He barely hit the table because of what they read.

"Look what you have done! What are you going to do now?" Trina frowned. The photo of the two of them quickly spread on social media and the caption was Darren secretly dating Trina Montenegros. Even though he covered Trina's face, they still recognized her.

Darren closed his eyes tightly. There was nothing he could do.

"I want to cancel this wedding because I don't want to marry someone I don't know and love. Then this is what happened. Oh damn!”

"Then do you want my sister instead?"

Darren opened his eyes and raised his eyebrows as he looked at Trina.

"What? Your sister? I should marry you then.” After saying this, Trina raised her eyebrows because he didn't seem to like her sister. When Darren's cell phone rang, he looked at it and grimaced. It was his Grandfather calling.

"Yes, Grandpa?"

"What are you doing, Darren?! Why can't you wait for the marriage first so you can be with her?!” Darren just closed his eyes because his grandfather thought he secretly met the girl for that reason. "Bring her home and don't let her go alone. She might end up in trouble when the media catches her. Please, grandchild, you can be with her every day while preparing for your wedding. She's beautiful, I know. No wonder you've smitten right away," his Grandfather said teasingly.

They didn't know Darren's real motive for why he met the girl. Because of the media lies become true.

"What do I do now?" He felt stressed again when his grandfather ended the call. He looked at Trina who was looking outside while sipping coffee. He stared at the girl's whole body. It had natural beauty. She seemed to be good-natured compared to her sister.

"Not bad," he thought to himself because his parents chose his future bride well. He just took his coffee and drank it when suddenly a camera flashed in their place. Darren just stopped himself and ignored it. "Let's go, I'll take you home," Darren said after they finished their coffee.

"I can do it. I have a car. You don't have to drive me.”

"But I need to. Something might happen to you on the way home." After saying this, Trina removed Darren's coat which was still on her back.

"Here. Thank you," she said.

Darren put on his coat then they went out together.

"Give me your key."

"Why?"

"I will drive you home. Just give me your key.”

Trina gave her the key because she didn't want to argue anymore.

"Nick." He called his secretary and then threw Trina's key at him. "Drive her car later," he commanded then turned to Trina and signaled her to get on board. He turned around to get into the driver's seat. Trina also got on board and they took the road to Trina's house.

"Do you really hate this kind of setup?" he broke the silence between the two of them.

"Hmmm, just like you, I don't want to get married, especially to a man I don't know and I don't love or have loved. It's hard to trust people these days. I still have many dreams that I want to achieve. Do you think we can escape here?”

"I don't think so, especially now that the media is all over the place about this." Darren sighed problematically. The two of them were silent until they arrived in front of Trina's house. They both went down and she approached Darren before going in.

"Are you still going inside to have a snack?"

"No, thanks. I'm still going to the company." After saying this, they just turned to the newly arrived car. Darren frowned because he knew that car. Its window opened and the rider looked out.

"Aren't you coming in yet? Many will see you here outside. Let's go in." The old Dela Vegas said and the car was brought inside. Darren's jaw tightened because to make matters worse, his plan to stop planning the wedding was interrupted because of those paparazzi.

He looked at Trina, he knew that she was an illegitimate child and that her mother was dead. He couldn't bear to force her to stop the marriage because she had nowhere to go if her father got mad at her.

He just took a deep breath. "Let's go." He took her by the hand and they went inside. Smiling, the people sitting in the living room turned to them.

"Come in," Zack said happily because they were happy with what was happening. Darren and Trina sat in the same seat. Joyce rolled her eyes.

"It's good that you two thought of meeting. Is it so you can get to know each other better?" asked Darren's Grandfather.

Trina only saw him now because he wasn't in their conversation last night.

"Yes, Grandpa. I just want to meet the girl I'm going to marry," confirmed Darren.

Trina frowned when she looked at him. Why did he say that? This was the time for him to say that he didn't want to go through with the marriage between the two of them. But why did he say yes to the old man's question? She didn't understand the young man. She didn't want to get married, but with his answers, he was only making the adults happier.

"So, how are you, grandson?"

"Not bad, Grandpa. She's beautiful. You guys have good taste." Trina was in agony because she was cheated even more. How could they escape the wedding if this was what Darren was saying?

"Good to hear that then. So we have to plan everything. I want to get them married by the end of this month."

"Yes? That fast?” Trina gasped in shock. She thought it was too fast if their wedding was this month too.

"Yes, it is. The faster, the better. What do you think, Zack? Can we make it this month?” the old man asked.

"Yes, Chairman. We can do that."

Trina's shoulders slumped as she remained silent in her chair. She just glared at Darren because what he said made their marriage happen even faster.

"Good," the old man beamed. "Darren, you can stay here first. Don't think about the company as long as you come home later since you are not married yet." Their eyes widened at what he said.

"Yes, Chairman. Don't worry," he just answered.

The old man stood up and said goodbye because he was leaving. Darren and Trina were left sitting on the table with Joyce glaring at her sister. She said she didn't want to get married but she still managed to meet with Darren.

