For a few seconds, Semion and Felip stared at each other with hostility, their glare crackling like electricity. Both men gritted their teeth but remained silent."Oh my goodness!" Celeste exclaimed, shocked as she processed the sudden turn of events. She felt the tension between the two and couldn’t help but cling to Semion's arm.Meanwhile, Lordes grabbed her child with a flurry of agitation. “What are you doing? You shouldn’t speak like that to a guest!” she said apologetically to Semion. “I’m sorry, dear! He doesn’t know what’s happening, so he’s just saying all sorts of things!”Semion was snapped out of his anger and turned his attention from Felip to his mother. “It’s okay, Ma---”“What am I supposed to know?” Felip interrupted impatiently. “From what I see, Celeste shouldn’t be marrying so soon after everything that’s happened because she needs to be extra careful! What if this guy is no different from Darson? Celeste is lucky to be alive now, and now she’s jumping into another
Celeste thought it would be easy to change Felip’s attitude toward Semion by telling him their ‘fake’ love story. Instead, it only seemed to worsen Felip’s mood for reasons she couldn’t quite understand.“Isn’t our love story believable, Semion?” she asked, puzzled, as she dried her wet hair with a towel.She had just finished showering in the small bathroom of their little apartment. She sat on the bed, looked at Semion, who had been fiddling with his phone and was now staring at her with a blank expression.“Why does it even matter?” he asked. “So what if that guy doesn’t believe it? What can he do to stop the wedding?”Celeste was momentarily taken aback. Was she imagining it, or was Semion really in a bad mood?“It’s not that,” she said. “But he’s like family to me, so it would be easier if he understood my side. Plus, Val said they don’t want any objections to our marriage. What if that ends up making them suspicious of our relationship?”“Tsk, I still don’t see the point.” Semion
“D-Darson… p-please don’t…”As usual, at precisely four in the morning, Semion was awakened by Celeste’s faint whimpers while she was deep in sleep.He turned on his side to look at her face. Cold sweat had gathered on her forehead, mingled with the moisture clinging to her long, thick eyelashes.“Darson…” Celeste’s face scrunched up in distress, her body trembling.Semion watched her with a cold, expressionless face. He left her like that for a while, unlike before, before he wrapped his arms around her and held her close.“I’m here,” he said without much emotion, gently smoothing her hair.“Hmm…” That was when Celeste seemed to relax. Her trembling and whimpering stopped.Semion closed his eyes again.On their first night sharing the same bed, he remembered how much worse Celeste’s sleep disturbances had been. He didn’t know what to do since nothing would wake her up. So, he simply held her, and only then did Celeste stop calling out for her former husband.When he asked her about it
“Luca, don’t be rude. Eat your vegetables,” Valentina whispered to her brother when she saw him just playing with his food.Luca whispered back to his sister, “I don’t get it. Rice and vegetables for breakfast? It feels like lunch.”“What? It’s a typical Filipino thing. Rice in the morning, noon, and night. You’ll need to adapt, since we’re not at home. Just eat your food.”With a pout, Luca reluctantly tried the vegetables with his rice. He thought it wouldn’t taste good, but was impressed when he tasted it. “Wow, what kind of vegetable is this?”Little Luca’s question was overheard by Lordes, who responded despite talking with Celeste. “That’s adobong talbos ng kamote, dear.”“What? I thought adobo only came with chicken or pork. There’s something like this too?”“Oh yes, dear. Out here in the province, you’ll find all sorts of different dishes! They’re delicious even if the spices aren’t expensive!”“Really?” Luca’s curiosity was piqued. “But too much rice might make me fat. I want
At Semion's Residence…“They killed them all,” Celeste uttered weakly after Diego handed her a document on Semion’s orders.“Yeah, it seems that eliminating lives is the easiest solution for the Allegra family,” Semion said, sipping red wine. “Your family lawyers, estate planners, accountants, and financial advisors—they’re all dead. And it can’t be just a coincidence because, according to the autopsies and investigations, they all died in car accidents—drunk driving, brake failure, rollover accidents, and even distracted driving. All ridiculously related! They didn’t even try to change their strategy.”“Even my parents and my brother were in car accidents,” Celeste rubbed her temples. “What are we going to do? We need them for the documents related to our family’s properties and assets. How can we prove the land is ours without legal documents?”“Well, before that,” Semion signaled Diego to hand Celeste another stack of papers. “These are the things you need to know first. Demetrio a
[FIGHT BACK, Don’t Be Afraid!][Kick the Allegra Family Out of Land That Isn’t Theirs!][You Will Not Silence Us!][Justice! Justice! Justice for All the Farmers They Massacred!][WE WILL FIGHT, WE WILL NOT BACK DOWN!]Governor Demetrio Allegra stared in shock, his mouth hanging open as he watched the news broadcast of the farmers rallying on their land, live on television.“Governor!” His secretary rushed to his aid as he felt light-headed and lost his balance.Demetrio grabbed the edge of his desk while the secretary supported him. “T-Turn off the screen now!” he ordered angrily.“Of course!” The secretary quickly grabbed the remote and turned off the TV.Demetrio’s broad chest heaved up and down as if struggling to catch his breath. His heart pounded loudly, and he felt all the blood rush to his head.“Quickly, contact that damned CBN production and get them to take down the news they’re broadcasting now!!” he yelled at the secretary, full of rage.The secretary, flustered, rushed
“We absolutely cannot do that. We can’t kill Celeste, Dad.” Darson firmly opposed his father.Demetrio’s eyes blazed at him. “What did you just say? Why? Do you have feelings for that woman? Are you seriously kidding me right now?”Before his father could lunge at him in anger, Darson quickly explained. “Do you really think they’ll be silenced if Celeste suddenly disappears in this kind of situation? It’ll only make things worse and put us in even more danger. Use your brain; this isn’t the time to act rashly. The Lombardis will only become more determined, and it’s likely we’ll end up being the ones who get taken down in the end!”He saw his father’s jaw tighten, but it didn’t scare him.When you think about it, what he said was true. The Lombardi family had already threatened them after publicly humiliating them, which showed how serious they were about protecting Celeste.Right now, Darson couldn’t think of any other reason why those farmers were back in the news except that Celest
*BANG*BANG*BANG*“Clean everything up now,” Semion ordered coldly to his men after firing his gun at the three men who had attempted to kill him.“Yes, Boss!” His men quickly set to work clearing away the bodies.“Hold my gun, Diego,” Semion said, handing his gun to Diego before wearily heading to his underground hideout office.Unlike his lavish office at his mansion and company, which sparkled with gold and diamonds, this office was the exact opposite. It was stark and dark, with only black decor, and the walls were lined with various weapons and torture devices.Semion slumped into the large black leather chair, propping his long legs up on the desk before pulling out a black cigarette and a lighter.He remained in that position, as if trying to relax, but every sigh he let out revealed that something was troubling him.“Boss, are you okay? You've been sighing a lot today,” Diego asked with a frown. “And you're acting so impatient. You didn’t even toy with those guys; you just kill