Sam laughed at the thought of it, and he said in complete disbelief, “Me, a broken heart? You know I’m not the type. I break hearts, not the other way around.”
Alexander patted Sam’s shoulder and said, “I always waited for that day. The day some girl would be stood up to you and made you fall.”
“For the millionth time, I don’t like Sally-“ Sam said, but then he suddenly hiccupped. Alexander snorted and said, “You’re quite a bad liar, yet I’m impressed how you get the girls to believe your lies.”
“I’m not lying-“ Sam hiccupped again, embarrassed and annoyed. He immediately left after lunch and said to Alexander, “Don’t forget our bet! I’ll definitely make her fall for me.”
“Sure, sure, I’ll be waiting.” Alexander sarcastically said.
Sam rolled his eyes as he walked inside the company. He asked his secreta
Sam sat down near the water and the sand, he glanced at the horizon, and soon after, Sally sat next to him.Sam said, “I used to always come here whenever I feel down.”“Like a special place, or is that another one of your lines to get me?”“You are one distrusting girl.” “And you are one dishonest boy.” Sally teased back.“Ouch.”The two of them laughed together. They had been on each other’s throats for a while now, but maybe it was the moment, for just a minute or so, Sam and Sally saw each other’s vulnerability- something they never let anyone s
But then, a friend of Sam’s saw him and enthusiastically greeted him, “Hey Sam! I’ve been looking everywhere for you! I heard about the bet you made with Alexander and today’s the last day. How is it going?”Sam glanced at Sally unconsciously, and his friend saw that. He said, “Oh, is this her? The girl from the bet? You must be Sally.”Sally scoffed, clearly annoyed and replied, “Yes, I am that girl. I am Sally. Do you have any business with me?”“Feisty.” The guy remarked, “By the way, Sam, I heard you drove away with her yesterday. Did that mean you win? Did you get into her pants? Did you use the sad, manipulative technique? You know, the one about telling her about your sad family so she’d come naturally lower down her guard?”Sally flinched upon hearing that, she thought to herself, so that was part of his game. I should have known better. Sally rea
“I’m sorry. What now?” Sally argued.Sam calmly replied, “Apology accepted.”“Ha-ha. So funny.” She sarcastically said as she shot Sam a look- an annoyed one. Pedro, on the other hand, just sighed and said, “You’re childish and reckless again, Sam. May I remind you of what you just did earlier?”“No need. I was sober even when I said all that.”Pedro scoffed, “Sure, thanks for clearing up that misunderstanding. It turns out that you were just an asshole then.”“He definitely is,” Sally muttered under her breath, but Sam was able to hear that. Sam protested, “Hey, are you his girlfriend or something? How can you take his side so casually?”“I’m stating the truth as it is,” Sally replied.Sam and Sally were arguing like husband and wife over trivial things, and Pedro was just sitting there as he let time pass by.
Sam insisted on staying, which made their table extremely awkward.Pedro sighed deeply; he said to Sally as he completely ignored Sam’s presence, “Sally, are you close with the owner of the restaurant? Oli, was it?”“Yes, the owner is Oli. I’m… her work, so I don’t know what you expect me to say.” Sally awkwardly lied, “But do mind me asking why?”“It’s just… there’s something off about Oli. It seems to me like she’s hiding something.” Pedro explained, “Whenever I kept asking about the girl who was looking for her parents, the one you announced back then, Oli would seem frantic about it, and she kept changing the subject too. I’m guessing she… must have met Maya or something and just disguised her identity as someone else. I mean, that would explain why you… said it wasn’t Maya. What if Oli intentionally didn’t want anyone to kn
