Chapter 3

John’s POV

That clumsy girl whom I always bump into at school has been getting on my nerves. She was upsetting the hell out of me, but I had this unusual feeling a while ago when we fell together, and she was under me. My heart pounded so fast that it made my hands shake and made me sweat a lot. It felt so strange that I could not get her off my mind.

It made me cringe yet made me feel good at the same time. I shook my head to wash away the thoughts. What on earth am I even thinking? That girl just saved my life.

“Hey, CJ!” After a few moments of dilly-dallying, I heard knocks on the door of my room, followed by the irritating voice of my stepmother.

My biological parents got divorced. My dad left my mom to be with that dirty woman. I hate her. I hate both of them because they decided to be selfish and not think about the family they destroyed. My mom is living with my grandparents in our province. I still visit her sometimes, but I always keep it secret from my dad. Of course, I know that he would get mad.

Despite not wanting to interact with her, I still had to get up from my bed and go to her, so she would stop being so loud. “What?” I responded as I opened the door.

Her annoying face welcomed me, staring at me for a few seconds before heaving a sigh. She knows how much I hate her. “Your dad is calling for you. He is in the office,” she said before leaving.

I quickly paced my way into my dad’s office. He had his office room inside our house, and he spent most of his days working there.

“Dad, I am here.” I knocked on the door before twisting it open. I still bowed to him to show respect as I entered the room before sitting on the chair in front of his table.

“Oh, I did not expect you to come this fast,” he said as he closed his laptop and brought his attention to me. “The reason why I called you is that…” He paused when he saw the wound on my hand. I got this when I tried to catch that girl’s head when she decided to be clumsy and fall.

“Hey, what happened to you? What is wrong with your hand?” my dad asked with a face full of concern. I hid my hand behind my back. “Did you fight with some student again?”

“No, Dad. I… uh…” I paused for a second to think of an excuse. “I just happened to fall and used my hand to save myself.” I obviously couldn’t tell him what actually happened.

He shook his head in response. “You promised not to make any trouble at school again, so you better not be lying about that.”

“It’s still a lie, though,” I replied and forced a chuckle.

“Fine. Anyway, I’m not going to make this discussion more complicated, and I’m just going straight to the point,” he began, closing his hands together in front of me as he rested his head on them. “I am arranging for you to have a fixed marriage.”

Fixed marriage? I have never even had a girlfriend, and now he’s going to decide who I should be with? What in the world is this?

“No way,” I immediately reacted. “I didn’t say anything when you decided to leave my mom and be with someone else. Now you’re deciding for me?”

His brows creased together as he was surprised by what I said. “Whether you like it or not, it will happen,” he said in a serious tone, raising his voice a little.

“No!” I argued. “I’m not even planning to settle down in the future,” I said and looked away.

He smirked in disbelief. “You don’t have a plan? Then I have everything planned for you.”

“But—”

He pointed his finger at me to cut me off. “If you do what I tell you, I’m going to let you be with your mother and get your inheritance three years after the marriage.” I froze at what he said.

Inheritance? Does he mean… a lot of money? I can do anything with that money. And besides, divorcing is legal nowadays. So, after I get my inheritance, I’m going to get a divorce just like he did. I can do whatever I want, leave this house, and finally be able to be with my mom.

It took me a few moments to respond. “Who am I going to marry?” I asked after imagining crazy things I could do once this silly marriage thing had been done.

“You are going to meet her soon,” he said, proceeding to what he was working on.

***

Third Person’s POV

A few hours earlier, before CJ was called by his father, Mr. Gonzales called Mr. Bagtas.

“Hello? Oh, Mr. Gonzales,” Mr. Bagtas greeted him through the call.

“Mr. Bagtas…” Mr. Gonzales replied from the other line. He could not keep speaking as he got nervous.

“How is your daughter?” Mr. Bagtas asked. “I think it is time that we introduce them to each other.”

“I have not told her yet, sir,” Mr. Gonzales sighed.

“Don’t worry, I have not told my son yet either,” Mr. Bagtas replied.

“Sir, I am sorry to say this, but I don’t really know what would happen to me after my daughter marries your son,” Mr. Gonzales stated.

“I have good news for you, Mr. Gonzales. You do not have to worry about it because you will be working for me. I have secured a permanent job for you in the US, but only if you accept it. And you don’t have to worry about your daughter. We are going to take good care of her,” Mr. Bagtas reassured him.

