RED'S POV
I asked Sean for one more round around the park. His revelation about Calla was suffocating me. I felt so silly for misinterpreting his kindness towards me. Perhaps, if only he had romantic intentions for me, I would supposedly move on faster from my breakup with Eric. Yet, this man was only seeking friendship or companionship, and probably, someone to talk to. But why me? Why not those elegant women around his business circle?
"Sean, I'm really wondering why you are good to me. And why do you offer me the slot in your company?"
"Let's say it's like at first sight." Sean smiled and tilted his head to look at me. He was much taller than me, so I had to raise my head to see his face.
I melted again in those eyes, so I looked away and shifted my gaze on the path ahead of us. "Red, would you mind if I make a request?"
I stopped walking and looked up. "What kind of request?"
"Friendship requ
RED'S POVI asked Sean to bring me home after we kissed. I felt so awkward in thinking how fast we have come to this stage of a relationship. I barely knew Sean except for those facts he revealed during the inauguration of Laminae, Inc. Who would ever believe that I got into a whirlwind romance with the man who wrote the success of this giant company?"We're here," Sean extracted me from my mental trail as soon as he parked in my garage. I did not wait for him to open the door for me because I already got used to getting out on my own ever since I was with Eric.Sean had come up with me as I stood fumbling with the keys. He took it from my hand and picked the door key in less than a few seconds."Red, don't do it again."I gathered my brows as I threw him a side glance. "What do you mean?""You should wait for me before you step down from the car."I smiled at his thoughtfulness but did not say
RED'S POVSean's expression dropped when I asked for Sir Albert's photo. I wondered where I had gone wrong or what's with the question that made him react like that. However, he was quick to revert to his usual, smiling demeanor."I have it at home. Don't worry; I'll bring you home when you're ready."I sat upright, gaping at what he said. I could not understand why he seemed so serious in his treatment of me. Our relationship had just begun, and it would yet start at a working phase."Sean, why do you seem to take this seriously?" I asked the attitude he showed me was too good to be true. I could still count the days we were together by my fingers, and those meetings were all non-significant to build up a strong bond between us at such an early stage."So, it means you are not serious in accepting my proposal?" Throwing back a question as an answer may have silenced me, but it did not wipe off all those unan
RED'S POVMy mouth dropped open as soon he said it. It seemed that his intention was more than a man-woman relationship. Yet, I had nothing for a business tycoon to want after me. I neither had a family. I'm so alone in this world, and I felt so unwanted that even a mere friend deserted me."Sean, why? Who are you?" I stepped back to take a good look at his face, but he pulled me closer, tilted his head, and drowned my questions in his lips."Red, someday you will understand, but not now. Just fall in love with me, and all your questions will have their answers," he panted a little but flashed me a gentle smile that melted my heart again. I had decided then to stop asking and do a silent investigation.He held my hand and pulled me to the dining table. The aroma of the freshly-brewing coffee filled my nostrils and had my stomach growling. Sean pulled out a chair and let me sit on it. He then filled two cups from the coffee maker
RED'S POV"Why are you here?" I ignored Eric's question as I stopped in front of him."Answer my question first," he may not be yelling at me, but I could hear the gritting sound of his molars. His eyes also seemed to jump out of their sockets as he glared at me."You may think what you like, Eric; it's fine with me." I threw him a cold and fearless look, igniting more fire within him."I saw you kissing Mr. Grey. What else could that mean?""I do not deny it," I replied, giving him a bored look. I saw the surprise in Eric's expression. Never did he expect, probably, that a day would ever come that I would dare to stand and defy him."Did you leave me because of him? You have such wonderful taste. Why, Red? Had I not given you enough? Had I not granted your material wants?"I scanned the surroundings to see if there were onlookers around. I didn't want to start a scene. I knew sooner he would be
ERIC'S POVI watched Red as she stepped inside the car after refusing my offer to drive her to wherever she was staying. I expected she wouldn't let me. What kind of a woman would give in at the height of her decision to leave a man who cheated her? As soon as the car disappeared from my sight, I went back to our bedroom. Half of me expected that Red couldn't leave and couldn't survive without me. She had already gotten used to the luxurious lifestyle I gave her for five years. After all, that's what most women want.I opened all the closets and drawers except for that one I opened earlier, where she placed her white coats and scrub suits. To my surprise, all her expensive apparel, including her bespoke party gowns, were still hanging in one compartment. In the next cubicle, her sets of party shoes and sandals were also placed neatly in one column. I opened another shelf for her signature bags, expecting to see nothing left. To m
