A Marriage

The Old Man

Chapter 3

At the Madriago Corporations main office, Mr. Madriago was waiting impatiently for Gino. One hour late from their appointment time, but still no clue from him. The old man had increasingly gotten more frantic. He paced across his luxury office back and forth anxiously. Suddenly, his secretary told him about Gino's arrival. He quickly opened the door and welcomed his lawyer. They sat down at the couch before starting the conversation.

"Have you seen her?" Mr. Madiago asked, impatiently. Gino nodded. Mr. Madriago sighed in relief, "I knew I could count on you. When will Lance be back home?"

"Mr. Madriago, the case is not that simple as you think. She refused to let Lance go."

"What?" He was shocked, "What do you mean by that?" Mr. Madriago looked over at him with a raised eyebrow. Gino took a deep breath of fresh air from the air conditioner running in the room.

"That girl is stubborn. She refused our offered." Mr. Madriago stared at him.

"Maybe the money is not enough. Give her double." Gino looked at him tiredly, "Mr. Madriago, in this world there is something that money can't buy, such as pride, dignity and sense of worth. She has them all. I admired her."

"What are you talking about? Nobody can reject the money especially with a big amount of money." Mr. Madriago said, firmly.

"But she could. You haven't met her. She is a stubborn girl, just as stubborn as your son. Lance refused all my efforts to get him free last night. She is different from other ordinary girls that I know. I don't think we could handle her easily." Gino sighed again. He didn't know how many times today he had sighed. He had never expected this case to be so difficult to handle.

"I don't believe it!" Mr. Madriago snapped at him, "Show me her profile!"

Gino opened his briefcase, pulling out a pile of papers. He opened the first page and read the brief remarks, "She is 23, a civil engineering student at St. Kristine University. According to the resources that I got, she is the best in her class. This year would be her last year in the university to graduate. She doesn't like partying, smoking and drinking. The only bad habit she has is she likes shopping. Like almost women do." He added the last statement, hoping to ease the tense atmosphere around them.

But, Mr. Madriago didn't even smile. He cleared his throat and continued, "She lives with her parents and one younger sister in a townhouse in the suburb. They are an ordinary family. His father works at Telecommunication Company and her mother is a housewife. Rose has a part-time job as a math and physics private teacher for high school students. Oh, this is an interesting fact. She has a fiancé, Ezequiel Madrigal, a talented architect, lives in Sydney, Australia." Gino paused. Mr. Madriago stayed silence for a while after hearing his explanation.

He uttered his comments, "She sounds like an ordinary girl except she's intelligent in her study. I don't know why Lance was attracted to her."

Gino smiled, "You haven't seen her, Mr. Madriago. She is attractive. She is a beautiful, striking young woman." He handed him a big size of her photo.

Mr. Madriago took it and looked at the 8X10 photo. On it was Rose' beautiful smiling face. Her big beautiful eyes sparkled with bright lights. Her dazzling smile captured everybody's heart. Her long black hair made her face more stunning. Mr. Madriago heaved a deep sighed and stared despondently into the figured on his hand, 'No wonder Lance was risking his life for her.' He told himself.

"I will go see her. I have to do something to get Lance out from jail. I can't let my only son suffered in jail." Mr. Madriago finally spoke out, after a few moments of silence.