In everyone's eyes, Maureen was like an angel befallen from heaven, bestowing us her inspiring life experience. What else should I expect from someone who loves nothing but attention? For Maureen, her noble image was the most crucial aspect that must be maintained in the meeting, considering she was married to the CEO of Spencer Group and Companies. She was otherwise known as the First Lady of the Empire. Maureen, in her current status, was either feared or well-respected by everyone around her now that a Spencer was attached to her last name. Either way, I'm not scared of her. Neither do I respect her. Well, I respected and even idolized her before, but after finding out her real color, everything changed in the blink of an eye. She was no longer worth my respect anymore. "Of course, there's no way our daughter would hate your idea, Ms. Maureen.", Mom replied on my behalf with a humble smile on her face. "After all, you and our daughter have been friends
The three of us fixed our eyes on the watch shortly. But it was not the watch that caused the commotion - the fact that they both lied to me was. If I didn't get the chance to hear the truth, I could have been fooled for the rest of my life. And I hated that. I hate myself for letting my guard down. "Explain to me what exactly, huh, Ghino?" I sassed furiously, "That even from the start, you couldn't trust me to be your wife, that's why you stabbed me behind my back, or because you had something to do with Don Romualdo's death? Which is which?" Ghino's frown extended from ear to ear. He was looking at me with profound confusion engraved all over his forehead, as though he was feeling skeptical of what was certainly going on. Brother Noah had his point taken. I was also convinced that he played dumb or innocent in this kind of situation to make sure his expressions and actions were conceivable and realistic - to continuously fool us until the very end of his story.
Ghino POV Special Edition Ten minutes ago. "Thank you so much for joining us on this very special day of our marriage, Brother Noah. Sorry for the last-minute call. Truly am. Uncle Dex told me that you were busy with something in his office earlier," I said in the middle of withdrawing urine out of my system. He humbly smiled at me as he slid to the next hanging toilet bowl and spread out his baby-maker. "Nah, it's my pleasure to be part of this kind of event, Brother Ghino. Thank you so much for welcoming my parents with open arms." I slid to the lavatory and rinsed my hands with warm water before I asked, "Umm... Do you think your parents like me? I mean, you knew them better than I do. And I wanted to impress them to have a good impression." Brother Noah followed me shortly to the lavatory and rinsed his hands as well, "First impression lasts." he retorted and I nodded my head in agreement. "Oh, by the way, I booked a presidential suite for all of y
I was supposed to get mad, to lash out my irritation, disbelief, and hatred at Brother Noah, but my respect for him still preceded everything. The last thing I wanted to happen was to pour fuel into the burning fire. Elaine already left the building if I was not mistaken, and I still had a long and rough road to win over her heart again - to convince her that everything they accused of me was nothing but erroneous. So before everything gets out of hand, I preceded Brother Noah in pulling the door open. "If you are planning to tell your parents about this nonsense accusation, I'm not gonna stop you..." "What accusation are you two talking about?" My entire body stiffened like steel when Elaine's father appeared right in front of my eyes. He then scanned my entire face shorty. "And what's wrong with your face, Mr. Frost?" What was more surprising was that he reached out to his son's collar and encircled his arms around Brother Noah's neck. "Did my son do this to you,
Good thing that with just one attempt of persuading Elaine, she managed to read what was running through my bothered mind. I love her more than anyone in the world but I also have an image to safeguard. I cannot afford a single piece of news about me getting leaked to the public. Dylan already has had enough recently. The last thing I wished to happen was to make his head spinning. He was still in the middle of his recovery at the hospital. And I was the one who begged him not to join the formality for both our sakes. The four of us, including Maureen, might not feel comfortable talking and seeing each other in one room. Don't even have the slightest idea about how on earth Maureen appeared in the meeting when as far as I could remember, I never invited her. At least not on my watch. And so was Elaine, I believed. In the middle of our trek back to the main entrance of the restaurant, I begged Elaine to listen to everything I was about to explain regarding her
I heaved an abrupt sigh to help me calm my bothered heart and brain, mirroring myself to Elaine's point of view. Who am I exactly to her? Four months. As far as I can remember, it has been four months since I met and made a deal with Elaine. She was hurting that night on the same day as her birthday. My beclouded life was given a lot of colors on that same day too, needless to say. The moment I laid eyes on her, I told myself that I wanted to be with that woman. Elaine was weeping that night when I found her looking at an expensive car while holding a fist-size stone as though she wanted to get her revenge by smashing the windows, but through my helpless eyes, she was the most beautiful woman I ever met my whole life. A heavenly-made masterpiece if I am to describe her. I already met and had relationships with hundreds of women, young and old, mostly prosperous, including Maureen. But none of them managed to reach out to my cold heart. None of them brought suc
