Hours had passed and Valentine’s most favorite ringtone rang, indicating that someone was calling her. She dismissed it, thinking that she still needed more sleep. To her dismay, something tugged on her hair and pulled. She gasped in shock.
“What the hell are you doing here?! Shut. That. Thing. Off!” Billy exclaimed. He was awake, looking furiously at his daughter while Valentine gave him the teary eyes on him that she had always practiced on hiding. She didn’t want to let her father see her as a weakling.
“Get out of my sight,”
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They both got out of the car. Like a gentleman, William opened the door and offered a hand for Valentine to hold which was very odd. She immediately thought this could be part of the act. She placed her hand on top of his and stepped out. They walked towards the new restaurant, the reason why they were losing customers. Valentine gritted her teeth. She was officially entering the restaurant that caused their problems. She didn’t know why they were losing customers. Valentine knew she was a good cook but what was keeping them from gaining more? Instead of making sure the date was going great as what William expected it to be, she thought of investigating the restaurant become her priority for tonight.As they were now closer to the doors, the doorman pulled it open, greeting them with a smile. Valentine considered that it wasn’t the doorman’s intentions to take away the costumers. In fact, he only pushes and pulls the do
.“I’m a chef from the restaurant a few minutes away from here,” she answered. Valentine noticed William’s face, he appeared to be that he was really listening intently to what she said. “What about you? What do you do for a living?”“I work at the Lux Style company.”Valentine’s eyebrow pushed upward. He was talking something interesting. The Lux Style was founded on 1983 by the great Alexander Fajardo. She nodded slowly, now getting the point. It all made sense to her now. The r
Cheers and claps filled the room when the audience heard Valentine shriek her answer. With a forced smile, she watched William stand up, hold her hand and gently inserting the ring through her finger. It was beautiful. The ring was made of white gold, its mount had no tiny diamonds engraved in it. The only thing that captured her attention fully was the sapphire gem gazing up at her. She wondered how much the ring would have costed. Valentine hoped he didn’t spend thousands just for an engagement ring. On the brighter side, the ring must have been an old one he found in the attic. She knew he wouldn’t even spend thousands of dollars for her. He was her bully after all. They hated each other.Speaking of hatred, Valentine snapped herself out of her thoughts and whipped her head to look at William. His smile was big as there were a few people who approached him, congratulating. She wondered, did he still hate her like before? Will he be humiliating her again now tha
Horrified at what she heard, she sighed heavily and surrendered. He was right. He knew she hated him. If she knew what his plans were, she would definitely walk to the other side and flip things around. “Just… take me to my house,” she muttered and turned her back against him. She was now facing the window where street lights looked blurry due to how fast the car went. “Wake me up when we get there.” She tried to close her eyes shut and erase her thoughts to lead her to a peaceful sleep. It didn’t take her more than five minutes to dive down in her dreams and snore. Meanwhile, William pushed the rear-view mirror to face his fiancé. His eyes looked straight at her through the mirror. Her soft snores did make him think she had now fallen asleep. The next morning, Valentine stretched her arms out and yawned with her eyes still completely closed. The soft cushion under her made her think that she was finally at home. She wanted to take more minutes of
They were eating without exchanging any words. She took a bath straight after washing the plates and utensils she used. And that’s when it hit her, she was only trying to avoid from talking to him all morning that she forgotten that she had no other clothes with her. Once she was done, she opened the door slightly but enough for her head to pop out. Her man—which she wouldn’t prefer calling him that—has been sitting on the bed, waiting for her to come out.“Will?” she called out his name sheepishly. She didn’t offer him a minute longer to reply and continued, “do you have oversized shirts with you that you don’t use anymore? And maybe some skinny jeans?”She felt like an idiot for trying to avoid him yet still asked for his help an hour later. Her hair was still damp and the water from each strand kept falling onto the floor. The air conditioner from inside William’s bedroom had crept in through th