"Congrats," Joyce greeted bitterly. She left and entered her room.

"What did you do?" Trina asked without looking at Darren.

"Just think that I did this for you. Maybe we can plan this soon."

"Soon? Did you hear what they said? The wedding will take place this month."

"There's a divorce paper, Woman. Do you get it?"

Trina was silent. There were divorce papers but they couldn't change the fact that they were both married. Trina just sighed because she couldn't talk to her father about that matter.

"Yaya, give them a snack," Trina's father ordered. "Hijo, hija, go to the garden first so you two can talk more." The two of them just nodded then they went there.

"What else are we going to talk about?" asked Trina. "It's all over. There's nothing we can do to stop this marriage. Do you want me to be a runaway bride?”

Darren looked at Trina. She was determined not to go through with the marriage.

"Don't do that. Do you think you're going to have a home to live in when you do that? Will your father forgive you if you did that? Don't give me a headache, woman."

Trina rolled her eyes. The two of them stayed there but both were silent and seemed to be thinking. But no matter what they do at this point, they couldn't do anything. If Darren had known this was going to happen, he wouldn't have met the girl. He would have just talked to her on the cell phone.

Days passed and almost every morning, Darren picked up Trina because they were preparing for the wedding.

"Trina, get down there. Darren has been waiting for you downstairs," her father said at the door of her room.

Trina came out and Zack just smiled because he still wasn't used to seeing her daughter wear fancy clothes that better suited the girl's beauty.

"My daughter is really beautiful. Young Dela Vegas will definitely be obsessed with you."

"Dad, stop praising me because you don't normally do that to me. You make me uncomfortable."

This made her father laugh. Darren stood up from his seat when he saw Trina coming down the stairs. He couldn't take his eyes off the girl because she was really beautiful. He just couldn't understand why he couldn't see her as a woman. Maybe it was not hard to love her because she seemed to behave well based on what he sees every day.

"Where are you planning to go now?" Zack asked when they got down.

"We need to go to our designer, Uncle," Darren answered. "So we can choose a theme for our wedding."

Zack nodded then handed Trina to the young man.

"You take care of her, Darren. I trust you."

"Don't worry, Uncle." Darren extended his hand and Trina took it before they left their house. Darren opened the door for Trina then the two of them left. They went to their designer who was also a designer at their company.

"What theme are you planning?" Trina asked the young man. Darren took the magazine and looked at it but he also put it down.

"I don't think the theme I want can be followed on our wedding day."

"What theme do you want?"

"All black and then wear a black gown because it's like you're funeral because of your appearance," said Darren which annoyed Trina.

"You know, you're really useless. Do I look dead to you? Well, what if I kill you so that the marriage that will take place will be your funeral?"

Darren grinned because of Trina's reaction. He was happy every time he saw Trina's annoyed face. Trina stood up and then left Darren there who still couldn't get rid of his grin.

Trina was measured by the designers while Darren sat and read a magazine. When he got bored with what he was doing, he approached Trina.

"I thought you don't like this marriage, but I can see that you are still excited. Have you changed your mind because I am the one you will marry?" He couldn't help teasing the girl. Trina couldn't help but clench her fist because the look on this man's face was too annoying.

"And you're the one I'm going to love? I'd rather have my parents reject me than be with you for the rest of my life. Don't worry. One day, I will deliver the divorce papers to you myself. There are going to have many copies for sure. I will feed you all of that.”

When she was finished with the measurements, she faced the one who measured her. "I'll be the one to measure him."

Darren smirked.

Trina glared at him then took the measuring tape and now it was her who grinned.

"Let's start with your neck." After saying this, Trina put the measuring tape around Darren's neck and then tightened it as if she was strangling him.

“Damn!” Darren cursed angrily as he coughed because of what Trina did. "What do you think you're doing?!" he shouted in annoyance.

"Make his coffin seven feet when he dies. I'll pay for everything," she said then she turned her back on Darren who was still holding his neck.

"Damn this woman," he said in disbelief. No woman had ever dared to hurt him but he didn't know what courage this woman had to do those things to him. He's strong at teasing and annoying, but he couldn't seem to accept that he would be the one who would get annoyed in the end. Fuming mad, he threw the measuring tape that Trina choked on him. He stood up straight away and started measuring his body for what he would wear.

Trina said what she wanted to happen in their marriage. Even if she didn't love the man she was going to marry, she could at least make up for everything in their marriage. Even if that was the only thing that would make her wedding memorable.

When Darren finished measuring, he looked at Trina who was still talking to the organizer of their wedding.

"Interesting," Darren whispered with a smile. He found Trina interesting because she didn't agree to be teased so easily.

"Are you hungry, my future wife?" He approached Trina.

Trina turned around because Darren was behind her while his head was leaning on her shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Trina asked, frowning.

"Am I not allowed to hug my future wife?" he asked but there was a smile on his lips. Annoyed, Trina removed Darren's hug from her.

"You're so annoying," Trina said before walking away, leaving Darren's mouth hanging open because of Trina's words.