I don’t want to be rude and someone who would break her promises but the fact that Evan Zendejas insulted me made me truly sick, sick of this marriage for convenience and definitely sick of that bastard. He was cruel... He showed me his arrogance twice already and I am sure that he would do it again the very next time we see each other. I was thinking about it the whole time and finally, I have already made up my mind. I have decided not to marry that guy. It would be best to refuse this kind of arrangement so that I won’t feel the burden of becoming his wife. With these thoughts and decisions in mind, I let myself take a rest and fall asleep with relief inside my chest. I have decided to tell everything to my parents. I am certain that they would understand how I feel and will let me refuse the marriage. Or so I thought? “Nathalie! Nathalie, wake up!” I heard my mom’s voice, almost panicking about something I am not even
He’s not just a cruel guy, I guess. He’s also a great pretender, who showed kindness in front of my parents. Since they left us, he already removed his mask. Now, the evil Evan is back. “So what if I am mad at you?” I snorted. I crossed my arms and looked away. My eyes are unwilling to even glare back at him. He’s getting on my nerves! I reminded myself to calm down a bit. I don’t want to make any scene knowing that my parents are here and probably eavesdropping on us or whatnot. For sure, I wouldn’t like what might happen next the moment they hear me yelling at this guy. I heard him chuckle. What’s so funny? It’s strange how he can easily jump from one persona to another. He was just playing an angel role earlier and here’s how he behaves now that we’re alone. “I will make my employees aware that I have a fiancée,” he said in a soft tone. My lips parted as my eyes widened. I glanced back at him. Is
I kept looking at the calling card that Evan gave me last night and it’s funny that I also kept rolling my eyes at it— shoving away the thought of calling him for a lunch date today. If I call him now, that would only show that I am just one of the girls who can’t resist him. He would probably think that I am not mad at him anymore. Well, for the record, I am no longer upset about what happened yesterday. The fact that he visited me here last night and apologized for what he’s done, that’s already enough reason for me to forgive him. I just don’t like it when he speaks full of arrogance. I sighed heavily. I massaged the side of my forehead as I felt so stressed with all these thoughts playing around my head. I am just twenty-two years old, but this marriage for convenience and my soon-to-be husband are both giving me so much headache! I also thought about the details of our engagement and wedding. I have no idea about it at a
“See? I know you just want to make your parents happy. You mentioned before that they have plans for you and this must be your fate. We both know how much they want this arranged marriage to push through and they would be really disappointed if Evan would refuse just because you love your pride that much,” Chandria stated like she was discussing the whole truth. I gulped. “So, are you saying that I have to make a fast move on him? Would it not make me look like a desperate woman if I’d do that?” I carefully asked. She smirked at me and then crossed her arms against her chest. “Nathalie, you are not the one who’s desperate here. You’re not that type of person. The ones desperate would be your parents. You have to keep that in your mind,” she said meaningfully. My forehead creased. Chandria is giving me so many headaches because of her foul mouth! She’s right, though. I am not that desperate. My paren
Due to the intense fear that I felt, I am still shedding tears when we went out of the police station. It feels like all the bad lucks have been thrown out on me. I am scared that my parents would learn about this accident. They will definitely punish me for what I have done. “You are still crying,” a familiar voice behind my back has spoken. I did not bother glancing his way. I do not even have the gut to face him right now. I just want to evacuate to the planet Mars and bury my shitty head in there. I just walked and cried my heart out. I have been wiping my face using my own handkerchief which is totally wet because of my endless tears, and ironically, I still have so many gallons of tears to cry. I felt Evan’s presence at my back. He is still following me even though I am not saying a single word. I do not want to admit the fact that I am still lucky as he was there when I needed him badly. He was the one who fixed this whole thing a
Even once in my life, I have never thought about killing a person out of my anger. Never did I expect to imagine a brutal image of myself being a killer, but this time, I think that’s what I would love to do. I am staring at the man who made me feel worse. Seriously, what exactly is wrong with him? His mouth does not even rest for a bit and kept talking bad things that made me feel more angry and devastated. He’s still in the mood of rubbing all my mistakes in my face instead of comforting me. Does it make him less of a person if he tries to be a little kinder to me? Or, does he loathe me so much that he acts this way? I fisted my hand. He glanced my way as he drove his car and then he flashed a smirk at me. “Would you please stop annoying me?” I asked him, irritated that I can’t even do anything other than throw a dagger at him. My ragged breathing became more evident as the annoyance I am feeling deep within is just eating me up. I am