“So, after all this time, Valentine has been dating the young handsome millionaire,” Delilah summed it all up, genuinely trying to make Sofie even hear it better. “Valentine, you’ve got taste,” She added. Based on her words, she was proud.“Let me read the article… please.” Valentine begged.“Found it on Paul’s blog.” Delilah handed her phone over for Valentine to read.Her eyes travelled from word to word. Both the narration and the information written were literally on point—just like how it happened yesterday during dinner. There was no point hiding this from everyone. She bet maybe almost every person living in the city knew about the news. All thanks to Paul.“Engaged?” Sofie repeated the words. She was still surprised with the sudden information she received.“Yes, Sofie! The ring and the article proved it.” Missy once again held Valentine’s
Valentine sucked in a deep breath, straightened her back then started, “Well… we met.”“How?” Missy asked, blatant enough that she was eager to know more about her best friend’s story.“W–We met at the bar?”“Why does it seem like you’re questioning?” Delilah asked, confused.Clearing her throat, Valentine repeated. “We met at the bar.”“You went partying?” Missy asked, surprised. “Why didn’t you invite me? I’m confused… why did you went out partying? Didn’t you like parties? You even refused our invitations a thousand times. What’s with the change of–.”“Please, let her talk,” Sofie interrupted them and both Delilah and Missy behaved.Valentine officially got the time to herself, explaining how she and William met but, that was the problem. She didn’t know which story she&
Her fiancé pushed the door open to his house and she stepped in, greeted by a girl who appeared to be in her early teenage years. She ducked her head slightly. She was dressed like she’s at her own house–her shorts reaching mid-thigh and she wore a shirt bigger than her size. Every strand of her raven hair was tied up into a ponytail.“Welcome back, sir. I arranged miss’s properties according to what you told me to.”“Very good, what about dinner?”“All cooked,” she replied promptly, raising her head up to see them. The girl had tanned skin and scars on both arms and legs. Her smile was too wide to the point where it reached her eyes, her slightly yellow teeth exposing themselves at Valentine. “Pretty…”“Baby, this is my helper, Mary,” William introduced. “Mary, say hi to my fiancé, Valentine.”“Baby?” She felt her heart sink.
The lights inside the room were dimmed, although it was dimmed enough for them to see each other. They were standing near the bed, with William behind her. “I want to see you wearing it again,” William pleaded. His breath tickled against her neck as he moved the strands of Valentine’s hair aside to kiss her nape. “No,” Valentine replied promptly. What was he thinking? They already had a three-year old Xavier and a two-month old baby Yvonne to watch over. They just couldn’t simply hit a home run now that they had company. “Please? It’s been years since you wore my gift. I just want to see you in it one last time,” he begged. She scoffed, not believing in him with his words. “Are you certain with that ‘one last time’ of yours?” “Yes, I am.” She was convinced. Valentine sighed and wiggled out of William’s arms around her. She looked for the white lingerie he gave her the day after their wedding. It definitely had been a while since she wo
Twelve months had passed since they popped out the news of her pregnancy to Helen. And the mother-in-law herself popped the news out to the guests during her birthday celebration as well. Considering that there will always be paparazzi everywhere, it made the big announcement as a headline for the next day’s television news. Just after a few days since the announcement, Dave Henson, the manager of the restaurant where William proposed to her, apologized and introduced himself as William’s cousin. The second ‘little bird’ who did background checks on her for Helen. As Valentine didn’t want drama in her life anymore, she forgave him. After two months since Valentine gave birth to their first son, they went on a ‘little’ outing trip. Valentine, William, their baby, Billy, Helen, Vaughn, and Lucy went to Paris, France. Every time she would catch Lucy’s stare at her, she’d always receive multiple apologies at once. Yet, she forgave her too. Either once, twice, or
Just as planned, Valentine was already inside the room, she was just standing a meter away from the door, her back against the wall, and the gift she made for Helen was on her hand. William closed the door and she heard every step of his shoes click against the floor as he left.It had been minutes but Helen still hadn’t arrived. She was getting anxious; Valentine might have gotten inside the wrong room. Because of the nervousness she was earning, she’d been tightening her calves for a while now and they ached.Rather than making herself stand against the wall and wait for someone that took ages to arrive, she decided to get out of her position and pace around the room.The door opened as Helen came inside. To Valentine’s luck, it seemed that her mother-in-law hadn’t noticed her yet as she was busy talking with William. Quickly, Valentine went back to her previous position.As Helen walked in, she saw William carrying the gifts she
