Chapter 5-Admiration

“Sir, Miss Cheska’s mother is calling again,” Teddy informed Travis.

Interrupted by his assistant’s voice, Travis took his mind off from reminiscing. Then, he glance at Teddy with a wrinkled forehead.

“You talk to her. Make up a story, it’s up to you.” 

Teddy rubbed the back of his neck and his appearance was as if as his age suddenly doubled. Of course, he was left with no choice but to follow orders, especially when his dominant boss turned his back. Before answering Cheska’s mother’s call, Teddy prepare his ears from whatever he might hear.

“What took you so long to pick up the phone? Don’t you know me that’s why you’re ignoring my calls? Where is your arrogant boss?” 

Teddy slightly moved the device he was holding away from his ear due to the loudness of the lady’s voice. He is the one who answers Travi’s calls, so he encountered different person over the phone, yet his experience with Cheska’s mother was different. Apart from her VIP feeling, her shrill voice hurts his ears. How many times has she asked the same question? She’s too young to often forgetting things. However, it’s a good thing the marriage was postpone, so the woman won’t call everytime she would like to ask about his boss.

“Tell Travis this, if something bad happens to my daughter because of his betrayal, I will never forgive him!” the lady continued. 

“As if you can threaten that one,” said Teddy, but of course he couldn’t voice it out ‘cause the woman is also the mayor’s wife and Teddy was afraid he might even be imprisoned. 

“Sure, Madam. I will,” Teddy replied politely to the lady. 

“Where are you now? I want to talk to Travis properly.”

Teddy shook his head when the lady’s voice suddenly calmed down. This is how it is when someone needs him. 

“I’m sorry, madam, but Mr. Villanova strictly ordered me that he doesn’t want to be disturbed by anyone right now. He’s still investigating what had happened at the hotel.”

“Tell him that my husband can help him to resolve whatever his problem now. He doesn’t have to cancel the wedding.” The woman remained calm.

“I’ll tell him that, madam. I’m sorry if he hasn’t been able to talk to you yet because he’s still asleep. But he instructed me earlier that if you call again, just wait for him to come back to the city.”

Teddy heard the lady breathing deeply. Sadly, they can’t do anything even if they get mad. His grumpy boss is not afraid of anyone, even the president of the country. And here he is, for his boss’s sake, he was able to lie so that the lady stopped nagging him. When the lady hung up, Teddy looked for the young man. But when he saw that he was lying on the sofa and was quiet, he didn’t disturb him anymore. 

Travis tried to sleep at least for a little while. But even in his dreams he was still bothered by that random sex with a woman he didn’t even recognize. 

“Is something hurts you? Come, brother, let me help you get out of here!”

Travis leaped over his bed. What is wrong with him that even in his dream the woman’s voice was rumbling inside of his head so clear. He frowned when he analyzed what the woman said before he even touched her. He was sure the woman was drunk. But the way she speak, she sounds innocent and just wanted to help him. He needs to find her. He was afraid the woman might get pregnat. Or she definitely knows something about who tried to destroy his personality. 

There is one more thing, he didn’t just have sex with any girl because he was careful. And he doesn’t want to have a child with just any woman. 

“Sir, are you awake now?” The worried smile on Teddy’s lips was suddenly wiped out when the young man frowned at him. “Oh, I know you are awake and I shouldn’t be asking you stupid question.” He is scratching his head. 

“Call my lawyer and Detective Cyrus. Have them come in the chopper.”

“Right away, sir!” Teddy even saluted the young man before dialing a number on his cellphone. 

The lawyer was called first before the detective. Cyrus didn’t even ask why Travis wanted to talk to him at his exclusive resort. He is lucky and Travis trusts him, not only as a friend but also with his secrets that no one else should know. When he found out that he would go with the lawyer, he thought that the case was seemed more serious. 

Travis only waited a few hours for the arrival of the two people he needed to talk to.

“Sir, these are the documents you prepared.” The lawyer reached the paperwork that Travis had to sign.

Travis motioned for Teddy to read what was stated in the last will testament. Teddy swallowed his own saliva before reading aloud what was written there. He almost cried when he read his name down there. 

“Si-sir, why is there something like this? You still have a long life and—” 

“I can’t wait for something bad to happen to me before the wealth I leave behind is secured.” 

