"I had no idea, you two had met!" Lance uttered as he glanced at Benjamin and Madeline.
The word 'displease' was written all over his face. They were having lunch at a high end restaurant near Houston Group Tower.Benjamin and Madeline accidentally saw each other in the mall one time when he was still with his mistress and Madeline was with Cheska, Chester's girlfriend.Now, Benjamin invited the father and daughter for lunch or to have a serious talk about Isabella's situation."Daddy, I didn't know you are friend with Mr. Madrigal. I just met him in his nephew's banquet before!" Madeline uttered while she was sitting beside her father."Business Associate, sweetheart. Not friends!" Lance corrected.Benjamin just chuckled at his rude behavior. He knew well he was upset with him. He was enraged by the fact that they had been played by Christopher Michaels 14 years ago."It's good seeing you again my former business associate!" he uttered with wry smIn Maria's place...Fe stayed in their place which was an hour ride by bus from the mansion the whole weekend. She cooked dinner for Isabella since Maria was working at night. She also helped her with her chores.After their lunch..."Let me do your laundry, Isabella!" Fe offered when she saw that she was just gawking at the laundry machine."Ahm! I don't know how to use this. Can you teach me, Aunt Fe?" Isabella shyly uttered."Of course. Don't worry, this is easy. Come here!" Fe found Isabella adorable when she asked shyly. She thought of Samantha right away. They're the same she uttered inwardly. Just that Isabella acted really elegantly while Samantha was a bit careless."Make sure to separate your laundry first. There are some clothes that aren't machine wash. Let me see!" Fe scanned her dirty clothes while Isabella was getting redder and redder especially when she held her innerwear."Ahm, Aunt Fe. This is embarrassing!" Isabella took her lac
Isabella pretended to be fixing her sneakers while Fe was shielding her. Benjamin was getting closer and when he was in front of them, he stared at them for a while. Fe was trembling while Isabella was sweating."Something wrong with your shoes, young lady?" Benjamin asked while she glanced at Isabella."Ahm! She is tying her shoelaces, sir. She's my daughter!" Fe immediately responded."I see. Well, I am new here. I just wanna ask if you know which floor is the Chanel Store. My girlfriend is waiting for me there!" Benjamin suddenly uttered.Isabella was dumbstruck. Girlfriend she exclaimed in her thought. Was her uncle cheating on her aunt now? What a disgrace she grimaced.When their taxi had arrived, they felt relief. But was also stupefied when they saw Madeline rushing in."Oh! That's my girlfriend!" Benjamin happily uttered which made Isabella dumbfounded when she peeped at the woman he was talking about in between Fe's legs."Let's go!" Fe u
"Are you out of your mind?" Albert exclaimed in anger."She never left my side, Madeline. Did you just come here to bully her again?" also added.He was panting as he went in between them shielding Samantha from Madeline's sudden attack."I'm not lying, Albert. She was with a woman older than her. Probably her mother. She... She was the one who slapped me. She pushed me first then after that she slapped me!" Madeline was also trembling in anger.When she stared at Samantha who was behind Albert, she was stunned. That's the only time she realized the difference between her and Isabella."You're hair! It was short. It was shoulder length short and it's not wine color. It was black. You have black hair and you're wearing glasses and a baseball cap. You're wearing rugged fitted jeans and loose pink shirt. How did you change that fast? Were you just wearing a wig a while ago. Let me check those if they are wig or not!"She was trying to reach Samantha's hair
"I live in River Park. It's a land owned by the Michaels. Our original place was in Springville. It's were I grew up and spent my childhood days!" Samantha replied while staring at him.Her voice was sullen. She remembered how their small village was torn down to pieces right before their neighbors' eyes. Their friends and neighbors left the place with only worn-out bags and coins in their pockets. She remembered how she sat and slept on her aunt's shoulder on the cold cement ground waiting for almost an hour at twilight.She also remembered how Albert rescued all of them and gave them a new life. A curl up smile appeared at the corner of her lips upon recalling that certain moment where she was carried in his arm while cursing him in her heart. She just heard it from Andy when she was already awake that Albert was hurt with what she had told him while she's unconscious."What happened to Springville?" Enrique asked."It was torn down. The government sold it to a
"Whew! I had no idea your family is... that fierce!" Enrique whistled as he took a deep sigh while driving.He still couldn't believe that he was chased by an angry woman with a big knife. That was so far the first time that he ran away from a fight."I'm sorry! I don't know what has gotten into them today. They're not like that to guests and other people. Especially my Aunt Maria, she's very kind. I don't know what happened to her today!" Samantha was so abashed that she couldn't look Enrique in the eye.When he saw she was still in shocked and her cheeks were getting redder, he cracked the awkward atmosphere."On the contrary, I found them funny. Especially when your mom spoke like a Roman soldier. I was tongue-tied!" he chuckled.Samantha glanced at him and thought of what he said. She also couldn't help but to laugh. Her mom who was a typical in-house wife, suddenly spoke like an untiring advocate of an abused group."Samantha, your family is jolly.
In Enrique's villa..."Dad, we're doing our best to find Isabella. Our men work non stop to look for her!" Enrique was talking to Jackson on the phone.He was at the terrace of his room. He scanned the darkness with his eyes and stared at the four guards in the main gate. They were standing in foot watching the whole villa.He had been in the USA for half a year. Isabella had been missing for two weeks. His parents were losing hope. His father was calling him almost everyday threatening him not to go back to Ireland and live on his own if he couldn't find his sister. His mother was brought to the hospital for weakening of her heart thinking of Isabella day and night.He knew well where Isabella was. Although he didn't see her with his own eyes, he knew his sister was in the care of Samantha's family. He immediately dialed a number and glanced around before he talked."Young Master!" it was Antonio.They had been working round the clock looking for Isabe
"Señorito, how are you doing?" Antonio asked upon getting out of his car."Antonio, I'm glad you can speak English well now!" Enrique replied as he patted Antonio's shoulder.They just both arrived in the seaside 30 minutes away from Benjamin's and his villa."I have to, Señorito. For you and Isabella's sake. For the Houston clan's sake!" Antonio meaningfully replied as they both faced the calm sea.They leaned their backs against Enrique's car while they both crossed their arms over their chest."Antonio, I'd like you to promise me one thing. That you remain loyal to us. Only to mom and dad's family. No relatives involved!" Enrique started after a weird silence.Antonio faced him with a baffled look. He seemed not to get what he meant. Especially the relatives part."Señorito, Qué quieres decir? (Young Master, what do you mean?)"His eyes were searching for answers. His mouth was itching to ask more. His gesture wa
The next day, Samantha woke up in a different environment. She blinked her eyes till she got used to the light peeping through the glass window. She slowly got up using both of her hands to carry herself and glanced around.When she looked at the time on the digital clock mounted on the wall in front of her, she sighed."I'm an hour early to my usual time!" she mumbled.She stepped her feet on the wood floor and wore the house slippers she saw on the foot of the bed.The door made a creaking sound when she closed it. She pursed her lips thinking she might have woken up the man sleeping opposite to her room."Sorry!" she whispered imagining Enrique was listening to her.It was six in the morning but the lights in the living room were already on. The servants were now preparing for breakfast. She stealthily crept downstairs towards the kitchen. The servants turned around and smiled at her when they saw her in the entrance."Good morning!" she shyly g