"What?” Mark hurled the flute glass of wine in his grasp to the floor, startling everyone apart from Feran.
"What did you say?!" Mark growled.
"You're damn atrocious and impudent to utter that, Feran," Tasha said.
"This vase is actually fake. You all need to believe me. Even though my gift was humble, it was still far better than Mark's fake vase." Feran said, staring straight at Mark’s eyes. A chattering sound began to spread through the room. Mark maintain a calm face but he started to sweat.
"This vase is not only fake but its coating is composed of a toxic substance. If grandmother places this in her room, in a couple of days she might get ill because of it."
"Nonsense! You can actually expect us to believe that? Who are you to tell the real or fake of such treasure that you won’t even be able to see it if it won’t for Mark? Just shut your trash hole." Mark’s girlfriend said condescendingly.
"Pathetic." Feran looked at the pair of them and spat.
Mark's heart raced like he was chased by a tiger. How did Feran know? He’s just a worthless son-in-law, a poor loser like him couldn’t be able to tell the difference! He must just be bluffing! Mark had thought since his grandmother would receive tons of presents and the house would have no space for such a huge vase, it would be put into a storage room right away. No one would know the difference from a quick look at the vase, not even grandma.
So he thought he could buy a fake one with a low price and pocketed the rest of the money his absent father had given him to buy a new car for his new girlfriend.
But he couldn't admit this. Afterall everyone must be on his side right now. So Mark sneered.
"He's just blabbing around, everyone. What a fool, trying to steal some attention, aren’t you, haha."
"I support, Feran can't tell. Everything he sees, he takes them as worthless as he is," Phoenix said with pleasure.
"Exactly. I guess he's probably jealous because he couldn't offer something worthwhile as a gift to grandmother," Damon said.
Ma'am Miguel, who was now the head of the Miguel family since her husband passed away, held up a hand and everyone went mute.
"How dare you make such an accusation so disrespectfully in my presence?!" Ma'am Miguel growled.
"Grandmother, I've told no lie…"
"Shut up!" Ma'am Miguel ordered, stopping Feran from defending himself.
"Grandmother, why don't you just hear him out?" Laura inquired. She didn’t know what happened but she just couldn’t take everyone insulting her husband anymore, especially Mark's new girlfriend who isn't even part of the family yet.
"Why should I hear him out? He couldn't even offer a nice present for my birthday. Do you know how greatly ashamed I am of you both?" Ma'am Miguel said.
Laura's eyes furrowed in surprise.
"Why 'both'? What have I done for you to be ashamed of?" Laura asked.
"I've been telling you for years now ti divorce this wretched man you called a husband but you've just been ignoring my advice. Now, you're here, as the eldest granddaughter of the Miguel family, what did you offer as a gift to me? Tell me?"
"Grandmother, you know I would gladly get you a gift if I had the money," Laura stated.
"Quiet! You're as poor as a church rat because you married the worthless being on earth, being Feran. Your own father would have said the same thing if he was present. Can't you take a good look at Clara?"
Clara giggled as her husband held her hand and spun her for Laura to check her out.
"She's married into one of the reputable and wealthy families not just in Violet City but the country as a whole. She's honoured by all. And also Phoenix. Both girls uphold your father's image and this family's name but you've only ruined this family's dignity by still marrying a worthless live-in man. Why don't you just divorce him already?" Ma'am Miguel asked with discontempt written all over her white face.
Laura stared at Feran and swallowed hard. She had actually promised her late grandfather that she would never divorce Feran.
"Please, grandma, just check if the vase was fake or not. We can talk about this on another day" Laura said pleadingly.
"Mark has bought an expensive vase and please just do us the honour and clear your favourite grandchild's name by…" Laura paused and glanced back at Mark.
"Checking if it's real," Laura said.
Mark's eyes widened and beads of sweat started showing up on his forehead.
