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, followed behind by Feran.
Everyone sat down majestically after ma'am Miguel took her usual seat at the head of the table.
While Laura was about to sit down at the main table, ma'am Miguel stopped her and asked.
"What are you thinking of doing?"
Laura glanced at everyone and smiled unnaturally.
"Aren't we about to have lunch, grandmother? I want to take a seat and…"
"No way. You and your good-for-nothing husband Feran won't be eating with us here," ma'am Miguel declared.
Laura's lip parted and she glanced above her shoulder at Feran who was standing a feet away from him, indirectly seeking for his intervention.
"You heard grandma, start moving, both of you," Phoenix said with a cruel smile, staring at Laura across the table, facing her.
Laura clenched her fist and glared at her.
"Can you both just do as grandmother instructed?"Mark asked with a harsh tone. "For goodness sake we all want to eat now before the food gets cold."
"Grandmother," Feran called, taking a step forward towards her. Ma'am Miguel glanced at him and rolled her eyes.
"I would go elsewhere to have lunch. Please just let her eat with you all here."
"Why?" Ma'am Miguel asked with a strong voice.
"Because she's your granddaughter. And Laura is part of this family," Feran said, making ma'am Miguel laugh.
"She's my stupid granddaughter who got married to a penniless scoundrel like you and is unyielding to divorce you. I don't dine with fools, so Laura and you should have your meal in a corner far from sight."
Feran was about to argue more but Laura stood up, grabbed him in silence and started walking to another table. It was the least noticeable corner in the huge living room.
They sat down on the reserved seats and Laura moved her eyes to the dining room as she heard her family roar in joyful laughter.
Feran handing over a plate of food to his apparently upset wife:.
"Laura, eat your food, please," Feran said as he observed she wasn't eating but staring far across at the dining room. She took the plate without saying a word to him.
Later in the evening, the house was filled with guests and the extended family of the Miguel's who had come to celebrate with ma'am Miguel.
Laura and Feran were standing a bit far behind ma'am Miguel, watching as people presented their gifts to ma'am Miguel.
One of the staff hurried up to her grandmother.
"Ma'am Miguel, a special list of gifts has been sent for you by someone from the Anderson family," she clearly heard the staff say.
"Anderson family?" Ma'am Miguel asked, looking away. There’s a well-known first ranked family goes by the name Anderson, but she knew they would never pay any attention to her. They are too rich and powerful, they never have to make any kind gesture to other people. So she guessed it was just some random guy with the same last name who stupidly wanted to butter up with her family in exchange for future favors.
She waved her hand when the staff asked her if she would like him to read out the list.
"Just do it," ma'am Miguel said, paying no attention as she sipped from her glass of juice.
But when the staff listed four items worth a fortune on the list, shocking everyone who paid attention, ma'am Miguel was greatly astonished.
Finally the last gift was announced. It was a cheque of twenty million dollars which made ma'am Miguel jaw dropped and everyone gasped.
"All the gifts are outside and here's the cheque, ma'am," the staff said, handing over the cheque to her who was still astounded.
And just when ma'am Miguel was about to ask who was this person that sent these gifts and what did he want, the staff said.
"There's a note at the end of the list."
Everyone stared keenly at him, trying to anticipate what the note would say.
"The note says the person was the only heir of the Anderson family, and he sent all those gifts because he would like to marry one of your granddaughters."
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
Everyone was greatly shocked by Laura's promise. They couldn't believe what they just heard."Okay then, if you succeed, I would pay you respect onwards, that, I, Mark, promise you, Laura," Mark said and punched his chest a little as a sign of sincerity."Good, it's….""But if you fail," Mark interrupted Laura who peered at him, trying to anticipate the next words that would come out from his mouth. "If you fail, Laura, you would entirely be casted from the family. You won't be a part of the family nor will you be recognized as a Miguel. So, do you agree?"Mutterings erupted in the dinner room as Laura looked away, glancing at Feran.She couldn't believe Mark would put her in such a tight spot merely because he despises Feran. She wasn't so sure yet on how to get to see the CEO of the new company without an appointment let alone striking a deal with him.Laura had only spoken out to somehow feel belonged. She shifted her gaze to her father, still deliberating on whether to agree to Ma
Mitchel ignored Feran's request and was about to raise her voice at Laura when Feran, seeing she wasn't giving in to his quest, grabbed her wrist. He stared strongly at Mitchel to her surprise.Mitchel was appalled. She had never seen Feran behave like this before. She wanted to scold him more but she found out that she had suddenly lost her voice under Feran's stern, so she slowly released Laura without any further ado.Frank walked up behind his wife to mediate.Mitchel despised Feran even more now. She swore she would separate him from Laura. And make Laura divorce him if that's the last thing she does on the planet,earth."Let's just let go of this, Mitchel," Frank said. Laura inhaled and headed into her room. Mitchel cast Feran a glare and headed into her room as he walked into the kitchen, followed behind by her husband.After washing the dishes, Feran found Laura staring at him after he went into the room. He thought she was worried about how to solve the problem of getting to
Few days later, Laura prepared to go over to the new company, F.A-Globe. She had taken a leave for the day to be able to focus on her goal of striking a deal with the CEO of the new company."Hm, aren't you going to work?" Feran asked her as he walked into the room that morning."Well, I'm going to the new company today, you know, to do the task I had promised to do in front of my whole family that night," Laura said."Okay. Good. I will drive there. Okay with that?" Feran asked.Laura darted her eyes from the mirror to him. She stared at him silently for a while. Feran was thinking she might not agree to it and was about to tell her that he would get a cab for her when she spoke out."Sure. Let's go." She arose and both left the room."Where are you both going?" Mitchel asked from the dining room when she saw Laura and Feran heading to the door.Laura spun and greeted her parents having breakfast."I'm going to try my luck and…""Strike a deal with the new company?" Mitchel Interrupt
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