Chapter 2

"Why are you acting surprised, what did you think the ring was for?" she said, rolling her eyes at Miguel who was still standing there.

At that moment, Miguel was pained deep in his heart.

He never thought the woman who claimed to love him against all odds would be embarrassed by him to the point of wanting to get divorced and marry another man just for money. 

"You can't do this to me, to our marriage," he said sternly, trying to get her to reconsider.

Leonard finally spoke as he stepped forward from where he stood behind Annabelle all the while. 

"Have some sense of shame and just leave, Miguel...” 

“Whatever your surname is, nobody knows anyway,” he said to Miguel.

“Maybe if you had concentrated more on making money first, you would have been able to keep someone like Annabelle," he chuckled, then added, "Actually, you're not even deserving to be called a man. What kind of man does something as shameless as living with his in-laws?"

At that point, Miguel fumed in rage and threw a brutal punch at Leonard's face, causing him to fall.

"Leonard!"

Anabelle rushed to Leonard's side on the floor, and the guests were shocked at the chaos Miguel's punch had caused.

Miguel stood there, his fists clenched as everyone looked at him. 

There was silence as he spoke. "That was to answer your question, Leonard. I am still a man."

He turned to Anabelle, who was now furious because Miguel had punched her new fiancé.

“How dare you?!” Annabelle yelled, unable to control her anger as she gritted her teeth.

Mr. Adolfo picked up his phone, and Miguel realized he was about to call security.

He started to type in the number of the security team quickly, and hearing the sound of his keypad, Miguel held out his hand.

 "There's no need for that," Miguel said, "because I'm going to leave." With that, Mr. Adolfo stopped typing and raised his head.

Miguel then turned to Anabelle once more. His eyes were filled with pain as it met hers.

She had completely changed just because she was in pursuit of money and social status.

"It's clear to me now that you've made your choice and won't go back. If you truly think that money is good enough to make you leave me, then I won't try to change your mind,” Miguel said to Annabelle who looked at him in disgust.

“I'll be at the mansion tomorrow morning by 10:00 AM to sign the divorce papers and take some of my things," Miguel said to her and Annabelle’s lips twisted into a smile, satisfied with his reaction to the divorce. 

He turned to leave and then heard Anabelle's hurried footsteps behind him.

"Wait, Miguel!" Anabelle called out.

Miguel was filled with hope that she was coming to apologize. He stopped, with his back still turned against her.

"Where do you think you are going? Drop the keys to the car my father gave you before you leave. You're no longer allowed to use it," Anabelle said to him.

Miguel had taken a cab to work that day, but he always had the car keys with him.

What he thought she was going to say was different—she was planning to embarrass him more, not apologize.

He clenched his teeth, dipped his hand into his pocket, pulled out the key, and tossed it on the floor. Then, without turning back, he walked out.

Just as Miguel furiously crossed the gate of the Adolfo mansion with his heart filled with pain and sorrow, he heard his phone ringing. 

He didn't feel like picking it up at first, being too sad and broken about what had happened with Anabelle and the way he was humiliated.

As the phone rang a second time, he angrily brought it out and picked it up without caring to look at whose name was on the screen.

"Hello?" he said tersely.

"Good evening, boss," came a familiar voice from the other end of the phone.

No one should be calling him "boss" except if it was someone who knew his true identity. 

He took the phone from his ear and looked at the screen only to see a name he hadn't expected to see, not even in years to come. It was Mr. Donald, his father's emissary.

“Boss, are you there?” 

“Boss, can you hear me?” Mr. Donald kept asking but Miguel’s mind had travelled to a previous memory.

At that point, realizing that Mr. Donald was calling him, Miguel's heartbeat quickened in fear of what could have prompted this call.

His father had disowned him a year ago for choosing to date a woman from a lower-class family like the Adolfos, believing such people cared too much about money and would likely let their daughter marry him just to get his money.

But Miguel had refused and told his father that he would prove that Anabelle would love him even without money and that her family would accept him even if he pretended to be poor.

So he went to the Adolfos pretending to be poor just to prove his father wrong.

His father had still threatened to disown him for real if he went on with degrading himself to that level of acting to be poor. Miguel went on with his act and was disowned by his father.

Mr. Donald's voice cut through the phone, again, "Boss, are you there?"

Miguel was drawn back from his thoughts about his dispute with his father.

He was scared something had happened to his father in the period they were not on speaking terms and that was why Mr. Donald called.

"What happened to my father?" Miguel asked anxiously. "I instructed you to take care of him for me after he disowned me."

Mr. Donald chuckled at the fact that Miguel was scared over nothing.

"Why are you so afraid?" he asked.

"My father is the only person I have left and you know that. Even if we haven't spoken in months because of my choice to marry Anabelle Adolfo, he is still my father and I still care for him," Miguel replied.

Mr. Donald assured him, "Your father is all right. In fact, his health is not the reason I called at all." He sounded excited, and Miguel had no idea why but became curious.

"Why did you call then?" Miguel asked, leaning towards his phone.

"I called directly to deliver your father's message," Mr. Donald said to Miguel, sounding excited.

At that point, Miguel's face whitened in anticipation, his heart beating faster at the possibility of good news.

"Your father would like to see you," Mr. Donald said.

Miguel's eyes widened in shock and hope. His father had said that he never wanted to see him again a year ago.

"What are you talking about, Donald?" Miguel asked and Mr. Donald heaved a sigh of relief before speaking.

"Your father has accepted you back and can't wait for you to come home with your wife, Anabelle. He has accepted Anabelle and your love for her, and he is eager to meet you both," Mr. Donald continued.

At that point, Miguel felt a rush of excitement and relief knowing his father had accepted him back.

But now, there was no Anabelle. He couldn't believe that his father had been right about the Adolfos all along.

How could he tell his father that Anabelle had done exactly what he had predicted and warned him of about a year ago?

Unaware of the fact that Anabelle was no longer in Miguel's life, Mr. Donald told him, "You need to come over to the estate tonight. Your father can't wait any longer to take his son back with open arms."

Mr. Donald ended the call after delivering the message, leaving Miguel standing there with his eyes closed, thinking about everything.

Miguel glanced at the gate of the Adolfo mansion behind him, the place he was just kicked out from because they thought he was poor.

"If father have accepted me back, it means I will be given access to all my accounts, both business and personal, and I will have the rights to my  properties returned to me," Miguel mumbled to his self in disbelief.

"I have suffered so much for Anabelle, I have forgotten what it feels like to be an heir to the richest man in the continent," he said to himself as he stared at the Adolfo mansion.

"None of the suffering was worth it, she betrayed my love and humiliated me..."

He clenched his teeth, still looking at the mansion behind him.

"You'll regret this day, Anabelle..."

"I'm filthy rich again," he said, trying to process the good news.