Mark thought his doom would come soon for his grandmother, ma'am Miguel was an expert on this and would tell the difference in a second. He dreaded the thought of being casted out of the family for bringing a cheap fake gift to his grandmother on purpose. If his father knew, he couldn't imagine what he would do to him.Ma'am Miguel stared down at Laura and finally nodded. She stretched out a hand, one of the maidservant standing behind her held onto her hand and stood her up.Everyone held their breath with furrowed eyes to see how this would go.Laura trusted his husband was sure about the vase being fake, or he wouldn’t make such a fuss in front of everyone. She thought that her husband could at least be held in high esteem this time by her grandmother since he had done a great thing for her. If grandmother’s attitude towards him can improve even just a little, their life would be so much easier. But she was a bit angry with herself for not being able to control herself. What if he
Feran stared at everyone waiting for him to obediently apologize. The smirk he saw on Mark's face made him sneer.He glanced at Laura as she walked back to their spot. Observing his hesitation which was starting to irk her."Feran!" Laura bawled as she rushed up to him. She pulled him to face her and slapped him so hard across the face making him stumble back. “Apologize!” she grabbed him then whispered: “please…’’Feran slowly shut his eyes. There was a brief silence."Apologize now, you fool!" Mark ordered, making others giggled.Feran folded his fists and flicked open his eyes, but when he saw Laura obviously trying hard to fight her back her tears, his anger slipped away.He could clearly see Laura was hurt and upset. He understands Laura's feelings. She has always been miserable and ridiculed by her siblings and cousins,even outsiders on some occasions because she’s married to him.She was treated no better than himself since they got married. The last couple of years were not at
Feran stared at her, patiently waiting for her reply. He had formed some kind of attachment to her after these years of marriage and was considering her the only person he might want to change for.Laura forced a smile and nodded hopelessly. She tilted her head and stared at the bed, paying no further attention to the important question he had asked. She thought he was just pulling her legs or day dreaming of rising up to the top in a blink of an eye and changing her fate with a magic wand."Yes, I would very much like that for you, and for me. I truly hope you can change, but it's just a fantasy…Anyway, I'm heading out first," she muttered and left as Feran stood up.Feran stared after her for a while before heaving a sigh and walked out of the room.He arrived at the huge living room and glanced at everyone as they marched to the sitting room puffing with pride and elegance. None of them fail to cast a scornful look as they walked past him.Laura headed last to the dining room, fo
All the members of the Miguel family went from silent to excitement, mostly the granddaughters who were still unmarried.They were overwhelmed just by imagining how wealthy this mysterious guy from the Anderson family would be and everyone of them wished to get married to such a wealthy and powerful man."Grandmother," Kayla, the youngest granddaughter in the Miguel family said, stepping forward."I think I'm the woman the man seeks to be betrothed to." All were stunned by what she said and the other single granddaughters pulled a frown."Shut up, Kayla. You're talking nonsense. The man certainly doesn't know a twerp like you exists," Gigi, another daughter-in-law scoffed."I know him. He has intentionally sent all these gifts to grandmother to seek my hand in marriage in a grand and stupendous manner.""Oh, save us the perry lie, Gigi," Averly, the last of the single granddaughters of the Miguel, cried. "You too don't know him. I've met him and…he's my…my boyfriend," Averly stuttered
"No, mom. I'm not going to divorce Feran," Laura stated firmly as the driver halted in their house and they got out of the car."I thought you were going to consider it. I thought you hate him too," Mitchel said, walking over to her daughter."No, I don’t hate him, just…" Laura said. Though her marriage isn't a bed filled with roses, she'd never thought of opting for a divorce."Listen to me, Laura, you…""Please mom. Don't try to convince me," Laura said and went into the house, Mitchel following behind."Welcome, my dears," Laura and her mother were stunned to hear her dad, Frank's voice.He was seated in the living room, smiling at them when they walked in."You look pissed off. What's wrong?""Everything. Everything is wrong, Frank," Mitchel stated, stamping her foot on the tiled floor."The big problem now is that Laura is unyielding to divorce your worthless piece of trash of a husband, Feran."Mitchel thundered, startling her husband."I'm not talking much about this. Excuse me"
Feran decided to see his mother who he had sent a message to a while ago. She's been staying in a five-star hotel."Feran," his mother called immediately after he knocked on her room door and walked in. She rushed up to him and embraced him."My son, at last. I get to see you."Feran glanced at his mother. He didn't really feel anything about this mother and son reunion. His mother never treated him with kindness before. She never spoke up for him back then. She just let his brother and grandfather casted him without interfering.Now, he knew his father wanted him back. But he wondered why SHE wanted to see him so urgently."What are you doing in Spring Villa?" Feran asked his mom, a bit coldly.She opened her mouth to say something but no words came out of it.If not for Feran's brother who had gone missing for over a month now, abandoning the business, she would never have come here and asked to see her useless second son."I missed you, son. So that's why I came over since you've