Valentine returned upstairs right after her conversation with Helen ended. Her husband was on his laptop. Based on the way he almost had his face plant itself to the monitor of his device, it showed that he typing away as if his life depended on it. Well, of course. William’s life did depend on it. She smiled at her silliness. “Hey.” “Why did you want to talk with her?” William asked as his eyes were still focused on the screen. “I wanted to tell her about this.” She circled her hand around her tummy as a gesture for him to understand why. His face softened and he closed his laptop. “How did it go?” the way his voice sounded smooth and cozy made Valentine want to jump on him, cuddle and scoop with him until this evening. “Well…” She plopped herself down on the bed, sitting with her back slouched and continued with a tone of disappointment, “I didn’t get the chance to tell her.” “And that’s because?” “I think your mothe
A maid knocked on their doors, as she said loudly that Helen requested for their presence as she wished to eat breakfast together with them. Valentine figured out that this could be the opportunity she’d take to tell her mother-in-law about the great news — which, she thought could be the reason if Helen would change her perspective of William and her.They got out of the room. Valentine thanked the maid for informing them and they followed her towards the dining room. Helen was already sitting on her seat with her food untouched.“Happy birthday,” Valentine greeted.She didn’t receive a verbal response. Instead, she received a stare. They ate their breakfast. All she could hear was the clink every time their spoons and forks knocked lightly against the plates. Just when they finished, Helen started a conversation about the company with William, making Valentine left out.She had to keep herself quiet just like what she did l
For every trip to almost all of the jewelry shops in the city the couple did to find the perfect gift for Helen, it took them half an hour until they switched to another shop. The both knew Helen Fajardo was a woman with the highest standards and expectations, considering that she was a wealthy widowed woman, of course she deserved something that would amuse her the most.Afterwards, they headed off to the arcade and spent the entire afternoon playing. They never once thought of eating for lunch. Valentine’s constant cheering, giggling, and laughing and William’s chuckling added fun to their little date.Not until William received a call from his mother, asking where he was and why it took the two of them to return back to the residence. They sped off back to the mansion not a minute later and had dinner together.It was a quiet one. They exchanged a few words every now and then, to be exact, it was only William and Helen who conversed, as Valentine
As they arrived to the dress shop, Valentine immediately pulled Delilah in. She dragged her friend towards the part of the shop where there were many dresses lined up, where they could discuss about Adam privately and to make sure that they were far enough as possible.When they reached the part of the shop, they halted.“What are you doing?” Delilah wanted to know the reason behind her abrupt action.“There is something you need to know,” she said.“Valentine?” William’s voice entered her ears and that’s where she realized that her husband followed them. Valentine’s eyes widened as she saw Adam with him.“You can go stay there at the bench. You know us, girls, we usually take an hour to pick our own clothes,” she laughed nervously.“Okay. We’ll wait there. But take note that I’ll pay for your dress and Delilah’s if ever she wants one.”&ld
“Hey guys!” Delilah’s voice boomed across the floor. “I thought you left! It’s hard to look for you since this place is pretty much packed.” There were three employees behind her, carrying a tray on their hands. Valentine felt relieved as she didn’t want to take care of Adam anymore. She watched as Delilah rocked her hips sideways, walking towards their table. She sat down beside Adam and placed her tray. She and Delilah said their ‘thank yous’ to the employees as they placed the rest of the trays on the table then left. “Where’s your husband?” her friend’s question caused Adam to flinch visibly. “He’s on a call,” Valentine answered, with her eyes sticking suspiciously at him. And as she faced her left, William came into view. “Oh, there he is.” “Hey.” William sat down beside her and apologized, “sorry it took me that long.” “Where were you?” Delilah unwrapped her rice from the paper, looking curious. “Work.” “Ah, very
A ringing sound of William’s phone took over the silence. Valentine looked at him, worried if he’d pick it up or not. He glanced at Adam and Valentine then said, “sorry, I’ll just have to take this.” He fished for his phone from his pocket then answered, “Hello, yes?” Valentine wanted to eavesdrop but the voice from the other end of the line was quite inaudible. She stayed silent but still wanted to know what it was about. Instead, her eyes focused on Adam — who was showing difficulty in avoiding her stare. “What?” he spat promptly, yet in hushed tones. His sudden manner of speaking made her to look back at him and mouth, “what’s wrong?” “Work,” he mouthed back then returned his attention to the caller, “tell them to contact me.” He stood up as he pulled the phone away from his face. “I’ll be back. I need to take care of this.” Valentine nodded, understanding that he’d be busy all the time. Nevertheless, she decided to take this opport