"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
The tension between me and Dylan began to subside as we seemed to have agreed on one thing - to save Judas. Our journey back to the hotel was nothing but constructing our plan on how to find Judas and extract some information from him. While Dylan kept on talking, I also listened to the tone of his voice and body movements to find anything suspicious. My brother somehow suspected Dylan to be the man behind his dad's death. After all, apart from his stepbrother, Dylan was also the second on the list whom I believed could benefit the most from Don Romualdo's death. One to mention, the multi-billion-dollar empire, will be inherited by them. If my brother's claim about Mr. Dex was right, then that left us with Ghino and Dylan - two stepbrothers who could not make it up for the benefit of the empire. "We both knew that you have all the means to find him, Dylan. To save Mrs. Nacua. But you choose to stay silent." I replied in an accusing tone. "Not unless what Ghino accu
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