Prologue

Her mind was drifting as she walked, holding a tray filled with food that cost at least ten thousand pesos per plate. She was directionless after the news that shook her whole being earlier. She almost dropped her cellphone because of it, as she started sobbing in the bathroom.

“Your father is in the hospital, fighting for his life!”

Her mother’s voice thundered in her ears and continued to echo inside her head. Her father needed five hundred thousand pesos for the heart operation he had in their province of Oas, Albay, while he was pulling the carabao in the fields earlier. She was from Legazpi City, a Bicolana who was forced to go to Manila and stop her college education due to the hardships in life. She was beautiful, if beauty was the criteria, but she lacked the height to compete in beauty pageants, so she never stood a chance as a candidate.

If only she was blessed with height, she would probably be able to earn and support herself in her studies. But she was short, standing only at 5’1”. She hadn’t even finished her first year of college, so her only choice was to work as a waitress. She wasn’t even qualified, to begin with. That’s what the manager said during her interview. He said she lacked education but was able to hire her because she was good at talking and exuded self-confidence. It was a stroke of luck for her.

She looked around, her mind consumed by the problem. Where would she get five hundred thousand pesos? Perhaps her ears had become immune to being a waitress in this five-star restaurant, as she still couldn’t save any money. She received the Manila rate, with free accommodation, but not free meals. She was sending her two siblings, Lexa and Lexus, who were in high school, to school.

She was helping her parents. Her father was a humble farmer, working and planting vegetables in their field. Her mother sold the produce in the market. They managed to get by in their daily lives, but they lacked the funds to lift themselves out of poverty. The land where their house stood in the province didn’t belong to them. It belonged to the land’s owner, who had once made an inappropriate offer to her, an old widow. She didn’t tell her father about it because she didn’t want to anger him and cause a conflict with the man. They might be kicked out, and they had nowhere else to go.

Heart forced herself to provide what her siblings needed for their studies. She provided them with WIFI, a computer, and other gadgets. It was deducted from her salary, and she continued paying for it until now. If she had any savings, it was meager, not even reaching fifty thousand pesos. How would she be able to afford her father’s operation?

Her father said not to have the operation anymore because it would only bring more expenses. He said to just accept it if that’s where his life ends. She couldn’t bear to accept that. It was so painful to be a child who couldn’t do anything for her parents in their time of need. It was so hard to be poor. It seemed that the people in the restaurant where she worked had no problems. They could spend almost thirty thousand pesos on a meal, just for two people. She wished they would give that money to people who are in need.

Heart fought back the tears as those words reminded her of painful memories. She restrained herself.

She looked for VVIP table 09. She knew that when serving VVIPs, she needed to be even more careful. VVIPs are considered billionaires. She was assigned there because of her charisma and beauty. The black uniform she was wearing, which barely covered her behind, suited her perfectly. Her well-shaped body was clearly visible. Frankly speaking, Macho Café and Restaurant is mostly frequented by men. There are women too, but most of the clientele are men because all the employees there are women, except for the bouncers and chefs. That is the concept of that restaurant, to attract wealthy men because the waitresses are beautiful and sexy. And they truly are sought after.

Heart spotted the table she was looking for when she glanced to her left. Their eyes met. Two men were dining there. The man’s gaze at her was intense, but she was accustomed to such looks. The only difference was that out of all the handsome men who entered, this one had a unique charisma.

She averted her gaze from him and continued walking towards that table.

She smiled, as usual. Smiling is not allowed to falter in front of customers. She even glanced at a guy on the opposite side of the table. He was also looking at her, but she continued with serving the food.

“Heart…?” The man on her right said.

She immediately glanced at him. He was staring at her as if he wanted to burn her. He wasn’t purely Filipino or perhaps didn’t have any Filipino blood because of his appearance. He was a very beautiful man, with a sharp nose, pink lips, beautiful eyes, and buzz cut hair. She knew that haircut because of Lexus. Her brother always had that kind of haircut.

She shivered because of his tone. It was a baritone.

“Sir?” She asked softly.

“We didn’t order anything,” he said and horror showed on her face.

She looked at the number again and now it wasn’t 09, it was number 06! She panicked. That’s why the table was already occupied by two people, she made a mistake.

“S-Sorry, sir,” she hurriedly took the food she had placed down while repeatedly apologizing.

In her confusion, she accidentally bumped the iced tea on his glass, causing it to spill near his zipper.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” she couldn’t apologize enough. The man stood up and looked at the pants that got wet.

Where is the tablecloth? Why the hell the zipper got wet?

In her confusion, she grabbed a napkin and quickly wiped it in front of him, near his fly. She kept apologizing and doing what she should, but suddenly she became puzzled because she felt something hard.

She looked up and met his eyes again. His gaze was even more intense now, causing her to gulp.

That hard thing was his manhood, my goodness!