Mom and Dad exchanged bothered glances for about ten seconds as though they were reading each other's minds while waiting for my response, I, on the other hand, took advantage of the deafening silence to gather my thoughts. Neither of my family must know about what was going on between me and Dylan. Never will be. Ghino and I already told them that everything was fine between us. We'll keep it that way until the very end of this marriage. Until then. So I eagerly announced, "It's tears of joy, Mom and Dad. Our family was gathered here today, of course, apart from Brother Noah because he was too busy with his work." "Speaking of that... What about his boss?" Dad frowned as he helped me change the subject. Perhaps he already noticed the tension that was engraved on my face. "What's his name again?" "Dex Spencer," Mom replied on my behalf. "You're getting old, honey. I told you to drink your vitamins every day. We just talked to that man a few hours ago..." Mo
"Are you alright, Miss?" The cab driver inquired of me the second I settled down in the backseat of his car. He then started the engine and took off. I was about to reassure the old man that I was just doing fine but was preceded by the continuous vibration and boisterous ringing of my phone. "Someone? Loved ones?" he scoffed. "Don't waste your tears on someone not deserving..." As the man kept on sharing his life experience, I glanced at the screen of the phone. The call came from Ghino so I slid the answer button right after clearing my throat, the cab driver also shut his mouth to respect my privacy. "Yeah, what's up?" Despite having a hard time coming up with those words, I still managed, luckily, as I kept on wiping the tears in my eyes. "I'm still on my way to the office, Ghino." The cab driver couldn't help but steal a glimpse at me from the rearview mirror. And every time I looked back at him, he quickly shifted his gaze back to the road ahead of us.
"What do you mean you sold everything in our store?" Dad, out of the blue, appeared behind Dylan. He was drunk and was even carrying a bottle of alcohol in his hand. Never in my life, I have seen Dad getting drunk. I heard John Dave came home from school earlier but he was alone. But now he came home drunk. And it made me worried, believing he would lash out at Dylan. "Look, Mr. Fisher." Dylan insisted, ignoring Dad's zig-zag pace and twirling head. "I sold everything in your store..." To our surprise, Dad furiously smashed the bottle of alcohol to the ground with no signs of hesitation even if the fact that any of us might get hurt by it. The shattered sound when the bottle broke into pieces reverberated in my ears. Nervousness shivered down my spine as I remembered the last time Dylan visited the house. Dad, because he couldn't hold onto his anger, pointed the tip of his rifle straight into Dylan's head at that time. I don't want what happened in the past to
One month later. In the middle of our journey back to the province, I put my hand on Dylan's thigh while he was driving to see his reaction. The trip back to the province will be boring so I decided to break the ice. "Uh-ah!" Dylan quickly blurted as though he already knew what I was trying to do. "What?" I asked him teasingly, pretending to know nothing. "Don't do it." He said. "Don't do what?" I asked again, but I was trying harder not to laugh at his expression. His eyes were still focused on the road. "Don't start something you ain't gonna finish ma'am." "What are you talking about?" For the third time, I asked him, and this time, I started to laugh at his partly irritated and funny reaction. My little plan somehow worked out. To tease him. To make him laugh throughout our entire trip. I crazily missed Dylan's smile that much. It has been a month since all our problems have been fixed yet I barely see him smiling. "You know dang well what I
The armored car roared down the desolate road, its engine humming with power. My heart raced, worries and fears cursing through my veins as I gripped the handrail tightly. Our eyes were fixed on the two cars ahead of us. The last image my eyes captured was Maureen and Bernard joining in one car while the rest of them used the other car. "Since when did you know about the truth?" Dylan asked, his voice started to get calm, but the speed of the car kept accelerating. I couldn't let go of my eyes to the road, but Dylan deserved to know the truth, so replied without looking at him, "Since last night. I caught Ghino - I mean, Bernard Scarlette, talking to Maureen over the phone. And I heard his confession with my own ears. He confessed all his crimes." "And they are going to pay for what they did to Dad and Ghino," he answered back with conviction. "I'll use everything to catch them even in hell." So he stepped onto the accelerator and sped up the car twice the spee
