She stared at Lexie as if asking for help, whether she should talk to Amadeus or hide. When she nodded at her, she accepted the cordless phone. “Excuse me,” she told Lexie and Shawie.

She sauntered to the villa’s balcony, where she could see the green fields and the blue lake and sky. Somehow, her anxiety lessened. “H-hello.” A simple word gave her away.

“Esmeralda Solomon?” said a baritone voice. “This is Amadeus dela Merced, Aiden’s brother.”

Her hand trembled at the sound of his voice. It was hypnotizing and full of authority. Very manly. That if he told her to jump into the crater, she would jump without hesitation. She did not know she would get affected by just simply mentioning her name.

“H-hi, S-Sir Amadeus!” she said in a cheerful voice. “Aiden’s not here. He was taking care of something in Manila, but he will be home a while later.”

She needed to treat him well because she did not want him to criticize her. Aiden, too. If a problem would occur between them, she will make sure it was not because of her.

“I know,” he snarled. “It’s you that I want to talk to.”

She leaned on the railing for support. His tone indicated that she wouldn’t like what he’s about to tell her. “About what?”

“Stay away from my brother, opportunist!”

She straightened her back. “W-what?” she uttered, unable to absorb his words.

“I said stay away from my brother,” he stressed. “An opportunist like you does not belong in our family. I know you are after my brother’s money. You are just a good-for-nothing bitch that he picked up somewhere. You are unworthy.”

She tightened her grip on the phone. “Hang on, Mr. dela Merced! I think you have crossed the line,” she said in a controlled tone. “Just because I’m poor doesn’t mean you can insult me. You don’t even know me.”

She was already anticipating he’d ask her to stay away from Aiden, but she was not expecting that he was this cruel. What she hated the most were rich people who act like they own the world. And poor people were just as small as ants that could be crushed easily.

“I already know you, Esmeralda Solomon. I have no idea where my brother picked you up. But I know you don’t belong together. You don’t even have a college diploma,” he mocked.

She took a deep breath as she controlled the rush of anger. She had not finished college because she was still a freshman in Education when her parents died in a huge flood, leaving her and her younger brother Jeremy orphaned. She had to raise him and set herself aside. She needed to cultivate the piece of land their parents left to survive.

“Well, that is not the basis of being a good person, Mr. dela Merced,” she said firmly. “If you have a problem with your brother’s wedding to me, it’s best that you talk to him. If you wanted to stop the wedding, it should come from him and not me. It was your brother who wanted to marry me.”

Accusing her of not being in love with Aiden may be right, but she had a heavy reason why she needed to marry him. It was the same case for Aiden. He was not in love with her, too.

If Aiden was marrying her, it was Amadeus who pushed his brother to do something that would make him mad. And she should fight for whatever interest she had with Aiden. She won’t let anyone ruin their plan.

“How much do you need to stay away from my brother?” he asked. “Five million? Ten million?”

If she was a different person, she would probably be tempted by his offer. It was more than enough to solve all her problems. She did not have to marry the man she did not love.

“That’s not enough to buy me.”

“How much, you greedy bitch?”

“If you could not convince Aiden to cancel the wedding, we’ll just see you, then. You’re invited to the reception.”

“Everyone has a price. Don’t be so pompous about this, or you won’t even get a red cent!” he snarled.

“Thank you, Mr. dela Merced. Don’t bother giving as a gift,” she said in a light but mocking tone.

“You had just declared a war, Esmeralda Solomon,” he said in a dangerous tone. The silent warning in his voice brought shivers all over her body. “I’m going to destroy you until you return to the mud you came from.”

She turned the cordless phone off because she did not want to argue with Amadeus further. Good thing she’d live with Aiden only for a while. She would not want Amadeus to become a part of her life forever.

“JEREMY, let’s get inside. It’s foggy in here,” Esmeralda implored when she checked her brother at the balcony. “The doctor said you should rest and avoid staying outdoors, especially when it’s cold.”

“Sister, I’m just watching the castle from here.” Aiden had a huge telescope on the balcony. “Can we go there with my friends? I know they’ll be happy.”

From Aiden’s villa in Tagaytay, they could see Fantasy World, a theme park that was not fully constructed. It was supposed to be the Disneyland of the Philippines. They went there when they transferred to Aiden’s resthouse in Tagaytay. He lived in Manila, but he said it would be best for Jeremy’s health to be exposed to fresh air.

They used to stay at Childhaus that served as a home for children with cancer and their families while undergoing treatment in Manila. He had become friends with the kids there. That was why he still went to see his friends even after leaving the facility. There were no other kids around the place. Maybe that’s why he was lonely.

“I’ll have to check first, okay? After the wedding maybe,” Esmeralda said and hugged him from behind.

He frowned. “Sister, that’s not going to happen sooner.”

