He won't take no for an answer.
I found it rather funny, recalling how Bash's bodyguard stalked off after handing me that well-laminated card.
That comment sounded like his boss owned the entire Sao Paulo, and every citizen here followed his puppy_love rules.
Then where did that make my grandfather, the great Emmanuel Iglesias, stand right now? Under a hybrid actor's thumb? Alpha Grandpa would rather die than wait for that day to come into his life. Someone who loved power would never want to sign any contract with a young and inexperienced entrepreneur unless that man had a strong backup whom grandpa could use in his favor.
It might sound like I was looking down on that star, but it wasn't the case. I was in dad's office most of the time for mom, so I was aware of things. Bash would have had a chance if it was my dad in the position, but now, he would get played by grandpa, and, in the end, it would only be him to blame for wasting his time here in this city---oh, sorry, I mean in South America.
Should I give Bash the reality check?
Erh- Nah! Why should I bother myself with this matter when he called me a stalker, ruined my image in front of his friends, and threatened to send me to prison? But I can scare him off by making up stories to leave Elias and Emily alone through one phone call.
That superstar wouldn't want me there if I shared this little secret that Elias, the event planner he wanted for his woman, was me, the girl behind his walking difficulty three days ago. The poor guy had to take help from his woman to lead him to the elevator.
Could anyone blame me for that? He had that coming anyway.
I smiled cheekily and turned to the next page of my diary in my lap.
"That actor isn't a threat. He made his intention clear to me. So, you're now free to fly to Seattle to settle, Emily."
Mumbling softly to myself, I wrote a few lines about that star, a brief report about the incidents that occurred in the past few days, and how Bash almost caught me, yet I didn't write his name. I turned the page like I had become habituated with my life and traced the outline of the rectangle-shaped card I attached a few moments ago.
Mom left me years ago, but I still felt her presence around me. Partly it was because I wanted to feel that way and that I had her complete support and blessings at that point in my life when I was slowly losing hope. It was hard to stay strong. It gets suffocating when people there want to use you for their benefit. How did you survive alone this long, mom? I wished she could answer that with me lying in her lap. My parents taught me many things in their way, but they never told me for once how to live without them.
"Oh, no, not this again!" I scoffed in a wavering tone and wiped the tears that escaped my eyes. If I gave in to my emotions now, I would get a headache, and I certainly didn't wish to knock on the owner's door for a glass of hot water and get an earful from her.
Dad used to tell me that nothing happens without a cause. That was why I glued this card to the diary in my lap.
Who could tell when this contact will come in handy in the future?
The knock on my door had me toss my diary in my suitcase and check the lock twice before I headed to see the person on another side. It was one of my three roommates with whom I shared this 3BHK apartment, and I called her the owner as it was hers and the rest were just PGs. "You have some visitors waiting downstairs, Elias. Check before you let them in this apartment."
Quite Robotically, Ms. Heigl said before heading back to her room without hearing my response. And why wasn't I surprised again?
I quickly checked my appearance in the mirror and locked the door of my room behind me before coming out of my apartment. Jogging down the stairs, I went to the ground floor from the third floor and was very nervous about meeting my coach after so long.
It had to be him.
Before dropping me home on that day after picking me up from work, the officers told me they would bring my coach directly here after checking in at the hotel. I wanted to avoid the meeting, but they insisted and told me to join my coach in his appointment with my grandpa. I could see the opportunity to get a sign from him on the papers, yet it was dreadful, and I hoped to miss it somehow.
After my last international match, I took a break from swimming, and my coach fell for my lies when I told him that my sister and I needed time to overcome the loss of our parents. Not even four or five months ago, we lost them both, so he didn't find anything unusual in my confession and freed me from our contract. Little did he know I had no plan to resume my swimming career anymore.
Now, it was different.
Bartending was not a career option. No one would want to hire me as a cook with no culinary degree. And I wasn't that naive to fall for that oh-so-in-love couple who said they would use their connections to help me to get a job in a high-end restaurant or an internship at an event planning agency. Swimming was the only thing I knew, and I made a name in that field with so many trophies and Olympic medals in my locker in Belgium, but neither of my part-time jobs would be enough to feed my sister once a day.
As I reached the register counter, I breathed in relief when my eyes fell on the lady officer whose back was facing me. I could only hope that she would tell me the thing I wanted to hear. . .like my coach missed the flight here or something close to that. He might be wealthy and owned half of Belgium, but he was against owning his jet for some reason, and his elder son wasn't allowed to have one either, even when he had his own business, which had nothing to do with sports or even clashed in the future.
