At the end of the message, John Dave added with a laughing emoji, "Welcome to the group, Young Master! Expect to have tons of messages from your inbox since you are now disclosing yourself to everyone. They might be asking you a few questions about yourself. It's up to you if you answer them or not. You always have my respect." The tension in the chatbox went too deep as it made all the members of the group feel uncomfortable and too tight-lipped. So I decided to change the topic to something more light-hearted. I typed and sent: "Anyway, I'd be holding a royal party in my Dad's five-star hotel in two days. Everything is free of charge. Also, this message is to formally invite you all to join the party. The theme would be masquerade 'cause I love hiding faces and all. Just present this message to the security guards as it represents your free pass. See you there!" "That would be great, Young Master! Couldn't wait to see you soon." "Wait. Really? Does this mean we c
The next day, I woke up with my grandparents already gone from the mansion. What we talked about last night was still fresh from my clouded mind. They were the ones I had left who supported me unconditionally since then and I believe were true to themselves. On the bright side, Dad let them go, not knowing it was I who begged him since their names were already freed from his accusation that they had something to do with the kidnapping. "Young Master... Here's what I got from Ms. Pineda so far." Mr. Logan, my driver, slid me a brown envelope on our way to work. "She will turn thirty in three days. Single and only child. Ms. Pineda has been working as the Chairman's secretary for the past eight years. Her parents died when she was ten years old. She's an orphan." I removed the seal from the envelope and took the documents out. "What about the place where we dropped her off? What did you get about her permanent address?" "That's the most confusing part, Young Master. I co
"By the way, correct me if I'm wrong. Have we met before?" Mr. Cedrick added, his voice deep but his entire face wrinkled. "Don't know when or where but I believe we have met somewhere before." Yes, of course! We have met at the golf course with Dad and some of the company's business partners before, Mr. Cedrick. Unfortunately, everything that happened that day was dimmed from your memories. I know you have some kind of illness that forgets things or incidents easily. That's why Dad and I were too confident to manipulate everything at the family meeting. However, today, you scared the hell out of me. And I was in the middle of confessing the truth to you or not. If I'm gonna do that, what will you do? "Are you sure I said that? Couldn't remember though." I defensively replied. "Of course, you remember that, Mr. Llamas! How could you forget that so easily? You just let it out five seconds ago. What do you mean by that?" he insisted. "Are you the Young Master'
I looked into my class schedule and the door number above us one last time, thinking I might have stood in the wrong classroom. No. The room number was too large not to notice it. My eyesight was still at 20/20. There was no chance I could be mistaken. This room in front of me was my first subject, and Celestine would be my first-afternoon professor. We will see each other five days a week for the entire semester. Could this be just a coincidence or is fate trying to bring us back together? "Can we talk for a second, Celestine?" I begged, ignoring the fact that she, being one of my professors, was news to me. "Don't worry, this talk won't take long. It's about our son." My instinct could sense that she started getting uncomfortable talking with me. "I wanted to have custody of Noah, Celestine." I added, "With all the evidence we gathered against you, Sebastian, and even your parents, there's a higher chance that I would win the case. So, before we could go that far an
Julian's expression sharpened, mixed with anger and hatred toward me. In addition to that, my instinct tells me that my fate to get beaten in their hands is inevitable unless a miracle shows up at my doorstep. So, I quickly scanned the entire place they called a den. "You were the coward, Julian," I replied, not because I wanted to pour fuel into his burning rage, but because I was buying time. "If you're not, why are you still hiding behind your minions? That's how cowards usually play. Why can you just face me alone, huh? Want to punch me? I dare you to punch me without using innocent people." As I secretly darted my eyes from shadow to shadow, I took in every detail of the abandoned building. My mind raced, searching for any possible way to escape from their clutches. I see broken windows, creaking floorboards, and the rusty emergency exit door at the far end of the hallway. "Considering the fact that your family had nothing already, it made me wonder why these peop
My schedule the other day was too swamped to the point that I couldn't even take a break for lunch, it was exhausting. There's a school, bullied by Julian and his helpless friends, and being kicked out of the Lincoln building. I couldn't even spend a minute holding my phone for that same reason to check all my emails and messages. "What time would the meeting with Sebastian be?" I helplessly asked her. My meeting with the attorney would be in an hour. And I planned to give him a call thirty minutes before that to make sure he would show up this time. I already mustered the courage to confess everything to him so he could use it against those who ruined and wanted to ruin my life. So I must take this meeting at all costs before everything changes. Before my core gets frightened and chickened out. I didn't have a good night's sleep last night for this. "That would be in an hour from now, Mr. Fisher. Do you want me to reschedule it?" Jennie proposed as she scanned
