THE ONE I LOVE

Kyle walked into his room. He looked at Elena, who had tears in her eyes, and turned back to stare at Samantha as he asked, "What were you doing in my room?"

Samantha ignored his words but kept standing outside the door. He knelt beside Elena who was now sitting on the bed.

"What is it? Why are you crying?" he asked.

He cupped her cheeks and lifted her face so she could look at him, "Come on, Elena, tell me what happened."

Elena wiped her nose, "Your brother's girlfriend said that you're just using me to make her jealous and that she's the one you love. And once she gives her consent, you'll dump me in a heartbeat."

"No, no, no, do not listen to such things. Listen to me, Elena. You're the one I love, okay? No one else. I'm not going to leave you."

Kyle looked at Samantha who was filled with anger. She had waited to hear what Kyle would say to Elena. Initially, she believed that he was doing everything just to make her jealous. But now that he was affirming his love for Elena in front of her, she did not know what to think anymore.

He wiped the tears from Elena's eyes and said, "Look at me, Elena. You're the one I love, and you're the one I chose, okay?"

Elena nodded her head and Kyle held her cheeks and placed a soft kiss on her lips. Samantha could not bear to watch it anymore, so she walked away.

Afterward, Kyle pulled away from Elena and got up. She opened her eyes, got up, and hugged him, "Kyle, I love you so much. I'm so sorry that I doubted you. I promise you that now, no matter what anyone says, I will not believe them. I will only trust your words because I know that when you love someone, you will not doubt them.

I don't know why there are so many people trying to come in between us. First, it was your friend, and now it's your brother's girlfriend. I can now understand why they don't want us to be together, but I promise you that I will never doubt you again"

Kyle smiled and stroked her hair, "Good girl, this is how it should be. No matter what anyone says, only listen to me, okay?"

She nodded and stared at him with a smile on her face, "You're so handsome, Kyle. Maybe that's why even your brother's girlfriend wants you."

Kyle laughed, "Really? You think I'm handsome?"

"Yes, you're very handsome, and I'm sure that's why everyone wants to be with you."

"Everyone?" Kyle was surprised.

Elena nodded.

"And who exactly is everyone?" Kyle asked.

"Well, apart from your brother's girlfriend, there are others who love you and want to date you. There's someone close to me who loves you too."

"Natalie?" Kyle asked as his mind went to the things Natalie had told him earlier.

Elena stared at him in surprise. "What? Why would Natalie love you? She has a boyfriend whom she loves a lot. Most times she claims that she doesn't love him and she'll break up with him, but I know she loves him.

Each time he's upset with her, she would cry, and not sleep well for days."

"Really?" Kyle was tempted to laugh considering how Natalie had claimed to be single and lied that Elena had a boyfriend.

"Yeah, that's Natalie for you. She may admire other guys but her boyfriend is the one she loves. Besides, she knows that I'm your girlfriend, so how can she love you? But wait, why did you mention her name, of all people?"

Kyle said, Well, you did say it was someone close to you and Natalie is the only one I know who is close to you."

Hearing Elena's words, Kyle felt even more guilty. Everyone around her seemed to be betraying her, including him. But what could he do?

"I'm sorry," he said inwardly. "I guess when the time comes, I'll be able to get your forgiveness and make you understand that everything I'm doing is just to get my love back, and all is fair in love and war."

"Okay, fine, tell me, so who is the person close to you who loves me?" Kyle asked.

"Well, my sister, Claire."

"Your sister? Tell me, is she beautiful?" He sat on the bed and took Elena with him

"Why are you asking if she's beautiful? If she is, would you give her a chance?" Elena asked back.

Kyle laughed, "Of course not. Come on, if I wanted to go after girls based on beauty, it means I will have a harem of so girls. That was a joke. I'm just asking because you said she's your sister. Since she's your half-sister and you're so beautiful, I was thinking that there might be some resemblance between you two."

"You really think I'm beautiful? Elena asked.

"Of course, you're a very beautiful girl, Elena. Haven't I told you that before?"

Elena smiled, "Well, I don't know, perhaps you have."

Kyle nodded, "Okay, so what exactly did your sister say?"

"When I went back home to do my chores, they were all talking about how fancy I looked in my new clothes. So I opened up and told them that I got a job here, and Claire suddenly became humble, begging me to help her get a job here. She said that she is in love with you and that she even knows your name."

Kyle laughed, "I don't even know what she looks like."

"I know that which is why she was begging me to help her get a job here. Even when I was in the kitchen, I heard my stepmom telling her that if she got a job here, she should do her best to seduce you and make sure she got married to you because that was going to ensure that she got a better life."

