She only blinked her eyes when her grandfather decided to close the files in front of him. He then settled to invite them to lunch at a nearby well-known fancy restaurant close to the company.
According to Shawn, it was a place where most of them met their investors and clients, a place for formal talking.
"That's a great idea. This will help Ericka become familiarized with the establishment." She heard her grandfather say.
Meanwhile, Ericka still couldn't move on from the topic from earlier, resulting in her bewildered stature. She was there visibly but her mind was floating through the clouds.
"Our company will surely continue to grow and since it is managed by two intelligent people then it is unlikely that we all want to prosper from it," Shawn's father said, chuckling to himself. He was talking to her father and grandfather, making her fazed.
Since th
Once they turned their gazes towards the waiter's back, they noticed a woman standing idly.It was none other than Jenna's bestfriend with a narrow smile flashing through her lips."Madison, what a surprise! What are you doing here?" Mr. Gray exclaimed as he stood up to greet the woman. The two embraced each other into a hug before her eyes happened to meet hers.Ericka rolled her eyes on her. What an eyesore."We'll, I just happen to dine here in the restaurant together with Jenna," the woman answered and then turned to look at her uncle. "Mr. Holmes, it's a good day to see you," she started. "However, I would like to inform you that your daughter is crying for some reason," she said, pointing towards Ericka's stepsister.Immediately, a frown flashed through her face before they all looked at the supposed poor Jenna.She was a p
On the other hand, Ericka's grandfather who was silent the whole time managed to join their conversation until he noticed that Jenna was hogging the attention of the whole group.He was obviously unwilling to let this woman be alone with the Grays, knowing full well that she and her mother were nothing but parasites in the Holmes to a point that they drove her granddaughter away from their household and put his son into ruins."So you two came here for just that?" the old man uttered before his eyes shifted towards his granddaughter for a second. "Anyway, if that is the case then it is a coincidence that we are celebrating something," he added before a smirk flashed through his wrinkled lips."What that may be, Grandpa?" Madison asked. Her eyes then shifted towards everyone as though she was a clueless kid before her eyes finally landed at Shawn."Shawn, what are we celebrating for?" she asked
The meal ended with Ericka not even savoring the taste of the food in front of her plate. Ever since what she heard earlier, she couldn't help but keep overthinking to herself."Are you alright?" Shawn quickly asked and even so far as to lower his gaze, his eyes looking at him with sincerity.Ericka stared right at him, surprised at his sudden kind gesture when she managed to compose herself."Y-Yes, I am," she replied shortly. "It's not like you really care," she added, almost mumbling to herself.Shawn suddenly stopped walking for a second and was just about to confront her words when his father turned around to look at them."Are you guys going back to the office?" his old man asked, making everyone turn to his gaze. Shawn was unable to utter a word about it anymore and lifted his attention to his father."Yes, Dad. I still have some documents to sig
"Ericka," they called out. They couldn't believe the words she uttered earlier before Jenna held onto her two hands, acting like the goodie goody two shoes."Sissy, what are you talking about? Madison is just joking," she said, acting like she was consoling her step sister. She even managed to embrace her into a hug despite not wanting to do so in the first place.Meanwhile, rationality left Ericka and all that was left to drive her right now was the unbearable pain she was feeling.She tried to act with a firm tone and gulped several times before speaking again."There's no use in forcing ourselves into an arranged marriage. If Jenna loves Shawn then why don't the two of you just get married? I know for sure that you two will fit perfectly and…" she paused for a second, tears welling up to her eyes. She bit her lip before adding, "Shawn, I don't mind even if you marry her."