"Evening, Ma'am,"
"Elias," Cautiously, she took my name, and people there passed by us, uninterested like they usually were. "How was your day?"
"Better than I've ever been! I have a day off today. You know that."
I felt sick in my stomach whenever I thought about meeting my grandpa because I knew what to expect when he and my coach would again come face to face after my mother's death and him abandoning both of his granddaughters when they lost their parents.
Not that it mattered to my sister or did she ever feel the loss of our parents, as they were never there for her, but she cried when I cried. She was barely three then. I shouldn't expect so much from that girl who misunderstood me as her mother. I didn't correct her back then, but I regretted it soon when the authorities took her from her, and from there, she came to know I was not even her sister.
"Your coach left for New York." I followed her obediently when she gestured for me to come with her, as it was not safe to talk about this matter in the apartment. As soon as she sat in the passenger seat, the driver started the engine, and I turned my gaze to her when she said something shocking, "Your grandpa has been planning something. From an internal source, your coach's son got the information that senior James would be sending someone to the hearing day in court. Your lawyer and our team have listed down the suspects, and guess what we came to know this morning?"
By then, I had already turned pale as a sheet. I was scared would be an understatement. Even the word petrified couldn't express the things I was feeling right then. How could Grandpa use Cheryl as his pawn? Before I could digest the whole thing, the agent in the driver's seat had to drop another bomb on me, and instantly, I told them to drive me to my grandfather's place. They looked dumbfounded at first and probably wanted to take me to the police station to get me to talk to the commissioner, as a diplomat from Seattle arrived for me to escort me home safely. But before leaving this country, I needed to speak with my grandfather one last time.
"I don't think it's a good idea, Emily." The lady officer looked tense, and I didn't like how worried she looked as she turned to see me. "You know very well now why he wanted to involve the media. It has been like, what? A year, right? You have been staying for over a year, but he didn't think of anything like that. Now, he is showing his true face slowly. His intentions still aren't clear, but we know he wants you to do something so he can trap you. And you are asking us to take you in his place?"
"No, I am not asking you to take me there, ma'am. But I am telling you that I am going." I left no room for argument, and there wasn't an ounce of remorse and guilt in my eyes for behaving so rudely to them. "It is something I have decided after hearing you. Besides, I don't think we should travel together. I am taking a cab to the estate, and you will follow me from a distance."
With that, I opened the door from my side, and as I was just about to step out of the jeep, the agent asked, "But your files? They aren't with you, Ms. James. You don't want his signature anymore?"
"I won't touch a single penny that grandpa used to hurt my sister, sir."
My smile didn't reach my eyes.
Again, the officer called, "There is one thing you should know."
I got a bad feeling seeing their expressions, but I kept my cool still. The ground slipped from my feet when the next thing they said.
"Sebastian Fernandez, Ms. James." She looked hesitant at first but told me nonetheless. "He is the one who sends the money to your sister's biological parents, who live downtown."
"You shouldn't have dragged her family into this. We don't know the person you are helping." Bash's assistant/bodyguard said the first thing as soon as his boss came out of the bathroom after freshening up. The traveling and the temperature of Sao Paulo had taken a toll on Bash. He would rather avoid those southeastern countries where he felt stuffed and suffocated, but his vision led him to where he never wanted to be in the first place. His fair skin was turning red, and he got rashes too, which had him in the worst mood because even the water there didn't suit him. And then, his man brought up a matter he hated to think of for so many reasons that he stopped counting, knowing that would take him nowhere. He hoped to sign the contract with Mr. Iglesias fast, and then only he could return to NYC for his movie promotion, away from that humid city. Wiping his face, Bash tossed the towel on the dressing table in the room where Emily's grandfather's butler brought them to freshen up as
And that was it. Bash left his seat so abruptly that his chair nearly dropped on the ground, and the cutlery and spoons scattered all over the table. He could barely control his anger, and when he found Emmanuel looking at him strangely, Bash gave him a tight-lipped smile, saying, "Sorry, My girlfriend has a conference tomorrow. I have to drop her at the airport right now." "Oh, that won't be a problem." Emmanuel smiled softly at Bash, holding mischief in his eyes that Bash missed seeing. "Bring your dad and brother to Brazil next time. I want to apologize to Andrew for that blunt rejection from Milena. Eriberto spoilt her, you see. I need to make sure your family isn't holding any grudges against me when we have to work together for the time being." The only thing that man cared about was Bash's family, who Bash had as a backup that he would never use, even if his company went bankrupt. Emmanuel wouldn't care if Bash failed to bring him the money he demanded at the end of the year,