"And you didn't tell them that you're my girlfriend?" Kyle asked.

"What? And have them all pounce on me?" Elena asked.

"They can't do that," Kyle said. "Unless they want to feel my wrath."

Elena laughed, "I just smiled and shook my head. But I still have to ask you, though. My sister wants a job here, to serve during your grandfather's burial. Although she has an ulterior motive, she did ask me to tell Master Kyle that she wants to work here. So, Master Kyle, I'm asking you now, can you employ my sister to work here?"

"Hmm, let me think about it," Kyle said. "I would have employed her, but I don't think there's a vacancy."

"What?! Is there really no vacancy?" Elena asked in surprise.

Kyle laughed, "It's not that. I'm already freaked out by her motives. I don't want to see such a person around me so just tell her that there's no vacancy. I don't need extra hands. I've employed all the people I need."

"Oh no, it's going to be difficult giving her such bad news."

"Come on, Kyle," said Kyle. "There's already so much going on around us. I don't want anything to make you cry, okay?"

Elena nodded, "Okay."

"Come on. Let's go for a stroll."

Kyle held her hand and led her out of the room. They began to walk around the house. He told her about his first crush when he was in high school. She was years older than him, and she was so upset when she found out he had a crush on her.

He told Elena how she slapped him more than once when she heard about it, and he had to run. He became so scared that he began to hide from her and Elena could not stop laughing.

"That's really funny. I mean, running away from your crush? Is it that you weren't man enough to stand your ground?"

"How can you ask me that? Come on, even if I were man enough, how would I beat up my crush? Well, she was probably five or six years older than me. At the time, I just thought she was cool. But now that I think about it, it was really silly for me.

I looked really small, and then she looked so big. Perhaps that's why she got upset. And my friends always made fun of me because of that. Now though, each time I think about it, I just laugh."

"I think it's actually a fun memory. I have a few embarrassing memories of myself too when I was in school," Elena said.

As she shared her experiences with him, Kyle also began to laugh. They kept laughing as they walked towards the pool. He noticed someone staring at them through the window and recognized that it was Samantha.

He stopped the moment he saw her and turned Elena so she could face him. Elena had her back to Samantha, but Kyle could see Samantha from where he stood.

However, he pretended as though all his attention was focused on Elena. He circled Elena's waist with his hands and pulled her closer to him.

Knowing that Samantha could hear his voice, he cupped her cheeks and caressed them, "I cannot wait to marry you and spend the rest of my life with you, Elena."

She smiled, "I also can't wait to be your wife, Kyle. I love you so much."

"I love you too," Kyle replied and crashed his lips against hers.

"This place is not a brothel!" a voice rang out from behind them. "Show some respect for our late grandfather."

Kyle, who was kissing Elena, pulled away and turned. They both stared at Jordan, who stood not too far away with his arms folded. Kyle smiled.

He pretended to look around him and said to Elena, "I just heard a dog bark now. Elena, did you hear that?"

"A dog?" Elena was surprised because she hadn't seen a dog in the compound since she came, and she did not understand what Kyle was talking about.

She listened to hear the sound of barking and shook her head, "No, I don't think I heard any dog bark."

"Come on, a dog barked just now. Are you sure you didn't hear it?"

Elena, who still did not understand what Kyle was talking about, was still trying to listen.

However, Jordan, who stood not too far away, got the memo. He became very upset, walked over to Kyle, and punched him in the face.

Kyle smiled, "I see you have figured out that you are the dog."

Elena's mouth widened in surprise since she hadn't realized that Kyle was referring to Jordan as the dog. She had also felt embarrassed when Jordan said that they were turning the house into a brothel.

She had seen him doing something similar several times when she had visited, but Kyle never seemed to pay attention to them. Kyle smiled as blood dripped from the side of his mouth but when she looked at him, she gasped, "Oh no! Kyle, you're bleeding."

"Come on, Jordan, you know you're a dog," Kyle repeated.

Jordan who was initially about to leave, angrily rushed towards Kyle and punched him again, throwing him to the ground.

As Kyle fell, he kept laughing and repeating even as he lay on the ground, "Mr. Jordan, you're a dog."

Jordan bent over Kyle and wanted to punch him again, but at this point, Elena rushed towards him and began to hit him from behind.

"Stop it, stop it, stop punching Kyle," She cried.

Right at that moment, someone grabbed her by the collar of her dress and pulled her backward, away from Jordan's back.

As she staggered, the person who dragged her, spun her around, and when she turned, she was surprised to see that it was none other than Samantha.

Before she could say a word, Samantha slapped her so hard across her cheek and yelled, "How dare you?"