Chapter One[The tragedy and betrayal]

Chapter One

Introduction

Her beauty and intellect were acknowledged by the public, earning her countless honors and accolades during her school years. With a slender and well-curved physique formed and smiling, slit-brown eyes that a man intrigued and enchanted to glance at her, her long black and thick straight hair added to her great sex appeal.

She is 5 feet and 7 inches tall and captivates all around her. She has such good attributes, such as kindness and love, and she thinks that humans are created in God's image, which led her to become a born-again Christian missionary. However, she can be a snobbish individual and highly intellectual at times.

Rudolf Wagner is a well-known philanthropist, generous, and kind resigned United States army officer and pensioner who measures 6 feet and 2 inches tall, with blue-eyed blonde hair and a beard-covered face that adds to his attractive demeanor and attracts many ladies in town. He has a high IQ and is an expert at devising strategies to win battles, but he has backbone fractures as a result of his battles and requires therapy. He retires to his home to rest and write a fantastic novel.

The antagonists are societal forces. They are crucial in shaping the characters and directing the resistance. They have strong personalities but poor brains. They are incapable of fulfilling their goals; instead, they rely on power and influence to climb the corporate ladder. They are familiar with the characters, recalling their demeanors and lives from their time as the main characters ‘house and work companions, and indirectly involved in the main characters’ agony.

Rhoda Schturm returns to Manila from a one-month vacation in Baguio City, Mountain Province, in April, amid a brilliant, sweltering summer. She was rushing down to Emmy's beauty salon from Baguio city to deliver the rice cake she had made for her birthday when she heard a man's voice with a British English accent conversing with Emmy. Rhoda knows of Emmy's desire for a husband, so she asks Rhoda to write Rudolf Wagner an English pen pal letter, which she will duplicate and mail to his address. Rhoda, on the other hand, had not anticipated Rudolf visiting Emmy at this time.

As she goes through the front door, Rhoda grins and says, "Hello there, Good morning everyone! Emmy, I have some things for you, and I wish you a happy birthday!" She smiled and gazed at Emmy as she greeted her visitor. "Rhoda, you're a blessing to us," Emmy says, smiling. "Come and help us welcome our new guest, Rudolf Wagner, Emmy's pen pal." Nena screamed, "Rudolf, this is Rhoda Schturm, our Friend above."

Rhoda recalls her appointment after a quick conversation. "I'd like an excuse to leave for an appointment," Rhoda said as she stood up and walked out, and she observed Rudolf straightening himself as he stood up and followed Rhoda out.

"Would you like to share a cup of coffee with me?" "Rudolf approached Rhoda. "The coffee shop is far away," Rhoda responded, but she remembered having a sister who lived next door who was cordial and generous enough to offer a couple of cups of coffee. "I wanted to court you and marry you right away," Rudolf murmured to Rhoda.

"I'll be leaving in a few weeks to work in another country," she replied hurriedly. Rudolf proposes to Rhoda, "I loved you the first time I saw you," but Rhoda chooses to keep silent for a few moments as the notion enters her head, "Please accept my apologies but I have an appointment during the next several days.”

Emmy takes risks in an attempt to rekindle her interest in Rudolf and restart their relationship, but she ends up becoming a source of betrayal and derision for him since, in his words, "She couldn't speak to me respectfully to offer her foods but drop it off fast with harsh action which disappointed me."

Rudolf, on the other hand, became more active in pursuing Rhoda, who has not yet accepted his proposal due to her upcoming trip overseas. Rhoda engages in a variety of negative behaviors and attitudes to get rid of him. "I'm in the process of packing my belongings for a trip abroad," she explained to Rudolf, who was following her around everywhere she went.

She could even see her niece extorting and wooing him in secret, which irritated her to the point of hiding and disappointing him by closing the apartment door. She may potentially move to her other sister's place, which is far away, making it impossible for him to find her, but he hasn't given up and is still hunting for her.

