Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The city of Cagayan de Oro, the very definition of hustle and bustle, may it be rain or shine, is always busy. Even on an arduous rainy Sunday morning. The wide, blue skies in the yonder were covered with dark, grey clouds that soon yielded countless raindrops in haste, showering over the road full of taxis, jeepneys, vans, and personal use vehicles, honking endlessly along with the loud pitter-patter of the rain in and giving birth to an unholy, inharmonious melody joined by the hollers of vendors promoting the products they are selling, the wet footsteps of strolling and chatters of civilians, workers and the mirthful giggles of children singing while playing on the side of the road, finding joy in the chaos around them.

The brisk breeze blew by Habagat propelled in every direction, sprawling like wild coyotes hunting for some prey that caused the passersby to shiver in gelidness, even though some had worn jackets and extra thick clothes beneath. Along with the wind were the raindrops dropping endlessly from the sky that instead of becoming less and less as time passes but became stronger instead, creating a muddy, opaque puddle that then bounced and created ripples as new raindrops descended recklessly from the thick, grey clouds. The puddle became bigger and bigger that it became a small stream, flowing smoothly through the pavements like the ever-endless river that then became an object of splashing by the cars nearby the sidewalk and a new plaything for the children who step, kick and wallow on it with their little feet, increasing their serotonin level.

As people outside were busy making a productive day though tired in this rainy Sunday morning, some were seeking comfort and relaxation in the shelter of their homes, one of them was Adler who is half-awake and annoyed, as to him, there is nothing more annoying other than waking up by the sound of the alarm clock so early in the morning, especially when he's having a severe case of a hangover after drinking hard the night before. Even though drinking too much is bad for his health, he can't help it. To Adler, alcohol is his only form of salvation when he's downward frustrated with the unsatisfying work performance and output given by some of his incompetent subordinates who are hired and given distinguishable positions thanks to nepotism, constant shouting, and solicited scolding graciously given by the lousy, ass-kissing higher-ups who expect nothing but only good results and their humongous paycheck that fatten their already fat wallets.

To add salt to injury, his petty argument with Elis ended up turning into a fight, canceling their dinner date that he has been excitedly waiting for an entire week. The woman usually kindles a fight out of nothing such as which dress he prefers her to wear for their dinner date or when she suddenly acts up just and he reacts to it differently as to how she thinks he would. He tried to coax her to calm down and patch things up, but she reacted differently as to how she used to, she would usually give in, and they would talk about why they argued but this time, she lashed out and made him leave. He has no preference on whatever she wears, whether it be black or white, short or long with a sweetheart neckline or just a plain tube. In his eyes, she's still the beautifully wild and exotic woman she is, even if she wears leaves. Whatever she wears, how thick the makeup she puts on may be or what color or length her hair turns out, she'll still be the insatiable Elis Daniella who whole-heartedly comforts and helps him ease his unsaid frustrations by opening her legs anyway, and her acting that way is too out of character for a fuck buddy. He's not dense to not notice that she wants to impress him and wants to take their relationship to a further stance, but he wasn't interested in their affair seriously, especially that he's soon to be shackled in the ties of an arranged marriage with a rich man's daughter to help the company built by his great grandfather's sweat and blood to prosper.

Adler groaned at the sound of his phone's alarm, the annoying sound resonating in his ears makes his aching headache a hundred times more than how it feels, and it gives him the strong urge to grab the thing and throw it against the wall, so he won't hear it ever again. But of course, he can't throw his phone out of a temporary fit, he just threw and broke his alarm clock last night because he got irritated with it for the same reason. He groggily lifted an arm that felt heavy like he was lifting a barbel weighing a hundred pounds and grabbed his phone that was restlessly ringing and vibrating on his nightstand, opening his eyes to look at his phone and turning the alarm off. But his sleepiness withered away seeing how bright his screen was, he squinted his eyes and skimmed through his phone's lock screen bombarded with notifications of emails sent by his subordinates and some team leaders, queries and reports sent by the president's and other higher-ups secretary and messages from his friends and family, particularly from his mother, which confused him as she wasn't fond of sending texts and usually calls instead if she wants to communicate with him.

Not in the mood to get into any contact with anyone, he turned his lock screen off, pretending he didn't see anything and just yawned while roaming his eyes around his room and noticed how dark it is, rendering him to toss and turn on the right side of his bed, pulling his comforter closer to his head so he could look at his large window. With his eyes still squinting, he looked at the grandeur view of Mother Nature's offspring outside his large window. The sky was dominated by dark, grey, and heavy-looking thick nimbus clouds spewing rain like a watering can full of endless water. As the tiny raindrops were rigorously tapping against his large windowpane, his lips widened into a small smile when he saw an unclear vision of the buildings outdoors that annoy him as he thinks the buildings' design was outrageous. The small, repetitive pitter-patter descending from the clouds was like honey to his ears and the dropping temperature felt very comforting, causing him to close his eyes zealously as his drowsiness slowly comes back.

He slowly closed his eyes, giving in to Hypnos' sweet and comforting arms when it suddenly disappeared as another familiar ringing sound resonated into his ears. The sound never stopped and kept on coming and coming at a faster pace, causing Adler's ears to shake violently as his temper rises to its max. Finally irritated to the point that he's awake, he hastily opened his eyes with his thick brows almost kissing and his forehead burning creases, his nose almost flaring smoke. With a heavy, aching head, he sat upon his bed, pushing his sheets away, and grudgingly grabbed his phone, wondering that he snoozed it instead of turning the alarm off but then the ringing sound suddenly stopped as a sudden realization came into mind.