“Thank you, sir. And please take care of her,” Mr. Gonzales smiled to himself as he felt relieved.

“Of course, I will make sure that she lives well,” Mr. Bagtas responded. “You should bring her here on the weekend. Let us all have dinner so my son and your daughter can start to get to know each other.”

“Of course, we will see you on the weekend, sir,” Mr. Gonzales said before hanging up.

He took a glance at Yana, who was sleeping deeply as he cried secretly. He knew that his daughter would be hurt, but he believed that this decision would be the best for her.

***

Eriane’s POV

People often depict only children as insensitive, self-absorbed, maladjusted, bossy, antisocial, and lonely. Those who hold this assumption believe that only children are spoiled because they are accustomed to receiving whatever they want from their parents, including undivided attention.

The truth is, being the only child of my parents gives me the tension of being the eldest who shoulders the obligations, as well as being the youngest child in the family with a lack of assistance from other siblings. It puts too much pressure on me and causes conflicts within myself — anxiety and low self-esteem.

The accident that caused the passing of my mom about a decade ago taught me to be independent and develop my confidence. I was able to fend for myself better since my parents did not spoil me by tending to my every need anyway.

I now live with my father, who works as a postman in our town. He is the only family I have left, and I am his only child. Despite him being busy all day, I never felt neglected.

I study at Del Valle University. Luckily, this is going to be my last year on campus since I will be graduating soon.

“Yana?” I heard my dad call for me while I was staring at the ceiling, lost in unnecessary thoughts.

“Yes, Dad?” I responded, turning my head to look in his direction.

I could feel that my dad also seemed deep in thought. As I waited for him to speak again, I noticed the calendar beside the door of my room, where he was standing.

It’s already the weekend? What’s the point of waking up so early? I should have slept some more to make up for the sleep I had missed these past few days because of cramming.

“Can we talk?” Dad finally opened his mouth and looked at me with teary eyes.

“Dad?” I asked in concern as I walked toward him and reached for his hand. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?” I brushed my fingers across his skin to comfort him.

“I’m sorry.” He started to cry. “I resigned from my job today.”

“Dad, there’s no reason for you to apologize,” I said and hugged him before patting his back.

“No, Yana. I made a huge mistake. I hope you can still forgive me. I am sorry,” he added.

“Dad, what are you saying? What do you mean by ‘you made a huge mistake’?” I asked. “It’s just a job. You can get another one. It’s not like you’re leaving me, right?”

He wiped his tears away and held both of my shoulders to make me look straight at him. “I am going to say this straight to the point.”

It made me swallow the lump that formed in my throat and breathe in deeply.

“I made a deal with Mr. Bagtas,” he began. “He told me to make you marry his son as payment for the debt since I am not capable of giving him all the money. Yana, I know that I am so selfish about this. I’m—” he was still trying to explain everything, but I cut him off.

“Wait, Dad. What?” Tears also started to fall from my eyes. “What debt?”

“Please don’t misunderstand. I had to do it because I wanted to save your mom,” he explained. “Mr. Bagtas is still trying to help us with this. You are going to live very well with them. They can give you all that you need, more than I can. Yana, this is for your own sake.”

“Dad, I… I…” I don’t know what to say. But I would rather not be mad at him. “I understand what you mean, but how about you?” I asked.

“He also gave me a permanent job abroad. I’ll have to go there right after the wedding,” Dad said with a forced smile.

It felt like, in just a spur of a moment, my world has turned upside down. Everything just happened really fast, but it was not like I could do anything about it.

“Yana, have courage and be kind, do you understand?” He brought his hands to cup my face. “And to your husband, okay? Promise me that you are going to be a good wife to him.”

I felt like I was lost in the thoughts of a story that I was yet to live. Ain’t I still too young for this? I really don’t understand what is going on. It felt like nothing was making sense.

“You must love him much more than you do me,” he added.

Love, what do I know about love?

Being in love and falling in love are completely two different things, aren’t they? Falling in love is momentary; the joy is temporary, but being in love is a constant process. You’ll have to work hard to stay in love.

How is that supposed to take place with two people who are total strangers to each other?

But don’t all love stories begin with people who did not expect to meet each other?

It took me quite some time to think, so I just nodded in response, even without getting any answer to all the questions inside my head. And then he kissed my forehead.

“Get yourself ready. You are going to meet your fiancé.”