—Valerie Wills— “I will not marry that old man, dad!” I said, yelling, trying to convince my father. We are currently having our dinner. My father is twitching his pasta with the golden fork in his hand. “We are not discussing this anymore, Valerie. You are going to marry him because that is necessary,” dad said in a calm tone. I throw my stare at my mother who is currently eating her vegetables salad. she just gave me a blank face, meaning she will not be going to help me out of this situation. "I am not marrying him!" "You will! You must," he said. “Dad, he's old enough for me. I am still young. I just graduated from my baccalaureate degree. Now, I am going to marry? It's quite funny! No! It's hilarious!” Dad continually being the coldest man on Earth. He didn't even think that this matter was concerning me and the rest of my life. “It doesn't matter now, Val. Age is just a number. Maybe he's old enough compared to you. But at the end of the day it's his money
He stopped in front of me and took my hand. He kissed it. My soul could feel his lips caressing the back of my hand. I can't say anything. I just kept staring at him. “Miss Wills, how are you? Are you ready for tonight?”When he asked that, I immediately got nervous. It was as if my heart wanted to escape from my chest. “M-Mister Suarez.” Even mentioning his name was like a curse, and I couldn't do it properly. “Don't be too nervous, Miss Wills. Tonight will be fun,” he told me. And then he only let go of my hand after he kissed it again. He sat down and immediately the two men entered. One was carrying a food tray and the other was carrying two goblets and a bottle of expensive wine. There is steak on the plate and pasta as well. My steak was well-done and his was medium rare. “Leave us,” he said to the two men. When the boys were gone, he looked at me. “Don't stare at me that way, Miss Wills. I might think that I committed a crime against humanity and against you,” he said
His lips crept up to the back of my ear and his arms gradually tightened around me. Even though the music was loud, my heart and breath were beating faster as if someone was chasing me. I moaned because of his soft lips that relentlessly kissed the sensitive part of my body. “M-Mister Suarez,” I muttered softly. He distanced himself from me. His arms that were wrapped around my body let go. He held my hand and immediately raised our hands to hold each other. He spins me around. I just closed my eyes while my heart calmed down due to the strength and speed of the heartbeat. My feet are getting lost in passing, they can no longer keep up with the rhythm of the instrumental music. My dancing skills suddenly disappeared. It's like my feet are both left. I regret letting out a low growl earlier. I think he is just playing with me or should I say, this man was teasing me. He was unreadable. Just like he wears a mask, his true personality is also hidden. Who are you, Miste
I was discussing with myself all the way from the event hall until I arrived at home. I went straight to my room and undressed myself. I took a shower and wore my pajamas after. While brushing my teeth, the bristles of the toothbrush were touching my lips and drove me to remember Mister Suarez. From earlier until now, I have always remembered the moment I was kissing him. “Just a fool of you, Val! I hope you didn't let the tension you felt when you were with him caused you to kiss him,” I said to myself after I washed my mouth. Finally, I was on my bed, but my mind was stuck in the moment when I tiptoed and his arms were supporting me while we were kissing each other as if we really had that sincere relationship. I'm so stupid to let him control me. But I hate myself for making me become submissive to that man I just met. I lay down and immediately took my pillow. I covered it to my face and there I released my annoyance. I shouted with my mouth covered with a pil
I walked down from the car and I almost vomited because of what was flashed before my eyes. It wasn't a house. I prefer to call it a palace. The design of this magnificent mansion was incredibly pushing me to feel ashamed to make a move closer to it. It wasn't just tall, wide, and big. But it was extravagant, well built and maintained. The design was more similar to the palace of heaven that I usually saw on television and posters. There were touches of gold that made the light run through every part of the place. My mouth was still open until I heard Martin clear his throat. I look at him. He noticed that I was amused with everything I just saw. “Miss Valerie Wills, why are you so surprised by what you saw? Aren't you just as rich as our master?” “Ah, he's richer than any rich person I knew.” For some reason, I quite understand why among the rich men, my parents dictated my marriage to this mysterious man. He is not just rich but he is very rich. The field around his mans
I was in a white dress, sitting outside the wedding hall where the judge was waiting. I looked up and realized that it was too far from the wedding I dreamed of back when I was a kid. A beautiful and unforgettable wedding—that was the wedding I wanted. But here I am, waiting for my mysterious groom to come to the place where he wants the both of us to be proclaimed as a legal married couple. He doesn't want my parents to come. I asked about his parents the eve I visited his place, yet he seemed to be offended when I opened the topic. I thought that he didn't want to talk about his parents. He might be holding a grudge against them, and so do I! I hate his parents for bringing their son into this world, who eventually will become my husband. I can't! What will happen to me? To us? And to what stage of life will we enter? Marriage has to be serious and sacred. But this! This is an awful thing! Awful than ever! I looked at the little round thing on my wrist, checking what time
