San Lorenzo University is one of the most prestigious universities in the country. Most of the students who went there belonged to rich and famous families. There are only a few students whose families belonged to the middle class because the school fees are way too expensive compared to other universities. Getting a scholarship is not easy and there is only one student who is intelligent enough to get that privilege.
The University is famous for its business management courses. Students are expected to take over their family business after they graduated. The university serves as their training ground and it is the best way to get connections at an early stage.
Next day on Campus...
"Edward, mah man, you're just in time!" Joaquin is standing in the corridor waiting for Edward.
"Hey, man, what's up?" he casually replied and raises his hand for a high five.
They both have this habit of weird nerdy hand gestures every time they meet. It is a sign of their close bond and friendship.
"Guess what? I have arranged a date for you with Regina Montemayor. Am I your Fairy God Father or what?" Joaquin proudly said.
Joaquin is the type of guy who is friendly only to those who will benefit him. For him, nothing comes for free and everything has its price. There are only a few people whom he considered friends and one of those is Edward. He has been loyal and sincere to him ever since.
"You're more like a pimp if you ask me," he sarcastically replied. "Hold on a second isn't she the one with the big tits?" Edward inquisitively inquires and suddenly becomes interested in her.
"You got it right on the spot mah man and if she is the one, you are one lucky guy."
Joaquin pulls his friend closer, wraps his arms around Edward's neck, and presses his knuckles onto his mound. Everyone around them turns their heads as they get too much attention from the crowd for being playful. Edward was too quick to escape from his friend and was able to back away from him. He casually fixed himself and glared at his friend to stop being puckish before they continue to walk through the busy corridors.
"I will be truly blessed if she is the one," Edward sounded thrilled and excited.
"I'm not talking about just big titties or finding love. Dude, she is the heir to the largest shopping mall in our district, and it will be good for your wine business if you ended up marrying her. Plus, her family is on top in the fashion industry."
"Whoa, that is too heavy to process," he immediately stops his friend from overthinking. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Edward raises both of his arms and waves his hands across each other.
He was about to enter the classroom when Joaquin grabs his arm and stops him from entering the room.
"Where are you going? You need to hurry up and get ready 'cause you are going on a date. She may be the one you are looking for. This is your chance to get to know each other!" Joaquin pushes Edward away from the classroom.
"Hold on. We still have one more class to attend and are we in the same class as Regina?"
Edward hurriedly steps inside the room and looks around searching for Regina. Unfortunately, she is nowhere in sight.
"Yeah, but she left early today to go to the saloon. She was too thrilled when I asked her to go on a date with you." Joaquin gave him a dirty look and the corner of his lips quirked up.
"Where am I supposed to meet her?"
Joaquin places his arm over the shoulder of his worried friend and gives him a reassuring smile.
"Good question. I will text and tell her that you will pick her up at her residence after class.
"Now you are beginning to sound like a Fairy God Father!"
Time flies so fast and the classes are finally over. Edward left the school with his favorite car 967 Chevy Impala. On his way to the long highway going to Regina's residence, he saw Ella walking on the sidewalk. Edward slows down and pulls over beside her.
"Where are you going?" he curiously asked her.
"Home," Ella quickly replied and continues to walk.
Edward notices that her body is all covered in grease and she's been sweating a lot due to the extreme heat of the sun.
"Don't you have a car? Your home is too far from school and it would take you at least an hour and a half to get there if you continue to walk," he worried said.
"Why do you care?" she murmured but loud enough for him to hear it. "It will take me more than an hour and a half if you don't stop pestering me," she irritably said without even looking at him.
Edward was shocked by her reaction, and he was forced to come out of his car to confront her face-to-face.
"C'mon, I am trying to be nice here. Can you just be nice to me too?" He looks straight into her eyes. He looks more sincerer than he sounds.
"I'm sorry. Today is a bad day for me. My bike broke down on me. I try to fix it, but I don't have enough tools with me," she depressingly said to him. She glanced up to the sky to prevent her eyes from tearing.
Edward simply gave her a deadpan stare and didn't react to her grievance. He returns to his car and starts the engine.