“We’ll tell Miss Laly if you want to visit Fantasy Land with your friends.”

They both turned to the voice that came from behind. “Brother Aiden!” Jeremy ran and hugged him. “Are we really going to take my friends to Fantasy Land? I wanted to show them a castle.”

“Of course. Leave it up to me. For now, go shower so we can have dinner.”

She turned to face him. “You shouldn’t have made a promise to Jeremy. You might spend too much if you treat his friends. You already have spent a great amount of money for his treatment.” Instead of chemotherapy and radiology, she chose to use the alternative treatment where Jeremy drinks medicine from different herbs. She did not want to subject his brother to other therapies that would weaken his body. He was only ten. The said treatment was expensive, but it was already proven that it could improve the cells of the body. That was the reason why she had to endure such sacrifices for the better recovery of her brother.

“Let him enjoy his youth. Let him have fun with his friends. I’m sure that there are things in life that they could not enjoy much because of their illness. I’ll get him a private tutor so he could catch up with his lessons. He is bright. He can catch up.”

“You already gave us too much help. I don’t’ think I can take it…”

He shook his head. “I’m not helping you alone, remember? You’re helping me break away from my brother Amadeus, too. Lexie mentioned that he called you.”

Esmeralda closed the door of the balcony. She suddenly felt colder when she remembered the conversation with Aiden’s brother. “He called me a gold digger,” she said casually. As if it did not hurt her when Amadeus said it a while ago.

“I’m sorry for what my brother did,” he said meekly. “He always contradicts everything that I wanted to do. He meddles with the business that I dream of. Of course, he won’t agree to this wedding. He thinks I still have no right to manage my inheritance from Grandpa. I have to wait until I am thirty. Fuckin’ thirty. I can’t wait for three more years.”

Aiden was the younger dela Merced. His mother was Cerilio’s second wife. The widower Cerilio dela Merced married Aiden’s mother, Rosal Pontillas, when Amadeus was eight years old. Rosal and Cerilio died when Aiden was fifteen years old, and Amadeus was studying college abroad. The house helper mentioned that the brothers weren’t close. Aiden still had shares in the company and had no choice but to work under Amadeus. His brother had control over his money according to their deceased grandfather Armando’s will.

That’s why Aiden already wanted to be independent. He planned to make his piece of land in Tagaytay into a flower farm. That had been her deceased mother’s dream. But to make that happen, he needed money. He tried to get a loan, but investors wanted to make Amadeus the guarantor.

When he asked for his brother’s help, he only laughed at him. He told him that Aiden should just focus on managing their hotels rather than waste his time doing things he had no experience of. Since he failed to secure Amadeus’ support as a guarantor, it was hard for him to acquire loans from banks even though the project is viable. He had no one to turn to anymore because banks won’t make any move without Amadeus’ help.

His only hope was the trust fund his grandfather left him, which he will only be eligible to when he turns thirty or gets married. And because he was still focused on work, he had no time to date or got into a relationship.

She met him when Jeremy passed out while they were crossing the street on the way to the bus station. Nothing was left from the money she got from their pawned land in the province at that time. She was not earning enough as a seamstress to finance his treatment.

Aiden’s car happened to pass by, and he helped her bring Jeremy to the hospital. Because she had no enough money left, he also paid the hospital bill. When she told him she still did not know how to pay him back, he proposed to her. He would continue helping them if she agreed to marry him.

“Is our plan really right?” Esmeralda uttered as she stared blankly ahead.

She was aware that many women wanted to trade places with her—women from high status in life. But he chose to marry a stranger because he did not want the marriage to be forever. After a year, they will go their separate ways. If only he had a choice, he did not want to get married in that kind of situation. But he had something to prove to his brother.

“Let’s help each other. We may not be real husband and wife, but we’ll be good friends.”

She looked up at Aiden. “Thanks for your help. I don’t know what could have happened to us without you.”

She could not afford to let Jeremy’s illness worsened and cowered home to the province. They had nothing to return to if she failed to redeem their farmland and house. Aiden already took care of everything.

“Enough of the thank yous. We may not get done with that. Let’s have dinner.” He smiled and held her arm. His phone suddenly rang. “Yes, Lexie. What? Palawan for one week and another week in Bangkok. Why me?”

Aiden shut her eyes tight. It looked like he was just welcomed with bad news. Esmeralda strolled away to give him space. She went to the kitchen to brew his favorite coffee. It was all he needed to relax. He needed it badly.

“Yes. Of course. This is just a trick to get me.” He caught his head when she returned to the living room with his coffee. “Thanks for giving me a heads up, Lexie. Bye.”

“Have some coffee first. The dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes,” she said as she put the cup on the glass center table. “Is there a problem?”

Aiden turned to her with a weary look on his face. “I’ll have your things packed. You and Jeremy need to go home to San Luis tomorrow.”

