Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Collateral (Possessive Mafia): Kabanata 11 - Kabanata 20

Mariane woke up early for her job interview. She decided to leave early to avoid the traffic because she still had a long way to go to the city, where she had an interview. A week has also passed since Mariane passed her CV to companies thru emails. Among the fifty companies she applied to, only three companies responded to her email and scheduled interviews today. Mariane is confident that she will pass the interview. Because apart from having experience at work, her school credentials were also good.But of the three companies she went to, none of them hired her after she was interviewed. And what surprised her was that after a staff member came in, while Mariane was in the middle of the interview, it immediately stopped. And they just tell her, “Sorry, the position you were applying for is already full,” or “we'll just call you.” The anxiety was evident on their faces as if they were afraid of something.Mariane frowned. ‘Couldn’t David have something to do with it? It is possible.

“Who is he?” Mariane, Mark, and Kim turned their eyes at the newcomer. “George? What are you doing here?” Mariane asked. “Who is he?” George asked again, not minding Mariane’s question. Mariane heaved a sigh and excused herself from her friend. “Excuse us for a while,” she said before she dragged George away from her companions. “What are you doing there?” Mariane pointed to the table of her companions. She was talking about George, asking her earlier who the guy was sitting beside her. She was disappointed as George suddenly appeared out of nowhere and abruptly asked who the guy was sitting next to her while looking at the guy accusingly. “You’re lucky that it’s not my boss who came and asked you that.” George simply replied. Mariane suddenly panicked when George mentioned her boss’ name. She looked around to check if David was there. ‘He’s here? Right now? But we just talked over the phone. Darn it.’ She thought. Mariane sighed in relief when she did not see David inside th

‘Give me an heir.’ Kim passed by Mariane’s desk, and she noticed her friend, who was staring blankly at her computer. She snapped her fingers to get Mariane’s attention, but it didn’t help. “Earth to Mariane!” Kim knocked on her desk as she exclaimed to Mariane’s ears, making the latter wince and rub her ears. “I’m not deaf, you know.” Mariane glared at her friend. “You’ve been spacing out for like minutes? What’s on your little brain thinking?” Kim asked, narrowing her eyes at Mariane suspiciously. “Was it a guy?” She added while giggling, making Mariane hiss. “Guy, my ass.” She rolled her eyes in annoyance. Mariane remembered what David had said to her one week ago. “And lastly… Give me an heir.” Mariane got astounded by what he said. ‘An heir?! Is he crazy? How can I give him an heir?’ Mariane gasped. ‘Could it be…’ Her eyes widened in horror. ‘No… No… No… This can’t be.’ She thought. Mariane immediately crossed her arms over her chest, as if she was covering all of her bo

After a hundred missed calls, David gave up calling her. ‘Dammit,’ David hissed. He was pissed as he canceled all of his meetings in the afternoon just for her, but Mariane will not join him for the valentines dinner he prepared for her.Even if Mariane told her not to pick her up, David still went to her workplace and waited for her. He noticed the employees were coming out of the building, so he hid behind the tree, wearing a black cap just to cover his identity.While David was hiding, he noticed Mariane went out with Kim, so he sighed out of relief. At least, Mariane did not break their rule. She was with Kim and no one else. He frowned when Kim called a cab. ‘Where are they going?’ He wondered.But when he followed them, they reached a fine dining restaurant. ‘Is this where will they meet their client?’ He wondered.David kept spying on her from the outside, and he recognized another familiar person inside the restaurant with Kim and Mariane. He frowned when Kim bid goodbyes to M

David carried Mariane to the bathroom and put her into the bathtub to clean herself. She couldn’t walk as she felt pain all over her body and was sore. After David left her alone inside the bathroom, Mariane cried herself out. She looked at her body, covered with bruises. She pitied herself.‘Is this all I’ve got? Is this my fate? Am I being punished because I am the daughter of a sinner?’ She sniffed as tears fell from her eyes. ‘I never thought I would have to experience this horrible nightmare.’ She took a deep breath.Mariane tried to stand up and went into the shower. She turned the heater on and took a shower.“I wonder how my mom is right now. She got abused before… She has become a battered wife now. I wonder how she can cope with all this. How can mom endure all the pain- everything that had happened to her and until now?”Mariane was in a daze while in deep thought when David came in without her noticing him. She gasped as her eyes widened in shock, as she got horrified whe