Her mind was drifting as she walked, holding a tray filled with food that cost at least ten thousand pesos per plate. She was directionless after the news that shook her whole being earlier. She almost dropped her cellphone because of it, as she started sobbing in the bathroom.
“Your father is in the hospital, fighting for his life!”Her mother’s voice thundered in her ears and continued to echo inside her head. Her father needed five hundred thousand pesos for the heart operation he had in their province of Oas, Albay, while he was pulling the carabao in the fields earlier. She was from Legazpi City, a Bicolana who was forced to go to Manila and stop her college education due to the hardships in life. She was beautiful, if beauty was the criteria, but she lacked the height to compete in beauty pageants, so she never stood a chance as a candidate.If only she was blessed with height, she would probably be able to earn and support herself in her studies. But she was short, standing only at 5’1”. She hadn’t even finished her first year of college, so her only choice was to work as a waitress. She wasn’t even qualified, to begin with. That’s what the manager said during her interview. He said she lacked education but was able to hire her because she was good at talking and exuded self-confidence. It was a stroke of luck for her.She looked around, her mind consumed by the problem. Where would she get five hundred thousand pesos? Perhaps her ears had become immune to being a waitress in this five-star restaurant, as she still couldn’t save any money. She received the Manila rate, with free accommodation, but not free meals. She was sending her two siblings, Lexa and Lexus, who were in high school, to school.She was helping her parents. Her father was a humble farmer, working and planting vegetables in their field. Her mother sold the produce in the market. They managed to get by in their daily lives, but they lacked the funds to lift themselves out of poverty. The land where their house stood in the province didn’t belong to them. It belonged to the land’s owner, who had once made an inappropriate offer to her, an old widow. She didn’t tell her father about it because she didn’t want to anger him and cause a conflict with the man. They might be kicked out, and they had nowhere else to go.Heart forced herself to provide what her siblings needed for their studies. She provided them with WIFI, a computer, and other gadgets. It was deducted from her salary, and she continued paying for it until now. If she had any savings, it was meager, not even reaching fifty thousand pesos. How would she be able to afford her father’s operation?Her father said not to have the operation anymore because it would only bring more expenses. He said to just accept it if that’s where his life ends. She couldn’t bear to accept that. It was so painful to be a child who couldn’t do anything for her parents in their time of need. It was so hard to be poor. It seemed that the people in the restaurant where she worked had no problems. They could spend almost thirty thousand pesos on a meal, just for two people. She wished they would give that money to people who are in need.Heart fought back the tears as those words reminded her of painful memories. She restrained herself.She looked for VVIP table 09. She knew that when serving VVIPs, she needed to be even more careful. VVIPs are considered billionaires. She was assigned there because of her charisma and beauty. The black uniform she was wearing, which barely covered her behind, suited her perfectly. Her well-shaped body was clearly visible. Frankly speaking, Macho Café and Restaurant is mostly frequented by men. There are women too, but most of the clientele are men because all the employees there are women, except for the bouncers and chefs. That is the concept of that restaurant, to attract wealthy men because the waitresses are beautiful and sexy. And they truly are sought after.Heart spotted the table she was looking for when she glanced to her left. Their eyes met. Two men were dining there. The man’s gaze at her was intense, but she was accustomed to such looks. The only difference was that out of all the handsome men who entered, this one had a unique charisma.She averted her gaze from him and continued walking towards that table.She smiled, as usual. Smiling is not allowed to falter in front of customers. She even glanced at a guy on the opposite side of the table. He was also looking at her, but she continued with serving the food.“Heart…?” The man on her right said.She immediately glanced at him. He was staring at her as if he wanted to burn her. He wasn’t purely Filipino or perhaps didn’t have any Filipino blood because of his appearance. He was a very beautiful man, with a sharp nose, pink lips, beautiful eyes, and buzz cut hair. She knew that haircut because of Lexus. Her brother always had that kind of haircut.She shivered because of his tone. It was a baritone.“Sir?” She asked softly.“We didn’t order anything,” he said and horror showed on her face.She looked at the number again and now it wasn’t 09, it was number 06! She panicked. That’s why the table was already occupied by two people, she made a mistake.“S-Sorry, sir,” she hurriedly took the food she had placed down while repeatedly apologizing.In her confusion, she accidentally bumped the iced tea on his glass, causing it to spill near his zipper.“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” she couldn’t apologize enough. The man stood up and looked at the pants that got wet.Where is the tablecloth? Why the hell the zipper got wet?In her confusion, she grabbed a napkin and quickly wiped it in front of him, near his fly. She kept apologizing and doing what she should, but suddenly she became puzzled because she felt something hard.She looked up and met his eyes again. His gaze was even more intense now, causing her to gulp.That hard thing was his manhood, my goodness!Chapter 1Heart estimated how her body moved as she opened the door to her manager’s office. A blast of cold air hit her as she entered, courtesy of the powerful air conditioning inside. Along with it came the pleasant scent of her manager’s perfume from the restaurant.Vandros Montero was sitting in his chair, holding a cigarette in his hand. His face had an unreadable expression. And she was on the verge of crying, even before speaking. Heart had barely crossed the threshold of the open door.Vandros looked at her and motioned for her to come in. He remained expressionless. Vandros was a serious person. He didn’t smile and his demeanor was unsettling, but beneath that, he was kind. He never yelled at them or treated them badly. He always spoke to them with respect and professionalism, but in return, he expected their loyalty and dedication to their work, as his true nature might occasionally reveal itself if they don’t abide.Heart did as she was told. She closed the door and sta