Emily flinched the tone Bash used on her. His eyes held accusation and caution for her. She knew she shouldn't feel guilty, but her cheeks still heated up in embarrassment and terror, and then her eyes enlarged as she realized how effortlessly the man caught her when she was still in disguise, or that was what she thought until her feet touched her false hair. She was supposed to put that on after getting in the car, but her nervousness and worry made her completely forget about checking on her appearance. "Water." Suppressing her fear, Emily again held her water for him, "You need this more than my name." Whatever the officers said about Sebastian, she remembered them still. That transaction from his account would separate her from her sister for life, but she knew he was a businessman, and whatever he did to get that deal from her grandpa. Bash wasn't the first person who tried to destroy her, and he certainly wouldn't be the last person her grandfather lured to bring her to her kn
Emily didn't look back like the other day. Bash expected she would and kept his eyes glued to the bus until he lost sight of the bus. What did she think of herself? That he couldn't make it wherever he wished to without her help? Who asked for her in the first place, anyway? It wouldn't have happened to him if she hadn't chased after him with her heavy steps in the dark until she was out of breath and failed to catch him. Bash snorted coldly at her in his mind and turned his gaze from the road to the taxi to his side. Bash wondered why that man didn't throw those useless cards away or call her back to take them back. But the glow in his eyes was undeniable. Spiked up the curiosity in Bash's mind, and he wished to know what kind of treasure the driver had got in his hand, which had him choose them over the piles of cash in his way for his bravery. Either way, Bash would give him what he deserved, even when the driver pissed him off with his denial to give him a lift to the airport to s
Emily groaned in annoyance at the constant beeping sound of her phone in her hand. It was getting on her nerves. She didn't get a blink of sleep for the whole day when she didn't have to do anything with the packing, unlike the other time she had to hurry up to catch her flight to Brazil before her grandfather forged every piece of evidence and proof she needed to throw a case against the child protection services who denied her every claim to meet her sister after they took them from her home. The authorities were found guilty, and now her team is looking for the person who complained about Emily about their services, but still, the judge opposed giving her guardianship. But still, Emily was going to get that, and her grandpa had to hide on his estate fearing for his. . .life. Even that little partner he lured to destroy her could only count his days in his hospital bed and curse the day he thought about signing a deal with him. Could it be him disturbing her with his calls to her nu
Emily regretted she couldn't refute that day to Bash for insulting her so openly that night in the car, so she imagined it was Bash standing before her again, and she just lashed out without holding back her anger. She didn't sense anything wrong or how the air around her thickened slowly, and Beckett looked angry with a hint of mischief in his eyes. "Being a person of the 21st century, it sounds awful in a thousand ways when you look down on a woman or man just because they were somehow weaker or were no match to stand at your level. What do you expect us to do for you, huh? Lick the damn ground you walk on like you are some god, and we will be your followers! This is not a Barbie World, and no girl chooses Ken over...well, Elias!" Emily knew she sounded like a complete narcissist, but she didn't know who to compare with Ken. Besides, the female co-workers liked Elias for his nature, which made her feel less guilty. Glaring at this bratty rival, she raised her voice for one last tim
"Mom? You here?" Bash scowled, not expecting to see his mother in the club owner's cabin. "I heard everything you did." His mother's eyes weren't on him, but her tone made him glare at Julian, whose eyes were anywhere but him. "Do you have anything to say in your defense?" Bash swallowed hard, yet he pretended he didn't know what she was saying. "I didn't hide anything from you. You were aware of everything, especially my dreams for my business. That's something I promised my uncle," His throat felt constricted with emotions. "He was my brother. Of course, I know." She said in reminiscence, but she brushed it off with a cold snort. Bash clenched his hands when her darker shade of green locked with his light emerald; he got the warning there even before she put that in words. "Before I take any legal action against Mr. Iglesias and why you helped him, being well aware of his intentions with the forsaken heiress who had been fighting for a child's custody, I want to know why your gi
"You are taking Julian, and this is the end of the discussion." Bash looked sternly at his mother, who was adamant about going alone to the Iglesias manor where his father and older brother would be. They had just arrived and directly drove to Emmanuel's place, and Bash didn't know why. He wasn't that interested or had the time to spare when his flight was in an hour. "We have talked about it, Sebastian. After what happened here with you, I am not leaving you with- " "You know very well this isn't the first time I have been attacked like that." He said calmly. "It was nothing new, and it happened to all of us and even to you. Don't forget why you divorced my dad. You thought it would work, but it didn't. You have enemies, and I am making mine too. You are aware of how things work in a highly profitable business. You know the risk, but you are still doing this. Please leave it here, mom. I insist. The only thing I want to do is break off the deal. But if you can't, then I will have