Adore Me ( Harrington Heirs #1)

Chapter 1

Brighton Berenberg

Maids fluttered in and out of the dining room carrying trays of different pastries in preparation for the arrival of the Harringtons. I sat beside my father while we waited for their arrival. I have seen images of my soon-to-be husband, at gwapo naman siya, I've even seen photos of him shirtless which was enough for my body to react.

The Harringtons were here to discuss the terms and conditions of this marriage, they are also here para i-discuss ang press announcement ng aming engagement.

Half an hour had passed when we heard cars pulling up to our driveway. Tumayo si dad para salubungin ang mga Harrington, I felt more at ease knowing na wala si tita Celestine ngayon.

A tall, slightly muscular figure appeared sa entrance ng dining hall. His face closely resembled Elijah's, but they were different enough to be distinguishable. Where Elijah was stern, his older brother, Collin, had a calmer, more at ease vibe to him

Kuya Collin sat at the other end of the table, he nodded at me at binigyan ako ng matipid na ngiti. I smiled back at him. At the entrance, a tall, very elegant looking woman entered the dining hall.

Alaria Harrington took a seat beside her son, Collin. She smiled warmly at me.

"Hi anak, I'm Alaria." She said waving enthusiastically at me.

"Hi po, I'm Brighton Berenberg. It's an honor po, ma'am." I answered respectfully. Dad entered the hall after a few moments.

"Elijah's on a business call, anak. Let's wait for him muna." Dad said. I nodded at him and fiddled with my hands. A million thoughts were racing through my head. What terms they were gonna set, mahirap ba ang mga ito, would they ask me to change my entire fucking personality?

Elijah Harrington entered the hall. He was handsome as ever, his whole being screaming with the power and privilege that came with being a Harrington. One look at Elijah and it was clear, this was the best lawyer in the country. Elijah graduated with a 1.07 GPA, perfected the BAR exams a few months after, became head associate attorney all within a year, now, he has become the managing partner at Harrington Law, the leading law firm in the country.

"Let's start." Elijah curtly said after settling himself at his brother's right. I felt myself tense up, I've been trying to distract myself from our inevitable engagement for the past few weeks. This meeting only serves as a reminder of what comes next.

The loss of my freedom.

"Let's discuss the elephant in the room; media exposure. We know that Brighton has a reputation for being a playboy so we need to sell this relationship. The media should never know that this engagement was arranged, it will undo any and all progress we make when it comes sa pag-aayos ng reputasyon ni Brighton as the next CEO of Berenberg media." Panimula ni dad.

Mas lalo akong nanlamig nung nagsimula silang tumitig sakin. I could feel Elijah's judging stare from across the table.

"But, we also need to sell their romance. This marriage serves as a move to further cement us, the Harringtons, as the most powerful family in the country. Marrying Brighton is the best choice for my brother." Dagdag ni kuya Collin. Dad nodded in agreement while tita Alaria looked satisfied with their ideas. Elijah stayed silent though, he had an unreadable expression on his face.

"Pero Lucian, they will also need to live together, paano natin mabebenta ang kanilang engagement if they continue to live apart, diba?" Alaria Harrington said from across the table. My hands started sweating, I wasn't prepared to give up my home for this engagement.

"Where do you suggest they live, Alaria?" Tanong naman ni dad. 

"Elijah owns a house not far from our home, Lucian, I'm sure Brighton would have no problems with it, diba anak?" Tita Alaria suddenly asked. I was frozen in place, completely unprepared for the question.

"Let's not pressure the boy into moving out, ma." Elijah's deep voice answered, probably noticing the distress on my face.

"I am ready to do that naman po if we have to, I was just shocked po kanina. I'm sorry for reacting like that, tita." Sagot ko sa kanila. Dad looked at me fondly and that made me feel happy. 

"Don't mind it, anak, I'm sure all of this comes as a surprise  to you." Tita Alaria softly answered. I was starting to loosen up to her, pakiramdam ko'y ligtas ako sa kanya.

"You can start moving in tomorrow, I'll send my address to your driver." Sagot naman ni Elijah.

"Let's leave the kids to discuss their engagement, Lucian, we also have other things to talk about." Sabi ni tita Alaria as she stood up to leave the room. Tumayo din si dad at si kuya Collin and after a few minutes kaming dalawa nalang ni Elijah ang natira sa dining hall.

"Uh hi, can we discuss some rules for this engagement?" panimula ko kay Elijah. He looked at me and then stood up, he took a few strides before settling himself on my right.

"Rule #1 : Don't nag. I am an adult and as such, I am free to do anything I want without having to ask for permission from anyone." Panimula nito. I raised my eyebrow at him.

"How are we supposed to sell this romance if you say na free ka to do anything? What if one day you decide to just fuck a random girl, edi ako napahiya dun." Sagot ko naman dito.

Shock was written on his face. Klarong hindi niya inaasahan ang pagsagot ko sa kanya. A sly smirk appeared on his face after a few moments.

"You're already nagging, Brighton, you need not worry about my loyalty to this engagement, I'm smart enough to keep my hands off of other people." Elijah assured.

'Di ko alam but his reassurance didn't placate me at all. I loathed the idea of someone making a fool out of me, I wanted to change the public's perception about me at ayokong isipin nilang tatanga-tanga lang ako bilang fiance.

I just nodded in reply. 'Di ko pa gaanong kilala si Elijah and I was willing to do anything to make this engagement work just so I could make my dad proud.

"Let's leave it at that, let's just finalize everything when you move in." Sabi nito. He was about to stand up and leave the room when I spoke.

"Thank you for this, Elijah, I appreciate what you're doing for us. I hope we can be friends or if time and fate permits, make this marriage work." I said sincerely. Elijah just stares at me, an unreadable expression splashed across his annoyingly handsome face.