“Hey, cutie,” Olivia said, still smiling and ignoring her question.
“That doesn’t answer my question, and stop smiling like a crazy psychopath before I throw you out of my house,” Fabby yelled, pushing her with her little hands. She felt disgusted by her presence.
Olivia chuckled before deciding to introduce herself. “My name is Olivia, and I’m your brother’s girlfriend and future wife.”
Fabby’s expression was priceless as she couldn’t believe the woman her father was trying to set up with her brother was standing right in front of her. She vowed to give her a piece of her mind. “So you’re Olivia?” she suddenly asked, to which Olivia quickly nodded with a smile. “So you’re the shameless woman forcing herself on my brother.”
Olivia thought to herself, “Okay, that was rude.” She couldn’t believe a young child, who she assumed to be around five or six years old, could use such harsh words on her.
“I will never let my brother marry–”
“Fabby, will you be quiet,” Reyes yelled sternly as he walked down the stairs. “That’s not how you speak to your elders. Apologize to her, now!” He added, finally standing in front of them.
Fabby rolled her eyes at her father’s words. “Just look at the dress she’s wearing. I know she’s here to seduce my brother. She should leave this house now. I don’t like her,” she snapped, sending Olivia a hostile glare before running upstairs without apologizing.
Olivia’s jaw dropped in shock as she tried to process Fabby’s words, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Reyes noticed how shocked she was and placed a warm hand on her shoulder, pulling her into a hug. She hugged him back.
“I’m sorry for Fabby’s behavior. She’s just like that with strangers. Please don’t take it to heart,” he apologized, withdrawing from the hug.
“I didn’t ask you to apologize for me,” Fabby shouted before running off to her room.
Reyes smiled at Olivia as he guided her to sit on the couch. It was then that he noticed Alverdo and hurried over to hug him.
“I thought you left the country because of the contract you mentioned to me,” Alverdo asked after exchanging pleasantries with Reyes, as they both stepped back from the hug and sat across from each other.
Reyes chuckled for a long time. “Something came up, so I had to cancel a lot of appointments,” he replied, trying to stifle his laughter.
Olivia gazed at her father, wondering why he hadn’t brought up his intentions yet. She wanted to see how Javier’s parents would react when they found out what their son had done to her, knowing that her father had seen her viral video online.
“Look who we have here, Mr. Alverdo,” Helen exclaimed in surprise as she descended the stairs to greet him. Fabby had just come into her room a few minutes ago and revealed everything to her, so Helen hurried downstairs to meet him.
Olivia turned towards the voice, her jaw dropping in astonishment. Now she understood where Javier and Fabby had inherited their attractive facial features. The only distinction was that Javier had his mother’s hair color, while Fabby had her father’s blue eyes.
Helen descended the stairs with a cheerful smile, approaching Olivia, faking excitement. “Olivia!” she called, “You look even more beautiful in person than how your father described you.” Helen giggled and took Olivia’s hands, though she was only acting this way because her husband had threatened her too. For once, she had never liked Olivia for Javier. But for now, she had to go along with her husband’s wishes.
“Thank you, ma–”
“No, I’m Helen, but you can call me Mom from now on. I’m already rooting for you and my Javier,” she whispered, giggling and pulling Olivia in for a hug, which Olivia returned wholeheartedly.
Upon hearing those words from Helen, Olivia felt a surge of pride and joy, with butterflies dancing in her stomach and tingles running through her body. With both parents on her side, she was confident that nothing could prevent her from being with Javier.
However, Olivia’s excitement turned to concern when she thought about her encounter with Fabby. It was clear that Fabby was her only obstacle, as she could sense Fabby’s dislike for her from the moment they met. Olivia was determined not to let Fabby stand in the way of her relationship with Javier.
Olivia thought, “If she tried anything, I wouldn’t hesitate to kill her to remove her from my path, because Javier is meant for me and no one else.”
Helen released the hug after a few minutes, still holding Olivia’s hands as she smiled. “You are now my daughter. You are welcome to visit us anytime. I want you to consider this your second home,” she said sweetly.
“Thank you, ma. I mean… Mom,” Olivia stammered nervously, turning to look at her dad, who nodded in approval, smiling.
Helen took Olivia’s hand and led her to the dining room. “I made a delicious meal for lunch and since you both are here, I want you to join us,” she said, pulling out a chair for Olivia and urging her to sit.
Olivia nervously looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of Javier, but she was disappointed when she didn’t see him and wondered if he hadn’t come home the night before. Despite her nerves, she decided to ask, “Is Javier joining us for lunch?” she asked, forcing a smile.
Helen smiled and shook her head, understanding Olivia’s anxiety. She knew that Javier’s reaction to seeing Olivia would be predictable, given his clear statement that he had no intention of marrying her. “Do you want me to call him for you?” she asked, signaling the maid to start serving the meal.