"Where have you been for a while, Feran?" Laura asked, the minute Feran walked into their room.”Uh, just around and…"Laura thought he would change, but he didn’t look anything different than before. She sighed, a little annoyed that she actually believed him, again."Laura," he called as he attempted to hold her hand but she took a step back. "I know you just made a useless promise to protect your pride earlier, okay?"Feran's brows creased, bewildered."What do you mean, Laura?""I meant that, I understand why you said what you said earlier when you got home before you wandered off.""No. I actually," Feran paused as she held up her hand and waved it back and forth, looking away from him."Just stop giving me hope. You're hopeless yourself," she said and before he could utter another word, she climbed on the bed with her night robe to sleep.He sighed and dragged his foot to the bathroom to freshen up.Two weeks later, Laura returned earlier from work. She worked as an assistant s
In less than twenty minutes, Feran drove into the parking lot of the castle of ma'am Miguel. "Aww, my dear son is here," Ma'am Miguel said with a broad smile as Frank walked side-by-side with Laura, Feran walking behind. "Hello, mother," Frank said as they walked into the dining room where everyone in the family was already seated. He greeted everyone and took the first reserved seat by the right side. "Good evening grandmother," Laura said, forcing a smile. Ma'am Miguel stared at her and nodded In acknowledgement of her greeting. "Good evening, grandmother," Feran said, trying to seem cool. Ma'am Miguel glanced at him and ignored him, taking a sip from her glass of wine. "Good evening everyone," Feran said but only got a strange silence as a reply. "So, where's Mitchel? On her way?" Ma'am Miguel asked her son. "Well, she couldn't make it," Frank simply said. "Of course. I bet she couldn't bear to face us," Frank's younger sister, seated across from him with her husband, said
Laura couldn't believe what Elijah had asked for. His eyes were gloomy and filled with the intention to kill, and she knew that this was not going to end well. Having the kind of feeling of somewhat fear in her, her heart throbbed furiously, as the words sank deep and her head absorbed the thought of what he just said. How come he still wanted to kill Feran? She didn't understand what the hell he was talking about. Her eyes twitched as she heard the words, and her heart couldn't take it fully. "I'm not going to do what you say, Elijah. I can't believe you still want to take Feran down. What the hell are you doing? I know you don't know what you are doing, or maybe you don't know the repercussions of it. You should stop having those sinister thoughts in your head, Elijah, or you might end up killing your already black soul," she said. "You know, I only spent a year in jail and did you know what I was thinking all those while? Feran. I was thinking of how to destroy him. I think
"Elijah has escaped. I'm sure he's going to think of hurting one of us," Zoey said, getting scared. "No, Aunt. He won't hurt any of us," Feran said. He quickly called Fernando, who had taken Lovisa and his son, Frazier, to the mall. He ordered him to get them back home safely and ended the call after telling him to tighten the security of the house when he returns. Zita eyed Laura. "I'm sure you know that he was going to escape, right?" "You can't be trusted, Laura. You're a sly woman!" Zoey's accused. "No, Mrs. Anderson. I had no idea. And you don't have to worry. Feran is here. I won't think of joining hands with Elijah to cause harm to any of you because you all are genuinely good," Laura said. "I know my presence is not that appreciated here so I would like to take my leave so you guys can celebrate the girl's birthday well." "Sorry about the accusations, Laura," Jeana said. "Can't you stay for a while?" "I would have loved to but I need to head somewhere else urgently, I'm s
Laura was speechless for a while after Mary revealed who sent the flowers. Unlike her mother who was obviously In a rage, Laura found it so nice of Feran and Jeana to send her flowers."Give me the card," Laura asked, stretching out her hand to Mary."Laura, you shouldn't…" Mitchel paused and glared at Mary as she gave the card to Laura.Laura smiled and read the message on the card.'Hello, Laura, we are saying a big congratulations on your safe delivery. Though it's a bit late, try to overlook the time you got these flowers and rather accept it with our sincere joy for you. Hope your child is doing well. Do take care of yourself. Our regards to your child. Your well-wishers…. Jeana and Feran.'A drop of tears rolled down Laura's cheek and Mitchel was surprised when she lifted up her head, Laura chuckled and sniffed."I can't believe they would wish me well and send flowers to me. This is really great.""What's wrong with you, Laura?" Mitchel asked, jerking up to her feet. "What's go