It wasn't the alarm clock that was ringing, it was his doorbell.

He sighed heavily, massaging his temples to soothe the head-splitting ache and calm himself. "Who the fuck would be crazy enough to come and visit someone so early as a Sunday morning?" he asked himself whilst gritting his strong teeth. But he didn't care, the ringing already stopped, meaning the person outside got tired and probably went home instead.

He let out a groan and was prepared to get his feet back on the soft mattresses when his doorbell rang again. Adler grit his teeth harder as he stood up, holding his head with his eyes slightly squinting, planning to answer the doorbell as soon as possible to shoo the visitor away and go back to sleeping once again. But his body wasn't planning to cooperate with him.

"Kgh!" Adler groaned and extended his arm to seek support from the sturdy wall. His body was heavy, he felt as if the earth's entire gravity was pushing him down while floating on the middle ocean during a heavy storm, being towed and pushed by heavy waves. It was an occurring inward war between his body and himself.

Struggling to balance his weight, he extended his other hand on the wall and began walking to exit his bedroom while curling in his stomach to prevent himself from getting dizzy that might make him barf and pushing his legs to carry his weight. Standing up while having a hard hangover is already a struggle but it was nothing compared to walking and opening the door that suddenly became heavier because his body was entirely tired and weak, it was as if his body suddenly turned into stone. But he paid no heed as he was eager to end the torturous noise of the doorbell ringing nonstop.

"I'm coming!" He yelled once he was outside of his room. The noise stopped and Adler felt proud for himself, the same level of proudness like getting a promotion and proving himself that he is great. He pushed himself further to walk through the corridor whilst banging and crashing his body on the wall and sliding his ass down the stairs. He was sweating and panting when he finally reached the door. He leaned his shoulder against the wall, making it a pillar of support.

Adler breathed heavily, mentally preparing his rebuttal to the person on the other side of the door, and wrapped his fingers around the knob. Twisting it with full force and pulling it open. "What the fu— oh..." his mouth was sealed shut and his plan to rebuke the person was aborted when he saw the person.

It was a trembling, petite woman with a soaked face that contained a complexion pale as a corpse along with glaring sunken eyes, dark eye bags, and blueish, quivering lips. Her long, wet hair that tangled one another shared the color of cognac sparkling in its bottle. Her clothes weren't helping to keep her warm as they were also wet, her spaghetti, white peplum top was too damp to the point that it was sticking tightly into her pale skin that he could see her dark brassier underneath as well as her jeans that were also sticking into her skin in the same degree, Adler could imagine that she would have a hard time taking it off. Behind her small, trembling were two large suitcases that were big enough to store all of an average person's entire closet. She looked like a fiery stray kitten and should be taken in so it could stay out of the cold.

Snap out of it, Adler! He scolded himself to focus and scrutinized her from head to toe once again, making the woman in front of her flinch but he ignored it. He speculated that she's a college student who got kicked out of her apartment or boarding house for being unable to comply with the lease and got caught in the heavy rain while on the way to find another place to live in, and since he lives in an empty building that looks like an apartment comple—

"Uhm... excuse me...?" Adler was taken out of his reverie when he heard the woman speak with a small, trembling voice that surprised him.

He cleared his throat, wanting to finish the unexpected affair early as possible he decided to pull up a scheme. He rested his forearm on the door frame, leaning in his huge frame closer to her as if he was asserting his dominance. He looked at her sharply as if he was glaring at her, staring deep into her tired, sunken eyes

then asked in a voice with a low octave, "May I help you?"

While he acted like an unwelcoming landlord to shoo the woman away as soon as possible, on the back of his head, he was recalled his bedroom where the bed was located. The same bed that contained the soft mattresses that comforted him to a good night's sleep as soon as he lies his body down on it, his pillows' fluffiness that could rival the clouds, and his comforter that wraps around his body like no other. Not to mention the wonderful weather that caused the level of temperature and dimness in his room was just perfect. He cannot wait to go back to his bedroom and be one with the sheets, seeking their comfort. He sighed in impatience.

However, much to his disappointment, the woman wasn't shaken and instead, pulled one of her heavy luggage in front of him and answered politely. "Yes please, if you could kindly take me in first before we could discuss further matters first." She looked at him as if she was begging him to take her inside as soon as possible. Though, her answer made Adler conclude that she is currently finding a place to occupy.

He stared intensely at the woman who was staring at him in the same manner, and an unannounced staring competition began. The longer he stared at her, the more he noticed how deeply dark her dilated pupils were, they were beautifully gloomy to the point that they look like a cat's eyes when it was nighttime, and her face, it may look like an empty, blank white canvas because of her pale features but they were unexpectedly sharp and had wonderful proportions. At the same time, he sensed something within him the longer he stares at her, especially her face. He recognized it as a sense of familiarity, but he chose to ignore it as he decided to end their staring contest as he opened his lips to speak, "I'm sorry but this may look like an apartment complex but I'm not taking in any tenants. This building is actually for private use."

"What?" the woman's brows scrunched and met as if she cannot believe what he just said. She pursed her lips, taking in a moment of awkward silence before asking him, her eyes containing her trembling, dark pupils that matched her brown irises looked at me straightly as if she was finding something from him. "Do you not remember me?"

The question caught him off-guard but somehow, it relieved his suspicion of why he is sensing that he has met her. "Have we met before?" he asked, his curiosity took him over while he wonders where he met her.

Who is this woman? Have we met before?

Is it in a bar? In a private meeting or a party? Or mayb—

"I'm your fiancée."