ERIC'S POVMy vision dimmed as I saw them kissing. Red was no different than Calla, after all. She also left me for someone more famous and wealthier."Red, what does this mean?" I asked, stressing my anger under my breath. If only we were at home. I would have yelled at her, or I would have kicked and punched the wall."You may think what you like, Eric, it's fine with me," she replied defiantly, a thing that surprised me. I knew her as a submissive girlfriend, and she never talked back to me every time I had a bad mood."I saw you kissing Mr. Grey. What else could that mean?" My eyes were already burning with anger as I looked at her fearless gaze. How could she change a lot in just a few hours after she declared our breakup?"I do not deny it," she replied, giving me a bored look. I couldn't believe she could do this to me. Her actions made me a less significant person. More than anything else, she had adm
ERIC'S POVI asked many things about her, her family background, and how Red and she became friends. She also answered in detail, and I listened carefully. We both laughed at some points, taking sips of the wine in our glass now and then. When Shirley started to flush, she also lost her apprehension bit by bit. She became more talkative, even telling me those things I shouldn't know."Shirl, what do you think? Am I difficult to love? Why did the woman I love left me?"Her eyes widened as she looked at me above the rim of her wine glass. "Red and you, not on good terms?""We are fine, but she isn't what I mean," I chuckled, enjoying her startled reaction."You-you mean, you have some-somebody e-else? And she is the cause of all your drama tonight?" Her voice raised higher, and her words prolonged and stuttered."She's in the past, but she takes my heart with her." I let out a mirthless laugh as a
ERIC'S POV"Stop it, Eric," I said, turning my head away from him. I looked outside the window as images of Shirley sailed in my thoughts."To clear your best friend's image, I must admit that it was all my fault. I intentionally made her drunk. Earlier that afternoon, I heard reports about Calla, and I got a bad temper. She was the less threatening person around that I could project my anger with."I did not complain anymore, nor I confronted him for how evil he was in easing his pain away through someone else instead of me. There was no use in crying over spilled milk anymore."The reason why we were not able to disengage was that she became anxious when she thought about you. She was already hysterical, and I got scared. I had no choice then but to call for help from your staff."I remained quiet, maintaining my gaze outside the window, but he knew I was listening. His confession cut my heart like a knife.
"This is a mistake," I said, breaking the silence and awkwardness. "Because you thought that another man is coming in?" he said, and his lips broke into a tender smile. He strode fast towards me, then wrapped me right away in his arms. "I miss you, babe," he said in a hoarse voice, hugging me tighter. "I missed you so much." "You have no right to say that. In the next few hours, you will already have a new bride." Sean then held me at arm strength and looked into my eyes. "Mia?" "Who else?" I replied, my voice startingto crack. "My mother has long adopted Mia as my little sister. I'm sorry for not telling you this because it was part of the plan to mislead President Ric and his allies." My goodness! I felt like a candle, melting in too much shame. "I have always told you that there's no one else in my heart, long before I found you." Sean cupped my face, and when he was about to bend his h
I furrowed my brows while I took the paper bags from her hands."Dr. Mia would like you to be there at her garden wedding this afternoon."I froze in my seat, unprepared to take the big blow. Sean and Mia are getting married today? Why hasn't she told me about it? Is she afraid to break the news to me because I am sick?I felt a lump sticking inmy throat, summoning the floodgates of tears behind my eyes to open up. I chuckled loudly, but my tears trickled endlessly that I couldn't brush them enough with the back of my index fingers."Look, Dr. Red, the garden is already ready," the nurse said as she walked towards the glass wall, peeping throughthe narrow slits betweenthe curtains.I jumped off the bed after a while then sauntered towards the glass wall. A beautiful flower garden greeted my eyes, and there were rows of chairs and tables indeed, wrapped in cream and burgundy pleated skirts.I scanned the place furth
I ran to the window and parted the curtains to the side. I looked over the direction of the Kalasag Hill, and just as I anticipated, I saw black clouds of smoke rising from the forest. Instead of losing my strength in fear, I felt an adrenaline rush from within me. I stormed out of the room, and without heeding the manager's yells, I ran towards the direction of the forest.I felt within me a prodigy of strength that none of the resort’s staff was able to stop me. Not long after, I heard the sound of the galloping horse’s hooves.“Ma’am, hop in!” the manager yelled at me while I moved to the side to give way.I saw him pulling short both the reins. Then he braced one hand on the horse’s neck, holding the rein tightly and grabbing its mane. Raising the other rein up and back, he then pulled it toward his shoulder.The manager then got off quickly from the horse as soon as it pulled to a stop. Without waiting for his inst
