Running Away with the Billionaire's Baby

“Dad, you can’t do this to me, please.”

“Adriel,” Thomas sighed. “How many times do we have to tell you that this is for your own good?”

“Throwing me to a farm with people I barely know is for my best?” Adriel exclaimed, her voice rising an octave. 

“Adriella Celeste Summers,” Catalina, Adriel’s mother, said in a warning tone. She rarely used the girl’s full name, but when she did, it made Adriel shake in her boots.

However, this time, Adriel stuck her chin up in the air and stood her ground.

“What? I’m just telling the truth!”

Thomas sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose. “Sneaking out to go partying with a bunch of shameless and uneducated hooligans—do you still think that you don’t deserve this punishment?”

“It was my birthday!” she responded. A birthday that her family never even bothered to celebrate. 

“Even if!” her father’s voice boomed. “You’ve been acting way too out of line these days—your GPA has been falling, your credit card has been maxed out, and you didn’t even join yesterday’s annual meeting.”

Adriel squirmed uncomfortably under her father’s gaze. It’s true that she has been brattier than usual these days, but they were all for valid reasons! 

Her father continued. “So, it’ll be best for you to go to our friend’s farm for a couple of weeks. You know the Grays, right? I'm sending you there so you can get your shit together before the new semester starts.” 

“But—,” she tried to argue; however, her father had already struck his cane to the ground and walked away from her. 

Catalina looked at her with stoic eyes. “You’re going, and that’s final.”

***

“Do you really have to go?” Daphne, Adriel’s best friend, asked. 

Adriel sighed. “I can’t convince my parents otherwise. And maybe I really do deserve this. I went out to party, my GPA has been falling, and I don’t have any money left in my credit card anymore.” 

Daphne went beside her friend and patted her back. “But it was your birthday that day! And your GPA has been falling because your group mates didn’t help you out on your final project.”

“Yeah, and you had to pay for my tuition fee, which I’m still very grateful for, by the way,” Ian, Daphne’s boyfriend, said. 

Adriel smiled and shook her head. “No, it’s fine. My parents have way too much money anyways. It’s better to use it for a better cause.” 

He smiled gratefully as he arranged Adriel’s bags. “How long are you going to stay there for?”

“Six weeks,” Adriel said.

Daphne’s eyes widened in surprise. “Six weeks? Then why do you have so many bags?” she asked, gesturing to the six large bags on the ground. 

Adriel smiled sheepishly. “I have plenty of essentials.”

Daphne and Ian chuckled to themselves. “Honestly, I would be more surprised if you had lesser bags.” 

“Passengers for flight 0306, please proceed to the boarding gate in 15 minutes,” the intercom said.

Adriel went on her tiptoes and wandered her eyes around to look for two people, but to no avail. 

“Are your parents not going to send you off?” Daphne asked. 

“They said they would,” she said softly, looking down at her phone. Just then, a text appeared, and it was from her mother. 

“Can’t come. Busy at work,” it read.

Adriel sighed in disappointment as she turned off her phone, placing it back in her front pocket. Daphne and Ian looked at each other knowingly before cheering their friend up. 

“It’s alright, Adriel. I’m sure they have their reasons. And besides, we’re here, right?”

Adriel smiled, thankful for her friends. “Yeah. Thanks, guys.”

“What are friends for?” 

“I’m just going to place your bags at the baggage counter,” Ian said, leaving the two friends alone. 

Daphne held onto Adriel’s shoulder and smiled. “Just enjoy your time there, Adriel. Have fun,” she advised. 

Adriel raised one eyebrow. “I’m going to a farm. How could I have fun?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “Plant some rice, weed some grass, or maybe meet a sexy farmer and start a summer love.”

Adriel chuckled. “Yeah, if I see a handsome man with six-pack abs, wearing nothing but Calvin Klein Boxers and a cowboy hat, then I could have some fun.”

“Anything is possible.”

“Last call for passengers of flight 0306. Please proceed to the boarding gate. Thank you.”