"Get in, and I will drop you at your house," he casually said to her.
"I'm covered in grease. I might stain your seat cover," she sheepishly said tucking her hair over her ear.
"So what?" he said while raising a brow. "It's hot out there just get inside the car." This time he said it in a very commanding tone.
Ella instinctively rushes inside the car after hearing Edward's demand. She tried her best not to make any sudden moves to avoid staining the car with the grease from her clothes and skin. They were both quiet and had an awkward moment the entire trip. It's a long deafening silence until Ella speaks up.
"Why are so kind to me?" she softly speaks out of curiosity.
"Let's just say that you reminded me of someone." Edward smiles at her.
"Who is she?" she asked. Ella suddenly became interested in the topic judging by the excitement in her tone.
"Who says that it's a she?" Edward squinted. "It's a boy that I met when I'm still young," he clarifies.
"I see." She sounded disappointed.
Edward immediately notices the change in Ella's mood.
"Did I say something wrong?" he confusedly asked.
"What? Nothing. Can you please turn on the radio?" she changes the topic.
"Girls and their mood swings," Edward said before he turns on the radio.
Ella decided to end the conversation and just focus her attention on the scenery outside the window. On the other hand, Edward turns on the radio to change the mood of the atmosphere. They are almost near their destination when Ella noticed Edward staring at her from the rear-view mirror. She straight away accosted him.
"Eyes on the road, Einstein!"
Edward was baffled and lost his focus on driving after hearing her say those words. He loses his grip on the stirring wheel making the car swerve on the other side of the road. There is a trailer truck coming from the opposite side of the road and he immediately turns the wheel to return to his lane. He makes a sudden stop once they are cleared of the incident.
Their hearts are pounding so hard almost jump out of their chest. It is trembling like a drum and they are both catatonic. Edward's hands were still shaken by the event and Ella's mouth remains wide open for she is screaming without any sound the entire time.
"We almost die there. What were you thinking?" she said while holding her chest with both of her hands.
Ella was breathing heavily and catching her breath. She stops breathing and holds her breath the entire time that Edward is driving trying to dodge the trailer van from hitting them.
"You startled me!" he furiously said to her.
"Because you're creeping me out!"
Edward's eyes widened at her reaction like memories flashed before his eyes. He suddenly feels nostalgic.
"What did you just say?"
Ella immediately changes the topic and points her index finger to the window. "Look we are here," she excitedly said to him.
"Ella, wait!"
He tries to stop her, but she pretended not to hear him. Ella is too quick to remove her seatbelt and open the door. She turns her head and smiled at Edward before she thanked him.
"Thank you for everything. I appreciate all your help!"
Ella jumps off the car and hurriedly runs toward the yard. Everything happens so fast that Edward was not able to react and was startled by how quickly she runs off. He just stared at her and scanned her from head to toe while she was running to the front door of her house.
"Nah, it's impossible. What am I thinking?"
He shrugs off all the possibilities that Ella could be the one he is looking for by judging her lack of sense of fashion. All of his doubts and uncertainty vanish as he takes another look at her before she enters her house. She doesn't even look attractive with the thick specs and baggy clothes that are filled with grease. She is too filthy and didn't even look and act like a proper lady.
Edwards laughs at himself before he starts his engine and leaves.
"It can't be her."
Thank you for reading my story. Please support my fantasy story entitled "The Devil's Kiss". I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.
