Chapter 24: Anniversary

My gaze was completely focused on the woman standing next to Mr. Fuentes. Evidently, she was the wife of the man who was in business partnership with my father.

Her eyes were a deep brown, and they looked particularly striking against the royal blue tube dress she was wearing. She seemed to be scanning the room, her gaze eventually settling on me. We locked eyes for a moment.

I blinked in surprise, not really sure how to react. But when she smiled at me, I found myself automatically returning the gesture.

They took their seats at a table fairly distant from ours. After a while, the music began, though it was still quite soft.

I found my eyes wandering around the room, a feeling of restlessness settling in as I began to grow bored with my surroundings.

I fetched my cellphone from my pocket and began to fiddle with it, hoping to find some distraction.

I furrowed my brows as applause broke out from the crowd, the only exception being my mother, who sat with her arms crossed, seemingly indifferent to the ongoing events.

I turned to see the source of the commotion and saw that the birthday celebrant, Kyle's father, had made his appearance. Despite being fifty, he still looked quite good.

But my father was not to be outdone. Dressed in his suit, he looked even better. It seemed as though whatever he wore, his almost perfect features were always highlighted.

A cheerful smile played on his lips. I raised an eyebrow. I wondered if he could maintain that smile once I set my plans into motion.

I was well aware of the Quinto family's plans. They were not even trying to be discreet.

They were using Kyle as a pawn, a way to get closer to my parents and their business. What's more, they even planned to betray my father.

However, my mother, an expert in these matters, was not someone they could fool easily, and neither was I.

Over the past few days, I had been preoccupied and focused on my studies. There were times when I went to the company to help out my parents, and that's when I noticed someone sneaking into my father's office.

I immediately recognized the person and there was no mistaking who it was. It was Kyle's sister, in my father's office, rifling through every drawer as if searching for something.

She was pretending to be the janitor, but I knew better.

A janitor wearing gold bracelets and colored nail polish? Not to mention the heels she was in while dressed in a janitor's outfit. Ridiculous.

That day, I pretended not to recognize her, and she in turn, pretended to be mopping the floor. She left a few minutes later, and I could only shake my head at the mess she made. It was as if she had turned my father's office into a flooded mess.

I glared at the closed office door. That girl was just like her brother. They were two peas in a pod.

I couldn't help but smirk when I spotted her standing next to her mother. She was smiling, clinging to her mother's arm. I couldn't help but think how satisfying it would be to wipe the smile off her face.

She almost disrupted my father's plans with the Fuentes. She was nearly the cause of my father's dreams not coming to fruition.

My father's intentions toward the Fuentes were purely business-related. There were no hidden motives. The Quintos did not want my father to have other business partners because they feared it might destabilize their own company.

But did they not consider that they would be more deeply mired in trouble if they encroached on our territory? Worse still, they planned to sabotage everything that my father had worked so hard for.

And I would not stand for that. Especially not my mother. They would surely feel the full force of my mother's wrath. But she entrusted the matter to me and took steps to handle it.

Their eldest child has wronged me in so many ways, and now they've added more to the list.

They didn't even think that the entire company could be surrounded by hidden cameras, especially in my father's office.

Every corner of the office had tiny hidden cameras. At first glance, you'd think there were no CCTV cameras, but the reality was they were everywhere, just very small.

They appeared as a complete family in front of everyone. I watched them emotionlessly.

Something obstructed my view, so I looked. On our table were Yanna's parents.

I stared at their daughter and followed her gaze. I was slightly taken aback when I saw she was looking at Kyle.

"You look beautiful, Beatrice!" Alana Janine Siran exclaimed, looking in awe at my mother.

My mother simply nodded coldly and did not speak. Yanna's mother was embarrassed and shifted her attention to me.

"Hija," she scanned me from head to toe.

"It's a great time to see you here, Tita," I said with a smile on my lips.

She smiled and hugged me. I reciprocated, but soon pulled away.

I merely watched the Aquinos as they thanked everyone who had come to celebrate Kylan Daniel Quinto's birthday.

He was all smiles. His eyes landed on the Fuentes and immediately lit up.

I rolled my eyes and averted my gaze. The feast began and several servers started distributing wines to each table. I scanned the room, stood up, and approached the long table.

My attention was drawn to a chocolate fountain. It looked delicious, but I had no intention of indulging in chocolate that evening.

I looked up when I felt someone approach me. There I saw Kyle's smiling face.

My eyebrows slowly rose in surprise. After a moment, he handed me a red box. I eyed it warily.

When he sensed my reluctance to accept it, he gently took my hand and placed the red box in it.

"What's this for?" I asked him, puzzled.

"You already forgot?" He frowned, his face begging to be slapped.

"That's my third anniversary gift to you," he said with a smile.

I closed my eyes as bright lights flashed and camera shutters clicked. In my peripheral vision, I saw camera men and paparazzi. So, is this all just for show? Does he want to see himself in a newspaper, claiming to be a sweet boyfriend because he's giving his girlfriend a gift? Is that it?

I accepted it silently, without saying anything. I discreetly avoided his attempt to touch my waist. He was persistent and insistent, so I simply let him be.

He drew closer, his face inching towards mine, and his gaze lingered on my lips momentarily before swiftly returning to meet my eyes.

"Happy third anniversary, Yvonne," he whispered gently.

Anniversary? The audacity of associating such a significant milestone with his presence, his face, and his hollow words!