"What?" I blurted, not because I was worried about Mr. Emilio's sharp stares, but about Norman's bothering pacing from side to side as if he had been searching for something. "Nothing," he defensively replied. "I'm just making sure if you haven't brought me something - flowers as you did in my office." His half-smirk annoyed me. "Cut the crap, Norman. I'm not here for that. Believe it or not, I have nothing to do with those flowers. Perhaps it was one of your women. The news about someone kissing you in one of these rooms flooded everyone's knowledge." Norman received and understood the message so he ordered Mr. Emilio to give us some privacy. "News indeed travels so fast, huh?" he said as he offered me a seat from the couch actors from him. Talking with Norman was my purpose in visiting him in his office so I dropped my butt on the couch. But instead of across from him, I sat next to make sure everyone could think we were indeed a couple. His noble image was a
"That's enough! Get back to your seats, NOW!" Tanner's anger reverberated throughout the hallways. I have known Tanner for eight years, and it was the first time I saw his eyes wide open and his veins pop out of his neck. He barely gets angry even if he gets humiliated all the time by Norman and his friends. But right now, he has become another person. The monster side of him. "Those who will not get back to their seats will get an F from me." he added, "At the count of three... One -- Two --" Some of the students disappeared from their spots before Tanner could reach three, but some of them who were not afraid of failing his subject, including Jennie and Jennifer remained. In fact, the two of them eagerly slide toward Tanner. Each of them grabbed Tanner's arms while giving me the tip of their brows being raised, believing our professor would take their side. Little did they know Tanner became my friend before he became a university professor and met them.
In the middle of my journey back to the mansion, my phone suddenly rang, breaking the walls between me and the driver who kept on stealing a glimpse of me from the mirror on top of him. The call came from Tanner as I expected. "Are you on your way to the mansion now?" he asked. I glanced at the driver as I cleared my throat and slid to the corner next to the door of the car. "Yes, I'm on my way home now. What's up? Did the news about what I did to Jennifer and Jennie already reach out to you?" "What do you mean?" He replied. "I'm on my way to pick up my daughter. Why? Did something happen earlier? Did they attack and humiliate you again?" "No, it's the other way around." I shortly chuckled. A kind of laugh who just brought the bacon home. "Sorry for not telling you in advance. But I poured the twins with a bucket of water earlier in the toilet room." "Come on, Yvanna. I told you not to do anything reckless. You're making the issue more complicated. What if they
"Are you and Dad arguing again?" Noah asked despite having a hard time breathing out those words. "OF course, not, honey" I defensively replied. Then I assisted him in lying down with me and wrapped my arms around him. "Your dad and I were simply talking about something. But we're not arguing, okay?" I caressed his shoulder to help him get back to sleep. Luckily, he stopped asking questions, instead, he wrapped his arms around me. "Don't get mad at Dad, please?" he replied as he squeezed off his face inside my armpit. "Dad said he loves you, Mom. But he said that you don't love him anymore. Why? Are you mad at him? Did he do something bad to you?" The last thing I want to happen is to comfort Noah with a lie so I nodded, "He did something bad to me, honey. And because of that, I couldn't find it inside me to forgive him." "Why?" he asked as I expected. "Because they turned our life hell, Noah, including your life. And I will not stop until your grandmother
"Are you sure Norman will not be attending the meeting?" I asked Elaine the second I stepped foot into the office. "Got his confirmation a few minutes ago, Mrs. dela Vega. I'm afraid he can't come to the meeting. But he'll be here afterward to discuss you with the updates of the shopping malls." "Please, get me a cup of coffee, Ms. Elise. Thank you." I ordered before I dropped my butt on my seat. "Is he kidding me?" I pointed the question back to Elaine. "How am I supposed to face those people alone?" "He said he trusted you will do a good job at the meeting, Mrs. dela Vega," Elaine replied, but those long curve lines on her forehead tell me the other way around. The meeting was about presenting our new products to our new investors from South Korea. Apart from that I only knew a few Korean words, so I was not that confident enough to get the proposal approved. "Fine," I snorted as I left with no other choice. "Another thing, Justine Stroem, one of the shopping
Justine glanced at the flash drive as it landed in front of him with his mouth sealed, telling and proving to me that he knew something about the incident. Guilty beyond a reasonable doubt is my verdict. Yet he never told me anything since I got discharged from the hospital after a long two months fighting in a coma. Instead, he advised me to forget about the incident and live with him for good. Whatever his reasons are, I wanted to know the truth, not his side of the story, but the truth. "Everything in this flash drive tells me a lot of stories, Justine," I continued, "and do you know what kind of story has been telling me right after seeing the footage? The side of the story where I believe you are the person behind the incident. So, if you are not going to tell me, to at least defend yourself, I will believe with what I know - that you have been lying to me all this time." Finally, Justine did something apart from being frozen while listening to my lecture a
