CHAPTER 3- THE MARRIAGE PROPOSAL

At the mall

Katleah had just exited the employee entrance when she noticed a tall, muscular man approaching her. 

She had never met him.

She isn't that significant. Why would anyone be interested in her if she didn't have any money? She ignored him, thinking she was overthinking, but why did she still feel the man was following her? She looked at him.

"Are you following me, Mr.?" She asked the man right away.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, but the boss would have invited you to eat dinner outside. He said he just wanted to talk to you," the man said hesitantly.

"Huh? B-Boss? Oh, sir, perhaps you approached me by mistake." She immediately turned her back on him.

"No, ma'am. Aren't you Ms. Katleah Sanchez?" the man replied, still following her.

She halted in front of the man and said, "It's me. Why is your boss interested in me? "

"Come along, ma'am, so you can find out," he continued to persuade her.

Katleah was perplexed by this man's alleged boss, so to find out who this boss was interested in talking to her, she drifted to what he wanted. They got into a black Maybach, and she was nervous about what might happen later.

She is new to Manila and doesn't know much about it. She was thinking of what she'd do to defend herself if they did something terrible to her. If that happens, she can use what she learned in taekwondo in high school.

The car halted in front of an opulent restaurant near the sea. This place's beauty and atmosphere wowed her. Everyone here was nearly wealthy and a business magnate in the country. She felt embarrassed to go in. She appeared to want to leave because everyone who entered wore formal and elegant clothes.

"Should I return home? Wait, why did I forget I had nothing to go home to later? My suitcase is still there. I have to take it back from Mrs. Bebang's store. Oh! No, she might doze off later. So, why did I come here in the first place?" She blamed herself, but the thought struck her right away.

"Anyway, it's okay, I can now get free food, even if only tonight," she told herself.

"We have arrived, ma'am. The boss is already waiting for you inside."

"Brother, I have a problem. Isn't it a shame I'm wearing this? I'm still dressed as a saleswoman." She inquired shyly.

"That's fine, ma'am; no worries. It doesn't matter what you're wearing; what matters is that you speak with the boss." He comforts her.

"Why is this boss so enigmatic? What exactly does he expect from me?" She thought to herself.

Despite her shyness, she went inside and noticed many pairs of eyes staring at her as she passed. She ignored their thoughtful looks. The waiter led her to a private room surrounded by crystal walls, which stunned her as soon as she entered. Her gaze landed on the man sitting on the couch, staring at her.

"Shocks! What the hell happened?" She chastised herself when she realized the man who had invited her to dinner was the man she despised and didn't want to see again. As he stood up and approached her, her heart rate increased. ''Shit! that this man conned me," she cursed.

She was about to flee when he suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

The tightness of his grip on her made her wince. She was irritated as she looked at the man.

"Let me go! What the hell happened? You! what!? Do you want to be slapped once more? "She shot back at the young man.

Marco's brows furrowed in response to the woman in front of him.

"Why is this girl so grumpy? I have yet to say anything. Do I appear thick in her eyes?" Marco, surprised, kept asking himself.

"Woman, easy. Take it easy...how can we talk properly if you're not listening to what I'm saying?" He quickly explained to Katleah.

"You appear to be easy! What happens next? You're going to say I'm an easy woman. A dragging woman, that this is another of my ploys to get close to you? Huh! No way!! I'm leaving right now." (Even though, in her mind, she has nothing to go home to.) "Your dinner is all yours! I might even owe you!" She yanked her hand away from Marco's grasp.

"No... hold on!" Marco restrained the lovely woman. "Sorry, Katleah! Okay? Please accept my apologies for anything I said to you previously." He even went so far as to make himself cute while saying the word sorry.

Katleah couldn't decide whether to laugh or be angry at this man's apology, and he had no intention of letting go of her hand.

"Ah!! Is it me who's playing tricks here, or is it you? Because, even if you're sorry, I believe you have a lot of tricks hidden inside your clothes. "Say what you want; tell me so I can go home," she grumbled.

Marco had given up on the woman in front of him's chatter. He said sorry, but she still didn't believe it.

"Do I appear to her as a clown? I believe her body is too fiery. I believe she was conceived of a tiger while still inside her mother's womb. Keep your cool, Marco. Keep your rage under control because you are the one who needs her." He reminded himself of this.

"What happened? Should I expect you to be flabbergasted? Are you going to remain silent? Will we just stare at each other?"

"Can you come inside first, Katleah? Other customers are staring at us outside, especially since you're still dressed in uniform; unless you don't care what they say, it's okay to talk here because you don't want to eat either." Katleah realized he was correct after hearing his response.

Katleah looked around at the many customers who were staring at them. She is unaware of their sentiments about the two of them. She dashed inside and sat on the couch to hide her blush from the embarrassment she had caused by raising her voice earlier.

Marco smiled inwardly at the girl's reaction. "Place your order for whatever you'd like to eat." At the same time, he handed the menu to Katleah.

Katleah is not ignorant of the dishes on the menu because she previously worked in such high-end restaurants in the province, allowing her to order a lot.

Marco only smiled. Can you eat it all? "He asked the girl.

"'Sure. My stomach is small, but there is plenty of room for food inside. On the other hand, why are you concerned if I don't consume everything I ordered?  Surely I can place an order and save the rest for later consumption? Right? Is it not free? It's not going to happen again tomorrow...hehe "She replied to the man with dead malice.

Marco shook his head in response to Katleah's reasoning. He expected her to be hesitant to eat earlier, but she had the most orders. "Tsk.Tsk." But he didn't make her look pathetic. He was only thinking about himself at the time.

Soon after, the waiter arrives to deliver their order. They both ate quietly. Katleah was the first person to speak up.

"By the way, what is the important thing you're going to tell me that you had to bring me here?"

Whoops, I forgot about myself." pointing to herself, "You are already familiar with me and my name. I'm not surprised because you're wealthy. You could have me look into your men, but it would be unfair because I don't know you yet. I don't even know what your name is." Katleah said one after the other while chewing food in her mouth.

"Mhmm. Why does this woman speak in this manner? My business partners and competitors would not dare to speak in front of me this way, so why does this woman seem to live in her world where she is free to do and say whatever she wants to me? But why am I not enraged by this? Isn't it even cuter that she spoke such things to me?" He shook his head at his thoughts.

He has no control over the woman in front of him. He figured that she must be why his business failed in the end. But he must give it a shot to see if she is the woman he will one day marry. He persuaded himself.

He took his license and handed it to Katleah.

"This is my form of identification in case you have second thoughts and claim that I made up my name." he gave the girl a card at the same time.

Katleah carefully examined his identification card. Her eyes seemed to well up with surprise, and she couldn't believe that the man she despised was the country's Business Magnate.

"Oh my!! Goodness! "She thought to herself. "Ahem. I've had bad luck. I've added a lot of tangles to my life, "She pondered. "

But she pretended she didn't recognize him.

"So, your name is Marco Dela Vega, which is a nice name. What exactly are you going to tell me?" Katleah acts as if she is not guilty.

Marco frowned as the girl spoke.

"This girl is awful. What mountain did she grow up on, and she still has no idea who I am?" He questioned himself, but he still tried to explain what he meant.

"Marry Me," he said flatly.