“Bu—” 

Teddy was interrupted when Travis spoke again.

“Also, when the person who wants me to disappear from this world knows that the inheritance I leave will go to someone else, they will definitely think twice about doing harm against me.”

“But they might target me, sir, when they find out I’m going to inherit something.” 

Cyrus shook his head as he watched Teddy. There’s also a share of Travis’s wealth that goes to him. But a larger part of his wealth goes to charities. 

“You can quit your job if you’re afraid of getting involved in my life.” 

“Sir, no way!” Teddy approached the young man like a child. “I’ll die first before they touch you!”

Both Cyrus and the lawyer shook their heads as they watched the two. Travis pushes Teddy away from him but the man refused and clings to his arm. 

Travis took a deep breath and let Teddy be by his side. He is older than the man. And apart from the lawyer and Cyrus, Teddy is also the only person close to him. He has more trust in other people than in his own family.

Sadly, his half-brother is obviously more excited for the inheritance than seeing him. He also didn’t like his stepmother, especially when their father died. His father was a good businessman. The large share in the company went to his mother, the reason why he was in charge of managing it. He was very young when her mother died from an accident where he was one of the lucky survivors. From then on, he became elusive and not easy to trust.

“When something bad happens to me, stay away so you don’t get involved.” Travis seriously instructed Teddy. 

“Is there nothing to be changed in the will, sir?” asked the lawyer. 

“I want to add something.” He paused. “I had sex with a woman last night and she might get pregnant. If they ever show up and prove that the child is mine, they will get the contents of the safety box.” 

Ben didn’t ask again, all of the young man’s will was video recorded except for what was written on the paper. 

“Is that why you called me to find the girl you had sex with last night?” Cyrus asked.

“Yes, no footage was captured and you know what that means.” 

Cyrus understood why the young man acted like this. Everything that was done was obviously planned. He also understood if his own family was the main suspect. If the marriage does not go through, the young man will have no other heir but his brother. And now he changed his mind about the wedding because of a strange woman who he just met. 

Travis let the two stay there so they could relax. While on the other hand, Teddy thought they would spend a few more days on the island. But on the next day, they suddenly packed all their things ‘cause the young man had to go to another country. The four of them returned to Manila together and booked a ticket to Italy.

Shaina’s flight was at night and only her father drove her to the airport. “Be careful there, my dear daughter. And please don’t repeat what you did wrong. You already old enough and you are smart so don’t imitate me.” 

Shaina felt bad for her father. It's good for him that he admits everything he is doing in his life was wrong. “From now on I will try to change my life for you.”

Shaina smiled and hugged her father. For the first time he chose her.

“Thank you, dad! I promise, you will meet a different Shaina when we meet again.” 

Gabriel smiled and caressed his daughter’s head while nodding. “That’s my girl!”

“Excuse us, please give way!”

Shaina and her father stepped aside when some men pushed away the people blocking their way. She saw the person speaking, this was the same man who stopped them when they left the hotel. 

“Looks like you can even fly with a famous person,” Gabriel said to his daughter.

Shaina’s gaze followed where her father’s eyes were focused. His eyes immediately landed on the group of men infront of them, particularly to the masculine, handsome yet serious one. The way he walks and his masculinity seems like a Hollywood star. Even though he was wearing sunglasses, she could see that his eyes were beautiful. 

Travis felt someone is staring at him, so he looked around. Only to caught everyone is looking at him but he really felt strange at the moment. Then his eyes landed to a woman who was staring stupidly at him and didn’t notice that he was also staring back at her because he was wearing dark sunglasses. He just shook his head. As if the woman saw an actor. 

“Daughter, follow them in line and you might be late!” Gabriel roused his daughter from astonishment.

Shaina quickly closed her slightly open mouth and felt embarrassed. The man he admired had passed but she was still like an idiot staring at nowhere. Then, she finally said goodbye to her father and leave for check in. 

Her father was right, the man who he was referring to is a big shot. She was able to follow him but she was blocked by another guard. Afterwards, Shaina thought the male guards were with the plane. Turned out, they only delivered the man and ensure that he was safely board the plane.

After entering the plane, Shaina never saw the man again. It looks like he’s in a VIP seat, that was blocked by a thick curtain. She shrugged, then decided to take a nap so she can avoid boredom on their trip.