Chapter Two

The old man smirked. "Money? Name? Fame? Name it. I can give it to you. You just need to marry my son and make him act like a normal person."

Rory's brow furrowed. "What is your son? An alien? Isn't he human?"

The old man laughed again. "Ha! You're really good for my son. You have a sense of humor—and my son doesn't have one. You compliment each other perfectly!"

Rory narrowed her eyes. Maybe it was the alcohol, or the sadness, or the fact that she wanted to entertain the old man's nonsense. She wanted to forget the pain caused by the betrayal of the people she had trusted.

"No offense, Mr—?"

"I am Mr. Niccolo Dimitrios. And may I know your name?" he asked politely.

"I am Rory Salazar," Rory said, extending her hand. The old man quickly took it.

"My daughter-in-law has a beautiful name. It suits you very well, dear. You and my handsome son are a perfect match."

"Hmm. Are you tricking me? You're just being biased because he's your son."

"Haha! Of course not! Do you want me to call him right now?"

Rory grimaced. "I don't know. Up to you."

"Well, he's a busy man. But I'll try," the old man said with a laugh. "But I'm sure he'll agree to marry you—"

"What if you and your son are serial killers?"

"Oh, please! I'm not a serial killer, and neither is my son. He's just… hmm, how do I say this? Emotionless? But hey… he's human. If you doubt me or my son, you can search my name on the internet."

"Are you a politician?"

"What? Of course not!" The old man quickly defended himself. "I'm a businessman. I own a company—chains of hotels, malls, and so on."

"You're trying to scam me, aren't you?"

The old man sighed. "I'm not. Do I need to call my lawyer so you'll believe I'm not lying?"

"Maybe he's your accomplice," the young woman insisted.

"Wait," the old man said, taking out his phone. Then he called someone. After a few moments, the call was answered. He held his phone out to Rory.

"Mr. Cojuangco?!" Rory exclaimed.

The old man smiled at her. "You know him?"

Rory nodded. "He's my father's friend."

"Well, he's my lawyer—"

"What?!" Rory interrupted.

"You heard correctly, dear. I am his private lawyer," Mr. Cojuangco replied on the other end of the line. "Rest assured, he's not a scammer. In fact, your father knew him."

Rory turned to the old man. "You knew my father?"

"Well, what's your father's name?"

Something lodged in Rory's throat. It had been less than a year since her father died, so it was still painful for her to remember him.

"His name was Peter Salazar," she answered, fighting back tears.

"Ah!" the old man exclaimed. "So Peter was your father? I used to see only one of his daughters often at events back then."

Rory gave a tight-lipped smile. "Yeah. I was busy with school."

"That's what he said back then. He said you were smart and that he was very proud of you," the old man said sincerely.

Rory looked away and immediately downed her drink. Her emotions felt like they were about to explode. What if her father were here? He would definitely scold Alana. She was sure her father would take her side.

After a while, Rory lost count of how many glasses of alcohol she had drunk. She was completely losing herself in drink, trying to forget what she had witnessed.

Rory flinched when she felt a gentle tap on her shoulder.

She turned around.

The old man was looking at her. "Rory, I'm going to head out first. An old man like me can't keep up with your drinking." He placed something in Rory's hand—a business card. "Call this number when you're ready to be driven home, okay? And about your wedding to my son. We'll talk about it tomorrow."

"Sir…"

"Nonsense! Call me Papa, because I'll be your father too once you marry my son."

Rory laughed. "Sure, Papa!"

It wasn't Rory who was talking. It was the alcohol. Rory was completely out of it, but hearing someone ask her to call him "dad" made her heart swell with happiness. It had been almost a year since she'd had anyone to call that.

Mr. Niccolo left, and Rory was alone at the bar counter, drowning in alcohol while crying. Her vision was blurry from all the tears, but she didn't care if people stared at her. All she wanted was to ease the pain she was feeling right now.

"Ma'am, are you okay?" the bartender asked Rory.

But Rory just shook her head and continued crying.

The bartender scratched his forehead, glanced at the sobbing woman, then sighed. He picked up the business card in front of Rory and dialed the number on it.

"Hello, sir? Could you please come pick up Miss Rory? She's really drunk. She's at D'beat."

When the call ended, the bartender placed the card back in front of Rory. She stared at it, wondering if this was Mr. Dimitrios's driver. But she quickly pushed the thought out of her mind.

Instead, she took out her phone and stared at the photos of her and Richard. That only made her cry even harder.

"Damn you for breaking my heart," she said hoarsely. "I-I wish I had never said yes to you back then. You bastard! Out of all the women you could have been with, you had to pick my sister. You're disgusting!"

With a heavy thud, Rory collapsed and passed out from being too drunk.

A short while later, a man arrived. He was wearing a suit—the typical attire of a businessman. Behind him were two other men in suits, but their eyes were busy scanning the area.

"Is this Rory?" the man in the middle asked.

"Ah! Are you the one I spoke to on the phone?"

The man simply nodded.

"Ah… yes, that's her. An older customer gave her that card earlier and said to call when she needed a ride home. But she got drunk and passed out, so I called you instead."

"Thank you," the man said curtly, then furrowed his brow as he looked at Rory, who was still crying in her sleep.

"You men are all liars!" Rory yelled between hiccups.

"I'll take you home," the man announced and grabbed Rory's wrist.

Rory narrowed her eyes as she looked at him. "Y-you! You're a liar, too, aren't you? You're all the same!"

"You're wasted. I'm taking you home. I don't have much time. Stay still and don't be difficult." The young man let out an exasperated sigh. "That damn geezer!"

Rory slapped the man hard and jabbed her finger at him. "I'm not crazy! I'm just sad…"

Before the man could get angry, Rory burst into even louder sobs.

In the end, the man carried Rory. Rory kept crying, unable to accept that her heart had been shattered.