Dylan attempted to argue with the cab driver and attempted to punch him in the face to be precise, but I managed to drag him out of the car before everything got out of hand. "You shouldn't have stopped me, Elaine," he blurted while pacing from side to side. Dylan could have been furious at Ghino earlier but compared to the old man, I can see his veins popping out of his arms and neck. "Do you think something changes if I let you punch him, huh, Dylan?" I frowned as I tried to stay calm as much as possible. If I'm gonna let my worries and fears swallow my way of thinking similar to what Dylan was feeling at the moment, both of us would get panicked. And as a result, we might not get any solution to the matter at hand. "Right now, we must provide, not the best, but the quickest possible, solution to both of your problems - the one which was about saving Judas or saving your dad's branch office." "So, what do you suggest then?" he asked. "We cannot let the re
After eight long grumping hours, I found myself standing outside the airport, scanning at those people coming in and out of the place. Ghino and I refused to cross paths again because of what happened back on the plane. I already messaged Elaine about my arrival, not just once, twice, or thrice, but countless times, asking her if she could pick me up. And for us to discuss any updates regarding her search and negotiations with Judas. As I was about to hail a cab, the phone in my pocket suddenly rang. Somewhat excited, I quickly glanced at the screen to check if it was her. "Brother Noah? How can I help you?" I hissed the second I answered the call. "You sound awful, Brother Dylan. Are you disappointed that I was the one who reached out to you instead of my little sister?" Noah teasingly replied from the other line of the phone. Indeed I was disappointed. My excitement three seconds ago was written all over my face but it shattered into pieces upon hearing a ma
While peeking into Muareen's "cannot be drawn" and furious mood, the plan of making things right with Elaine flashed into my eyes and dominated my conscience. I had to make the plan would work perfectly. And making Maureen get mad at me was not part of the plan, at least, not yet. So I jumped out of bed and wrapped my arms around her. Even if it was against my body and will, I gently removed the towel that covered Maureen's body and began kissing her lips. Then I brought her to bed. In order to make things convincing and for every part of my body to participate, especially my adrenaline, I simply imagined that the woman right in front of my eyes was none other than Elaine. Compared to the conservative Elaine, Maureen was the assertive and liberated type of woman. Every time I slowed down, she always took the initiative. She hopped on top of me while removing my clothes until nothing was left. Then she licked my neck, down to my chest, and to my surprise, she sw
Knowing the fact that Maureen was affiliated with Ghino behind my back, her involvement in the case might not only jeopardize our plan but put Judas at risk. So, before the tension between them got extended, I removed Maureen's hands from me. "We know you have a good intention, Maureen. But I'm afraid we cannot get you involved with it. Even Judas didn't want me to know his whereabouts..." "But she knew about his whereabouts, right, Elaine?" Maureen insisted before she crossed her arms around her chest and slightly rested the side of her shoulder on Dylan. "So, what's the point of having this conversation if you didn't know the entire story? How are you going to protect Judas if that would be the case?" Elaine and I exchanged bothered glances, to the point that we ignored the awkward feeling that happened between us before Maureen interrupted our conversation. After reading each other's minds, Elaine nodded at me, still skeptical, but Maureen left us with no other
And I started to get worried when we had nothing with us to defend ourselves, not even a dagger or gun. The worst part of our situation was that we were surrounded by utter darkness. "Do you think we were in the right place, Elaine? Judas was supposed to be meeting us twenty minutes ago. Do you think he changed his mind?" I broke the deafening silence of the junk shop. "Don't worry, Dylan, everything went according to my plan..." Before Elaine could finish her sentence a man with his face entirely covered in a black mask slowly approached us. I pulled Elaine behind me before anything bad happened. "If you are Judas, stay right there!" I exclaimed. Luckily, the man in the black mask heard my furious remarks as he stopped lifting his foot five meters away from us. He then turned his head sideways as though he was scanning the entire place, thinking we brought someone with us. It means to me that he was indeed Judas. But what's with the mask? And why was not saying a
Despite my eyes being fixed on the table across from me, the first thing that I noticed was that Noah and Elaine exchanged glances, especially when Judas avoided making eye-to-eye contact with any of us right after asking him that. Elaine's bothered eyes were telling me that they agreed to my confrontation. We could have done something for them if he or his Mom already told us something from our first time visiting their squatter residence. Needless to say, his Mom also died at the hands of the person behind my dad's death. "You were supposed to be cooperating with us instead of playing hard to get. After all, we have one thing in common. Our loved ones fall into the hands of the same person. So, I'll cut these nonsense demands, Mr. Nacua. Tell us the name of the person who gave your family half a million dollars." The heavy tension that hung in the air overwhelmed the entire room when all of us were put into profound silence. Judas must tell us about his truth and li
Judas' friendly piece of advice shoved an unreachable and unfathomable hole deeply into my heart as he stated nothing but a fact. I don't know if Elaine was aware of this but Maureen can sue us for having an affair. Everyone, not just our employees, but those who recognize the empire will judge us. They will humiliate Elaine, and people will blame her if something bad happens to the company. Our hidden relationship will be investigated by the cops and the board. Everyone would ask me if the rumors about us having an affair were true. And if I made a cover-up, Elaine would get hurt. On the other hand, if I tell them the truth, I may not feel guilty about it, but both of us would be imprisoned. My conscience cannot afford that to happen either. "So you mean I should stop loving Elaine?" I could not help but ask Judas. My heart, despite he hadn't answered yet, sunk into the bottom of the ocean. Elaine and I confessed both our feelings not long ago. That day was
Elaine caressed my shoulders for a few seconds before she removed them from me. Then she turned around, carrying her serious expression. "I'm afraid I can't cancel my schedule with Ghino, Dylan." she hissed. "But we already had our plan, Elaine! Have you forgotten about helping me know the truth behind Dad's death, huh?" I frowned before I insisted. "Can you just skip that part in your marriage? Maureen and I did not do that." We agreed to face all the odds together to make the impossible possible - to follow what our hearts speak - to fight for our love. But from the way I understand her case, she chose Ghino over me. Before Elaine could say a word, she lifted the corners of her lips and turned them into a half smile. Then she reached out to my cheeks and uttered, "I know, Dylan. And I love you. But, have you forgotten I am Ghino's fiancee now?" My heart could not understand and fathom Elaine's upfront response. She loves me yet she cannot be with me was what I un
"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