"What?" Ericka replied, her forehead knitting. It was obvious that she was starting to get annoyed at him. However, deep within her was a broken heart.Is this man seriously looking at her as though he is hurt with her words or is he just playing with her emotions to play along with this pretend marriage?"You are lucky, I can still control myself," the man replied, which made her raise one of her eyebrows. What is this man talking about? He is like someone threatening her and for what exactly?Just as blood started to rise to her head, she couldn't help but taunt him."Why? Are you planning to do something?" she asked, retorting his statement. She wanted to let out all the frustrations building up inside of her."I'm sure, you are not going to like it," Shawn replied and immediately made her stop. The thought of her daughter suddenly flashed through her head as
Truth be told, he was only fantasizing about this in their younger years but now, they're already engaged with one another."Soon, Dude," he replied afterwards.His fianceé Ericka might seem to dislike the idea of marriage between the two of them right now but he knows he can persuade her enough that she'll slowly open her heart to him."What a gaping smile you have there, do you like her?" Nick asked, which made him stop for a moment.His question was so sudden that he didn't know how to reply. However, his face says it all even if he doesn't directly tell him."I know that smile you got there, Dude. There's no use staying silent," his friend teased before his eyebrows raised up and down. "Did you just come from his office?" Nick added, after a while, pointing towards his disappearance earlier."Yes, I did," Shawn shortly replied. He leane
"Yes, you did. I've always remembered it since we've been friends since we were in elementary school. You were only a few years older than her," Nick reminded him, which made him knit his forehead."Excuse me, Dude. We're only a year older than her," he corrected, which made his friend pause for a second and bursted out laughing. He can sense how Shawn tried to emphasize on the age gap pertaining that they were not that old from the woman he loves."Whatever, I only saw photos of her before," Nick retorted after a long while and then shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sure, she'll be more beautiful now," he added, which made him smile."Yes, she is indeed," he replied, the genuine smile flashing through his lips was an obvious indication of his infatuation over her.Just as they were having a good conversation talking about Ericka, the door suddenly swung open after three knocks and a person came in
"Caroline Sandoval. I picked this woman named Caroline Sandoval," she said, pointing towards one of the resumes on top of her desk.Mr. Gaston then just nodded his head upon getting the woman's name before saying, "Alright, I'll send an approved email. May I ask when you want her to start?" he added, lifting his gaze to look at her."She'll be starting tomorrow. Please let her know that the company wants her early by seven o'clock," Ericka explained before leaning her back on the backrest of her swivel chair."Alright, I'll inform her," the old man replied to which she just nodded her head."Yes, thank you, Mr. Gaston," she said afterwards and quickly stood up from her desk. The day had already passed and it was nearing night time when she decided to stare for a second at the gaping scenery of sunset from her window."Anyway, I'll be going home now," she added before
Because of Carol's question on him and his current anxiety, he couldn't help but had the urge of doing something about his doubts.If it was true that he had a child with Jenna, though he never heard about it from Ericka and Shawn, he still needed to be sure.Carol received a call from Ericka that she needed to go to the hospital because today was the day that Rica would be discharged. That cute little girl stayed for two nights and two days at the hospital. Though Nick and her only visited her niece the day before, along with Nicki, she was still worried.She was in the middle of driving to the hospital when her phone suddenly ranh. She parked on the side of the road with an emergency flickering sign light. Afterwards, she immediately swiped the answer button on the screen when she saw it was Ericka."Hello, Ms. Ericka," she greeted."Carol, can you just call me Ericka? After all, you are the aunt of my daughter, and the girlfriend of my husband's best friend…" Ericka kept on insist
Nick immediately stood up when he saw his brother. He knew that Nicki was angry as he could see it in his facial expressions. He immediately went and stopped his brother midway."Bro, Rica is fine,” he whispered, which instantly made Nicki calm down a bit."Tell me what happened?" he asked in a firm tone.Nick narrated what he heard from the elderly woman, but he didn’t know how he related it to Shawn and Ericka.After everything was fine and Rica’s condition was already stable, they decided to go to the nearest restaurant for lunch. After giving their order, Shawn looked at Nick, and he knew what it meant."Well, Carol and I are in a relationship. Besides, you also need to know that she is Rica's Aunty, Carol. Coraline Sandoval is the eldest sister of Carolina Imperial," he explained hastily, giving shock to the couple in front of them."Really…?" Ericka and Shawn replied in unison."Yes…" With that, he narrated everything to them, including the letters."One more thing, Rica’s biolo
They were all sitting in the living room with a bottle of vodka on the top of the center table."Here, read the letter that Caroline gave to you…” Nicki said and handed the paper to Nick while he was putting the stainless bucket on the table that was filled with ice cubes."Should I read it now?" Nick asked with doubt and hesitation as he was holding the rough textured paper between his fingers."Yes, I advised you too, so you can know about the truth,” Nicki said blandly.She could see that there's something serious written on the letter that Carolina had left for the brothers. It was evident based on Nicki's gesture and his blunt reply to Nick."I'm sure the last time we met, you were shocked as to why I left without telling you," Nicki said to her while pouring her glass with vodka."Oh, yes, regarding that, I am really surprised. I thought you were just in a hurry, or an emergency occurred," she replied."No, when you told me about your boyfriend coming, and I saw that it was my b