Olivia’s body was once again gripped by fear as his warning from the previous night filled her head. “Stay away from me if you ever want to live long,” he had said. She was scared. How would he react when he found out that despite his warning, she still had the guts to sit in his house? Although she wasn’t that scared because she was reassured that his parents wouldn’t let him do anything crazy to her, deep down in her heart, she was already crying.
Helen quickly diverted her attention to see her husband and his friend engrossed in their conversation, laughing out loud. “You two need to come over before the food gets cold,” she told them, before turning to Olivia as she moved her hand to her phone. She punched in some numbers and lifted it to her ear. Then she muttered sweetly, “Get downstairs.”
“Mom, you called me,” Fabby said as she entered the room, her gaze fixed on Olivia.
Olivia couldn’t help but notice how much Fabby’s angry eyes resembled Javier’s. “Why do they look so much alike? Blood doesn’t lie,” she thought.
“Go call your brother and tell him I sent for him. Say nothing more or less,” Helen commanded, glaring at Fabby. Fabby nodded and shot one last glare at Olivia before heading upstairs.
Without knocking, Fabby burst into Javier’s room and interrupted their conversation. “Lunch is ready. And your girlfriend is waiting downstairs,” she snapped before leaving.
“Whose girlfriend?” Elvis and Javier asked simultaneously, causing Fabby to stop and turn around to face them.
“Mommy said I shouldn’t say anything more or less–” she rolled her eyes.
“I know Mommy never asked you to add that last part, ‘girlfriend,’ in her message. So you said more,” Elvis interrupted, almost chuckling.
Fabby sighed, her shoulders dropping. “Fine! Olivia is here, sitting with Mom in the dining room,” she mumbled in a low sad voice, before walking away.
Javier rushed down the stairs, furious and with numerous plans running through his mind. He had to put an end to this nonsense because it seemed like his dad and Alverdo were determined to force Olivia on him.
As he reached the last step, he saw them chatting and laughing, disturbing the peace of the house.
Helen was the first to notice him, as he was fuming in anger. She immediately attempted to soothe him with her eyes, but Javier was not ready to calm down. Just as Reyes and Alverdo turned and saw him, they stopped laughing and waited for him to approach. Olivia was the last to see him as she continued to stare at him. Javier locked eyes with her as he marched toward her.
Olivia fearfully ran behind Helen’s back for protection. “How dare you?” He shouted angrily, trying to pull her out from behind his mother’s back.
“Javier, are you out of your mind?” Helen scolded, blocking his path to Olivia. “Olivia is your future wife. You need to learn to treat her well,” she added.
“Future wife? Mom, how could you do this to me? I thought you were on my side?” Javier yelled, pulling his hair in frustration. He felt like he was going crazy because these three were determined to drive him insane. He suddenly turned to Alverdo with bloodshot eyes. “If you two don’t leave this building, I might do something drastic and you’ll regret it.” he threatened, taking a step towards him.
Alverdo’s face was filled with fear, but he quickly covered it with a nervous smile. He didn’t want to be intimidated by a young man who could be his son. Alverdo summoned up the little courage left in him and turned to face Reyes, “The reason why I came here is to finalize the day of the engagement for our children.” He said, without sparing Javier a glance as he fixed his glares on Reyes while he spoke.
Reyes furrowed his eyes in confusion, “Why the hurry.” He asked, stepping closer to his friend.
“Haven’t you seen the viral video trending online? Where your son shamelessly humiliated my daughter in his club? Well… He has to marry Olivia as compensation for his actions.
Reyes sighed, giving what Alverdo said a deep thought. After a while, “If that’s the case, then their marriage will take place in two months.” He finally agreed to Alverdo’s word.
“I will never marry her,” Javier stated.
Olivia interrupted, screaming behind his mother’s back, “Javier, if I don’t have you, no one else will. Just mark my words.”
Javier sent her a murderous glare and said, “Bitch, are you still talking? I will—–‘
“You don’t have a choice here.” His father stated with a note of finality in his voice.
Javier furiously turned to confront his father, but Helen yelled, “Are you crazy? What are you turning into? What—” Helen started crying, but Javier ignored her and turned to face Alverdo.
“You two are not welcome here, I’m not marrying your daughter.” he pointed at the door. “Unless you want me to call Mac to throw you out. The paparazzi are outside and I’m sure they’d love to see this. This is just what they want, and I think you know that,” he said with a smirk.
Alverdo quickly got up and took his daughter’s hand. Then he stopped and turned around, shouting, “We’ll see about that.” He walked away.
Reyes chuckled dryly and turned to face Javier. “Your engagement party has been scheduled for two months. You can’t do anything about it now,” he informed Javier, who looked shocked.
“I have a girlfriend,” Javier blurted out without realizing what he said.
Reyes stopped and turned to stare at his son, realizing that Javier was trying to avoid the marriage by claiming to have a girlfriend. “Show her to me and I will cancel the engagement party. But if you don’t, be prepared to marry Olivia,” he said to Javier before continuing upstairs. Deep down, he dared Javier to prove his claim.