The Hunted Heiress

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER ONE

The Zuluetas

December 20, 2013. Friday. 

Missi Senator Isaias Zulueta III and his wife, veteran actress Ava Laurel was interviewed by Samantha Garchitorena Buenaventura for her MGA's Power Couple.

The first part of the story focused on the love story of the couple.

Sam stated her first question, "Senator, Madam, you have been married for thirty-seven years, but how did you actually meet?"

Senator Zulueta answered, "Almost forty years ago, Ava joined the Beauty Pageant for Binibining Filipinas – International and won the title. I was mesmerized by her beauty so I asked a friend of mine whose girlfriend was her best friend to introduce us. I then courted her. After two years of courtship, she gave her yes and we became a couple. A year after, I proposed marriage. Then a few months thereafter, we got married."

Sam asked, "Madam, you're still very much active in showbiz. Why didn't you stop considering the fact that Senator here was then a successful CEO of Filipinas Bookstore?"

Madam Ava Laurel-Zulueta answered. "I was already in the showbiz when I agreed to be his girlfriend. I enjoyed it very much. So when we got engaged, I told him I got no plans to stop. He didn't have any qualm because he knew this could make me happy."

Sam then requested, "You have three sons, could you please tell us more about them?"

Senator Zulueta answered, "They are Isaiah, Iñigo, and Isaac. Isaiah is now the CEO of Filipinas Bookstore. He's doing exemplary work at the company. Iñigo is a very much accomplished lawyer. He has his own law firm and he is also my chief-of-staff. They are both happily married and have children on their own." The Senator looked at his wife and nudged her arm lightly to signal her to say things about their youngest son.

Madam Ava added, "As for our youngest, Isaac. We all know him as one of the key strikers of Filipinas National Soccer Team, one of the most sought after product endorsers, and a sports TV show host. He just recently retired from his sports career and showbiz career to focus more on his business endeavors. Among our sons, he's the only one who seems to be not camera-shy like me. He's still single but we don't have any idea if he's dating someone right now."

Sam added, "He was featured in one of our TV shows, The Most Eligible Bachelors and Bachelorettes. Not all knew before that he finished a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in Business Administration."

Senator Zulueta supplemented, "We allowed all our sons to do what makes them happy but we did require them to finish their studies. All of my sons had appeared on TV commercials with Ava when they were still very young but it's only Isaac who seemed to enjoy the limelight."

The next part of their documentary interview focused more on Senator Zulueta's career. Sam started the questions with, "How did Filipinas Book Store come into life, Senator?"

The Senator imparted, "My grandparents started with just a school supplies and gift shop then it progressed into selling books. My father then established it into a full-blown company and had it rebranded as Filipinas Bookstore. We had engaged into the manufacturing aspect of the school supplies and gift items, and the publishing of some books. When I inherited it, we expanded more. We had business deals with the exclusive distributions of books from publishing companies from other countries. We started having a branch in every Victoria Mall. Now, with my son, they had succeeded on having a shop in almost every mall here in Filipinas. He also headed its launch to become a publicly-listed company at Filipinas Stock Exchange."