The tick-tock of the clock in our world has seemed to stop, accompanied by the heavy weight of the sensation rested on our helpless shoulders. His back rested on my chest, arms lying on both sides, and his smiling face pointing at me. "Why, Norman? You could have run away and saved your life. Why did you catch the bullet for me, huh? I'm not worth it. Have you forgotten I still hate you?" "Because I love you, Yvanna," he spoke out. "Remember those flowers, chocolates, and food containers?" I nodded as my tears kept pouring down my cheeks like an open faucet, especially when he started ejecting a bulk of blood from his nose and mouth. "Someone gave me that kind of idea eight years ago," he added. "I don't know how to make it up to you so I copied what you did when we were in college. When you confessed your feelings to me and wanted to be my girlfriend. Do you still remember? Because I do remember everything, Yvanna. That was also the day when I started to get annoye
Yvanna's POV It has been an hour and a half, if am not mistaken, since I keep looking at my clouded reflection on the sliding glass window in front of me, trying to keep up with my overwhelming excitement and nervousness that linger in the air at the same time. Several thoughts, wonderful ones, keep running wild inside my brain when tonight, my mother-in-law, surprisingly throws a small banquet to introduce me to her wealthy friends who missed my husband's extravagant 32nd birthday celebration two days ago. And I am, undeniably, in 7th heaven every time I glimpse at those visitors passing through behind the window. This is going to be the first time in history that Mauricia, my mother-in-law, has given recognition to my hard-earned suffering in their hands for the past seven years. Even if surrounding myself with her "so-called" circle of friends and closest family relatives is not my cup of tea, she left me with no other choice when Norman, my good-looking and considerate husba
She's the most one-sided mother-in-law I have ever known in my whole life. The idea of everyone in the mansion to hate me since the first day of my relationship with Norman begins from her. She builds it. Nails it in everyone's hearts and minds, including her twin daughters. "Are you blind, you ungrateful, whore?" she growls, her eyes filled with her overflowing rage toward me, but she stretches out her patience to prevent her anger from bursting when she is with her circle of so-called gold-digger friends. The six of her friends who were seated at the table next to her were all good and well-behaved in front of my mother-in-law, but every time they turned their backs on her, or the other way around, they stabbed her with their knives a million times. "For God's sake!" she gasps as she clenches her fists before she continues, "Sometimes I wonder if you and your entire family are wicked old witches who cast a seduction spell on my son to marry you by force." To release the anger th
There, in the lobby, Norman's smiling face greeted me. We've been in a relationship for seven years but it was the first time I saw him smiling from ear to ear. And undeniably, he looks more attractive when he smiles. He looked even younger through my eyes. His priceless smile was one of the reasons my heart puffed up and fell in love with him. I was about to approach him but, all of a sudden, I glued my feet on the tiled floor, my eyes fixed on the heart-wrenching scene in front of me. "No. It can't be." I uttered to myself, trying to understand what was certainly going on. "Happiest birthday, Malia!" Norman whispered to the woman, his smile extended. The woman smiled back while caressing my husband's cheeks, her face filled with love and longing. "Thank you, babe" she replied, "But where's my gift?" "You'll know about it later. Shall we go now?" Standing next to Norman is a gorgeous and lanky woman, I believed I recognized. Malia - his ex-girlfriend and first love. She exte
Continuous deafening screams dominated the entire coronation night instead of everyone's lively cheering and whooping two minutes ago. Most of the residents, partygoers, and foreign visitors, who managed to witness the unexpected commotion rushed both, to the main entrance and exit, where the mind-blowing fistfight had just begun. The music stopped playing, making it more obvious that an ongoing uproar was happening inside the podium. So I keep screaming, attempting to stop them from hurting each other before I see blood. Unfortunately, the man is more furious, and he appears to be more desperate and aggressive compared to Justine. He jumps on top of Justine, pins him on the ground, and blows countless of his punches. Then I see blood coming out of his nose and mouth. They flooded the surface of the ground around them. The man did not even hesitate after knowing he already won their fight. Instead, he continued punching Justine, as though he had no plan on keeping him alive.
"Thank, goodness, you're already home, Brother Norman! We have some wonderful news for you since the other day." Jennifer eagerly departed from her seat as soon as I arrived at the dining area. Jennie follows her and wraps their arms around me to extend their greetings. The last person who approached me was my son, Noah. He was about to wrap his arms around me but I dodged him and grabbed my seat next to him. "But I highly suggest we should not talk about the good news in front of the kid," Jennie added before she fixed her eager look at her twin sister, and then to Noah. "Kiddo, can you go back to your room? You aunties and dad are gonna talk about something important really quick." That's one of the characteristics I love about my little sisters. Even if Noah and I did not have the father-and-son kind of relationship as everyone does, they always gave him priority. I heard a few times from Yvanna that Jennifer brought him shopping and ate outside every time she had her free time.
In the middle of my journey back to the mansion, I clean up the tears that flood my eyes, trying to remove the remnants of my imperfection and failure, especially when I have to show my family that I wasn't affected by the result. However, my tears were like an open faucet. The more I wiped them off, the heavier the weight I felt inside me. It's burning me inside out. Failing on something wasn't supposed to be my cup of tea, but it happened. Never in my life have I failed to achieve something. Winning the election was as easy as counting from one to three for me. But how on earth did it happen? I spent billions of dollars on the campaign. To make sure our lineup could win at all costs. It just fucking happened, and I didn't get the chance to wear a life vest or bulletproof. My entire body is sinking into the bottom of the ocean. And I was supposed to get Veronica's support, to comfort me in times of crisis, but she didn't. "Get me the most expensive bottle of wine, quick!" I furi
"Ms. Ellaine, can I ask you something?" I mustered the courage to disturb my secretary in the middle of her hectic work. "Of course, Mr. dela Vega! Ask me anything," she replied without even removing her eyes from the computer screen in front of her. "How long have you been working as the corporation's secretary? Eight years? Nine perhaps? I forgot already. Sorry." I said with honesty but awkwardly. Ms. Ellaine unhurriedly walked her gaze from her computer screen to her back where I was seated. Then she smiled, but her facial expression told me the other way around. She could have been thinking that I would fire her for giving the car keys and bouquet of roses to the wrong person the other day. "It has been seven years, Mr. dela Vega. Why?" she asked, her voice trembling. So, for seven years, she could have known everything about me and Yvanna, my wife since our relationship as a married couple also started when we hired Ms. Ellaine. "Do you have any idea