"Thank you. Just give me a second, am gonna have to answer this outside." I stealth a kiss on Ghino's cheek to make sure he could not afford to get mad at me, especially when the call came from his rival. Then I looked for a perfect place outside where Ghino or anyone from the boutique store could not give attention to me talking to Dylan. "What's up? I can't talk much right now. Ghino gave me three minutes at most." "Hey? It's me, Elaine," Brother Noah's trembling voice rumbled in my ears instead of Dylan's. "Why do you have his phone, Brother Noah? Where's Dylan?" While letting out those words, my anxiety started to burst out. Several thoughts, negative ones, were recreated in my wildest brain. Dylan Spencer, either as the CEO of the Spencer Group and Companies or as my best friend for eight years, barely let anyone touch his phone unless he was on the verge of an emergency. We have been friends as far as my brain can remember, but I can only use his privat
Seeing Ghino with his eyes burning in turmoil was the first time in our four months of being in a relationship. The weird and suffocating sensation felt like he choked me hard in the neck. For some reason, I wasn't expecting someone as calm and understanding as Ghino to get mad to the point that the veins in his neck popped out. What I was about to do was simply check on Dylan but he already threatened me. Even if we have shared the same feelings, after all, I am still his secretary. And part of my job was to take good care of him. "Elaine, are you all right?" Brother Noah contorted his face while looking at me with curiosity and confusion. He slowly dragged his gaze to Ghino who shared the same expression as him. "Aren't you supposed to check on Dylan?" Ghino added, his voice was calm without a trace of his turmoil five seconds ago. Wait, everything that happened five seconds ago was simply part of my helpless daydreaming? "Is everything all right, Elaine?" B
The moment he rested his back on the bed, he cleared his throat and continued, "I mean, considering the commitments we both had. You getting married to my stepbrother soon. And I who already tied the knot with Maureen. Do you think it would be possible for us to be happy without even hurting any of them?" Those lines already popped out of my brain the second Dylan and I expressed and confessed our love for each other. Are we certainly gonna be living in peace once we break up with them? I highly doubt that. Maureen and Ghino will never forgive us. None of them will ever give us a break unless and until they get the justice they deserve for betraying them. From brothers by blood, their relationship would turn into strangers. Ghino would probably reclaim everything Dylan had including the empire, leaving him nothing but Don Romualdo's surname. Probably, I get fired from being Dylan's secretary. Ghino would turn our lives into a living hell. His undying love and care
"Do you want to talk to them over the phone first?" I proposed when it was the first idea that popped out of my brain. In that way, he could have his first impression of them or the other way around. On top of that, we don't know, if he might get discouraged once they could make a conversation over the phone. "Do you think it's a good idea?" Ghino frowned as he kept on caressing my hands. "I mean, not that I don't want to, but I think it would be better if we could talk in person, right?" I could not help but sense that he was uncomfortable with the idea so I removed his hands from me and reached out to my purse. Then I dialed Mom's digits. "Mom, this is me your daughter, Elaine. It's been a while. How's dad?" I eagerly breathed the second she answered the call. Then I glanced at Ghino who rested his head on the glass window looking at me with his anxiety apparently visible with a human eye. "Of course. So sorry if it took me long enough to reach out to you
Based on my quick observation, the distance from our spot to the main entrance of the building was around fifty feet more. If we insist on moving forward, we might get stuck in the middle. Around fifty paparazzi are gathered around to hear Ghino's statement regarding the case. They surrounded us with their cameras, phones, and speakers, and were pointed at him. Even behind us, leading us back to the car, some of the paparazzi already occupied the spot, forbidding us to get back. What worried me the most was that only two security guards were protecting me and Ghino. "You don't have to answer the questions if you have nothing to say, Mr. Frost," declares one of the security guards. But, in this kind of situation, I believed that they would not let us go without getting anything from us. I was about to confess something but Ghino preceded me when he announced, "It's true that something bad happened to my brother. However, he was already in his state of recovery."
Because I couldn't say a word, Ms. Lalaine repeated her words, this time, she snapped her fingers right in front of my face, "Don't worry about the news, Ms. Elaine," she added, "You did the right thing protecting both of the boys and the corporation. Everything will be all right, okay?" I nodded to her in motion before grabbing the phone landline and leaning it closer to my ear. "Yes, Mr. Spencer? Do you need anything?" Breathing out his name made Dust and Jennifer drag their gaze at me. None of them, including Ms. Lalaine, reached out to me to ask about what exactly happened to, Dylan, our big boss, and how he ended up being admitted to the hospital because we kept it highly confidential. Perhaps they were all stunned and dumbfounded by the flash report interviewing me and Ghino regarding the incident earlier. I knew they had questions and concerns. So I decided to address them as soon as Dylan and I were done talking. "I saw the news, Elaine," his saddened utter
My bother was pretty convinced that Ghino's pre-wedding gift was given to me with intention. Brother Noah believed that this limited edition watch on my hand was built-in with a recorder inside it to keep track of our conversation. Good thing Ghino gave it to me three days after Mrs. Nacua got into an accident. Because if it happened before that, I might be swayed that his claim was true. I mean, with all the unfortunate and unresolved events that happened to us recently, one to mention was the mystery person or people behind Don Romualdo and Mrs. Nacua's sudden death, I'm not gonna say Brother Noah was simply making that up. He had a point and I am open to a million possibilities or "what ifs" in this kind of situation. After all, I haven't cleared out my suspicion of Ghino officially. So I took off the wristwatch and surrendered it to Brother Noah for him to have it examined as soon as possible. Then he set it in his pocket and left afterward, leaving me alone in
"If you keep doing this every time you miss me, I'd be glad to be your pillow, Elaine. You can lean on me every time the world is mean to you, do you hear me?" Dylan replied, his voice began to calm and sweet. Then he slowly linked his arms around me. "And I'm sorry. Truly am," he continued, "I knew you were saddened because of what I said earlier. I didn't mean to hurt you, okay?" Those kind words were reassuring me deeply so I nodded as the tears in my eyes began soaking his back. "Once we settled everything, Dylan, let's have a trip together. Just the two of us. Can we do that?" Dylan heaved a sigh, ejecting the cold and profound air that was stuck in his chest. "Of course, we can definitely make that happen, Elaine. Where do you want to go? Europe? Thailand? Or the Philippines? Name the country." "Switzerland," I whispered softly as we tightened each other's hugs, "They said that Switzerland was such a beautiful and peaceful country." Since I was a kid, I h