Chapter 2 – Lux“WHO’S that?” Lux asked his Abuela as soon as he entered the Montesalvo mansion.He had just dropped off a friend whose car broke down. He had promised his seventy-eight-year-old grandmother, Carmenzita Almendrez-Montesalvo, that he would spend an afternoon with her in her favorite salon. She wanted to get a foot spa, have her nails cleaned, and get a haircut. Damn! He didn’t need grooming, for Pete’s sake. He had no choice. His Abuela was happy treating him like a little boy, even though he was already thirty-one years old. Well, they were the only two who were always together from the beginning. “Oh, here you are,” she said, just having put down the phone. His grandma didn’t have a smartphone. She was the only person in the world still relying on a landline. She had a phone and a registered SIM card, but she didn’t use them. She didn’t have any social media accounts either. She didn’t know how to use modern cellphones. She would only make calls on her basic ph
3Heart is waiting for a call at five o’clock in the afternoon inside her apartment, but there’s still no call. She feels like a cat that can’t give birth in her current state. She peeks through the wooden window, gazing at the road, hoping that a luxurious Nissan Calibre owned by Vandros might pass by in front of their gate.She can’t stay still, constantly holding her cellphone, sitting down, standing up, and then pacing back and forth. The young woman’s eyes keep darting to the clock. It feels like time is racing, and the seconds tick loudly in her ears, matching the rhythm of her anxious heart.Her mind is far away, focused on her father, whose situation is unknown at the moment. Her thoughts are negative; she imagines the worst, that her father is already dying. She stops in her tracks and tears fill her eyes. Maybe her father is suffering right now. Oh God. Heart covers her face with her palms. Her mind should not dwell on such scenarios. It’s wrong. She should be thinking that
Chapter 4Heart breathed a sigh of relief as the initial payment of 75 thousand entered her SCash wallet. Another 75K would be due tomorrow. While she was still in Vandros’s car, on their way home, she already planned to call her mother to find someone who could send the seventy-five thousand. She didn’t know if it was possible to withdraw that amount at this hour. Her father needed the operation.Time was slipping away, and her father’s condition was becoming more critical. Vandros spoke up, “Heart…” which made her look at her employer.“Yes?” She gazed at him with sadness in her eyes.“Why don’t you ask the doctor if it’s still possible for your father to be transferred here? To the Philippine Heart Center, you know? The five hundred thousand can potentially be reduced to two hundred. That’s a significant difference. You’ll need less money. I’ll talk to Senyora Carmen; maybe she’ll allow you to do salary deduction.”She fell silent, contemplating the idea. But what if her father cou
Chapter 5Heart could hardly take a step as Vandros finally closed the door to the condo unit. She was now inside. She had been brought there. The unit was beautiful, very spacious, like a large family could live there. The man who bought it was obviously incredibly wealthy. Not just anyone could afford such a condo unit. Kerokeroppi wasn’t just rich; he was obscenely wealthy.What else was she going to do, just stand here? Her mother had texted that they were close to Manila. She needed to hurry and take care of the certificate stating that she was still a virgin.The young woman took her steps after chatting with Gigi, who was already in her new place.Was it really a new home, or just a place for encounters? No matter what, she couldn’t do anything about it. No matter how many times she asked herself, repeated it to herself, it was over. She now belonged to a man who had a strong appetite for sex.Heart walked. She saw several doors, three or four.She hadn’t even asked Vandros whi
6Chapter 6“Oh my God, Marimar!” Heart couldn’t count how many times she swallowed nervously after receiving a text from an unknown sender. Her eyes were wide as she stared at her phone’s screen. She didn’t know if her old Android phone was acting up because the screen was blinking while she read the terrifying message.Her attempt to eat her dinner was abandoned. She was at the bottom of the condo building, next to the mini grocery store, having her meal. She had lost her appetite due to the message she had just read. “Right away? Clean yourself up because the boss will be here in an hour,” it said. Was she supposed to immerse herself in muriatic acid to disinfect herself? She felt embarrassed, thinking about what the man might do to her. Would he treat her the way they do on those shows, hitting and doing various things to her body?In Mister K’s text message, he sounded arrogant. It felt like he was implying that she was just paid and had no right to act cute.The message sank in
Chapter 7 – LuxLux casually stepped out of his White Bentley GTC, which was custom-made to suit his personality. It was one of his favorite cars. He had been passionate about cars since he was young and had transitioned from collecting toy cars to real ones over the years.He used these cars for a few months and then sold them. Eventually, he started showcasing them for vloggers and content creators in his garage. While featuring his luxury cars was free, the vloggers had to be cautious as any damage to his cars had consequences.As he walked towards the entrance of the condominium, he noticed a familiar, muscular man, Enrico Mariano, who had gone through significant physical changes in the past three years. Lux suspected that Enrico and his wife, Diana, were discussing business matters, particularly a travel and tours venture where Diana would be involved.Diana had always been exceptional, and Lux appreciated her intelligence and loyalty. They had been arranged to marry since they
Chapter 8HEART’s world spun when she suddenly sat on the bed. She fell abruptly, and her once dim vision darkened even more. She felt like she was in a daze and couldn’t understand what was happening.Her hips hurt. Her center hurt. She was sore. She felt like crying again, but she held it in. Should she cry more? She felt foolish and hypocritical if she did because she also enjoyed what the man she didn’t know had done.She reached out to the bed, fearing that there might still be someone there. She was afraid that maybe she would remove the curtain to find someone hiding, thinking there was no one left.She tried to clear her throat. What time was it? She could smell the man’s cologne, lingering on her skin, on the pillow, on the bedsheet. It smelled good. The scent was sweet and not overpowering. Even though it was a man’s scent, it was mild.Heart could say that Mister K had good taste in choosing cologne. This kind of scent could make a woman fall for it. It wasn’t the typical s