Finally, after almost two hours of uncomfortable travel back to his mansion, which is supposed to be my mansion too since we are legally a couple now, I can finally breathe freely. Martin opened the door for us. I gave Martin a smile before I walked out of the car. I exhaled to overcome the uneasy feeling that I suddenly had. I couldn't imagine that I am married now. If it was a nightmare, I hope that I would fall from my bed so that I could be awakened. “Let's go now, Valerie. You will get colds if you keep on standing here all night.” “Y-Yeah.” I didn't mind following him until we got inside this big and wide mansion, where I will live for the rest of my life since I married this man. Our steps echoed in the living room. I noticed that the mansion was quite at peace, as if it were in the desert. “Where are the maids and butlers?” I cocked my head in some directions. “There are a few maids left, and the same with butlers. I don't want many people near me from no
I rotated inside the room while jumping like a child. It was the end of the week since our wedding, and I haven't seen his face. He said his bow and even promised to be the best husband...ever! But damn it! I mean, his definition of “the best husband is giving me incomparable anger!" He assigned a maid to bring my necessities up here. But that maid was prohibited from talking to me. All I knew was her name, and it was Amia. Amia is a good person; I can sense that. She's really a pro in terms of cleaning and giving services to me. It just saddened me that she's not allowed to talk to me. I grabbed the pillow and covered it on my face, and then I shouted at the top of my lungs, releasing the feeling of devastation that this fucking marriage gave to me. “Happy fucking life of a married woman to the fucking infinity! Oh, fucking shit, son of a holy crap, why were you born as the man I am married with?! You're such a fucking jerk!” I screamed again until I could feel the rough text
I was sitting at a table in a popular restaurant. The whole place was closed because the McLadels had booked a reservation with them yesterday. Madame McLadel must be so glad because of the wealth she has now. If it wasn't because of her niece, she wouldn't have experienced this luxurious life that she enjoys. Her company was just a dust before; other investors even disliked it, but look at her now; her self-esteem is high, like that of Signor Suarez when I first managed his company. Yes, it was already high, but it became more fragrant to the investors because of me. And we'll see where Signor Suarez will take his pride if I leave him to build my family. I yawned while stretching my legs under the table. I've been waiting here for a while, but the McLadels are yet to arrive. It's really different when people are so rich; they think they are the most important people. I looked at the watch on my left wrist. I just shook my head when I saw that it was 8:30 PM; they said the meeting w
I am on my way home from my office. On the way, I often peeked outside because I wished to see Valerie walking on the sidewalks or maybe sitting on the steel chairs on the side of the street. Suddenly, a car blocked the way. It's a good thing because I braked immediately. Otherwise we would have collided, which could have caused an accident. I got out of the car to see who shamelessly blocked in front of me. A familiar face flashed before my eyes, looking at me straight to my soul. What I felt was not anger but fear that he would ask where his daughter was. He was in a red suit, and the way he walked at me caused my knees to shiver. Why do I become like this? Why did all the courage I gathered since they fired me from their company and imprisoned me for a sin I did not commit suddenly disappear? “Mister Suarez, it's good to meet you.”“What do you need from me, Mister Wills? I gave you what you wanted. You got a lot of money from me. I guess there's no reason for us to meet and di
I am attracted to her not only because she's sexy or because she caused me to be hypnotized because of her seductive beauty, but because my heart was telling me that Valentina and I were connected even before—because she is my wife. I'm in my car right now, thinking about what Sabrina told me. Valerie made her life very private after I dumped her. My phone made a sound, disturbing my deep thinking about my wife. “Hello, Martin. What's the news?”“Sir, it's really bad news. It's like, in the blink of an eye, our clients retreated together. They say they have found a new supplier of arms. They even said that what that supplier produces is more durable.”“What?! Martín, this can't be! Who is their supplier?!”“I don't know, sir. After they backed out of the deal, they blocked our social media accounts and even the numbers we use to communicate with them.”I sighed heavily. This is definitely my karma because of the people who were killed by the illegal weapons that I produced. I just fe
