CHAPTER 1: Meet Romano "Ram" Santiago

Ram's POV.

I couldn't stop the wide grin from appearing on my face. I mean, who wouldn't smile when you beat your mortal enemy?

I just beat my biggest rival in almost everything, may it be with business, sports, or even antique auction events that were held in Makati.

Jeffrey and I were rivals, and I think this rivalry started way back in college when we were schoolmates.

I always make sure to come on top, be it in academics, sports, or even with women.

I admit there were times, that I courted whoever Jeffrey liked just to piss him off, which led Jeffrey to do everything just to beat me, but so far, he didn't succeed even once.

I'm not sure when it started, but ever since I was a child, I always wanted to have control of everything in my life, I always wanted to be one step ahead of everything, and I wanted to be the best in everything.

I didn't want to be told what I needed to do because I wanted to have the power to make my own decisions.

I want that feeling that I can control the people around me without breaking a sweat. Maybe it's just me, maybe I want to have full control of everything, and that power comes with being rich.

Whoever said that money can't buy you happiness doesn't have a clue about how it feels to be wealthy.

At the age of nineteen, I managed to build my own business without any help from my dad and managed to earn a million dollars from my business, now that I am twenty-five, the business world sees me like an assassin, and my competitors are always weary when dealing with me.

When my dad decided to retire and handed me the family business, I decided to merge my own business with the family business since it would be easier for me to manage everything.

Like Henry Cervantes, I want to be well-known not only in Asia but around the world. Following the merger, I was regarded as one of the most promising billionaire businessmen in Asia, not just in the Philippines.

I woke up from my short trance when a familiar song popped from the radio in my car.

I'm on my way to my condo unit, which is in Bonifacio Global City in a famous tower in Taguig.

Makati is close to Taguig, so there was no need for me to drive quickly; I simply savored the sensation of victory while enjoying the ride.

I couldn't help but sing along to the song currently playing on the radio, which is Hall of Fame by The Script.

I felt like this song was actually meant for me, and described what I was feeling right now.

Listening to the lyrics of the song, I couldn't stop myself from jamming to the song, but I felt annoyed when the song was interrupted by an incoming call, that annoyance suddenly disappeared however and a smile appeared on my lips when I saw the name of my girlfriend on the caller id of my phone.

"Hi, hon, did you miss me? I'm already on my way," I said while smiling seductively.

Thinking about my beautiful and sexy girlfriend, brought a sense of pride within me.

We've been living together for about a year, and Janine is one of the most wonderful things to happen in my life.

She's an international runway model, she comes from a respected and well-known clan in the country; and, more importantly, she's so beautiful and sexy that most men envy me.

So how could I not be thrilled to have her as my girlfriend? However, her words quickly turned my pleasant disposition into a terrible one.

"I'm leaving you," she said.

It took me a whole minute to grasp what she had meant, which left me distraught.

I didn't expect to hear this from her, especially since I knew how much she loved me.

"No, you can't," I said, feeling at a loss after finding my voice.

"Damn it, Ram! I have no choice!" She exclaimed, frustration in her voice, and before I could reply, she immediately hung up.

I sped up my car just to get to our place as soon as possible.

I will not let her leave me, and Ram gets what he wants, as I have since I was a kid.

It didn't take long for me to arrive at our condo building, and just right on time, I saw Janine walking out, pulling her suitcase.

The moment my car stopped and I got out, I noticed Janine looking at me, and I could tell from her uncertain gaze that she didn't want to leave me, which was a good sign.

She waited for me to get close to her, and she didn't resist when I held her hand while looking at her.

"Please don't leave."

"I'm sorry, Ram, but there is nothing I can do; Dad already threatened that he would disown me if I didn't agree to marry the guy he wanted for me, he wouldn't leave me a single cent!" she exclaimed.

When I heard that, I inwardly cursed because I couldn't believe her father would still go to the trouble of arranging an arranged marriage in this day and age.

"Does it matter if he disowned you? You don't have to worry if your dad decides to abandon you," I said, feeling confident about myself.

I mean, what does she have to worry, I can provide for her; heck, I can give her anything she wants and she didn't need to move a finger anymore.

Her eyes brightened as she heard what I had to say, and I couldn't help but feel hopeful as a result, but what she said next caught me off guard.

"Are you going to marry me?" she asked, looking so happy.

When I said that I could give her anything, I meant that I could give her anything that money could buy, but marriage was far from my mind when I thought of those things.

Although I genuinely like Janine, I'm not thinking about getting married just now. Right now, I'm happy with our relationship, and what's the rush to get into marriage when we are still young and have our own future ahead of us?

"What I meant to say was that I could provide you with anything you need. We're still young, Janine, why should we rush into getting married?"

She was obviously disappointed because that was not what she expected to hear from me, but what could I do? To be honest, I didn't believe I would be settling down anytime soon, so I'm not really ready to settle down just yet.

For me, marriage is merely a piece of paper that conveys to everyone that your freedom has come to an end.

"Tell me, Ram, do you even love me?" She asked, her gaze fixed on me.

I was at a loss for words when I looked at her; I didn't know how to respond to her question, and when I remained tight-lipped, she chose to ask another one.

"Did you even love me? Just even a bit?"

I just stood there staring at her beautiful face; I could see the pain in her eyes when she didn't hear anything from me, especially when she didn't hear what she wanted to hear.

Honestly, I've never believed in love, so I'm not sure how I should react. I think people use love as a stupid fabrication in their imaginary world.

"I... like you," I said, and I couldn't help but curse myself because I'm not used to stuttering, I don't stutter!

"Ram Santiago doesn't stutter!"

I had no idea how long we had been standing there, staring at one other's faces.

"Goodbye, Ram," she whispered, eventually removing her hand from mine.

She chose to leave with her bag and walk away from me without looking back, telling me that she already made her choice.

I couldn't take my eyes off her until she reached a waiting car that I had missed earlier. When I saw the man getting out of the car, I was taken aback, but that didn't take long because it was replaced by rage.

"Hi, Ram!"

The person who got out of the car was Jeffrey, and I wanted to slam my fist into his face because of the cockiness on his face.

I noticed that Janine was not nervous when I looked at her, and I was somewhat uneasy with the idea that had crossed my mind upon seeing Jeffrey at that exact moment. My gaze moved from one of them to the other.

"What the hell are you doing here, Montebon?" I asked coldly, even though there was already an idea forming at the back of my mind.

Montebon is Jeffrey's surname.

My question caused him to smile more broadly, and I had the impression that he was amused by my outburst, while I resisted the temptation to strike him in the face to remove his arrogance.

I tried to retain my composure, I didn't want them to think that their presence was affecting me, even though that was the case.

Even while it was true that their presence was affecting me, I made an effort to maintain my composure.

"I'm just here to pick up my fiancee, let's go, Janine," he said, looking possessively at her.

My suspicion was further supported by Jeffrey's remarks, and I couldn't shake the grating sensation that something I owned had been taken from me.

With a pleading expression on her face, Janine seemed to be expecting me to step in and rescue her, but I remained motionless and watched as they got into Jeffrey's car and drove off.

She already made her decision, and she decided to leave me and be with my enemy.

"The hell with this!" I angrily muttered, because for once, I didn't know what to do.

I would be lying if I said I didn't have any thoughts when Janine left me. We've been living together for about a year, but the grief was quickly replaced by another emotion.

I was pissed because of Jeffrey; my ego couldn't accept the fact that I lost my girl to him, and for once, I felt I lost to him.