Sally was looking around to ask for help, and she tried to step in. She said to the two of them, “Okay, I think you both had a little too much to drink, let’s just all calm down-““You’re a sly man, Pedro.” Sam continued, “How dare you bring my mother up?”“Oh, so if you do it, it’s fine, but I do it, it’s wrong? You’re such a hypocrite.” Pedro said, “I’ve always hated Alexander, but I realized just how much I hate you more. You have always been this way, Sam. You point out everyone else’s flaws and secrets just to make sure they don’t see yours.”Pedro shoved Sam as he added, “You’re pathetic, whiny, and immature, Sam. You play with girls to hide the fact that you’re scared of being like your father, who was constantly cheated on by your mother. You’re your mother’s bank while you’re your father’s assurance that y
Ryan was still panting, and it was obvious that he had run his way there. He sighed out of relief and said, “Thank god I arrived on time. Are you okay? Were you hurt? Oli?”Oli was dumbfounded to see Ryan in front of her with his arms wrapped around Oli. Oli never noticed it before, but Ryan’s arms were manly. Ryan hugged caught Oli in his arms in such an endearing manner. She was speechless, but soon, she snapped out of it and said, “Ryan… you’re here.”“You called me.” Ryan patted Oli’s head gently and said, “Of course I’d be here. I was worried about you too. Here, stay back. I’ll handle this.”From behind, Oli saw how wide Ryan’s shoulder was. She always knew Ryan had a manly build, but at the moment, Oli’s heart was racing uncontrollably faster than usual. The two had an ongoing cold war, but with just one call, Ryan came running.Oli and Ryan had always
“Oh, come on, you’re ridiculous, you’re overreacting.”“I would be anything just to make sure I won’t lose you. Get that in your mind and accept it as it is.” Ryan sincerely said, and then he left.Oli heavily sighed as Ryan left. She leaned on the bar and averted her gaze at Sally, and she asked, “How are you feeling?”“Probably better than you are right now,” Sally replied.“You’re not going to scold me or anything like it?”Sally shook her head and simply replied, “I’ll let you sort this one out. As frustrating as it is to watch you be so naïve and all, I know I have to let you figure it all out.”Oli softly chuckled as she glanced outside at the starry night, “I just don’t get it. I don’t understand why Ryan… acted that way. I don’t get it at all.”“Are you sure you don’t get i
She was not mentally prepared for that.What was that about? Does he know? Does he remember me? Sally’s thoughts were a mess. She wasn’t entirely sure whether Sam remembered her or he was just playing to get her to confess?Maybe, it was just some coincidence, and I’m reading too much into it? Sally hoped that was the case. No- it was just that. Sally convinced herself that Sam was just playing around.After all, Sally was just another one of his stupid challenges.Her mind was infested with thoughts of Sam again, just like it was back then at the beach. That moment, she loathed that moment most of all because that was almost the moment.The almost where she almost fell in love with SamSally hated Sam because he was a player, a manipulative and dishonest man, but most of all, she hated him because she liked him, and she could not accept that. Sally did not want to.Sally and Oli soon arriv
In the United States...Maya was standing in the house that she thought she would not see again.Sicilia was at the door waiting for them to come. When she got out of the car, she immediately went to Sicilia, who embraced her in a long hug.“God, I thought I would never see you again. I was so devastated.”“I thought I would never see you either,” Maya responded after breaking the hug.“So he managed to convince you ?” Sicilia looked back at Alexander.“No, it wasn’t him, it was someone else,” if Pete didn’t come and say those words to Maya, she would still be determined to turn down Alexander, or she would’ve left already. It was all because of Pete, who reminded her to look for her happiness. She thought if she ever forgives Alexander, she would be less of a woman, but that wasn’t the case. She felt even stronger, having the power to reunite them or never be with him a
In France airport, Pete stood between Maya and Alexander, and he looked mad.“What are you doing here?” Alexander asked.
