“Who are you?” Lucas asked the young man, Benjamin, trying to be calm and composed even though he’s clearly upset.“Aren’t you slow in picking up the clues!” Benjamin retorted. “Dude, I’m the one she’s interested in. So, it’s time for you to get back to your Ferrari.”Lucas looked at Rebecca as if waiting for her to say something.Rebecca nodded. “You should go.”Lucas reluctantly stood and hated the fact that Benjamin was waving his hand, seeing him off.After Lucas left, Rebecca shifted her gaze to Benjamin. “What was that all about?”“I just saved your time, and your return gift is a cold look,” Benjamin was all too familiar with this sharp, numbing look she had going right now. Nevertheless, he returned her a friendly, pleasant smile.Rebecca didn’t know what to say. “Mr. Benjamin…”“You can just call me Benjamin.”“You are one of those guys who can deal with almost anything with a smile on your face, right?” she said.“No. When I can kill someone or something, I don’t smile,” Ben
The Two Way restaurant was a charming little place nestled on a cobblestone street, its warm lights spilling onto the sidewalk like golden honey.The faces of the people sitting at the tables glowed beautifully like they would under morning’s sunlight.“In the past, my friend Jane has made a list of potential suitors for me,” Rebecca said. “After much deliberation, I decided to give it a try. I met those men at a small cafe during weekends. I still remember it very vividly. The first guy’s name was Max, I believe. His shoes were brighter than his teeth. He probably rented those shoes and clothes somewhere.“And then there was a guy with such a big beard that I thought squirrels might be living in there. The more they talked, the less interested I felt. I didn’t click with any of them.”“Then what about me?” Benjamin asked.“You have a girlfriend, and you’re looking for another girl,” Rebecca said. “That’s a whole new level of craziness. How did you even think I would believe your word
Rebecca was walking back home, and Benjamin was walking with her. She was walking fast, so he said, “I can’t walk that fast. Can we slow down a little bit?”Why would she slow down when she wanted to get home quickly so that she didn’t have to see his face or his smile anymore?Still, Rebecca slowed down just a bit not because he asked her but because her eyes caught the design of a girl passing by. She was wearing a t-shirt with a cat wearing goggles, and the bold slogan underneath: Too Good To Purrsuade!Benjamin noticed that. “She seems to like cats more than men. The chances of her getting to her forties as a single woman with four cats for company are not low.”Rebecca almost cracked a complex smile while also wondering if he was directing those words toward her as well.“Do you like cats, Miss Rebecca?” he asked.“No, I hate anything with fur on it,” Rebecca replied.“Hate is a strong word. Why do you hate them?”“Well, hate isn’t the correct word, but I just don’t want them nea
“It must be hard for the mama to feed so many of her children,” Benjamin pitied the waterfowl. “Do you want to feed them?”“The mother knows how to feed her children. Why should we disturb it?” Rebecca blurted and kept walking.There were people who were taking pictures of the duck and the ducklings. Rebecca might have tried to feed it if she was alone, but she didn’t want any unnecessary attention.Benjamin knew how soft Rebecca was deep down. She was the woman who waited at the doorstep of the villa for hours for her mother to come home everyday.So, Benjamin tried to stir her up a little. “Look at those people. They are all taking pictures, but none of them are feeding those poor things. I guess the mama duck and her babies are going to go to sleep on a half or an empty stomach tonight.”Rebecca stopped after taking a few steps. “Tsk,” she looked through her handbag and found four dollar bills. She went to the nearby grocery store. Different types of bread were on the shelves. She
The walk back to the Sterling villa together with Rebecca felt like a millennium of heartache because her words full of refusal weighed heavily on his heart.There was a point when Benjamin had cried and begged God to help his broken relationship between him and his wife. He felt like doing that all over again now. He couldn’t wait to go to his room so he could pray.“Don’t ignore her just because she’s obsessed with you,” Rebecca told him as they reached the villa. “In my opinion, there’s no greater achievement than marrying the one who loves you. So, don’t look elsewhere.”Benjamin’s lips trembled slightly, not knowing how to stage a comeback.Seeing Rebecca and Benjamin entering the villa together, Selena was surprised. “I’m sure they left at different times. Why are they coming together? Is there something going on between them?”Selena’s eyes were filled with a strange glow, which could make people mistake into thinking that her eyes might be worth as much as precious crystals.S
Shadow had long been locked up in a particular house and was told to read a large novel written in a language he didn’t know. He would be allowed to come out only after reading and understanding the said novel. This was a punishment that put his patience as well as his intelligence and faith to test.Shadow wasn’t the first to receive this sort of a punishment. Some others who received this punishment in the past were able to learn the language with their own intellect, but it had taken them months if not years to do it. And then there were others who were able to understand the foreign novel with the gift of the tongues, which they believed was given by God himself.Ryan and Galen came to greet him together. “How far have you come?”“I deciphered a bit of it,” Shadow replied, annoyed. “Are you guys really going to keep me here until I completely decode this language? Even if it takes a few years?”“When I came here last time, you were using the book as a pillow and was snoring like a
Selena was busy talking with different families on the Aurora Hills, inviting them to the function she was going to hold in a week.Selena had finished changing the names of many properties on the Rachel Hill and even the Aurora Hills. She wasn’t just a billionaire now but a multi-billionaire, all thanks to Uzza’s efforts.All the stress left Selena’s life now. She felt extremely confident because she believed that she could handle anything and everything in life that may come her way. After all, the properties she owned would be worth more than a hundred billion dollars.While Selena was busy sharing the joy with others, Rye came to the rooftop to talk with Benjamin who was sitting on the edge, with his legs dangling.“I’ve seen money bringing smiles to many faces before, but it feels shocking even now when I see Selena Sterling’s face completely change in a matter of a few hours,” Rye said. “Life is really not just. If she had tried to get hold of all these properties in a just mann
The moment Benjamin left the rooftop, Uzza came there and asked Rye nervously, “What did he say?”“You were probably eavesdropping, so why are you still asking such a question?” Rye asked her back.“Haaah…” Uzza exhaled audibly. “I told him I wouldn’t meddle in his affairs, and I broke my word. I want to correct my mistakes, too, if possible.”“Don’t do anything stupid, alright. Rebecca doesn’t deserve Benjamin. Let’s wait a few more weeks, and then we’ll go back to Sciocidad. All of us.”Uzza sighed. “I must give credit where credit is due. Most of the women will not bother to be with a poor man, much less marry him. But Rebecca married Benjamin when he was working as a pizza delivery guy, so she’s better in that regard.”“She married him out of spite, not out of love,” Rebecca retorted.“Still, she married a poor guy. That’s not something just anyone would do. Most women I see fall for guys who lie they’re rich and what not just like how women are falling for women with makeup, wigs