The tension between us immediately swallowed the ambiance of the entire place. I already expected this to happen between us, I came here with a bullet in my rifle. "No," Sebastian insisted firmly. "I will only explain everything to the Young Master. That's what you emailed me last night, Ms. Pineda. I was supposed to have another appointment today, but because I expected the Young Master to show up, I canceled everything on my schedule." "We are not here to make false statements, Mr. Stroem. If you don't trust Mr. Llamas or me, you are free to call the office of the chairman to verify it." Jennie defended me from Sebastian's insults and sarcasm. Even though helping me wasn't necessary as I had things twirled with the tip of my fingers, it appeared that she had had enough of his sharp tongue. The moment Sebastian and I stood face to face, I could not help but sense everything: his suspicions of me, rage, and even hatred. I, for one, have had enough of his sarcasm, but I
At first, I hesitated to grant Van's threat, not because I had no cash with me or I couldn't wire him the amount of money, but because my first impression and suspicions of him were proven true - that he couldn't be trusted. He just revealed his true color to me, finally. What's worse than that, his unexpected appearance in front of Sebastian high on drugs and intoxicated not only ruined my Dad's business reputation but mine as the Young Master as well. Everything was my fault he took advantage of us. I used him to lie for me. Now, he's using my secret to his advantage. "Is everything alright, Zachary?" Sebasitian's unexpected interruption caught me off guard. I was startled to the point that my body almost got out of balance. Then he hopped his hand on top of Van's shoulder. "Why am I feeling that you are scolding the Young Master, huh? Have you forgotten your place? You're just a mere employee in his Dad's corporation." Jennie looked at me, her entire face filled wi
"At the count of five, you'd better leave the mansion if you dont want to see me in my beast mode!" Dad added before he slammed the surface of the table, which resulted in some of the plates and glasses nearby falling and breaking into pieces after dropping to the tiled floor. Before he could start the counting, everyone, including Mom and my cousins, evacuated the room in the blink of an eye. Their worries and fears have left marks in the air. I was about to follow them outside when Dad growled at me to stay on my spot. Dad was known for being calm and profound. Every time he gets mad about something, he prefers to address the situation in silence instead of threatening or yelling at us. Today was probably the first time that he let everyone see his wrath. "Bring that woman in an instant, Zachary!" Dad growled. "If you don't want me to kill that woman, you better bring that woman in front of me. Don't you dare trick me this time? I'm giving you ten minutes!" The ten-minute alloca
"Well, I mean..." he added, his voice calm but sharp. However, this time, his curious eyes were fixed on us in the backseat since the car had already stopped moving in the middle of the road. "Rumors in the office have it that the two of you were dating. Everything I heard was just rumors, wasn't it?" Jennie and I exchanged glances, both waiting for someone to speak up and tell the truth or lie to Mr. Randolph. "What you heard was not just rumors, Mr. Randolph. Jennie and I..." I paused for a few seconds to muster the courage to speak up. "We're married already. And we haven't told anyone about it apart from you." Mr. Randolph lowered his eyes to my hand as I reached Jennie's and rested them on my chest, showing off to him our wedding rings on our fingers. He will know about it eventually, so there's no point in hiding it. "God damn it, Zachary! What were you thinking, huh? Do you think marrying someone will solve something here?" Mr. Randolph yelled at us for the fi
The two followed and kept their distance behind me, similar to lost puppies. But I know their sharp eyes were fixed on me as if they were going to stab me with a knife. "Didn't she tell you she's going to cook dinner for all of us? Julian and Jelian will be joining, too. We hope you dont mind." Divina asked. "Not unless you two already told them about my identity, didn't you? I hope that won't be the case." I said sharply. "Because that would only fuel the rage and hatred I had for this disgusting family." "O-of co-course not, Young Master!" Roger obviously stuttered. "We may be the worst in-laws, but we already learned our lesson. Rest assured that your secret is safe with us, right, honey?" Divina nodded her head without asking further questions, making me feel at ease. As soon as we reached the kitchen, I was taken aback when someone I barely expected was helping Celestine. "Zachary, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in your class right now?
