“I heard you're dating the boy from Muse's family.” The brigadier general, Lorenzo Clemens, casually continued eating as if the news of granddaughter did not bother him. “Grandpa, we're just friends!” Alisha reasoned with a scowl. She hated it when she was being interrogated about her personal affairs. “Honey, let Alisha be. She's just tired from her work,” Emilia gently backed her granddaughter up as she pats her husband's arm. Lorenzo glanced at Emilia and seriously said, “That's why my grandchildren are all useless. It's because you spoil them!” “Grandpa, you know I'm not useless. I'm an internet celebrity with thousands of followers! You just—“ CLANG! Lorenzo angrily placed his utensils on his glass plate causing it to silence Alisha. “That's not a real job! you're already twenty-six years old and yet you can't find a real job!” “Yes, it is!” THUD! With a slam on the wooden dining table, Alisha froze. “Grandpa…” “Emilia set up a meeting with Muse's family,” he firmly
Emilia entered the Muse's mansion with a graceful smile. Her granddaughter, Alisha, followed her while carrying a paper bag full of gifts. “Welcome, welcome,” Elise Muse, Aster's mother, greeted them in a warm tone. “Auntie, good afternoon,” Alisha smiled. Elise embraced Alisha and gave her a cheek kiss. She has already got a good look at the granddaughter of the military general. She was a famous internet celebrity with a good fashion sense. She was petite and pretty. However, if she was being honest, she did not like Alisha. She knew her son could bring in a more outstanding woman than her. Considering the number of issues that Aster was getting because of the leaked photos, she needed Alisha to clear out her son's name. Overall, she's not that bad. With her grandfather as the respectable brigadier general, she's not a bad choice for her son. They have many clients from the military, so having her in their family is a wise move. Arranging marriages is not the norm in to
Victoria's assistant scrambled to the coffee shop with the mall director. Their appearance made the waitress tremble in fear. Though her manager tried to talk to Tiffany and calm her, it seems that she’s trying to get her punished by someone from the higher-up. She just started working a week ago, and now, she's getting fired. Tiffany's sharp, glaring eyes made her extremely nervous. It was arrogant and intimidating. Though working in this cafe made her encounter so many rich people, Tiffany is just different. The rich people she encountered were usually polite and kind, especially to servers like her. Yes, she expected some customers to be difficult. That's not new in the service industry, but Tiffany made her feel small and insignificant. The way she called her with a snap of her fingers made her last bit of confidence disappear. And now, it seems that she's going to be fired from her job. 'I know I was in the wrong for spilling the coffee... But the table... The table at the tim
“Where's my father?!” Tiffany, in a brand-new dress, strutted the busy halls of his father's office. Her stilettos made a sharp sound as the heel hit the marbled tiles. She arrogantly made her way toward the secretaries desk. “Hey, I need to speak to my father. Is he busy?” she directly asked the secretary. “Good afternoon, Miss Tiffany. Mayor Klein is currently with a guest.” The secretary greeted her politely as she got up from her seat to guide her to the couch outside the mayor's office. “Miss, do you want coffee or tea?” She just plainly looked at her and said, “I want to see my father, right now!” “But—” “Now!” The secretary sighed and reluctantly went to his boss's office. Tiffany's unreasonable request would interrupt an important meeting with a guest. But she did not want to deal with her any longer now. Tiffany's attitude is not new to her. She has always been an arrogant girl because of her status. As the beloved daughter of the respected city mayor, she has liv
Phyllis was waiting in an empty conference room near the mayor’s office. She was escorted here by Mary, the secretary who called her earlier. The white boring walls and the neatly arranged chairs bored her to death. It was already 2:50 in the afternoon and she was waiting for almost an hour for the mayor to arrive. She understood that mayors are busy. However, if they cannot make it on time, might as well cancel the meeting or move it to another time. She knew that this had something to do with TIffany’s complaints, but she did not deserve to be treated this poorly. Especially by a politician. And if they deliberately made her wait then she just found it petty and childish. “Tsk.”She glanced at her wristwatch and prepare for her things to go outside. She doesn’t have to waste her time like this. She got out of the conference room and went straight to the secretary’s desk. “Mary, I have more important things to do than wait for the mayor to arrive.”“Oh, I’m sorry… The mayor had l
“Tiffany, dear, don't be too loud… I know you're happy because of this revenge thing that you wanted but always be careful… You never know who is around us…” Mayor Klein warned his daughter. Tiffany carelessly laughed. “So what? Isn't my father the mayor of this city?” The old mayor just sighed. His daughter was extremely sheltered and spoiled and doesn't know how the world works. She could get whatever she wanted ever since she was a child. She never experienced a setback in her life. 'If I don't continue to look after her, she'll get in trouble really soon…' The doting father shook his head and patted his daughter's shoulder. “Now, we have to prepare. Perhaps Miss Lu is waiting for us…” “She can wait a little longer for all I care!” Phyllis couldn't bear listening to them and so she directly knocked on the door before opening it. “Good afternoon,” she briefly greeted as she went straight to an available chair. The Kleins looked at her in disbelief. Her brazen attitude cer