Martin and I walked back and forth, but we didn't find a skeleton in the place where he dumped Valerie's body. It gave me hope; she was still alive. I looked at the piece of heaven I glimpsed when I looked up under the big trees. “Martin, Valentina is Valerie. My hope grew stronger because there was no skeleton here to prove that she was dead.”“Yes, sir. Ma'am Valerie is still alive. We can even change our mistakes towards her. I can apologize to her after I brought her to this place.”I smiled bitterly. “She will forgive you immediately, Martin. My wife knows that you only did that to her because of my order. It was visible to her that you are loyal to me, so she won't hold a grudge against you; she will definitely be angry with me!”“She loves you, sir.”I turned my gaze to Martin and nodded. “I know. But I'm sure that she has had different feelings for me through the years. And I can't blame her if she hates me that much again.” My tears rolled down my face. I turned to the ot
A few nights passed when Valentina completely cut our ties. She said that the meeting between the two of us will lead nowhere. If I could wear my mask earlier so that she would know that I am her husband, you would have done it. But I hesitated doing that because if she finds out that I and Eldifonso are one, she might get scared and hide again. Yes, she said that we would never see each other again. But I will do everything to always see her. I know that she is my wife, that I did wrong before, that I was angry because of her parents, that I didn't give even a little love to, and that I didn't take care of her despite her love for me. I reached for the half-full bottle of whiskey and poured a small amount into a small glass. I drank the alcohol and sighed after, looking at the dark sky with just a few stars twinkling for it. “Daddy, I can't sleep,” my son said from behind. I put the glass on the table and turned to him. He came to me carrying his Stitch teddy bear. I bent down
Shaking with nervousness, I let go of the curtain. I headed to the living room. I noticed that there was no water there, and only the whiskey is something to be used to water my throat, that the staff was sure to bring here a few minutes before I came. I opened it and drank its contents as if it were just water. I hated her family, I swore that I would never fall for Wills' daughter. But fuck! I fell for her. I know that she introduced herself as Valentina to me, but she is still her, my wife that I killed with my own hands. After I put down the almost empty bite of whiskey on the table, I felt my cheek that was covered with teardrops.How did my wife survive? Before I threw him to Martin wherever he threw him, I made sure that he was really dead. I must be mistaken. Maybe she and Valerie really do look alike. It is impossible for a dead person to come back to life, but if she were my wife, I would be glad so that I could rewrite my mistakes.Out of curiosity, I stared at the powd
I went straight to my office after I delivered Amia and Foval to the learning center. I sat on the swivel chair and turned it around. I was thinking about what Amia said to me earlier. “Me? Loving Valerie? It's crazy!”I just admit to myself that she is beautiful, sexy, and smart. But I can't love the daughter of the people who ruined my life and caused me to lose the only family I have. No matter how many times I die, they will not be forgiven, and I will never forget that family. What they did to me is the reason why I experienced eating leftover food thrown in the trash and eating food spat on by people who don't know kindness. There's no reason to love the fruit of the sinful roots. I stood up and grabbed a bottle of tequila from the double-door fridge in my office. I opened the bottle and poured an amount of alcohol into the glass. I immediately drank the tequila and gasped for air. It was bitter and bold; it felt like it kicked my stomach. “I was jealous of Martin,” I said
When I got home to the mansion, I immediately went to my son's room. I slowly opened the door and immediately peeked at him. He was lying on his side, hugging his Stitch teddy bear. He was really good-looking, like his mother. I came to his bed. I sat next to him and held his little face, feeling his smooth and soft skin. Signor Suarez's threat was haunting my mind. My son would probably hate me if he found out the truth. While I was staring at him, I didn't realize that I was in tears. “Son, I did that because your mommy already knew about my illegal business. Yes, I told her that I will keep you away from her when she gives birth to you, but it's all my words. If only she wasn't a threat to our safety, to my business, and in your future, you would probably be with her.”He moved his lips, making me smile even though my eyes didn't stop producing tears. I can't handle my son rebelling against me when he finds out what I did to his mother. If he finds out what really happened t
When we were inside the room, I sat on the sofa. I let her walk around the room. She was wondering why someone like me could afford this expensive room. “Who are you really, Eli? I've only seen you now in my whole life. You're rich, but you weren't mentioned in the news and magazines where rich people are usually flexed.”I shook my head and stood up, crossing my arms while my eyes were stuck at her waist. “Is it necessary when you're rich to be in the news and in every corner where the names of rich people are posted?”“Eli, that's the way of America! Especially here in Austin, TX. You know that the people who live here are greedy for fame, right?”I scratched my nose because of what Valentina said. It's like she has many personalities that surprise me. When Signor Suarez was training me to pretend to be his grandson, he also taught me how to avoid questions I didn't know the answer to. He said that I should ask back so that the person I'm talking to won't notice me. “You, are