"You accept his proposal now since you can't get married and start a family while you're on a mission," her sister persuades Rhoda, but Rhoda sits silently, pondering and weighing the benefits and drawbacks just in case.

"Lord, show me signs if Rudolf is the man you want me to marry, even though I didn't ask for him! " y, prays as she reads from Ecclesiastes 4:9 in her pocket bible,” ‘But how can one keep warm on her own?" Rhoda adds, “Amen,’ “as she takes a breather to read and close her bible, her eyes gleaming.

"I love you, and I don't want to be separated from you even for an inch," Rudolf kept repeating when he returned for a visit, and Rhoda began analyzing Rudolf's face, trying to figure out what he was thinking. Rhoda cried, "I'm already falling in love with Rudolf," as she smiled at her sister, who persuaded her to marry him. "OK, that's a positive sign of maturation." her sister answered. "How could it be that my thinking is at odds with my heart?" " Rhoda continued.

She's causing him more pain by continuing to reject his affection. But it rubbed her the wrong way several times when she refused to wear the ring he put on her finger. "Is this love?" " she wonders to herself as she mulls over the situation.

Rhoda slipped a message into a card and handed it to Rudolf, anticipating his response:

"Nice, I love it," she said, "because I love you so much, honey, you wear this ring now so that we may both be happy." Rudolf smiled when she addressed him as sweetie. Rudolf and Rhuoda are enthralled by the eternal flames burning within them, and Rudolf tightened his grip on her, something he had never done before, while Rhoda lets go of whatever she believes she has liberated, and when Rudolf hugs her and kisses her lips, she responds with the same intense desires for each other.

Rudolf and Rhoda were about to receive their marriage certificates when a powerful storm hit the city, flooding the highways and trapping the lovers. They decided to spend the night in a secret room to consummate their marriage before the wedding supper.

"What should I do? Both of us are covered in filthy floodwater." Rudolf inquires of Rhoda, who grins and gently unbuttons his polo shirt, while Rhoda observes what happens next in that remote area.

Slowly, both Rhoda and Rudolf go to the warm water in the bathtub and enjoy washing, scrubbing, and soaping one other, culminating in thrilling flaming burning feelings of bodily contact, when both ends connect as one body and soul for the first time in their existence together. Rhoda remembers is beautiful inside marriage bonding, ‘as God plans it.

"What made you love my missionary daughter?" Rhoda's father inquired Rudolf while Rhoda’s preparing fresh cook meals for her parents, who had just arrived with many gifts for her wedding the next morning after the storms." "She is benevolent but wicked at times," the father added, turning to Rudolf. "I loved her the first time we met," Rudolf replied as he sipped the hot creamy mushroom soup in a bowl.

"You're becoming used to lying," Rhoda softly commented on Rudolf's assertion. "It appears that your soup is lacking in black pepper," Rudolf said, smiling, and Rhoda's mother smiled as well, saying, "She's a good chef," mother observed, "but she often overlooks the spices to add flavor." "But she's an outstanding housekeeper," father said. "Never mind," Rudolf said to them, "I have a plan to bring her with me to my homeland overseas at the perfect time according to God's will."

When Rhoda and her father were alone, Father conveyed to Rhoda, "You should follow our family's wedding tradition, you know the old persons who would be our guests." 'Pa, our wedding ritual sounded luxurious, and it's simply to show formality." So far, we've gone to our wedding," Rhoda explains. "The elderly folks will mock you with dishonor and disdain if you don't follow the usual wedding set-up," father raged, leaving Rhoda alone in her anguish.

Rudolf arrived and promised to carry out the wedding plans, and the guests gladly celebrated the wedding.

With his groom's best clothing on, Rudolf is looking younger as he takes Rhoda's hand from her father to take their oath, which will be performed by the church's pastor. Rhoda is stunning in her wedding gown, and everyone is enthralled by her incredible, gorgeous, bright gown.

The woman in a black outfit who stares seductively at Rudolf does not go unnoticed, but it is more exciting and enjoyable to enjoy the wedding party than to be bothered about her presence.