“I have to go now,” Adriel said gently, hugging her best friend of five years. 

“See you in six weeks,” Daphne said.

“See you in six weeks.”

Adriel boarded the flight, and fortunately, it was a peaceful journey. She got out of the plane, took her bags, and started roaming around outside the airport. 

As she looked around, she already saw how different the place is from the city. While the city was covered with tall buildings and bustling people, this place was covered in grass, cows, and old people with bikes. She was already annoyed with just the view of the place that she’ll be staying in for the next six weeks. She sighed in frustration as she realized that her parents didn’t even tell her who would pick her up. 

The people stared at Adriel as she walked by. I mean, who wouldn’t? She was clad in designer-brand clothes, and she strutted with confidence. Not to mention her dazzling and beautiful looks, she was bound to be the center of attention anywhere she goes. 

She pulled out her phone but saw that it didn’t have any signal. She started walking around in hopes of getting a connection until she bumped into a hard surface. 

“Hey!” 

As she turned around, she saw a tall, young man with a cowboy hat covering more than half of his face. Only his lips and sharp jawline were visible.

“Watch where you’re going,” Adriel told the guy in a condescending tone. 

The guy, who seemed like a farmer with his cowboy hat, cowboy boots, a tank top, and plaid shirt, looked Adriel up and down. 

Adriel covered her body and stepped away from the stranger. 

“Are you, perhaps, Adriel Summers?” he said in a deep voice. If Adriel didn’t think he was a creep, then she might have said that his voice is attractive. 

Adriel took another step back. “Who are you? How the hell do you know my name? I’m not afraid to call the police, you know?” 

The man scoffed. He hasn’t talked to Adriel for longer than ten minutes, but he already doesn’t like her attitude. It was a good thing that she was beautiful, though. It seems to be her only redeeming quality. 

“Please,” he muttered under his breath. “I was the one assigned to bring you to the Gray’s farm.”

Adriel’s face flushed, and she felt kind of embarrassed about her assumptions, but she quickly brushed the embarrassment away and stuck her chin up. 

“Well, why didn’t you say so?” she asked shamelessly. 

“If you let me speak, then you would have known by now.” 

Adriel frowned. She can already feel that she wouldn’t be able to get along with this guy. She didn’t like his tone—it was as if he was looking down on her. 

“Where’s the car?” she asked, crossing her arms.

The man sighed before pointing over to a beat-up truck filled with plants and flowers. 

“We’re riding on...that? Can that even move still?” she asked, disdain evident in her voice. 

The man clicked his tongue and decided to ignore her comment. “Where are your bags?” 

She pointed to where her bags were. 

“All of those?” he grumbled. 

Adriel enthusiastically nodded her head. “Yeah, so can you move some of those flower pots so we could place my bags on the truck?”

The man bit his lip and suppressed the annoyance he was feeling. ‘It’s only her first day here, so I’m going to cut her some slack,’ he thought. 

He carried all of her bags and placed them in the back of the truck. 

“Don’t get them dirty, alright?” she demanded. 

After arranging her luggage, the two of them finally got inside the truck. 

“You know I never got your name,” Adriel said. 

The man sighed and started the engine of the truck, ignoring her question.

“Hey,” she snapped her fingers in front of his face. “I’m asking you a question.”

“Zeth,” he quickly said. 

“Hmm, Zeth.” 

Pretty sexy name, she thought. 

“And how old are you?”

Zeth pressed on the brakes, causing Adriel to jolt forward. 

“Fuck!” she screamed in horror.

“Seatbelt,” he merely said before driving once more. 

Adriel glared at Zeth while roughly placing on her seatbelt. 

Such luck I have! Why did this rude and annoying farmer have to be the one to pick me up? I’m definitely going to tell this to the Grays once I arrive at their villa. 

She was still glaring at Zeth when he suddenly removed his cowboy hat, revealing the face underneath it. 

Adriel’s eyes widened as she looked at the man in front of her. 

Alright. 

The rude farmer is also annoyingly hot.