*****
Nothing fascinated Alden that night on the dinner table other than watching the tick of his Cartier watch at each passing seconds. He stayed in this family dinner out of respect to his mother and grandfather - the only family he has now. But he felt that the conversation they were sharing was heading down to a bucket of nonsense. He could have used the time he spent here into reading some documents from work or taking care of the events when he was not around.
He finally gathered his thought and took the napkin to wipe the corners of his mouth.
"The food's delicious, Mom. And it is nice to see you in good health, Grandfather." He gave them a tight-lipped smile. "If you excuse me, I like to go back home and rest."
"You can sleep here, dear," mabilis na sabi sa kanya ni Mrs. Amelia.
"May pag-uusapan pa ba tayo, mom?"
His mother hesitated a bit to respond but his grandfather finally voiced out his main intention for this dinner. Iyon nga lang, hindi inaasahan ni Alden ang tunay na pakay ng matandang Chairman.
"You're engaged to someone."
Alden's brow twitched. "Wow. All of a sudden. To whom?"
"Don't bother searching for her. If you try to ruin this engagement, I am telling you Alden, sa kanya ko ipapamana ang yaman ng mga Faulkersons."
His brows shot up in clear surprise. He once thought something like this will happen in his life. Pero dahil napatunayan niyang isa siyang magaling na negosyante, inakala niyang hahayaan na siya ng Chairman sa mga nais niya. He gritted his teeth in an attempt to cool down his emotions. "Seryoso ka ba talaga?"
He glanced to check his mother's reaction and she looked like she totally accepted the idea. He scoffed and bit his lips, trying to think of any way to escape this ordeal. "You can't force me to be tied in this marriage. I can leave M.U.N.D.O. and help your competitors to bring you down. Are you really going to let a stranger be your heir and ultimately ruin your legacy?"
"She's not a stranger in M.U.N.D.O. She works there." The old man smiled to cover the plea in his eyes. "Malaki ang utang ng pamilya natin sa kanya. So I really want to help her have a comfortable life."
"Marrying me will give her a comfortable life?" He smirked. "She's marrying a devil."
"You insolent kid!"
"Why don't you just give her some money?"
"Your father killed her father! No amount of money can compensate a life that was gone!" The old man held tight on the table and breathed heavily from the outburst.
Alden closed his eyes to gather his wits and control his composure. Hindi maganda ang kalusugan ng lolo niya. So he shouldn't do things that will increase his blood pressure.
Agad na dinaluhan ni Amelia ang biyenan at tinignan ang kalusugan nito.
"Alden..." magiliw na tawag sa kanya ng ina habang nakaupo pa rin sa tabi ng Chairman. "You used to have nightmares of that road accident when you were a kid. Siguro hindi mo na siya maalala ngayon kasi pinatignan ka namin sa specialist agad. But it did happen, honey."
Hazy but he did remember having that nightmare before. He remembered his father speeding the car on a frantic manner to reach the hospital for his sick son. He remembered the heavy rain, the red light in front of them, then the speeding bike on the intersected road. He remembered his shout of extreme fear after watching the man getting thrown away from his bike. He remembered the sound of the car swerving and his dad's body covering him before he lost consciousness from a heavy collision.
