CHAPTER 3

“Samuel Lawrence. THE SAMUEL LAWRENCE!” 

Nadia almost broadcasted to the entire restaurant screaming her surprise and quite a fun way of thinking of how playful, but cruel her destiny is to her.

“Please Nadia, just tone it down.”

She could only gasp and took a breath out and deep as she already lost her appetite for the meal that she had just ordered.

“Tell me about it.”

Retorting and rolled her eyes at her greatest dismay of the year. Nadia drinks her refreshment in one gulp and almost slams her glass onto the table as she once more clarifies the bomb that just exploded in front of her face. 

"The Samuel Lawrence. The person that you hated more than anyone, your once childhood friend and first love who broke your heart mercilessly in the past?”

She wanted to melt on the spot and even wish that the earth would eat her alive rather than slap her very best friend in the face for just screaming her greatest nightmare coming true. 

"Do you need to rub salt in my wounds?”

With a peace sign and a gesture of zipping her mouth. She crosses her arms as she hopelessly looks at the ceiling contemplating what she should do, while Nadia enjoys her food and ends up reminding her. 

“Well, you do not have any choice for this matter. It’s our ‘tyrant chiefs’ assignment for you. Don’t worry, I know that you can do it.”

Easy for her to say. As she is having doubts about just how Nadia becomes her friend having the very opposite personality from her. 

“I can do it.” She convinces herself trying to make the most of all the possible things and scenarios that she can. “Just how hard can it be to face your greatest mistake in life?” wanted to laugh out of her current scenario, as Nadia can somehow predict that she will be dead before this assignment of hers could ever end. 

But being a good friend, Nadia comforted her by stating the facts and words about her current life right now.  

“Look, you change so much in the past years. You are not the same nerd four eyes girl that everyone knew back then. You're beautiful, smart, and successful. Besides, you can use your name and your identity to be close to him, and that very fact is your greatest advantage.”

Taking Nadia’s point as she is not the same one from the past and sure enough, she is strong and not the same push-over girl. She can do it and it will be a piece of cake even though her target is the country's guarded and close lip subject. 

“Wait, if I remember it correctly, isn’t your stepbrother working for him?”

Tell her all about how small the world could be. She nods as Nadia snaps her finger for the perfect and easiest way that the Universe is laying right in front of her. 

“Just the perfect path. All you have to do is seek help from your brother do it as fast as you can then you are done!”

If only it was all that easy in the first place. 

"I’M ALREADY HERE.”

Arrived at the airport after hours of long travel. Nostalgia hits her as she surely misses her old city and birthplace that she never anticipated being back into. 

 “I’ll be right there so you do not need to be worried.” 

Ending the call as she walks towards the arrival gate where she expects her step brother waiting for her. She then mumbles. 

“You can do this, Catherine.”

Surely conditions herself for facing her mother and stepfather after all these years. Sure, she is upset and even shut her mother for years after the divorce, but she does not hate her stepfather as she is fond of his stepbrother who becomes quite the perfect older brother figure to her. 

“He’s here!”

Surprised by the sudden screams and flood of young students, teenagers, and a like holding some kind of banners at hand and looks like some fan of a famous star which she could not relate to. She immediately moves away from their path as she looks at where the commotion ended up into. 

 “I see.”

Retorting, but not in dismay as she surely recognizes the person as none other than the famous and raising country singer Alexander Ford, and by any means her only younger brother. 

“She sure doesn’t know how to keep her mouth shut.”

She gritted her teeth knowing who the culprit was sure enough her mother called and informed his younger brother about her arrival. 

“Just great.” Now in dismay, she feels like her great plan is turning into the side of being ruined and haywire, for the arrival of his younger brother. 

The dotting younger brother whom she loves so much. But then is giving her a headache frequently times. 

“I need to get out of here.”

Slowly sneaking out and taking advantage of her younger brother’s fans, she accidentally is pushed by her brother’s rushing fan and on her way to falling flat with her face. Knew what was coming, she just closes her eyes and waited for an impact only to be caught, pulled, and landed on the chest and locked into the tight arms of a man. 

"Miss are you okay?”

With her cap flying and her hair falling perfectly unto the moment just like in some teen drama she hated more than anything and ever since she is left broken-hearted. She is stunned, somehow frozen in place as her eyes meet the person that she is not prepared to meet right now. 

 Worse. 

“Cathy!”

Her younger brother screams her name across the place and calls her by the nickname that she only let five people in her life call her. Her father, her step-father, her step-brother, her younger brother, and Sam. 

“Cathy?”

Puzzled, he surely got the surprise that he did not expect to have, but was more than glad to receive. He looks at the person he only tries to help, but ends up catching the one he misses so much, but could not have the balls to approach. Colliding in an unexpected turn, this surely is a part of her grand plan, right?