When Universe Conspires

1 - Bulletproof

Warning! This chapter contains extreme violence that may be triggering or may not be suitable for very young readers. Please read at your own risk.

Lalisa Manoban

#3. Not bad, but still not on top. I've been trying to get to the top since I personally took care of all my family's businesses 3 years ago. Being one of the youngest businesswomen who gets featured on the prestigious yearly top list is a privilege.

Forbes Top 200 Billionaires Under 25. #3. Pranpriya Manobal. After reading those lines, I stopped looking at the list altogether, losing interest. I should be happy I jumped 10 places above my last year's ranking which is #13. But there's something really off, I can't figure out why I am still unhappy and not contented with what I achieved so far. Amid all the praises I read all over the news, and well wishes from a few colleagues and employees who know my real identity, I still feel like there's something missing.

As I drink my morning coffee, medium roast, black with 2 sugar cubes, I stare at the empty sky. The sky is so clear, no clouds, no birds flying above, nothing but a sea of sky blue. Tranquility. It makes me feel relaxed. Just then, my alarm hummed its annoying sound. I took note of changing my alarm tone to a less irritating one. I looked at it, it says, 'Phone Meeting with Marketing Department at 9am'. Ugh. Another meeting. It's not that I don't want to listen to all their proposals and monthly updates, but I personally find meetings boring. It's not their fault that I can only be with them through phone listen-in's because I am basically incognito. I am under these strict privacy issues and people from different fields help me keep my identity private as much as we can. I can only sigh knowing that I can't do anything about it for now. It's for my own safety and to keep my promise to my parents. I am not going to break it by going out to the world and show them who I really am. I still feel terrified and depressed when I look back at what happened in the past. What happened to my family back then was just tragic and I always try to bury those memories deep, deep down at the very back of my mind.

Flashback

November of 2016. It's a great day. Very sunny but not hot enough to burn your skin when you go outside. I asked my parents if I can remove my dark sun glasses and hoodie because I want to feel the cool breeze on my face.

"Lalisa, honey, you know you can't do that. I'm sorry but we need you to be really careful when we're outside the house. Your face can't be seen. You know that", my father said.

I just nodded and offered a tight lipped smile towards him, "I know Dad, I'm sorry."

My mom patted my back to somehow console me. She is not much of a talker but we always have these unspoken words where we immediately understand each other by small gestures. I know she also feels sorry for depriving me of simple things in life. I can't experience a lot of things that normal people my age do.

My parents are wealthy. Wait, that might be an understatement. My parents have always been on top of their league. They are always #1 on Forbes Top Billionaires List. Yes, being their only daughter made me the youngest billionaire without me even doing anything. I am still underage right now, I am 16. I have a lot of estates and even a few businesses to my name even though my parents are the one managing them. But my parents always take me to work and give me a lot of rundowns about how our businesses work. Marketing strategies, financial gains and loss, stocks exchange, site developments etc. In short, I have constant headaches almost every day since I was 13. I learn a lot from them. Obviously, they want me to take charge of everything someday. So they always remind me that, "It's not too early to start teaching you how to be the one in charge of all these, you are the future of these companies honey, we expect greater things from you." Those are the exact words of my father.