Embers From Within (Casa Fuego Series #6)

Chapter 31

Strong Desire

I was too stunned to speak. Cristella looked very determined to talk to me as she tried to walk towards me but Art was holding her firmly, pulling her back towards their car. Her eyes said it all - everything she wanted to tell me but couldn't.

Matindi pa rin ang kabang nararamdaman ko dahil nahuli nila akong nakikinig dito, dinagdagan pa nang malaman kong alam ng mga kapatid niyang naging kami ni Art. At alam nilang si Lolo ang may pasimuno ng lahat ng ito.

"Don't mind her, Therese. I'm sorry. Cristella, let's go." Art said firmly, with a hint of warning for his sister.

"I just want to talk to her, Kuya! She's Therese Hermedilla, right? You're Therese Hermedilla, right?!" Cristella was still persistent, struggling to get away from her brother's strong arms.

"Cristella, I said enough! Let's go!"

Halos kargahin na ni Art ang kanyang kapatid para lang mailayo sa akin na naestatwa na yata sa kinatatayuan. Cristella brushed her hair using her fingers as she had given up resisting from her brother's firm arms. Isang sulyap ang iginawad sa akin ni Art. He looked at me apologetically before he had successfully tucked her sister inside his passenger's seat.

The lights of his car blinked for me before he sped up out of the parking lot. Ilang sandali ang lumipas at nanatili akong nakatayo sa may sasakyan ko, tulala at gulantang pa rin. Sa nanginginig na kamay at nanlalambot na mga tuhod, pumasok ako sa aking sasakyan.

I let out a shaky breath and rested my forehead on the steering wheel. The load of information I've learned today is too much for me to digest in one go. I couldn't even remember how I drove myself home safely. I couldn't remember how I got into my kitchen and took out a bottle of wine. I couldn't remember what time I went to bed after finishing the whole bottle and the half of another.

Kinabukasan at sa mga sumunod na araw, inabala ko ang aking sarili para mawala sa isipan ang nangyari at ang nalaman. I tried so hard to distract myself, but the information I just learned a few days ago consummed my mind that I was convinced that even if I sleep the whole day to forget about it, there's still room in my dreams to remind me of it.

His company will be seized by the bank by the end of the year if he fail to pay his debts and the huge amount of money he owes to the Vixon Pharmaceutics. He can pay the Vixons in fully if he accepts the inheritance. But even if he lowers down his pride and steps on his principles, he still won't be able to accept his inheritance. He won't get the money unless he's married.

Hindi na bago sa akin na marinig na may ganoon talagang kondisyon sa mga mana. Old-moneyed family like my family do that - their children or grandchildren can only get their inheritance if they are married to ensure that the bloodline lives on. The Guazanos are a prominent political dynasty in the country so it isn't surprising that they conform to that kind of conditions. Hindi ko lang akalain na kay Art mangyayari iyon.

God knows how much I'd want him to get the money. Senator Guazano owes him big, anyway. But if the only way to get it is for him to get married, who's he gonna marry, then? And the more important question is, no matter how much I say that I've moved, am I really ready to see him marry another woman?

That thought sent shivers down my spine. Napasinghap ako at napapikit at mariing hinawakan ang ballpen na hawak. Nang imulat ko ang aking mga mata, saka ko lang naalala na nasa gitna pala ako ng meeting. Ang mga ka-meeting ko ay nakatingin sa akin. Marcheline was looking at me in a concerned way. And the presenter looked as if her heart palpitated assuming that it was her presentation that had gone wrong - when in fact, it is my mind and my heart that are erratic and never coordinated well with each other since that encounter with Art and Cristella.