Love Operation: Don't Become The Villainess

CHAPTER 38: I LOVE YOU.

THIRD PERSON'S POV

The first time Ivan and Cath met wasn't in his mother's 39th birthday celebration.

It was way, waaay before that.

Olivia Baratheon Cordova and Almira Elizabeth Xi were highschool friends who studied at Westwood International School where they met, along with their husbands, Francisco Salvatore Cordova and Cipriano Xi.

They only got separated when they had to return to each of their hometowns, California and Massachusetts respectively habang sina Francisco at Cipriano ay sa Pilipinas na talaga nanatili. (Both men were born in Spain and China respectively). Years passed and they began their own families.

Unang ipinanganak si Ivan sa buwan ng Agosto habang si Catherine ay sa buwan ng Setyembre--magkaparehong taon.

Tanging mga sanggol pa lang sila no'n, hindi magkakaalalahanan.

Ang tunay na naging unang pagkikita nila ay sa isang business party para sa selebrasyon ng pag-expand ng Emperor Hotels and Resorts ng Xi Land Corporation sa bansa ng Thailand.

Tatlong taong gulang sila pareho no'n. Sa mga panahon na 'yon ay naghiwalay na sila Olivia at Francisco.

Medyo naaalala ni Ivan nang mamataan niya ang isang batang kasing-edad at tangkad niyang may mahabang kulay tsokolateng buhok na maalon sa dulo't nakasuot ng isang pang-prinsesang bestida pero ang mukha at mga mata nito'y blanko at walang ekspresyon.

When their parents greeted each other and introduced the two of them, they weren't really interested at the time. All Ivan could think about was that chocolate fountain he saw while Catherine was tired and wanted to go home.

Matapos no'n ay hindi na sila muling nagkita pa.

Olivia was strict with Catherine, and she was scared of her mother. Everything and everyone around her was controlled and monitored by her mother until she had proven to her that she was reliable and trustworthy on her own. Nang makita ni Olivia ang paglaki at mature ni Catherine ay nagluwag na ito sa kaniyang mga pamamaraan.

Going back, those vague fragments of memories of Ivan about the emotionless and boring three-year old girl emerged when he saw her once again, now fourteen years old, at his mother's 39th birthday celebration.

'She still looks the same,' was the first thing that came into his mind, 'Cold and boring.'

When he went back to talk with his acquaintances, that's when Catherine (Yara) first saw him and fell in love.

That night, Ivan only had the intentions of being friendly towards her but for some reason, he ended up flirting into the night.

Even he was surprised with himself.

He shall lie when he says the quiet, peaceful and lovely moments he had with the girl he got to know better doesn't make his heart skip a beat whenever he remembers it, because it does. And his heart is skipping a lot.

As him and his family were on their way back home that night, his mind was filled with nothing but the time he shared with her.

Napapangiti pa siya habang may nadaraanan silang kulay pula at puting mga ilaw sa tabi ng kalsada.

"Red..."

"And white?"

"Red and white."

Bumigat ang talukap ng kaniyang mga mata habang tinatago ang isang ngiti gamit ang gilid ng kamay niya, ang kaniyang siko ay nakapatong sa armrest ng pintuan ng sasakyan.

He certainly had conversations before but not as funny and interesting as the one he had with Catherine.

Malalim siyang napabuntunghininga. Ang dibdib niya'y maginhawa at ang pakiramdam niya'y sobrang gaan.

Too bad. He doesn't have time to meet her again. He'll be busy with his training here before he returns to Massachusetts.

In the real estate and construction industry, developers (For example, Xi Land Corporation) and contractors tend to have a... shady relationship.

The reason why Ivan was in that apartment building where he unexpectedly met Catherine was to inspect it, as XLC plans on purchasing the property and carry out a redevelopment project on it. Different contractors would then bid to acquire the project. Some would then bribe the developers to acquire it.

At that time, Ivan was the one negotiating with the seller of the property on behalf of XLC as part of his training. Although XLC still hasn't purchased the property yet, a probable contractor already stepped forward and initiated in taking up the project, but he did not accept his offer yet.

Still, all fortunately ended up well without it being messy.

Moreover, he had his sights on that property even though he's aware that it's teeming with troublemakers and lawbreakers.

After his meeting, when he opened that door, never did he expect to see her that early, more so in that kind of time and situation. And it had to be right after the moment when he just finished negotiating with their contractor of which was a battle of wits that seeing her afterwards felt like a splash of fresh and cold water, which was surprisingly enlightening albeit peculiar.

As if fate really wanted to bring the two of them together.

That's when he decided to take this chance seriously.

Everything with Catherine is in his favor. There was no point in trying to ignore and deny it any longer.

She's the heiress of QuantumMed Co., a multimillion international health conglomerate, has a strong and high pedigree and foundation, beautiful, intelligent, and has a great and wonderful personality.

She was the perfect partner.

Then he did a background check on her. That's when he found out about her wrongs and misdeeds back at Golden Oak High School in California.

He already knew even before Catherine told him.

But instead of being apprehensive and suspicious, he became even more curious because the information he found out about her was completely different from the girl he spent a wonderful time with.

He wanted to get to know her better.

And he knew he wouldn't be able to find a more suitable partner other than her.

She literally had it all.

So he gave the two of them a chance.

What he didn't expect was to fall deeply in the rabbit hole of love... and addiction.

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A/N: my next update will be LO:DBTV Ch. 39 & 40 before I update GOTD Ch. 35. The date is still yet to be decided because I'll be sooo busy for the following weeks :')

I have an announcement to make after Ch. 40 too!! Please do look forward to it :3

That's all. Thank you again so much for reading!! Don't forget to vote, comment and follow. I love y'aaaaaaalllllll~