Edward was frozen and stuck in place. His breathing is shallow and heavy. He had the feeling that his heart was stopping or skipping a beat. As he stared at nothingness, his eye went round with a blank expression. He couldn't believe what Salome had just told him, and he was keen to know whether she was telling the truth or joking. "Gone where?" he asked Salome, looking at her in disbelief. "Where is Ella?" he asked her once more. His eyes welled with tears. "What happened to her?" Edward has placed his trembling hands over Salome's shoulder and is shaking her back and forth while trying to get answers out of her. "She was happy and excited to go to this party when she came into the shop earlier. Then your brother visited her and spoke to her. The next thing we knew, she was preparing to travel abroad," Salome quickly replied. Edward was taken aback by what Salome just told him. He had no idea his brother would be involved in this. "My brother?" His voice was breaking. "Yes, he s
Days passed since the day Edward asked Ella to be his date at the masquerade ball; Ella couldn't get proper sleep, and she couldn't eat normally. She's been stressing so much about the invitation and is still deciding whether to accept it or not. Lucas became worried because he always sees his sister disoriented and spacing out. Ella was sometimes seen pacing back and forth, thinking to herself. But, unlike in the past, Lucas noticed that she was happier than she had ever been. Ella has a more radiant complexion and smiles more frequently. Her mood is upbeat and creative. She is more productive, and he would suspect she is in love if he didn't know her sister.Lucas had just finished making breakfast when he noticed Ella was still in her room. Ella usually wakes up early and waits at the kitchen counter before he finishes making breakfast, so her absence worried him. He went into her room, but when he tried to open the door, it was locked, which Ella never does.
It's been a long, excruciating week for Ella and Edward's family. As the sole heir to Margaux's fortune, Edward became preoccupied with his new duties and responsibilities. He had to go through numerous briefings and corporate meetings before meeting with the board members of the corporations and businesses that his grandmother used to own.On the other hand, Ella was busy with the cases filed against Luis for kidnapping, violence against women and children, physical injury, and attempted murder. Ella's family filed a forgery claim against Enrique Santibanez.When Enrique falsely accused Fernando Cristobal of corruption, he was investigated and his assets were frozen by the government. Enrique filed numerous cases against Fernando, but they were ineffective due to a lack of evidence against him. Enrique was able to tarnish Fernando's reputation due to his strong connections to corrupt officials at the time, which led to his depression. Ferna
Ella's vision was still fuzzy, and she still feels light-headed. She was not able to move on her own, and all she could hear was the sound of the siren coming from the ambulance and police cars. She heard people walking around in a hurry, and some were screaming as they were dragging the suspects to the police vehicles. She could feel the paramedics putting an oxygen mask on her face, carrying her to the stretcher, and placing her inside the ambulance.She was about to get up on the stretcher to see where Edward and Joaquin had gone when she felt a warm hand over her shoulder, gently pushing her back to the stretcher."Don't worry, Ella. You're in good hands." Edward spoke to her in hushed tones."Edward, I thought you'd leave me," Ella said worriedly, her eyes welling up with tears."I'm right here, but there's something I need to do, so I have to go for now," he explained calmly. "Your family is wa
After walking out of the family dinner, Edward locked himself in one of the rooms to prevent a family member from barging in. He knew that some of his family members would try to persuade him to return to the family meeting or persuade him to consider marrying Lydia. Even though he wanted to leave the mansion and go home, his grandmother Margaux wouldn't let him and instead requested a private audience with him after dinner.Edward lay on the bed and rested. He was about to fall asleep when he received a call from an unexpected person."Edward, Ella has been kidnapped!" Lucas said, crying. His voice had a fearful tone to it.Edward felt a twinge of melancholy and perplexity. He tried to process and assess what he had just heard from Lucas, hoping it was a joke."What happened? Who took her?" Edward inquired worriedly."A group of men took her to the hospital, and they are all arm
Ella's eyes widened, and she stared at Joaquin in disbelief. As Ella's anger overpowered her, rage pulsed through her veins and quickened her blood. Ella gave Joaquin a knuckle punch as if her hand had a mind of its own."Ouch! Ella, that hurts." Joaquin cried out."I'm not gay, douchebag!" She said it with gritted teeth and a clenched jaw. "Edward mistook me for a boy!""Thank Goodness!" Joaquin breathed a sigh of relief. "For a brief moment, I thought you were gay. I can't imagine how Edward would react if he found out." Joaquin burst out laughing."I'm not kidding, dumbass! We were young back then, and I was wearing my brother's clothes, plus my hair was too short; that's why I can't blame him for mistaking me for a boy," Ella explained to Joaquin."You were still wearing baggy man's clothes," Joaquin said while looking at her. "But, at the very least, your hair is long, you h