He slowly undressed my gown until nothing was left on me. While I was looking at him, call it absurd, but Dylan's face suddenly flickered into my eyes and his name remained in my heart. Partly startled, I grabbed the blanket and covered it around me. Then I jumped out of bed "What?" he frowned before he reached out to my hand and pulled me closer. "I'm so sorry, Ghino," The tears in my eyes began pouring down my cheeks. "Don't know. I'm a little scared." "Was it because this is your first time?" he asked, his voice started getting calm. He tapped the surface of the bed next to him, telling me to sit down. I noticed that his aggressiveness earlier began to subside. His forehead and neck were covered in sweat, ejecting the alcohol content out of his body. So I dropped my butt on the bed next to him. He was already sober so I started to trust him again. "We can't if you're not ready yet, Elaine." he said, "You're scared and hesitant, right?" After getting my n
Dylan headed to the secretarial office, not to bid farewell to Dust and Jennifer, but to pack my things voluntarily. Both of their jaws dropped to the floor with their eyes fixed on him. "I'll take it from here, Mr. Spencer," I snatched the iPhone tablet and purse from him before he could carry them all by himself to the nearest elevator. "This meeting with the Singapore branch was a last-minute notification, so I'm afraid we don't have much time to get back to our respective places to pack our things," Dylan answered back, "We better get going 'cause we only have one hour and thirty minutes left not to be late for our flight." He slid to the doorway scanned the room for about ten seconds and stopped at me. "Don't worry about clothes, personal hygiene, or anything you need. I already reached out to our people there." "Please, take good care of the office for three days. Don't forget to call me if you guys have questions or concerns, okay?" I spoke up as I checked
"It's a long story, but I'm afraid we don't have the luxury to discuss the case right now. Instead..." Dylan suddenly tossed me his iPhone tablet. "Take a look at them." On the screen of his tablet were a list of images, and photos of individuals to be precise, whom I believed were part of Don Romualdo's shareholders Spencer Group, and Companies in their Singaporean branch. Even if I am not part of the old man's team, I was quite familiar with most of them because Dylan showed me their files about two years ago. If I am not mistaken, most of them were Don Romualdo's enemies. Wait. Do they have something to do with Don Romualdo's death? I stealth a glance at Dylan, allowing me to see his profound mood while looking ahead of us. I can tell that a lot of things were bothering him as well. After a few minutes of scanning his tablet, and reading every piece of their information, we hopped out of the car and bolted to the hotel in front of us. The first thing that caught my attention wh
"All right, right in front of everyone, I am going to pour everything inside this box." Mr. Morgan announced the second he picked up one of those papers scattered on the table. "We will start the counting of the votes. The first vote goes to... APPROVED." Even though it was still the first vote, Dylan could not deny the anxiety that was written all over his face. I could even catch a glimpse of the continuous trembling of his shoes under the table. "Here goes the second vote," Mr. Morgan continued, "The second vote says, APPROVED! Two for Disapproved while none for Approved." This time, I started to feel anxious for Dylan when he started biting his fingernails. It was supposed to be the first two votes but Dylan's world started falling into pieces. I started to wonder what he might do if he heard another disapproved of the votes. And there are thirteen more votes to count. Mr. Morgan suddenly cleared his throat as though he was removing the cold air that stu
Instead of an honest response or reasonable explanation to defend his wrongdoing, Dylan simply stared at me in the eye. Emptiness dominated his once-expressive eyes. A part of me wanted to believe that he was simply drunk or was carried by the sensation or good ambiance of the room after consuming three glasses of wine, but no. He was sober and knew what he did as he kissed me. While I was mirroring his profound stares, my entire body was frozen like still, and my lips yearned for more. Shit. What are you thinking, Elaine? One time when he passed out in my apartment, I kissed him once before and expressed my feelings. Even if he asked me about how to take responsibility for my actions a few days after that, he still ignored my confession and still treated me as his best friend and secretary. Nothing more. Nothing less. Then he kissed me again instead of an explanation, this time, he possessed a bit of aggression. The worst part, I closed my eyes and simply let hi
"Elaine, my brother's calling, should I answer the phone for you or just do it?" My soaked and naked body almost stumbled to the floor as I attempted to catch the soap that slipped off my hands after hearing Dylan's name loud and clear. Ghino knocked on the door before he added. "Are you all right, Elaine? I heard a thudding sound just now. I'm coming in." "No, I'm fine." I lied even if I was not. "Don't answer it. I mean answer it for me, please!" "Am I gonna answer it or not?" he asked again, still ignoring the phone that kept on ticking in our ears. I have the worst call ringtone in the world so it was easy for me to recognize it was my phone. "Of course, everything's fine, Ghino. Please, give me the phone. he might be looking for me now." I retorted before slightly opening the door and asking him to hand over the phone to me. Good thing Ghino differed from me who dared and attempted to invade his privacy by attempting on unlocking his phone. Mine didn't h
Ninety percent of me wanted to remove the diamond ring from my finger and leave the hotel room when I didn't know what to believe anymore. The remaining ten percent of me wanted to confront Ghino about his relationship with Maureen - to get to the bottom of everything. Seeing them together back at the birthday party of one of their friends was already suspicious. Maureen knowing everything about the diamond ring on my finger was also suspicious. It was as if she was with Ghino when he brought the ring for me. I don't even know if that necklace we won from the auction was actually bought by Dylan or not. Or perhaps Ghino told me his brother brought the necklace from him intentionally so that I would not get suspicious of them, but instead, he gave it to her voluntarily. How am I supposed to know that? All I knew was that everyone was lying to me. Everyone had their respective secrets they chose to keep to themselves. My brother, Maureen, Dylan, and now Ghino. "E
Ghino's confession got me stunned and dumbfounded to the point that the purse slipped into my hands and fell onto the floor. A part of me wanted to reach out to the purse but my entire body hardened like steel in disbelief. I could not believe the person behind Don Romualdo's death, whoever they were, could do such a heinous crime to make sure Mrs. Nacua and her family could say nothing about the killer's identity and what they did. What was more repentant and annoying was that Noah and I seemed to be the last people they talked to before she died. If and only I had the means to provide them with their demands, she could still be alive. "Here's your purse, Ms. Elaine," says Ghino's secretary before she asks, "Are you all right?" Everyone in the room, including Ghino, fixed their worried gazes at me. Ghino reached out to my forehead to check my temperature. However, my body temperature wasn't burning, but freezing instead. "Are you all right, Elaine?" Ghino sec
"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