'The audacity to interfere with my paycheck!" Mauricia's furious yell broke my eardrums. She stepped foot into the office with her feet moving forward without stopping. I was about to say something when Mauricia struck a hard slap right straight onto my face. Hard enough my soul was almost thrown away from my body. "How dare you cut off my salary, you ungrateful whore!" she growled. "Not because my son knelt before you, means we are going to. I will never bow before you, Yvanna. You don't deserve my respect, bitch! you're nothing compared to me." Similar to Jennie and Jennifer, I also cut Mauricia's salary in half and donated their halves to the foundation I built intended for those employees who were maltreated by the company - by Muaricia and her husband. All of them don't deserve to receive six figures a month for not treating everyone fairly. All our employees were working hard, day and night, to maintain the company's noble image. What I did, not telling t
Seeing Mauricia shut her mouth without asking further questions as if she just got scolded by her parents was like I was watching an intense drama on television. To make it more annoying, I smirked at her. And it worked when Mauricia bent the tip of her brows while looking at me in the eye, filled with excitement. "I know you better than Yvanna. You are more ruthless and heartless than me. Do you think I would believe you now?" he added. "Don't blame your Mom, Norman. She knows nothing about her. Look what happened to her shopping malls. She remained clueless about her people smuggling our inventories behind her knowledge." "I already knew that, of course," she defensively replied. "It's just I felt pity for them if I am going to do something about it. Please, believe me, Norman. That woman is poisoning your mind. You shouldn't believe in anything she said." Norman removed Mauricia's grip before he departed his seat and dropped his butt on the other chair. His acti
The tick-tock of the clock in our world has seemed to stop, accompanied by the heavy weight of the sensation rested on our helpless shoulders. His back rested on my chest, arms lying on both sides, and his smiling face pointing at me. "Why, Norman? You could have run away and saved your life. Why did you catch the bullet for me, huh? I'm not worth it. Have you forgotten I still hate you?" "Because I love you, Yvanna," he spoke out. "Remember those flowers, chocolates, and food containers?" I nodded as my tears kept pouring down my cheeks like an open faucet, especially when he started ejecting a bulk of blood from his nose and mouth. "Someone gave me that kind of idea eight years ago," he added. "I don't know how to make it up to you so I copied what you did when we were in college. When you confessed your feelings to me and wanted to be my girlfriend. Do you still remember? Because I do remember everything, Yvanna. That was also the day when I started to get annoye
Mr. Emilio attempted to snatch the phone from me but I swiftly dodged his grasp and held onto the phone tightly. Then I slid to the corner to make sure no one could interrupt our conversation. "This is how it is, Yvanna," he continued. "Finally, I can seek my revenge on the person who ruined my life in the past sixteen years. You should join me." "But you kidnapped him, Tanner. The police officers are also looking for you." I responded softly as if my lips hadn't moved a bit, still hesitant about his proposal even if it tempted me. Tanner's continuous laughter roared like thunder from the other line of the phone. "Police officers?" he asked with conviction. "Are you kidding me? How do you think I managed to get him out of prison without being noticed, Yvanna? Police officers are nothing but frugal. With the right amount of money, they will help you no matter how hard and impossible the jobs are." After giving it much thought, I agreed to Tanner's proposal which was
In the middle of the profound conversation, Elaine approached and showed us something we did not expect. Something I never expected to get leaked. "Mr. Emilio, are you aware of this?" One of the company's lawyers blurted in disbelief. The utter disappointment was written in everyone's faces apart from me. The news Elaine showed us was the footage of Norman having sex with another woman. "No, I'm not even aware Norman had an affair with another woman. And I barely recognize her." Mr. Emilio defensively replied. "Her name is Kristine Kate. And I am well aware of the existence of that footage because someone sent me a copy of it a few days ago." I confessed. Everyone's sharp eyes were pointing at me as if they were suspecting me. Can someone assist me to my office? I am going to check the flash drive in my drawer. And for the record, I didn't leak the footage." "I'll come with you, Mrs. dela Vega. I have to get something on my desk too." Elaine proposed. Without asking further ques