“WHY? WHAT’S the matter?” Esmeralda asked, confused. Just a while ago, he had a lot of plans for her and Jeremy.

Aiden gently held her shoulders. “Amadeus is coming home to the Philippines.”

“Why do I have to go home to San Luis? Don’t you want me to meet your brother?” she asked and sat on the sofa.

He caught his forehead. “I won’t be around for two weeks. My brother asked me to go to Samui and Palawan. They’re huge projects. He wants me to check out the progress. According to his message to Lexie, this is his way of showing me that he trusts me. But I know better. He’ll take this opportunity to meet you without me to help you.”

“I’m not scared of him,” she said in a stern tone.

She wanted to show Amadeus dela Merced that she was not easily intimidated by someone like him. She had gone through a lot. If she showed weakness, he might think that he could easily bully her and Aiden. He might stop pressing Aiden if he realized she was defiant.

“I can’t just let you face him alone. You have no stand against him. You don’t know my brother. He would do everything to stop our wedding. You’ll stay in San Luis for the meantime, so he could not follow you.”

She was already aware that Amadeus dela Merced was a dominant man. He gets what he wants, and he does not stop until victory was his. She would not let it happen. The wedding will push through no matter what he does. Unless Aiden himself decided not to marry her anymore.

“What would happen to the wedding preparations if I leave?” she asked. Aiden had been preparing for it because he wanted to convince everyone that their wedding was real. He did not want Amadeus and other people to suspect them.

“That’s what a wedding coordinator is for. You can just supervise the house you are building there,” he said and paced in front of her like a restless tiger.

He insisted on expanding their simple hut in San Luis. He built a two-story concrete house. As his future wife, he did not want her to look miserable in the eyes of other people because she was marrying a dela Merced.

“After your appointment with the doctor tomorrow, Berto will take you to Aurora. You’ll stay there until I return and have you collected. Do we understand each other?” Aiden continued.

Esmeralda put her hands on her waist. “I’m not scared of your brother. I can face him alone. You don’t have to hide me from him,” she insisted.

She wanted to confront Amadeus. She was not a coward to hide and go back to where she came from. If he would become her brother-in-law, she must get used to his attitude. She would show him that she does not simply back away. She hated being challenged.

Aiden nodded. “I know you’re not scared of him. But I don’t want to give him the opportunity to ruin my plans. This wedding is important to us, remember?” he said, his tone asking for understanding. “Maybe Jeremy misses your home and his other friends.”

“WE ARE now flying over the Philippine Sea. In less than an hour, we will land at the Fort Magsaysay Airfield in Palayan City, Nueva Ecija,” the pilot announced, catching Amadeus’ attention from reading a report in his laptop. He was boarding his own private jet. He just got back from his meeting in Istanbul for an old building that he would transform into a hotel and spa.

He pressed the intercom that was connected to the pilot. “Why are we landing in Palayan City? That is a far cry from San Luis. I thought there are airstrips nearby where we can land.”

“The airports are closed due to the storm. The airfield in Palayan is the safest place for landing, Sir,” the pilot explained.

“Darn it!” He was not expecting it. He thought he would get closer to his destination that was an hour or two from the airport. He quickly instructed his temporary assistant, a fresh graduate from De La Salle University and a company scholar. “Bring my car there. I want it ready when I reach Fort Magsaysay, Marjayrie.”

“Yes, Sir,” she said and frantically dialed on her cellphone. “Sir, do you want me to find a hotel near the fort?”

“No. I want to reach Costa Aurora before nightfall. I have some important matters to attend to.”

“Sir, that would be a four-hour drive from the airbase. Maybe you could consider a hotel near the…”

“Did you hear what I said? I must get to Costa Aurora tonight. I can’t afford any more delays. Are we clear?”

She looked down. “Yes, Sir.”

Amadeus hated being opposed. And it was bad enough that the weather was against him. But nature was not enough to stop his plans. And his subordinates could not change his itinerary. He would be there by hook or by crook.

He used vacation as an excuse to come to the Philippines. He was checked in at Costa Aurora for a week. He was hoping his problem would be resolved before his break ended. The real reason why he came to Costa Aurora.

He opened his iPad and reviewed one of the files in his secret folder. A photo of a woman was on the file’s first page. The woman looked plain. There was no make-up on her face. Her long straight here was flowing freely. According to his file, the woman stood 5’3” and had a slim figure. She looked innocent. A countryside girl who could not even break a plate. Who would have thought that she was a money-siphoning whore?

Esmeralda Solomon. A barrio lass who got his younger brother wrapped around her finger. She had only known his brother for a month, yet she had convinced Aiden to redeem her pawned land, renovated her house, and paid for her sick brother’s treatment, and who knew what other things she asked his brother to do. In one month? What an expensive whore!