AT THE STORE.With a long and worried face, Torilio placed his head on the table, kicking the chair at intervals."Boss, are you sure we can trust him?" his aide asked. "I want Esmeralda’s freedom, and I will give up anything for that," Torillio responded draggingly."Brandon, he’s been locked up but making moves; just this morning, The Alvarez’s were reinstalled to their prime power, and he made that possible.""That bitch Aliaana who was here at your feet begging to work for you boldly stabbed us in the back just because she was getting help from him," his aide harnessed aptly."Hmmm, roll up that blunt," Torillio responded as he raised his head. His eyes were red and dry."Brandon Ramirez! Just to get back at you, I did so much, but you see untouchable? How do you play so well?" Torillio said, thinking out loud."Give me that." He collected the weeds and rolled them up in the paper. His aide threw the lighter, and he lit up the blunt. "Brandon…. I think I need to pay him a visit
AT THE HOTEL. After giving the best property in his name to Esmeralda Isagani just to get her to come to the family meeting with him in order to impress Grandma Pillar Olvido, he settles for the small hotel left on him. He didn't get anything out of Don Soriano’s properties. "It’s not like it was shared, though; stop overthinking Olvido!" He brushed himself on the head vastly. He took his coffee and inhaled the hot, steamy air that rose from it. "Delicious!" he stirred intently. "Sir, your uncle is here to see you." A waiter said to him. "Which one of them? Turn them down; I don't want to see anyone," Olvido snapped. "Really? You don't want to see anyone?" Herevaux said as he barged in without Olvido’s approval. "Yes, I need my peace; seeing anyone of you is mentally draining me," Olvido responded bluntly. "What happened to your hair? It almost doesn’t look like you, Olvido." Herveaux asked mockingly. Olvido’s hair was back to its normal auburn color. He took off t
AT THE HALL. Tension was the perfect theme to describe the atmosphere during the meeting. Everyone suited up and masked but the murmuring and wild chattering filled the air with despair and unsureness.The five were the last to make their way to the high table before the meeting commenced after an utmost silence in the crowd. "A lot will happen today; I just feel it. Do you have what I want?" Torilllio nudged Madrigal, who was sitting in front of him. "Yes, rest assured," Madrigal responded. "How did you get the gun inside?" Torillio asked. "It’s in your car with your men; I dropped the briefcase in it before coming in; here’s a picture to confirm." Madrigal passed the photo to him. "Hmmm, I love your guts; what about the others?" Torillio asked interestedly. "Here with me, they checked, but it’s fine; I’m no dummy," Madrigal responded swiftly. One of the five tapped on the microphone three times to draw everyone’s attention back to the meeting. A big deal was about to
THE LION RETURNS. Gold Inc. Prime had a renovation that wasn’t announced or planned, causing all the workers in the company to be held outside while the renovation was ongoing. Lots of calls were coming through on Marcellus and Esmeralda’s phones, as they were the ones in supreme control of the company. "What is going on? This has never happened before. Why this morning? It could have been done last night." Esmeralda queried Marcellus, who was also standing outside the company’s gate."The Gold in Prime is not one of Ramirez’s properties, right?" She asked Marcellus, unsure of the outcome of last night’s meeting."The bidding is still ongoing, so I don’t think so," Marcellus replied."I tried speaking to the workers renovating to stop, but they didn’t listen. Should I call the police?" Esmeralda asked him frustratingly. "Do you think I haven’t? They have legal backing to do so; I guess we’ll just wait then," Marcellus replied, storming off back into his car. He picked up his ph
Madrigal stalled in the parking lot, waiting for Brandon to show up so they could exit the company, as it was already running late in the evening.“I don’t think he’d acknowledge her invitation,” he mumbled. Sweeping the invisible dust off the car’s stirring while waiting for him.Brandon, and his convoy stepped out of the company, heavily protected and safe. He didn’t leave through the main lane to get to the Parking lot but they took a lift via the elevator. “Are you really accepting her invitation?” Marcellus asked above his shoulders with a demeaning gleam of anger. “Yes, we all are coming, not sure if Aliaana should tag along,” Brandon nudged. They arrived at the last floor.“Welcome sir, we parked the car in the lot, enat to go now?” Madrigl asked coming down from the car to accompany him. “We’ll ride with her,” Brandon responded clearing his throat. Esmeralda was no where in view and he ordred Madrigal to go get her. “Think I should go? Olay boss,” he tried to
AT TORILLIO'S MANSION "Boss, I just confirmed it, and it’s true," Torillio’s aide reported Hesitantly after verifying the news they just heard after leaving the club. "Who would dare turn on the TV?" he Rumbled. Another guard turned it on, and it was live and displayed. The police raided his jewelry shop that night, and they found lots of illegal and banned material in the building. There were lots of journalists, and reporters flooded the place just to scoop the news."No!" He bellowed, ramming the remote onto the TV screen. "I have protection from the family and even the police; how could this have happened?" Torillio screeched in grief as he scattered all the portraits on the table. "Boss, I will look into this; go and rest." His aide pacified. Torillio's hands were quivering as he sought for his cellphone."I need to call someone; I will lose it if I don’t get an explanation for this. What’s the time?" He inquired cautiously."It’s 4:00 am, boss; we left the club late, and w
AT THE GLASS HOUSE. All the lights were turned on and no guards were on standby, acting on Andallio’s order, and he watched as Olvido wandered into the building from the CCTV in the sitting room. Olvido drove in without any stops, and no one was at the gate either. "What’s going on?" he muttered as he drove inside the glass house. He came down and cheeked all the stop points and the quarters, but no one was there either. "What’s that bastard up to this time?" He checked the time on his wristwatch, and it was 6:00 a.m. "It’s too early." He whizzed. He took the elevator to the top of the building. He searched everywhere on the terrace, but no one was there either. He went back inside the house to check as well. "Hey, young man, what are you looking for?" Andallio asked him, legs crossed, as he relaxed on the Cain chair."What did you do this time? Are you accepting defeat already?" Olvido asked rudely. Andallio smiled and got up from the chair."You don’t know how it started,
ESMERALDA'S APARTMENTHer eyes were heavy with the dark bags lurking beneath her eyelids, lashing the black eyeliners that smeared from her tears. Esmeralda was up all night drinking and drowning herself in sadness. She took her cellphone, which had been beeping for forever, and checked who was calling. Sylvester’s name popped up on the home screen, and she turned it off as soon as she saw it. "Not now, Sylvester," she said, pushing the cellphone away from her and dragging herself down to the bedroom. She crept down to the leg of the bed and drew out a briefcase. She sat with her back resting slantingly on the bed and opened the briefcase. "It’s still here; I am just overthinking things; why do I feel this hurt?" she asked herself drowsily. She rubbed her head sorely, like it could cure the migraine she was having. Esmeralda pulled out the gun, and the forensic results that confirmed it was her fingerprints. "No one can fool you just like that, Esmeralda. Think!" She smacked her