The next morning, everyone in the mansion was swamped but excited apart from me as it would also be the same day Norman and I would have our second wedding. What I discovered in front of Justine's apartment remained a huge mystery to me. Norman did not come home last night because it was in our tradition that the couple must be separated on the day of the wedding and will meet at the church. But since I have nowhere else to go, my parent's house is on the other side of the world, I used the mansion while Norman used the dela Vega Group and Companies building. "Smile, Mrs. dela Vega," says the makeup artist who has been preparing me for almost an hour. "You are about to get married but you looked like the entire weight of the world fell onto your shoulders." "Why? Do you have any regrets about remarrying the mayor, Mrs. dela Vega?" her assistant asked. Regrets? A lot. If and only my family was born as rich and powerful as the dela Vegas, only a fool would remarr
"Wait, do you, by chance, are you the one who...?" I couldn't bring up the question when we have someone with us in the car. So I decided to wait until we reached the office. Last night. It took Norman almost an hour to get back to the rehearsal dinner after sending Veronica and Malia out of the hotel. But I have no idea what he and his security guards did to them outside, and why he took almost an hour to get back. Not that I don't want the two dead, the news was just too sudden. As soon as we arrived, I quickly headed to my desk to start working. Norman followed me, lost in his thoughts, I can tell. He dropped his butt on the couch next to my desk and fixed his eyes in one direction - toward his uncertainty. "Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. dela Vega!" Elaine greeted us with a smile after the successful rehearsal dinner last night. Based on my abrupt observation, she hasn't heard of the news yet. "Here's your cup of coffee and tea, Mr. and Mrs. dela Vega! Enjo
"So you mean that one of those cops could have killed the man on our way to his house?" I continued his statement when that was what I believed. He nodded. "Or more. And that's what we need to know. And I highly suggest you work on it behind Tanner's knowledge." "You want me to stab Tanner behind his back? Have you forgotten he's my lawyer?" I asked, debated to be precise. "Tanner was pretty convinced earlier that you agreed to the result of the cops' investigation regarding the case. Better keep it that way. I'll recommend a loyal police officer who can work on the case with confidentiality." Then he asked me to get his phone from his left pocket to search for the contact person. I believed Norman had nothing to do with the attempt of killing me so I agreed to his proposal. And, of course, for our conversation to be put to an end. After getting the man's contact information, a deafening silence dominated the rest of the travel toward the hotel. Fifteen minut
After the call ended, we continued the photo shoot, buying enough time to better think about what to do in this kind of situation. Putting my situation into words, I was having second thoughts about whether I should tell Norman about my deal with Tanner or have to face and tell Tanner myself about remarrying Norman. Either way, I don't know the answer once I picked one when both of them were not to my advantage. There are no choices that won't hurt anyone in the middle of the process. "Do you mind if I ask what time will the rehearsal dinner be?" I asked Norman as soon as Noah and I were settled in his car. "Why? Do you have any other appointment that I am not aware of?" He asked back. "Tanner and I will have a meeting at three. He said that he had something to tell me. Perhaps it has something to do with the case he's working on. Would you like to come with me?" I proposed, with the hope that he would say no. "Why can you just reschedule that meeting?" Lik
"Let go of us, Yvanna!" Veronica cried out as she attempted to remove my hand from their hair. "We didn't do anything wrong." Malia debated. "In fact, we are someone else's escorts." A few security guards attempted to break us apart from after catching a glimpse that it was me, they backed out. Instead, they followed us outside the building. The moment we stepped foot outside, I pushed the two harder. Hard enough they both stumble to the rough and muddy surface of the ground. Their once glimmering expensive evening gowns are now stained with dirt and mud. And I have no regrets dragging them away from the event. "Do you think I am that fool enough not to notice what you two are doing to my husband?" I growled at them. "Even if you were someone else's escort, doesn't mean you cannot flirt with him." Veronica and Malia burst into tears as they looked around. Hundreds of flashing cameras surrounded us, catching every angle of the commotion. Malia tried to cover her face with her bar
"Come on, Mom, Dad! Can you just hear me out, please?" I insisted as I tailed them heading out of the mansion. "Get back, Yvanna!" Dad exclaimed. He and Mom doubled their pace toward the main road. "We don't have a daughter now. Go back to that hell of a place." I was about to stop them from hopping into the cab but they took off at the speed of light, leaving me alone in the road. "Please, get back inside, Mrs. dela Vega." One of the security guards followed me and helped me up as I dropped my knees to the rough surface of the ground. "Let me follow them on your behalf instead." The man next to him proposed. "We'll keep you posted once we can talk to them." They then hailed a cab and took off. I attempted to hail a new cab but two new security guards appeared and begged me to get back to the mansion as it was a strict order from Norman. Leaving with no other choice, I went straight to Noah's room. "Mom, are you alright? Are you crying? Did those evil hurt