Tonight was supposed to be my first day in class, and I have been planning to be as good and observant as possible, but it turned out that I will be having a hard time doing that for the rest of the semester. What's worse is that I might have gotten our professor's bad side on the very first day. I was even convinced that first impressions last. Everyone might think I'm a troublemaker in the class. "It seems that you have a long story to tell, huh?" Tanner whispered to me on our way to the Guidance Office. "Perhaps you can share them with me over a bottle of beer. We don't know, I might be of help to get rid of those that bothered you." Tanner's proposal, undeniably, tempts me, but I don't know if I should be pleased or start to get worried when his statement proves Norman and Justine's impressions of him to be true. The only thing I knew about him was when we were in college. A lot of things changed. From an introverted student seven years ago, he turned into a be
He got to be kidding me! Knowing both parties heated each other, I expected Norman would simply advise me to ignore and stay away from them as it was the best thing to do. What? Be their tutor? Is he fucking kidding me? Teaching those evil brats would be the last thing I wanted to do. I went to school to get myself a certificate, to prove to his monstrous family that I deserved to be the president. "Enough, Mom, Dad!" Noah exclaimed, putting a towering wall in between me and Norman, "This is one of my favorite movies. We must not miss this one." I don't want to ruin Noah's mood so I shut my mouth. Norman did the same thing as he started filling his mouth with popcorn. Horror movies are supposed to be not my cup of tea, but the two seemed to have loved it. Romantic movies are the ones I prefer the most. In the middle of watching the movie, Norman and I exchanged glances when we accidentally set our hands inside the empty bucket of popcorn in unison. His han
The next morning, Norman and Noah were already in the dining area along with the rest of the family. I have no idea what was the occasion but everyone was present. But imagine our surprise when Jennifer and Jennie were in a race departing their seats and offered me one next to my son. even Mauricia stopped filling her mouth with the food. "Are you two having a high fever right now?" I could not help my curiosity but ask as I settled at the table, pointed my eyes at Norman, and uttered without moving the corner of my lips, "What the hell is going on?" Instead of saying it with words, Norman lifted the tip of his shoulders and smiled at me. Wait does it have to do with what Tanner told them at the Gudiance Office? Who could have thought, huh? My plan of threatening them both worked perfectly. "Can I have my breakfast now?" I broke the awkward sensation in the dining area. After the scrumptious meal, all of us separated ways like we always do. Norman went to the c
"Are you alright? Did anyone dare lay a finger on you? Tell me, Yvanna!" Norman growled, his blazing madness toward those reporters was like an electrical current that crawled inside me. Before the sensation went deeper, I lifted my body away from Norman's hand and blazer, "I'm fine," I defensively replied even if I was not. Then I faked a smile at everyone to make sure they would not be suspecting us. "You all scared my wife," Norman said in front of everyone's cameras. "If something bad happens to her because you all pressured her with those nonsense questions, will you take responsibility for it?" Everyone suddenly shut their mouths but the shuttering of their cameras was inevitable. In some ways, Norman's threat worked somehow. "If you have questions, ask me instead of my wife. She still needs more rest these days." he announced, "I'm gonna answer all your questions to the best of my knowledge. Thank you!" Despite the atmosphere around us already changing,
In the middle of our journey, a part of me wanted to scream, to let out all the anger, frustration, and hatred that put weight on my shoulders. But the only thing I could do was grit my teeth while holding onto that thought. Good thing the chaperone did not ask me anything about how I ended up almost getting naked. Because if he did, I could have growled at him already - lashed out at him with everything that burned inside me. How dare Norman do this to me? The audacity to use me to win the bet. For what? For a million dollars? To protect his noble fat ass? He even had the face to tell me that he wanted to do everything to get me back. He even lured me with that fucking 30 million dollar evening gown to fall for his trap. Love my ass. If that woman hadn't shown up, Norman could have been smiling in silence, knowing he fooled me with the tip of his fingers. I was supposed to reach out to Justine, to come over and pick me up, but I forgot to bring my phone with me. A
There, right in front of me, the footage made the balls of my eyes remain wide open. It was footage of the incident that happened last November 13, 2023, at 7:36 in the evening. The same night I had a car accident. And what's in the footage was enough to blow your mind. And I couldn't find inside me the right path to believe it. I remembered now. Norman got the footage from the man who reached out to me claiming that he witnessed the incident. He offered the man twice the price of his original demand once proven his claim was reliable and authentic. Does this mean, he already has this footage thoroughly checked? Despite the darkness that swallowed the side roads, it was as clear as day that the other man who stood in front of the upside-down wrecked car was none other than -- Justine. He was talking to the man in a mask who, if I am not mistaken, is the one who bumped into the car I was in. Several thoughts ran wild inside my brain when they were discussing s
All parts of my body, including my brain ceased to function at the moment. Even my heart softly beats twice within what felt like an eternity. A part of me wanted to push him away but my hands were numbed. The feeling was like his kiss was mixed with a dark magic spell for me to not do anything that he called, "stupid". If my counting served me right, the kiss lasted for about ten seconds or more, long enough everyone thought that I kissed him back. "Let's get back to the mansion, Yvanna," Norman said the second he moved his face away from me. "Our son has been waiting for you to come home." He reached out to my hand and dragged me out of the club, not by force, but my entire body was like voluntarily following him to the parking lot. Then he even fastened my seatbelt and took off afterward. After the magic spell he cast on me expired, I turned my head back to the nightclub, worried that something bad might happen to Tanner. "What do you think you're doing, No
But we are no longer considered a family. A family for me, comprises with parents and children shared care and love. Apart from that, Norman and I already had our divorce papers signed and sealed, my heart couldn't feel any love for him. He doesn't deserve to be loved and cared for unconditionally by me after everything I have witnessed. I love Noah because he is my son; however, I only consider his father as it is to us. Nothing more. Nothing less. And I don't care if hurt his pride, so I added "You like Uncle Justine, remember? He could be your father too. Don't bother Norman because he is now the mayor of the city. More people needed him." "Would Uncle Justine be fine with it?" Noah finally agreed, his gentle voice speaks it as clearly as day. "Can you invite him for me?" "Of course, honey." I eagerly caressed his head. "Uncle Justine would be delighted to hear it. I'll call him on our way to school and let you talk to him, okay?" "But would Dad be fine wi