"Thanks, God! You're finally awake!"I shut my eyes back when the blinding light of the sun entered my eyes. I then opened them slowly until I got adjusted to the glare. I stared at the woman who stood by the bedside, brushing the tears in her eyes with the back of her hand."Mia?" I exclaimed, my eyes glowed at the sight of my rival in my love for Sean."Why are you here?"Her lips trembled right away, and her eyes welled with tears. "You scared us so much, especially Sean. I got so worried that he might not be able to handle his grief."I furrowed my brows as I gathered back my thoughts on what happened before I drifted off to sleep. The ache on my back, the muscle pain, and my grogginess told me I had been in bed for days. Then, I remembered I was running after Sean and ended on escaping from the president through the cave. And I recalled everything that followed after that. A bronco bug bit me, and Philip's voice was the last thing I heard befo
The manager gestured with his hand to let me follow him to the elevator. Once we were there, he took me to the seventh floor. He waited until I stepped out before he came up by my side. Then he led me to a room at the end corner of the floor. It had mechanical locks that seemed difficult to break in, but the manager keyed in the codes with deft fingers. In less than a minute, the door opened, and he led me inside.My eyes caught the huge screen right away, displaying multiple windows that showed different areas of the hotel. The manager then ran his fingers on the keys, and the lobby where the president and his men were dining,zoomed in.“Did you hear something from them that scares you?” he asked, turning his head to look at me.I just held his gaze, but I did not nod nor shake my head.“Is this the reason?” he asked again, and after some clicks, a window opened to an area by the outskirts of the forest.My eyes flew
I tuned in a sharp ear while I was sipping from my cup, listening to their conversation. Pretending to be occupied, I picked up a magazine from under the table. These men were just a few meters away from me, though a pillar blocked me from their view. I knew they saw me, but perhaps thinking I was harmless, they did not seem to mind my presence.“Have the troops arrived already?” one of the men asked, his voice louder than a whisper. But because of the deafening silence of the place, you can hear even a needle dropping.“Yes, they are already surrounding the forest of Kalasag.”“How far is it from here?”“It’s the next hill from here.”So, I am now in a resort close to Kalasag, Sean’s homeplace. Mr. Ian and all his allies must have brought me here to blackmail me into selling the other half of my shares by using Sean as a pawn. But of all places in the face of the earth, why does Mr. I
I got up from my bed and walked towards the window. Parting the curtains to the side, the blinding light of the sun piercing through the window panes made me close my eyes for a moment. I closed my eyes tightly then opened them slowly until I got adjusted to the glare. The moment I gazed into the distance, all I could see was the rich and sprawling greeneries below the wide canopy of the sky, animated by its sailing, fluffy clouds. From where I stood, it looked like I was on top of a hill overlooking the rolling stretch of farms and plain below.I then looked around the room. My huge bed satatop a carpeted floor under a chic ceiling design illuminated by white, LED lightings underneath a rectangular frame. Aside from a set of couches, a coffee table, and built-in lockers, only a set of television, a phone, and a refrigerator graced the room. But what caught my interest in being here was the glass walls that allowed me to see the spectacular views of the rows of trees, t
I couldn’t seem to imagine that my grandfather had other women. Perhaps, he did it while grandmother was still alive. But who am I to judge him anyway?“It was a short-term relationship with his secretary, back then. When your grandmother found it out, she almost left; but luckily, your grandfather was able to persuade her to save their marriage. From then on, he never had a female secretary, and that was how Philip came in.”“So, Philip was grandpa’s secretary?”“And Sean’s, when he passed away. He is your grandfather’s most trusted assistant.”My heart sank as I heard it. I still remembered how Philip affirmed Hazel’s confession about my real identity. If it were not for him, I would not have trusted Hazel’s claims. If it were not for him, I would not have come to believe that Sean was making lies all along.“Sadly, he has betrayed them,” I said, my lips tur
“Dr. Red, I just received a report that Prospero City is now on complete lockdown,” the pilot told me after I climbed into the plane after our last stopover for refueling and engine checks.“Is it because of the spread of the Bronc X virus?” I asked, stiffening in my seat; my eyes unblinking.“Your city is the only place negative of Bronc X infection,” the pilot replied while his hands were fumbling over some keys on the cockpit. “But it is heavily guarded since Mr. Sean Grey’s business establishments are there. No one is allowed an entry or exit for the moment.”My thoughts then went on Sean and I was wondering if this pilot beside me was the one who transported Sean to wherever he may be at this moment.“Is Sean in Prospero now?” I tried to sound dry, presuming that everybody already knew our status. And surely, this pilot who brought every dignitary to each of their destinations had also