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
Just as she entered her room to take a short break, she quickly went to the couch and rested her body.She still couldn't stop thinking about the conversation she had with her nanny as she stretched her arms into the thin air.Since she only has two hours left to prepare herself for the gala, she managed to stand up on her two feet and walk towards the closet.Furnished with formal attires, casual wears and those granted for parties, it took Ericka a handful of thirty minutes to decide what to wear and what to match her outfit with."This is bothersome," she whispered to herself after exhaling a sharp sigh. Afterwards, she found herself taking a short shower to cleanse herself of the sweat and immediately continued with a few of her daily retouches.Just as she found herself strapped with only a towel in her body, she stared at herself for a second.