"Y-you..Where are you?!" Vanessa's voice was loud in the other line. She gritted her teeth.
Once she heard what Diana was doing while everyone was dancing at the party, her blood boiled, and immediately decided to call Diana so she could reprimand her in person.
"I'm in my apartment, mom," Diana replied calmly though her hand was massaging her forehead.
"Why are you there instead of your sister's party?!" Vanessa shrieked.
'On top of embarrassing the family, she dares to escape?!'
"I wasn't feeling well, mom. I didn't want to spoil everyone's fun." Diana reasoned. Making up an excuse on why she's avoiding them is already second nature to her.
And as usual, Vanessa didn't buy her excuse. She heard from Chantal that Diana left with to-go boxes and even went with a man.
"Tell me. Who was the man you're with? Are you with him now? You're only 22 and you are already behaving like a….like this way?" Vanessa stopped herself from saying more.
Vanessa couldn't understand why this daughter of hers was so different from her. She was too different from Chantal. Plenty of times she would question whether she was doing a good job as a mom.
Diana could fill in the blanks. B****? W****?
Still, she's really impressed at the speed of Chantal's reporting. She probably even used her creativity in describing what happened, causing their mom to fume at her.
Diana wondered at how Chantal described Lucas when she told Vanessa about what happened.
"Are you not over Henry Ward yet? The man doesn't want you. You're already old enough. You should respect other people's decisions. He chose to be with your sister and your sister accepted him already. Can you just be happy for them? How could you just pick out a random old man to pretend to be your boyfriend? Are you trying to get Henry's attention? Just because he is wearing a suit, it doesn't make him rich!" Vanessa spewed.
Diana was dumbfounded.
'There it is! Random old man? Old where? Lucas is far from old! How could they just keep going on and on about Henry?'
In the first place, he was the one who pursued her before. He wooed her by taking artful photographs of her and compiled them along with a bunch of letters telling her how he admired her.
He would even show up to her University, bringing a bouquet of flowers and chocolates. Even the girls back on campus were envious of her.
Thinking back on it, it was peer pressure why she agreed to be his girlfriend. Everyone was pushing her to be with him already since he was pursuing her with great effort.
After agreeing to be his girlfriend, she didn't really do anything special with him. She tried to get to know him better, maybe waiting to feel the attraction towards him. He was good-looking enough. Like a boy next door. The one thing that she admires about him is his talent in Photography. She did tell him once to pursue his passion for this area. But his parents want him to study Business Administration instead.
They've dated for 2 years while she was in University. They would meet each other every weekend for as long as she's not busy with her classes. She didn't want to prioritize her relationship with him over her studies. After all, her degree is a ticket for her to leave the family's control.
She was not overly attached to him. But she was thoroughly disappointed when she saw him kissing Chantal just outside the cafe where she was meeting her group mates for their case study. Even her groupmates who recognized the two saw it. They felt bad for her and let her excuse herself. But Diana insisted on finishing the case study with them, already reaching a decision. She wouldn't let insignificant people interfere with her studies. Her group mates felt bad and awkward but became more serious in finishing up the work at hand.
After that, she stopped replying to his messages. When she finally blocked him, he showed up outside her apartment. She only told him to stop bothering her since he's already hooking up with her sister. Henry looked shocked that he was found out. He couldn't say anything in response and just watched Diana close the door on him.
And now even after 2 months, they're still assuming that she can't forget about him. This has Chantal's insecurity written all over it. She can't get over the fact that Diana was Henry's girlfriend first. More so that Diana could just give him away so easily as if removing trash from the sole of her boot. And Chantal who was feeling victorious at first eventually felt like being given second-hand items from Diana. She tried to reconcile with this fact since she is already madly in love with Henry. But comments from other people trigger her. She could only make herself feel as if she won if Diana regrets letting go with Henry, making her the victor for possessing what Diana can't have anymore.
"You're mistaken. I was the one who broke off with Henry willingly. Since he was already getting busy with my own sister, what was the point of holding on to him? To be honest, I am happy for them. As for the man that I am with, he is indeed my boyfriend." Diana replied coldly. "If there's nothing else, I'm hanging up now. I still have to wake up early tomorrow." When there was no reply, she bid farewell and ended the call.
There was no use being on the phone with her mom when all she could do is accuse her. It was ridiculous how they could come up with such a story.
Since she has broken up with Henry after she found out, she hasn't had the temptation to forget what she saw and forgive him for cheating on her.
'Was there anything special to go back to in the first place?' She was so busy with her degree that she didn't make her love life a priority. She figured she had plenty of time to do that in the future, once she graduates.