The next day, I felt like escaping because I have to visit Zendejas’ residence as my parents wanted me to do. With an irritation evident on my face, I was forced to wear an elegant off-shoulder white dress. Once again, my parents have urged me to wear something nice and to apologize to Evan for the mess I have created yesterday. That arrogant man, I could not even imagine myself apologizing to him because he is too cruel to me. I could just simply visit him at his office today however; my parents have learned that he’s on a day off until tomorrow. According to daddy, Riley will be the one to accompany me to Evan’s house and if I’d do something awful during my visit, he would know it immediately. I heaved a sigh and just wore my black stilettos and then I also put light makeup on my face to make sure I am still presentable. Regardless of how I feel about this situation and even though I do not want to visit that ruthless guy, I will still choose to be
Samantha seemed very excited, and I could almost feel my chest tightening because of the sudden fear that eats me up. She asked the housemaid to prepare some snacks, and then as we walked through the pathway that will lead us to the swimming pool area, she kept telling me a lot of things about her brother— things that I am not aware of. She also mentioned that her parents keep asking Evan to announce our engagement very soon. “My brother informed us that he would talk to you about it first. I hope he already did that. Knowing my brother, he is so slow when it comes to this kind of thing,” Samantha added when we arrived in their swimming pool area. I only shook my head. Evan hasn’t told me about this thing yet. Whenever we meet, we only end up fighting because of his attitude issue. Samantha frowned as she shook her head in disbelief. She glanced at the wide swimming pool. I did the same and we both saw the familiar figure of someone having a good di
“Do you still love your first love... I mean that Irish Esquivel? Or have you moved on already?” I carefully asked him. Darn it! This is it! I’ve been dying to ask him a question related to his first-ever love! This is one of the things that make me so anxious. I know I should not be bothered by it given that we’re only doing this whole thing for business but part of me wants to be sure that he already moved on. It’s sort of difficult to be with someone who still has feelings toward another woman. That would be a headache for sure! “Why do you ask? Have you not figured it out when you did some background check on me?” he said jokingly and then he laughed heartily. Oh, this is new... Evan Zendejas is laughing his heart out in front of me. I bit my lower lip to suppress the smile trying to escape my lips. It feels good to see him laughing like this, though. And I like it when he’s like this, kind of loosened up to everything. “My informant can’t find anything that would confi
I sighed in relief when we arrived at the top of the hill where the Tayid lighthouse is located. My lips parted when as soon as I saw the beautiful view of the blue sea from where I am standing. A smile escaped my lips as I feel so amazed to see the entire province of Basco, Batanes from here. It’s really fascinating and it makes me feel at home. I gazed at the left part of the view where there are a lot of hills complimenting the beauty of the sea. The ocean below is very calm and the rock formations are adding up to its real beauty. On the right side, there are mountains, trails, and pathways going to the village and up here. I slowly walked towards the lighthouse. The cold and salty wind blew my hair. I ran my fingers through my hair and placed it on my left shoulder. I looked at the tall lighthouse and I can’t help but feel amazed because it is indeed fascinating. I mean... this whole place is! “Should we go inside?” Evan asked me curiously. I looked at him. He’s standing in
Bea and I have already finished making two pots when I felt the need to go to the restroom. Auntie let me use the restroom available inside their house. After peeing, I also checked myself in the mirror. I put my hair in a bun and wiped the sweat on my neck and forehead. I re-touched my makeup and then went out again. I was smiling from ear to ear but it faded away the moment I saw Evan and Ash talking to Bea and her mother. Evan’s eyes met mine. My lips formed a thin line. With my forehead creasing, I walked towards them. “What are you guys doing here?” I asked them, irritated. Evan’s eyes bore at me. He looked a bit cranky while Ash, on the other hand, was grinning like a professional devil. “We got bored in the hotel so we went here to annoy you,” said Ash which made me feel more irritated. He’s really getting on my nerves! Does it satisfy him to see me pissed off? Evan immediately turned around to face his evil friend. I knew that he gave him a dagger look. I rolled my