“I uh…” Thomas could not help but feel emotional, but then he snapped. He realized that Mrs. Simons intended to do this! Thomas, enraged, shouted as he threatened Mrs. Simons, “How dare you bring someone like her? She’s my daughter, and she died; you brought that girl here to rub it in my face? Is that it? Huh! You wench!”Mrs. Simons smirked, and just then, Maya stopped the old Duke’s hand mid-air and said, “Please, don’t hurt Mrs. Simons. She was just trying to help me.”Thomas found it odd. Everything about Maya reminded him of his dead daughter- from her eyes, smile, and her kindness. It was too much for the old Duke. Kate passed away young but had she grown up to reach that certain age, Thomas was sure she’d look like Maya.The old Duke left after seeing such resemblance, and that left Mrs. Simons, who was devilishly grinning as everything was going according to plan.Meanwhi
Upon arriving at France, Maya sighed heavily. She felt bad not having to say goodbye at everyone, but then again, she didn’t really think she could face any of them at the moment. The people Maya trusted the most ended up lying to her and manipulating her.But Maya was really bothered about what Alexander said about Mrs. Simons being her aunt. It was impossible, right? Maya knew almost for sure that it was impossible. Perhaps because of Mrs. Simons’s wealth and status, Maya never imagined herself to be anything related to her.Maya shook her head.“Are you okay?” Mrs. Simons asked, “How was the flight?”“Everything was super okay. I didn’t know airlines could fly at any time preferred without any prior notice on the schedule.”Mrs. Simons chuckled, “They didn’t. The plane we rode here is our family’s personal plane since the old Duke, and I love traveling.”“
Stephanie said then before leaving, “I’ll leave it to you to decide what to believe in but here are the files you need. Nothing leads back to Russia, so I say nothing’s keeping you here anymore. The main branch of Greenwillow is at France, and you have a better shot there than here.”“Thank you, Stephanie, for helping me.”Stephanie flinched as she heard that. She did not know what to say because the truth was it was her and Mrs. Simons who was manipulating Maya right now. Mrs. Simons’ plan was to break off the connections holding Maya back from leaving for France- and those were her friends and Alexander.Stephanie gulped hard, kept her composure, and said, “Just remember our agreement. You’ll cut off connections with Alexander. I’ll let what happened last night when you dance with him go and everything else if you just stay away from him as soon as you leave for France.”Maya scoffed, &ld
“Maya’s not answering,” Stephanie said to Mrs. SimonsMrs. Simons was frustrated as she paced back and forth the room, “She must have been with Alexander right now. Damn it. I underestimated Alexander. He’s the perfect tool against me.”Stephanie raised an eyebrow, “Watch your tone. It’s Alexander you’re talking about. I suggest you be careful of what you say about him.”Mrs. Simons rolled her eyes, and then, she had an idea. Mrs. Simons smirked, “I’m betting Maya is back at Oli’s mansion as we speak.”“And? What are you planning?”“Since Pedro gathered them all up to delay Maya leaving for France, I’m just going to ‘undo’ what he did,” Mrs. Simon reasoned, “Once Maya knows about how Alexander, Oli, Sally- the people she trusted the most, are all trying to delay her form-finding her family, she would be so devastated a
“Aren’t you going to give me a chance to explain?”“No. Now leave before I punch you in the face.”Alexander said, “I’m actually quite surprised you still haven’t done that already.” Alexander continued, “Anyway, I can’t leave. I just told you, you owed me for all the trouble last night, and it wasn’t cheap too.”“You’re making it up. I don’t remember anything like that.”Alexander smirked, “Oh, but you remembered what you said and did to me-“Maya immediately covered Alexander’s mouth and whispered to him, “If you say anything- even one word about it to Oli or Sally, I’ll kill you, okay?”Alexander nodded as he was continued teasing Maya.Sally raised an eyebrow, “What were you saying, Alexander?”“Nothing.” Alexander smirked at Maya and continued, “I probably r
So, Maya walked her way towards Alexander. Her steps were light as to not distract Alexander, who was casually sitting, book in his hand, and the light was naturally hitting his black hair. Alexander looked like a scene from a movie.Whereas Maya was a mess, she barely brushed her hair, and her clothes were a mess because Oli chose the first set of clothes that would fit her for the night, and her face was not yet completely clean from all the make-up last night.Ugh, this sucks. Maya groaned as she thought to herself, this is not how I planned our meeting to happen. In fact, Maya never planned to cross paths with Alexander ever again. Maya awkwardly greeted, “Hello. Erm… uh, about last night-“She was worried that she most probably did something stupid, then her thought ran along the lines of what would Stephanie do to me now? The last conversation they had was when Stephanie texted Maya she would be late because sh
“I figured the silhouette was yours because of this.” Stephanie reluctantly broke the glass case near Kate’s old room and grabbed the Emerald green Greenwillow brand handbag there. Stephanie explained, “I saw this bag on the picture and coincidentally, at the video of the orphanage too when you left Maya. I figured only one would have this bag in possession since it was discontinued, and there was only one of this manufactured because it was Kate’s work. Kate made it as a gift for her aunt, and that is none other than you, Mrs. Karin Simons.”Mrs. Simons scoffed, “I’ve always loved the bag but thinking that Kate made it was disgusting, but still, I had to keep up the act and wear that bag every day.”“This green bag is the only physical evidence that would bring you down. If the video of you handing Maya over at the orphanage with this green bag, your alibi will fail, and they would know that you weren’t