LOGINMich's POV
Hindi ko alam kung gaano katagal kaming nakatayo roon. Malayo sa ingay ng ballroom. Malayo sa mga bisita. Malayo sa mundong pareho naming ginagalawan. Tanging malamig na hangin at mga ilaw ng siyudad ang nasa paligid namin. At si Zane. Nakatayo sa harapan ko. Mas malapit kaysa sa dapat. Mas malapit kaysa sa kaya kong balewalain. "The guy from the bar never gave up, huh?" Napangiti siya. Hindi iyong mayabang na ngiti na naaalala ko noon. Mas tahimik. Mas totoo.It was the final stretch of the trading week, and the financial district was bracing for the ultimate showdown. Inside the trading floor of Zane’s independent firm, the tension was palpable. Monitors flashed with real-time analytics as the countdown to the 3:00 PM closing bell began. Zane stood in the center of the room, his sleeves rolled up, watching the Villanueva Group’s stock charts like a hawk. He had successfully orchestrated a massive market recovery, bringing the family’s valuation back to a stable baseline. He was just hours away from completely fulfilling his secret agreement with his father.Once that bell rang, the legal release would take effect. The forced marriage with Veronica would be officially annulled by the board, and he would finally have the absolute right to choose his own life without the heavy chains of the Villanueva name.But back at the penthouse, the silence was deafening. Mich stood in the middle of the master bedroom, staring at a single, sle
The next three days felt like a blur of intense corporate maneuvers and quiet domestic heartbreak. Following the terms of the secret agreement, Zane barely slept. He stayed locked in his private war room, systematically injecting his independent capital to absorb the panic selling of the Villanueva Group shares. Slowly but surely, the stock market began to react to his massive financial intervention. The aggressive bleeding stopped, and the numbers finally greened. He was successfully stabilizing the very empire that had tried to hollow him out—buying his freedom one billion pesos at a time.But while Zane was winning the financial war, he was losing the emotional timeline.Mich spent those three days pretending to be strong, running Serafina Studios with a calm mask while her internal world was completely disintegrating. She could see the sheer exhaustion lining Zane’s face every time he returned to the penthouse. He was spreading himself too thin, fighting his father, hand
The ink on the secret agreement was barely dry, but Zane was already moving like a man possessed. Returning to his private office at his independent firm, he pulled an all-night operation. Phone calls to international market makers, massive capital transfers from his offshore accounts, and strategic block trades were executed under his direct command. By 4:00 AM, the bleeding in the Villanueva Group’s aftermarket trading had finally stopped. Zane was pouring his own hard-earned wealth into the very empire that had tried to crush him, all to buy a freedom that should have been his from the start.But while Zane was silently executing his high-stakes rescue mission, the emotional toll on the other side of the city was reaching its breaking point.Back at the penthouse, Mich hadn't slept a wink. The silence of the massive apartment felt louder than the corporate warfare outside. She sat on the edge of the bed, her laptop open to the news feeds. Even though the immediate attacks
By 9:00 PM, the structural damage to the Villanueva Group had crossed the point of no return. Zane’s ruthless counter-strategy, paired with the public exposure of his father’s manufactured lies, had sent the corporate board into a state of absolute terror. Investors were pulling out in droves, and the critical multi-billion-peso merger with the Delos Reyes group was officially dead. The proud, untouchable empire that Mr. Villanueva had spent a lifetime guarding was visibly fracturing from the top down.Inside a dimly lit private boardroom at the Villanueva Executive Annex, the father of Zane sat alone. The room, which usually buzzed with powerful executives, was dead silent. The stock tickers on the wall were a bloodbath of red percentages. For the first time in his life, Mr. Villanueva looked his age—defeated, cornered, and left with no cards to play.The heavy mahogany doors swung open, and Zane walked in. He didn't look like a son visiting his father; he looked like a con
The morning hustle inside Serafina Studios was louder than usual, but the atmosphere felt incredibly suffocating. Even though Zane’s team was actively moving in the background to intercept the logistics freeze, Mich could feel the invisible eyes of the high society judging her every move. She stood by the large glass window of her office, watching the city below, her mind drifting to a dark, quiet place.With every day that passed, the realization was hitting her harder than before. She couldn't shake off the crushing weight of the social divide between them. To the elite world, to his family, she was just an event stylist who got lucky—a distraction. Meanwhile, Zane was a Villanueva, born to lead an empire and legally bound by tradition to marry someone like Veronica Delos Reyes.Mich clutched her cold hands together, feeling an intense, quiet ache in her chest. Habang tumatagal, mas lalo niyang nare-realize kung gaano kalaki ang pagitan ng mundong ginagalawan nila. The she
The morning sun filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the penthouse, but the warmth did not reach Mich. By 8:00 AM, the brief peace they had fought for the night before vanished. Mich sat at the dining table, surrounded by three different phones, all of them ringing intermittently."Anong ibig mong sabihin na hindi darating ang mga raw materials?" Mich’s voice trembled with a mixture of disbelief and growing panic as she spoke into her main office line. "Naka-kontrata tayo sa Vanguard Logistics para sa delivery ng international film equipment at hard drives ngayon. We have a hard deadline for the Southeast Asian cultural film showcase next week!""Pasensya na talaga, Ms. Mich," the logistics manager on the other end stuttered, sounding terrified. "Biglang nag-pull out ang Vanguard. Sabi nila, nagkaroon daw ng biglaang system-wide audit sa mga warehouse nila at hindi pwedeng ilabas ang kahit anong kargamento para sa Serafina Studios. At hindi lang sila, pati ang ba
Zane's POV Tatlong taon. Tatlong taon ko siyang hindi nakita. At ngayon na nasa harapan ko na siya, hindi ko alam kung bakit pakiramdam ko ay mas mahirap pa itong harapin kaysa sa inaasahan ko. Tahimik akong nakatayo sa gilid ng ballroom habang hawak ang isang baso ng whiskey.
Hindi pa rin maalis ni Mich ang imahe ni Zane sa isip niya. Kahit gaano niya piliting mag-focus sa event, kusa pa ring bumabalik ang atensyon niya sa lalaking nakita niya matapos ang tatlong taon. Matapos ang pagkakatitigan nila kanina, nagpasya siyang lumayo muna sa gitna ng ballroom.
Zane’s POV “Your father is waiting downstairs.” Tahimik kong narinig ang sinabi ni Damon habang pareho kaming naglalakad palabas ng boardroom. Mabigat agad ang pakiramdam ko. Because whenever my father asked for a “family discussion,” it never meant anything good. Madalas negosyo. Kasunduan.
Zane’s POV “Mr. Villanueva, your signature, please.” Hindi ko na halos narinig ang sinasabi ng assistant ko habang walang emosyon kong pinipirmahan ang mga documents sa harap ko. Tatlong oras. Tatlong oras na meeting pero pakiramdam ko wala namang pumapasok sa utak ko. Numbers. Contract