“I will call your father to inform them that you are safe. Please don’t do something stupid, Risha. Get some rest,” he said in a lower tone. He went out of my room after that. Still sobbing on my bed, I looked at the closed door he went out from. He’s too cruel! For all I know, he’s going to tell everything to my father so that I would be scolded again once I return to Manila! Oh, my goodness! The next day, I am still in a bad mood and I don’t have the energy to do anything. I don’t even have the appetite to eat my breakfast simply because of two reasons. First, Evan forced me to get up from bed even though I didn’t want to go out and join them. Second, I am sitting at the same table with Ash, the bastard who pointed a gun at my head for fun last night. “Good morning, Mademoiselle!” Ash greeted me with a boyish grin on his lips. “What is good in the morning?” I snorted and rolled my eyes. I picked up the food menu and just looked at the list of food. I don’t give a fuck if I
I wanted so badly to turn my head and look at the guy behind me, however, I can’t do a single move. My knees felt so weak right now. For heaven’s sake, my life is in danger right now! Once he pulls the trigger, and with only one shot in my head, I will be dead... All of a sudden, the faces of my parents appeared in my mind. I sobbed loudly as I remembered all the good memories I have shared with them. In just a minute, I missed their smiles and presence. “P-please... Don’t... Don’t do this... Don’t shoot me... Spare my life, please...” I begged for my life with tears running down my cheeks. The man laughed devilishly. I still feel the gun on my head. His laugh made me tremble in fear. I am becoming so hopeless knowing that nobody is around to help me. I am stuck with this man whom I don’t even know and who would kill me anytime. He laughed once again and I felt that death is really coming after me, so I cried endlessly, praying that someone would come and save me. “Oh, f
I woke up feeling so positive and excited the next day. I took a bath and did my morning routine. I wore a black wrap-around dress partnered with black sandals. I have nothing else to do here in the hotel so I would visit Bea instead and would help them in creating pots! She also agreed with this when we talked before we went home last night. I ate my breakfast at the hotel’s diner alone. After that, I went out and started to walk in the near village where Bea’s place is located. It’s a good thing that I can visit them without the need for a vehicle. I inhaled the fresh air and looked at the hills on the side of the road. I smiled happily as I looked at it. It’s really beautiful and makes me feel calm. I gazed at the far sea and the waves seem to be calm as well. I stopped for a moment and closed my eyes. I held my summer hat when the air blew my hair abruptly. I sighed in relief, thinking of the nicest things I would do today with Bea. “Hi there, Madame! Good morning!” I arrived
I smiled widely as I stood up and walked towards the little machine she is using to create a pot. I am really fascinated by how it moves in a circle slowly while a huge amount of clay of mud is placed in the middle, waiting to be molded by bare hands. I sat on the chair in front of the machine with excitement evident inside my chest. I looked at the young girl again and she nodded her head, waiting for me to try it myself. I slowly touched the clay mud as it moves in a circle. “Oh, my goodness!” my heart almost jumped inside my chest when I felt the clay on my palms. It feels like a single-hand move would destroy the clay into pieces. That scares me a bit! It’s already a bit molded and I do not wish to destroy its form! “No worries, Miss. Let me show you how to do it.” The young girl sat beside me and then she held me in my hands and slowly guided it into the mud. She helped me mold the mud gently and it is working! I laughed a bit when I finally got a grasp of how it works. I b
The aggressive waves were crawling to the white sand shore. It was beautiful and had a good view to see. The cold and fresh air smelled like salted water blowing gently which embraces my whole body, making me shiver yet it feels very relaxing and satisfying. The green-colored Marlboro hills were fascinating too and it made the place so perfect and breathtaking. Even the old houses were built out of pure brick stones beautifully. I could not help but feel amazed and in love with the place of Basco, Batanes. I turned my gaze to the Tayid lighthouse located on the far hills from where I am standing. It is painted white with red lines on the very top. It is too tall and I bet the entire scenic view would be visible from its balcony. I looked at the blue sea in front of me. I felt like the waves are swaying me, making me feel comfortable and relaxed like this place is a true home that I finally found. I arrived here yesterday but I did not have a chance to roam around because my heart
The next day, I could see the excitement in my parents’ eyes because they have already learned that the engagement party will be pushed through by next Friday. I decided to join them in our dining for the breakfast before coming to work. They seem to be so happy, smiling widely as they talked about the details of the engagement, seeing the brightest future they could enjoy as soon as the merge happens. “I will be seeing Czarina Zendejas by tomorrow so that we can finalize the lists of guests. She mentioned that they would be the ones who will organize the event so we have nothing to worry about! They only hope that there will be no trouble and Nathalie would be there to join her fiancée to announce their engagement! I'm just so excited!” my mother clasped her hands in front of me, gushing in glee that their long-lost dream is finally found and in their hands already. My father laughed heartily. “See what is just going on? The Zendejas really loves the idea of getting our busines