As soon as Diana opened the door, Heather ran up to her. "I saw your GPS notification. What happened?" Heather asked as Diana came inside the apartment. "I was hitching a ride with somebody." Diana put down the to-go boxes on their kitchen counter. "Here's the loot." Heather chuckled seeing Diana come back in one piece and even bringing back food from the party. "Great! I was getting hungry again after using up all my brain cells looking at reports." "Why did you need to turn on the GPS? Was it a creepy guy?" "No. He's not creepy at all. But I thought it was still better to have precautions." "Good. You've done well. Looks like all of my reminders have come in handy. hmm?" "Haha... it does." Diana took out plates from the cupboard. She didn't eat back at the party. "So how was th
Sporting a headache, Diana woke up in the morning. She dreamt of Lucas for the whole night, burning her from head to toe. She had dark circles in her eyes when she got up to get herself ready. That was the first time she dreamt of a man. When she was with Henry, she never even entertained the thought of doing it with him. He looked like a nice guy and it was hard for her to imagine doing anything with him. Of course, when she found out that even nice-looking guys are cheaters, she instantly felt disgusted. That was a rude awakening for her. Not all nice-looking boys are actually good. She should have followed her instinct not to agree to be his girlfriend instead of letting other people's opinions influence her. That incident taught her to listen to her gut. Just like that previous night. Her eyes were drawn to Lucas even when insults were hurled at her. She felt in her gut that he's not a bad man. He didn'
A week passed and Diana has already settled into her routine. She had already become acquainted with her coworkers and the staff at the hospital. Her popularity within the Hopton Research Institute and Hospital keeps growing. Male nurses and doctors would even make an excuse to stop by at the Institute or would take their lunch there just to catch a glimpse of Diana. The beauty herself was not aware. She just thought there was nothing unusual about it. After all, she's only been there for a week. However, Clara, Michelle, and Alicia are increasingly annoyed. At first, they were happy to see the doctors visiting, hoping to catch their attention. They were even trying to become friends with them. These doctors not only work in Hopton Hospital, but they also have patients in other big hospitals, they naturally have contacts in bigger laboratories too. Unfortunately, all of these men are only interested as to Diana's w
It has already been a month since she started her internship. Work went by as usual until that afternoon when Hopton Hospital suddenly got flooded by patients that needed their labs taken urgently. Two groups of people were in a car accident. Most of them needed blood transfusions and several of them needing immediate surgeries. The laboratory technicians were swamped with the heavy workload. Diana tried to keep calm amidst the stressful environment. Her shift was almost at an end when suddenly Bryan came to the Laboratory and looked for her. He had a serious look on his face and one could even detect anger. Diana was confused as to why he looked that way and even looked for her. "Sit down," Bryan ordered harshly as soon as she entered his office, throwing a chart on the table towards her. Diana looked confused with his behavior and just calmly scanned the sheet showing
Diana was already at her apartment's doorstep, keys in hand, she stared at the doorknob mindlessly. She never expected things to turn out the way they did. All the way here, she's been racking her brains about what exactly happened. She swore she followed all of the procedures. 'Did I really take it from the right patient? I swear I did.' She inserted the key and twisted it, opening the door. "Hey Di.. You're back early." Heather greeted Diana as she entered their apartment. Glancing at the clock, it's not even time for her scheduled clock-out. "Yeah. Boss sent me home." Diana replied dejectedly. "Huh? What happened?" Heather asked. "Are you feeling sick or something?" Diana is a hard worker. She won't leave work early if she can help it. "No. Though I might as well be. I made an Incident Report today.
Passing by Hopton Research Institute, Lucas's Assistant, Ethan Taylor who sat in the passenger's seat remembered a small detail. "Mr. Ingram, this Research Institute submitted a proposal in your office. They've made mention about a new discovery they have and asked if you're interested in making an investment." Ethan said, his voice maintained a professional tone. Lucas glanced at the building and recalled that Diana works at Hopton Research Institute. The Investigator mentioned before that she is popular there. Lucas rested his chin against his hand. "Hmm--meet up with them. I'll listen to their proposal." Ethan glanced at Lucas on the front view mirror, wondering if it has something to do with the woman he had investigated. Lucas rarely meets up with people seeking investments. "Alright, Mr. Ingram. I'll e-mail them now." Ethan proceeded to send a message to the Insti
Did he forget to ask something? Ethan wondered. The drumming didn't stop yet. He desperately tried to recall. Then a thought flashed in his mind. The cause of his boss's weird behavior is his interest on Ms. Diana Winchester. Ethan cleared his throat. "Mr. Cook, if you don't mind me asking, how does Hopton Research Institute take care of its employees?" His voice was nonchalant as if he was only asking it just to make conversation. "Eh? Our employees are being well-guided. Our Institute provides plenty of benefits and is for the employee's career advancement." Bryan sang praises for his company. 'He's probably checking if our institute is in alignment with their institute's ideals.' "I see. That's good to know. I heard that your Institute has recently accepted a new intern?" Ethan asked, drinking a few sips of water. Lucas's drumming stopped. Bryan and Clara were shocke
Early in the morning, Diana received an e-mail from the Supervisor, Bryan Cook. Upon receiving the notification on her phone, she thought she's being called back to work. She quickly opened the e-mail. Unfortunately, that was not the content of his e-mail. Instead of calling her back to work, he notified her that she will no longer be able to work at Hopton Research Institute. Diana's eyes were about to tear up. She can't believe how they treat their employees. She couldn't explain how she is feeling. She felt like shouting, crying, and even slapping at the real culprit. Knock! Knock! Heather knocked on Diana's door. "I prepared breakfast." When Diana didn't answer, Heather knocked again, twisting the knob and finding it unlocked. "Hey. Breakfast is--" Heather saw Diana's facial expression whil