Entangled Sin

Chapter 1

“Stephano De Luan wins tender worth thirty million dollars despite the stakes being so high up.” Rose smiled as she read the news headlines to herself in her office. A proud smile glistened on her face as she saw a picture of him under the bold news headlines. He was adorning a black crisp suit that hugged his body so perfectly. He looked beyond dashing and everyday he got more and more handsome in her blue doe eyes.

Rose and Stephano had been friends since that very day. To be precise, Stephano was her only friend years ago. No one wanted to associate with the deaf girl but Stephano didn't look at her disability but instead saw past that and found the gentle and innocent little girl who only wanted to be loved and accepted by her own peers. He was the only one who spoke to her and even learnt sign language back then just to communicate with her. Now things were different because now, she had earing aids to make communication much better.

“You've been staring at that newspaper for quite a while now miss.” Alana who was the personal secretary to Rose and a woman in her mid fifties wheeled herself into her office. Rose smiled and tossed the newspaper on her desk before she huffed out. “Nooo I was just checking the details of the tender and not particularly at his grey eyes and perfectly shaped pointy nose and his...” Rose paused with a blink and sighed loudly with her eyes closed. She didn't want to give herself away but ended up blurting out the entire thing.

Alana gave Rose a mischievous smile and asked, “Staring at him all day long and just meeting with him a few times. Don't you think it's time you changed that?” Rose looked a bit confused and asked, “What are you referring to Alana?”

“I mean isn't it time to tell Stephano about your true feelings? You've practically hidden your feelings for him for more than a decade now. And besides I don't like seeing you drool all over him only in a newspaper or in the tabloids. I think it's time for the next step.” Alana explained.

“Since when did you become an expert in the love department? As far as I know, you're not in any relationships.” Rose asked intrigued. “Call it my experience my dear Rose.” Alana replied. Rose hummed at Alana's words. She also wanted to tell Stephano about how she truly felt about him. From the very day they met each other for the first time after he saved her from falling due to a prank from Angelique, Rose's eyes had twinkled only for him. Their friendship was strange to people as everyone wondered the odd chemistry between a sharp and intelligent handsome guy having a deaf boring blonde girl as a best friend.

But the fact was that Stephano didn't care about what others thought of their friendship. Even sometimes Rose also wondered why someone like Stephano was interested in becoming her friend. From the moment she could think and sense everything around her, Rose had known that everyone always kept her at arm's length. No one wanted to be near her much less be friends with her. Bullying was the hardest turmoil she had to face as a child and hence her father took her out from school and she was home schooled instead.

But her luck and perception of life had changed ever since she met Stephano. They became very close and mostly shared everything with each other except for Rose who hid the part of her falling in love with him. She often wondered if coming out with the truth would strain their friendship and make things awkward. The last thing she ever didn't want was to loose her one and only true friendship with Stephano. That was her excuse for prolonging the day she would eventually tell him about her feelings.

“I don't know Alana. It might make things awkward for the both of us if he knew. Maybe it's best I don't.” Rose suggested. Her heart wasn't sure anymore. She didn't mind admiring and loving him from afar but what her heart and soul couldn't bear was to see Stephano look at her in a different light once she had decided to confess her feelings.

“And if you don't tell him, how would you know if he's also in love with you secretly?” Alana raised a brow. “What do you mean?” Rose asked. “What I mean is surprise surprise! What if just like you in secret are in love with Stephano, what if Stephano is also secretly in love with you as well? Have you thought of that yet?”