A month later, Feran got a call from one of the companies manager. He received some bad news that one of the company workers had stolen an important journal. "What's wrong?" Jeana asked after they had breakfast. She saw the look on his face despite him telling her that all was well, she still didn't believe him."I'll go to work now." Feran arose from the couch and went to the bathroom to ease himself, when he came out, he saw Jeana dressed up."Are you going somewhere?" He asked. She gave him a strange look and nodded."Your sisters will be visiting soon. You don't need to go over there to see them." He thought she wanted to go pay her sisters a visit."I am not going to pay anyone a visit. I'm coming along with you, Feran," she said."Excuse me?""Yes?""What did you just say?""You heard me right, Feran. Let's go to work." Feran took.his office bag."No. You are going no where with me," Feran refused."What is wrong with you, Feran?""You are pregnant, Jeana. You shouldn't be work
Silence filled the room after Laura had left. One after the other, they all came forward to apologize to Jeana."Jeana, dear. I'm sorry I didn't even utter a word when you left," Greg said. "Please forgive me.""No, Uncle Greg. You did nothing wrong." Jeana shook her head."We all didn't bother to check things from your perspective but kept quiet after Zita humiliated you and asked you to leave," Zoey said and sighed. "Jeana, I'm sorry. I'm the worst person to you.""Come on, Aunt. You're my best person," Jeana flattered."Laura had good timing but her future is ill-timed now. That sly woman should never have anyone to call 'love'. She doesn't deserve anyone's love," Anna said."You all don't need to apologize, please. I'm the one expected to apologize. I didn't even get to apologize properly to you all before leaving the house. I'm sorry I deceived you all. Honestly, I didn't want to do that before. I wasn't going to keep the truth from you all for long. I wanted to tell you all befo
Laura couldn't bring herself to admonish herself nor could she believe that Feran had any evidence of her. She felt he was lying and was just trying to mess with her mind to force her to spill out the truth."What are you talking about, Feran?" She asked when she found her voice. She glanced at everyone and fixed her gaze on Zita whose stern look was pushing her to quiver but she clenched her fists, lifting up her chin and shaking her head. "F…Feran is saying something which I can't understand. Feran, stop it, okay?" She pointed at Feran. He held her finger and pulled it down.He took out a report from an envelope and held it up to her face. "This is your original pregnancy test." He gave the report to Zita."Laura is actually five months pregnant now. She lied that she was six months pregnant and brought a made-up pregnancy report."Zita went through the report and gave it to Zita who went through it and passed it onto the other family members."Lie! You're lying, Feran! You want to
Feran was in his office when Fernando walked in to give him some new information."Sir, I've been keeping an eye on Jeana as you said," Fernando informed."How's she doing?""She and her sisters are struggling to live.""What?" Feran arose, mystified. "It's been two months since we parted ways and she hasn't bothered to call or come to me for help.""I know her well not to have another misconception about her. Sir, Jeana is a woman of self-respect and values. I'm sure she doesn't want to have anything to do with you again so as to not cause any problems."Feran sighed and sat down. "What has she been doing to sustain herself and her sisters?""She's been working in a cafe as a waitress for over a month now. Her immediate younger sister, Kayla, also started working a part-time job.""What else do you have about her?""I don't think she's in a good shape. She looks tired sometimes when I see her.""Maybe I'll pay her a visit soon.""Sir, you've got some businessmen to meet in the next t
When Laura entered the car to head back to the Anderson house, her phone beeped. It was a message from an unknown number. She guessed who the sender was before opening the message.'Meet me now in the jailhouse,' that was the message. Laura tossed her phone to the seat and locked her fingers."Elijah," she muttered.The driver tilted his head and asked her."Ma'am, did you say something?""Hm, no. Start driving," Laura said. While he was driving back to the Anderson house, she thought of a way to get him to stop the car and leave so she could go to see Elijah. She didn't want the driver to take her there because she knows for sure that Feran was going to know about it and would find out that she came to visit Elijah, and if that happens, he might start thinking there's a connection between her and him and start doubting her.She didn't want any of that to happen. She thought harder when the driver was just ten minutes away from the house and finally sneered when she got an idea.She s
Anita was surprised and so excited that she kept stealing glances at Feran while he was driving. She couldn't believe he was taking her out for the first time. She wondered if his mother had asked him to.When she got a hunch that Feran's mother, Zita, must have asked him to look after her well and make her happy, she smiled broadly at Feran who returned her smile with a fake half smile that seemed genuine to Anita.While Feran kept driving, then it hit Anita. She glanced at him and saw he had a smile on his face. She was amazed and wondered if he had any other intention. 'No, he wouldn't be thinking of dumping me elsewhere, would he?' she thought, and glancing at Feran, chills went down her spines. She recalled how her family treated him. The times he was maltreated by her family, all flashed in her mind and her lips parted when she recalled when he promised them that he was going to get revenge and make them pay."Feran, where are you taking me to?" She asked suddenly, panting. Fe