“Babe?” “Babe? What's wrong?” Zacharias worriedly walked to Phyllis, who was busy reviewing files on the floor. Several printed documents were scattered on the floor. She was too focused on the documents to the point that she did not notice the arrival of Zacharias. Zacharias carefully poked her cheeks to catch her attention. Startled, Phyllis looked up and saw her husband standing before her. She took off her wireless headphones with a weak smile. “Hi…” Zacharias sensed something was wrong because of her tone of voice. “What’s wrong?” he asked. He crouched down to take a better look at her and saw tears running down her face. “Babe? Why? Why are you crying?” he hurriedly asked as he pulled out his handkerchief from his pocket to wipe her tears. Hearing him ask made her cry even more. Tears continued to flow down her face like waterfalls. Everything that happened has been overwhelming for her. Her grandmother recently passed away, someone was interested in her husband,
“Phyllis, can you put that back inside Mom's dresser?” Phyllis' auntie, Hanna, asked her as she pointed to the jewelry box on the table. “Sure,” she casually agreed. She then went upstairs to her grandmother's room with the jewelry box. Nothing changed in her grandmother's room. The shiny mahogany furniture was still neatly kept in place. Her grandmother's favorite patchouli and lavender scent still linger in the room. It was still the same cozy room she used to love when she was a child. She pulled the top drawer open and noticed that a piece of paper was placed on the empty spot in the corner. She picked up the paper and placed it on top of the dresser before placing the black velvet jewelry box inside the drawer. 'So organized…' She found it so satisfying that the jewelry box could fit perfectly in the dresser. It was filled with different organizers for her grandmother's journaling and knickknacks. She spotted a signed photocard of Zacharias on top of her grandmother's
Zacharias remembered the moment when his childhood playmate, Phyllis, developed a fear of blood because of an incident when they were young. After that incident, he limited his visits to her as she was attending therapy. He felt guilty for what happened to her. If they did not play in their house on that day, then perhaps, none of it would have happened. Now that 15 years have passed since that incident, the memories still remain vivid. But thankfully, it's only him that remembered, not Phyllis. Seated comfortably in a coffee shop in East City, he sipped his coffee as he waited for Hill, his online friend that he impulsively invited for a coffee. 'He said he'll wear the Grand Monster hoodie that we bought online…' He looked around and saw no one who wore the same hoodie that he was wearing. Cling-ring! The sound of the door chime ringing prompted Zacharias to look at the entrance. There he saw a person wearing the Grand Monster hoodie. But… That person is not someone who
On a sunny day in the Lohr family's mansion, two little kids were playing in the garden. Zacharias was happily playing with the three years old Phyllis, who was the daughter of the family next door. “Aiash, hide and sheek! Hide and sheek!” The little Phyllis yelled as she ran around the garden with Zacharias chasing behind her. “I'm coming to get you!” he teased as he grabbed her arms. Phyllis playfully giggled as she shook her arms away from Zacharias. “Hahaha! No more tag! Hide and sheek now!” she requested from her playmate. “Okay, okay. Let's rest first.” He then led her to lean against the tree. “Aiash, let's play more games when Lian gets home!” CRASH! The loud sound startled the little girl which prompted her to hold onto Zacharias' shirt. “Aiash, Aiash,” she nervously gripped his shirt. “WINSTON I HATE YOU!” CRASH! CRASH! “Stop it Victoria! Zach will hear you!” Screams from the inside of the house can be heard from the garden. Zacharias, who was so us
“You…” her voice quivered as her hands started to loosen her grip on the handle.She lightly opened the door, enough for him to enter. But because of her fear of confrontation, she still hid behind the door. Her eyes were shut, still nervous about meeting him again after how many days. She knows it’s him. She knows him by his voice. She knows him by his scent. She knows him by heart. THUMPTHUMPTHUMPHis clean scent smelled like home is getting stronger. ‘He’s near…’‘He’s here…’Her heart thumped violently as the excitement, happiness, guilt, fear, sadness, and anxiety fill her in. She felt everything all at once. But it did not feel suffocating for her. Rather, she felt so comfortable, like she was in her safest place.“I’m here now,” he whispered as he pulled her into his arms. ‘I… I’m home…’She gripped his shirt tightly as she guiltily shed tears. “I’m sorry…”“I’m sorry for leaving, Aias… I’m sorry…” she said in between her cries. Zacharias hugged her tightly and said