"Elaine, can you hear me?" Another voice reverberated in my ears all of a sudden. "It's me, Noah. Listen to me, okay? The result came out. And the man who killed..." "What the hell is going on?" The head of the mission cut off Brother Noah's words. "Stop intervening, Noah. Elaine is in the middle of her negotiation now. We can't stop now." he insisted before he ordered. "Cut off everyone's line apart from mine. God damn it!" "No. Let him talk first. It's part of my plan. I need some information from him," I begged without moving the corner of my lips, and my undivided attention was focused on those men in masks across from me. "Are you deaf or something?" one of the masked men yelled. "Bring us the money." "Elaine, listen to me. What I found out was fucking insane." Brother Noah continued, making it hard for me to decide whether to answer the kidnappers or wait for his confession. "Proceed, Brother Noah. I'm listening, but I can only give you two minutes. We d
I could not believe a murderer just passed through me and acted as if nothing happened. But how? How did it happen? Since when did he fabricate Ghino's face? What did I miss? How come I did not notice it when I got back to New York? Those were the questions that remained unanswered and were running wild inside my helpless brain. Right. I remember now. On the day I went back from Tennessee. The first place that I went to visit was the office. And he wrapped his arms around me the second he saw me. I noticed that his body lost body weight. Ghino, who is in his right mind, wouldn't lose body weight that much in just a month of me being gone. "Are just gonna stand there, Elaine?" The impostor asked again without looking at me. His eyes were fixed on the newspapers he was holding. "Right, Ms. Elaine. Have you forgotten anything?" Lalaine approached me and held my hand to check if something was wrong with me. "Umm... Yeah, I forgot to bring my phone." Luckily I alrea
That was one for a fact. Maureen had every right to debate with Don Romualdo's lawyers as it was completely ridiculous. I mean, who am I to the family? Mr. and Mrs. Spencer simply hired me to be Dylan's secretary, nothing more, nothing less. It also made me wonder why me, a mere secretary, instead of Ghino who comes from their flesh and blood. No matter how hard I tried to think of one good reason to support their claim, my brain couldn't get one. Neither Don Romualdo, when he was still alive, nor Dylan told me about it either. "Please, enlighten us, Attorney," Ghino asked, breaking the awkward stares between me and Maureen. Mr. Vargas then slid a piece of brown envelope across from us. I was about to reach out to it but Maureen preceded me. She checked inside and studied it for a few seconds. All of us, including Ghino, drew several long curved lines while waiting for the piece of paper to drop on the table so we could read it. Instead of waiting, I tried to read
Before that assumption happened, I mustered the courage and broke the silence, "My apologies, no matter how many times, I know, is not even enough to make you feel better. I cannot turn back time either. But it was not my intention to harm them. They were the kindest couple I have ever known my whole life." "But why of all the places had to be my parents, huh? He's a goddamn billionaire. You two could have rented an expensive hotel, run away to other countries, or buy a house. You two were old enough not to know how risky your situations are. Why?" "From the bottom of my heart, I'm so sorry about it, I really do," I replied, my voice barely above a whisper. Then I lifted my eyes to the ceiling to avoid the tears from pouring. "Dylan and I simply wanted to live a simple life, away from those who try to separate us." But no matter how hard I tried begging, stopping the tears from pouring, they were beyond my control. They flooded my cheeks like an open faucet with the ut
Dad and Mom were left with no other choice but to tell me everything Ghino told them earlier. It turned out that based on the police officer's assumptions, those people who killed Mr. and Mrs. Delaven might not heard the latest press conference I made. So they assumed that Dylan was kidnapped to ask for more from the Spencers instead of the five million dollar bounty. However, they advised us to keep an eye on our phones from time to time, believing the kidnappers, whoever they were, would call one of us sooner or later. But I couldn't wait for the kidnappers to call me. Waiting for an hour while doing nothing would be a nightmare for me. So, I asked Mom and Dad that I wanted to go to the farm ASAP to check it myself - to get anything - clues or signs, perhaps Dylan left something before he was kidnapped. At first, Mom and Dad highly disagreed as it was too risky for me to travel back to Tennessee that late. But I insisted and burst into tears because I needed to see M
"Let go of me, you fucking slut!" Maureen continued as she attempted to remove my grip. I know she was not the kind of woman who wanted to get beaten up by someone like me. She would rather use everything in her power to get rid of everyone who dared bark at her or cross her path. Just like what she did to me and Dylan. Maureen was definitely the perfect female version of the devil; arrogant, bigoted, close-minded, greedy, hypocritical, and all the negative traits in the world. She was comparable to a cute and lovely pup in front of you. But once you turned your face and back around, she shifted into a huge poisonous anaconda snake. She will use her tail to encircle your whole body, bite your neck until your blood floods the floor, gets numbed, and begs her to spare your life. That's what she really is. However, I already decided not to get stepped on by someone like Maureen. So I held her hands harder than she could ever imagine. She was about to use her left