Carol was surprised when Nick suddenly hugged her as soon as he got inside their house. On the usual days, once he got home, he would open the door by himself. However, tonight was different. He rang the bell, making her open the door for him as she thought that there was a delivery or an unexpected guest.It didn’t occur to her that it might be Nick as she was aware that he went to have dinner with his brother and her employers. He never texted her earlier that he won’t be eating at home because they would be meeting at a restaurant."Babe are you alright?" she couldn’t help but ask with confusion because of his gesture."Yes, Babe. I'm fine. I just couldn't help but be happy after meeting them. One more thing, there's something I need to tell you," Nick uttered in such a manner that he seemed to be too excited to tell her something.Suddenly, she remembered that he promised to tell her something about his secret after he had a meeting with her employer and his brother."Is it about
Carol swallowed a lump in her throat as a ridiculous idea ran through her head. She couldn't believe that she thought that Nick would do that to his deceased girlfriend. She could see how kind Nick was. Unless, of course, if he was only pretending and hiding his true colors."I'm scared…" she murmured. It was already too late before she realized that she had voiced those words."I'm sorry. I have no intentions of scaring you. I promise you… Once I'm done talking with Shawn and Ericka, and when everything turns out to be fine, I will introduce you to my family. I know that they’ll be happy to meet you." After hearing his words and the name of her employer from his mouth, she couldn’t help but feel relieved."Mr Shawn and Ms Ericka?" she asked."Yes, there's something I need to settle with them. I hope that once you find out everything about me, you will listen to the entire story first before judging me. I promise you that I’m not a bad person which is why I don’t understand why Carol
He felt confused, and his heart felt heavy. Every question he had in his mind was answered after he heard his brother's confession. All this time, the girl's voice he heard on the other line of the phone was his daughter.The longing he felt for his daughter was soon to be filled. Out of excitement, he immediately hugged his brother. Though Carol didn't tell him about his daughter, she did well by handing the custody of their child to Ericka and Shawn."Yes, bro. I know them well. Carol has something to give you; she asked Ericka to give it to you before she died," he said before he distanced himself from hugging his brother."For me…" Nicki asked with a smile plastered on his lips."Yes, for you…" Nick affirmed after they heard the sounds of the knocking, making them look at the door, which suddenly opened. Looking, they found that it was their parents."Mom… Dad…" they said in unison and immediately embraced each of them."What's going on here? Are you both crying?" Their mother ask
After the meeting with Shawn, Nick went to their ancestral home where Nicki was staying.As soon as he parked his car, he saw their butler coming out from the main door. He immediately got out of the car and greeted the elderly woman."Hello, Aunty Amy…""Sir. Nick," the elder woman replied back."How's everything, how's my brother?" he asked.Amy smiled at him and replied, "He's doing fine. I just served his breakfast.""Where is he?""He's in his bedroom," the butler replied."Thank you, Aunty," he mumbled and went inside the house. From there he went straight to the staircase, heading to his brother's bedroom. He took a deep breath before he knocked on the door three times and waited for his brother's response, but he got nothing. He held the doorknob and twisted it before he pushed the door to open.He saw that the bed was empty, and the sounds of the running water echoed from the bathroom. He headed to the bed and sat there at the edge. He decided to wait for his brother to come
"Shawn, I'm just testing you. The truth is that the birthmark I was asking for was here behind your ear," Grandma Mila said as she touched the small mole that was behind his ear. If he purposely looked for it, they could see it."Oh, Grandma…" Shawn mumbled and hugged the old woman tight."Tell me, Mr. Grey, if I'm not mistaken, there's embroidery name, Shawn, in his shirt and shorts when you found him?" Grandma asked, looking at Mr. Grey."Yes, Mrs. Mila. There is,” he admitted."You see, I wasn't mistaken. You are my grandson. I'm just checking on you earlier." Grandma giggled.They stayed there until lunchtime, and the old woman cooked a dish that was Shawn's late father's favorite dish."This is one of your father's favorite dishes, steam fish with mayonnaise sauce.""Shawn's favorite is seafood, anything that's seafood. He likes it. Either you cook it with sauce, fried or grilled." Mr. Grey said."He is like his father. His mother likes to do embroidery. The truth is that his mot
"Hon, what should we bring for her? Should we buy cake," he asked, trying to think carefully.Ericka thought for a while and helped her analyze. "Cake, I don't think so. She loves to bake, and usually, she's giving it all a slice of cake every time she makes a cake.""Really..?'' he asked in surprise."Yes, Honey. Grandma Mila love's to bake. That's one of her habits," Ericka shared with a smile."Then what should we bring for her?""How about a basket of fruits?""Well, that's a good idea, and a bouquet of red roses.""Yes, why not."After they got the best gift to bring, they arrived at the place of Grandma Mila. They looked at each other and Shawn turned off the car engine."Are you ready?" Ericka asked."Yes, actually, I'm excited. I was wondering what could be her reaction," Shawn said while feeling nervous as well."Well, let's find out," Ericka said after she unbuckled herself."Hon, I'm nervous," Shawn said while smiling."I understand you because I felt the same when I return