“Phyllis, where are you?! Your husband went here and told us what happened! Why did you suddenly leave?!” The moment that Phyllis settled in her hotel room, the loud voice of her mom reached her ears. “Mom, calm down…” “Calm down?! You did not tell us that you're going out of the country and you expect me to calm down?! You did not even answer all of my calls earlier! We were so worried!” “Zacharias told me you wanted to get away from the press and we understand that… But you have to at least inform us so we can make necessary arrangements for you!” Phyllis held her phone tightly as she braced herself for her mother's scolding. “Mom…” “You're not a teenager anymore, you're an adult! You don't have to tell us everything that you do but you have to at least not make us worry!” Phyllis sat at the edge of the bed and quietly listened to her mom speak. She did not have the heart to respond to her, especially if she knows that she was in the wrong. “Phyllis, I know you're stres
"Sir, we've already cleared them off.” Zacharias peeked through the window to see if there were still some people from the press. They were quite easy to spot. They're usually wearing face masks and caps with huge cameras in tow. Seeing that there was none, he turned to Phyllis, who was busy packing his stuff. “Good. Please get the car ready, we're going down now,” he said on the phone. He then tucked his phone inside his pocket and approached Phyllis. “Is there anything else we need to pack, babe?” Phyllis just shook her head and said, “Nope, I got it, babe.” Just as she was about to head out while carrying the tote bag, she was hugged by Zacharias from her back. His strong arms embraced her dainty shoulders and whispered, “I miss you…” Phyllis, who was still not over with the commotion from earlier, dismissed him with a tap on his arms. “Don't be ridiculous, we're literally together. How can you miss me?” He inched his body closer to hers, letting her feel the warmth of
With all the controversy about the Klein family, they were completely mobbed by reporters, trying to get a statement from them. In just a matter of two days, the kind-hearted mayor disappeared from the public. Soon after the various documents that were reported, another video went viral. It was a video of Mayor Klein mocking the poor victims of a fire that destroyed a small neighborhood in the city. The area was small and a little cramped and so firetrucks had a hard time killing the fire until it ate the majority of the houses. In the video, the mayor was smiling to the public and promised to help them as much as he can as he helped with the distribution of basic necessities like food and clothing. But the next clip showed him mocking the victims because they were dirtying his beautiful city. His statement instantly gained critics. His image as the kind and caring mayor of Lieren City was crushed in a matter of seconds. No one likes a politician who looks down on his people. “
A large amount of Rohypnol content was found in his lab results. And contrary to what Phyllis suspected, the drug was not laced in the microchip but on the needle itself. Zacharias woke up after three long hours and is currently resting. He's just waiting for the drug to leave his body. The microchip was also taken out of his arm per his request and Phyllis' insistence. “Babe, please stop crying… The chip is already taken out…” Zacharias consoled Phyllis, who was sitting beside his bed. She has been taking care of him earnestly and has not taken a good sleep since the incident. He gently patted her back to comfort her. “I'm sorry… I'm so so sorry… We were researching microchips, babe…” “Hick—and the person who made that was a colleague of mine… If only I did not introduce this technology to him,” she said in between her sobs. She felt incredibly guilty about what happened to Zacharias. “Babe, it's not your fault. It's all on Tiffany who orchestrated all this, okay? It'
The ambulance rushed to the hospital with the unconscious Zacharias, Phyllis, and Leila cramped inside. Now that Phyllis got Zacharias to safety, everything that went down earlier started to finally sink in. When she attacked the bulky man with her heels, it did not cross her mind that some of the blood would squirt on her face. Her hands started to tremble at the sight of blood on her cheeks. She then tapped Leila and murmured in her shaking voice, “Blood…” Noticing the few streaks of blood on Phyllis' face, she hurriedly wiped them off with her blouse. “Shh, it's gone now…” She held Phyllis' hands and gently massaged them. “Okay, breathe with me…” “Inhale…” “Exhale…” “Inhale…” “Exhale…” Leila guided Phyllis with her breathing exercise. Rui taught everyone in their circle how to properly assist Phyllis in case she was triggered. Physical manifestations such as trembling, trouble breathing, and fainting were seen when Phyllis was last triggered. They continued with the bre
A loud thud resounded inside the men's comfort room as Zacharias fell to the floor. His consciousness slowly faded as he tried to reach out for his phone in his pocket. Soon after, a small red light blinked from his right arm. A girl inside a luxurious hotel room tapped the screen on her tablet, revealing a location in Dixon City. “Hurry and bring him up,” she said on the phone. “Got it, miss.” Satisfied with the turn of events, she took a good sip of her pink moscato. “I'll have to thank Auntie Vic for revealing the group's location for tonight.” She giggled as she browsed Phyllis' Ninstagram account. The simple photos posted made Tiffany sneer. She hated Phyllis' perfect life. She despised how Phyllis was cherished by her rich family. She envied how she was surrounded by a successful group of friends. She detested how she excelled academically and in her work. Above all, she hated how she got her crush just because she was his childhood friend. After getting humiliated