And undeniably, a part of me wanted her to stay as long as she wanted. I'm not stopping her. Needless to say, I missed her so badly even if none of us could turn back time. I wanted to hug her in my arms tightly until she felt suffocated and play my lips with her just like the old days. But I was controlling every fiber of my muscle that wanted to do all that. A lot of things changed between us. I have already vowed to spend the rest of my life with Jennie, making her the happiest woman in the world. Above all that, we promised to be the best version of being parents for our son. "I dont know what the hell is going on inside your head, Celestine, but I believe your parents could have told you that we are no longer a couple, aren't they?" I replied sharply while pretending to be busy at my desk to avoid making eye-to-eye contact with her. She nodded. "Indeed, Mom and Dad told me that we were no longer a couple before I lost my memories. They were the ones who told me y
"That's enough, gentlemen!" Mom spoke up. "Someone died and yet you are blaming each other. Aren't we supposed to blame the one who killed them and find justice? Let go of him!" "We're so sorry, Mrs. Fisher." one of Dad's bodyguards replied, his voice barely audible. Without asking further questions, they let go of their clasp from me and strode to the corner. "Zachary, we are here to pay respect to Mom and Dad." Mom uttered, her eyes swelling up. "Your dad even canceled his appointments just to visit them." Right. Mom loves Grams and Gramps as far as I can remember. She was once a devoted daughter to them before she married Dad. She barely spoke every time Dad was taking over the floor. But her life turned into a living hell since they got me. There was this one night when she attempted to run away from the mansion - away from Dad, but she failed drastically. She was locked up for a few months in the dungeon similar to a prisoner. That's how wicked Dad really wa
Our uncertain journey began when Jennie and I nervously sat on the couch in front of Dad's desk while waiting for him to get back from his meeting. "There's still time for a change of heart, Mr. Fisher." Jennie broke the deafening silence and towering wall that divided us. "I'll be giving you ten seconds to evacuate the room before the chairman arrives. And before you would regret it for the rest of your life." Regret. Did she think I might regret something for the rest of my life if I tied the knot with her? Perhaps she already noticed or heard the sound of my racing heartbeats. "One." she began counting. "Two." I joined her counting inside my brain. "Three." "Four." "Five." Reaching this far, my heart skipped a beat for a few seconds, attempting to consider her proposal. I still have five more to be able to run away. If and only Noah could talk and understand the situation his confused father is going through, I could have called him and sought his
None of them even considered the fact that the statement was also applicable to me. "Someone like me, that's completely ridiculous!" I could not help but scoff inwardly in disbelief. Well. What else could I say? All my cousins were born with a silver spoon in their mouths. Lucas managed to achieve his dream at a young age. He became the CEO of his own company, and his parents could be proud of his achievement. His achievements also helped his sister, Layne, to achieve her dreams. She got all kinds of support from her brother and parents, either love, financial, or even connections. My other cousins, Mark and Chris, have grown well as well. Their parents supported all their dreams. None of them experienced being in my shoes. To get humiliated, mocked, degraded, and kicked out of the family. It's easier for them to say "Someone like her" because they know nothing about Jennie. I was about to defend Jennie when one of the housemaids of the mansion approached me and whispe
I slightly crouched closer to her with the hope of having a better look at her face but to my surprise, she cracked her eyes open. Startled, with no way of escape, I closed my eyes and kissed her on the lips. "What are you doing?" she whispered to make sure Noah would not wake up. "Go-good night kiss?" I defensively uttered right after I removed my face from her face. Then I cleared my throat to avoid the stuttering of my voice when I was about to add, "Good night, Jennie. Thanks for keeping an eye on my son. You can now get back to your room." Gladly, Jennie didn't ask for further questions about the kiss even if I knew she had all the right to confront me. What I did could have startled her too. She could have bombarded me with questions but she chose to shut her mouth and evacuated the room. I guess we're even now. She kissed me before, so I was simply returning the favor. The next day, I woke up alone on the bed. Worries and fears sent shivers down my spine when
Startled, Jennie hurried to my spot and helped me up. "Zach, are you alright?" she asked before she yelled at her brother, "Julian, do you have any idea what you just do, huh? Are you out of your mind?" "Come on, sister Jennie. That bastard deserved to get beaten, not just a single punch." Jelian hissed back. "Do you even have the slightest idea what that moron did to our family? You should stay away from that monster before your life gets ruined as well." "You should leave this place in an instant, Zachary," Julian ordered. "You, of all people, should know better that most, if not all of us, hated and disagreed about you being part of the outing." "As much as it pains you, Julian, but you can't just shoo Zachary out of this place." Jennie defended me, her voice sharp and sounded scary for the first time. "To begin with, he was not here to join your class outing. We also had our company outing in the same place and time as yours. In fact, we are in the middle of playin