Nana kept crying uncontrollably, her shoulders shaking softly. She slowly raised her head in the direction of Helen’s voice and saw her standing with furrowed eyebrows, looking confused.
“What is happening here?” Helen asked, turning to Olivia. Olivia, who was indifferent to Helen’s presence, rudely rolled her eyes and went to retrieve her lipstick from her dressing mirror, intentionally ignoring Helen’s question.
Helen was taken aback by Olivia’s disrespectful reaction and was puzzled by her behavior. She sighed and turned to Nana, asking, “Nana, why are you kneeling and crying? What happened?”
Nana crawled towards Helen on her knees. “Ma’am, I was wrongly accused of ruining her engagement dresses, which I didn’t do,” she said, tears streaming down her chubby chin. “I only found out because she asked…”
“You bloody liar. How dare you!” Olivia angrily yelled out and began storming toward her and stood in front of her. She quickly raised her hand to slap Nana, but Helen was quick to grab her hand before it landed on her chin.
Olivia turned and stared at Helen with a bloodshot gaze, then averted her eyes to her wrist where Helen was tightly holding on. She scoffed and rolled her eyes.
“Olivia, what has come over you? Where are your manners? Can’t you even respect my presence?” Helen questioned in dismay, feeling insulted by Olivia’s attitude.
Olivia struggled and finally broke free from Helen’s grip. She faced her, glaring into her eyes. “You should’ve minded your own business without interfering in matters that…”
“Of course, it concerns me because I was the one who called Nana here to do your makeup. I won’t stand by and watch you mistreat her because of something she knew nothing about,” Helen cut her off, firing back at her.
Olivia erupted into mocking laughter, clapping her hands together before finally regaining her composure. With a fierce gaze fixed on Nana, she declared, “I don’t care how much you vouch for her loyalty and honesty. All I know is that she ruined my dress and she will pay for it.” Olivia confidently walked towards her wardrobe to retrieve a new dress for the engagement.
Helen was taken aback by Olivia’s bold response. “Did you just talk back to me? It seems like you don’t want this marriage to happen,” she threatened.
Olivia laughed mockingly, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Oh, please don’t try to manipulate me with that. We both know you have no authority in this household. Your opinions are worthless, just like you, which is why you ran away from your family,” she taunted, a smirk playing on her lips as she remembered her father’s words about the Reyes family.
Helen’s hands clenched her dress as she tried to control the anger bubbling inside her. No one had ever confronted her about abandoning her family, not even Javier. But when Olivia, of all people, dared to criticize her, Helen couldn’t contain her fury.
“You should save yourself from your worthless marriage before interfering in matters that don’t concern you,” Olivia taunted.
Helen’s hand shot out, landing a powerful slap on Olivia’s chin, cutting her off mid-sentence.
“Ouch!” Olivia winced, holding her stinging chin, her eyes blazing with anger as she stared at Helen.
“You slapped me?” Olivia exclaimed, her voice tinged with disbelief.
Helen pointed a finger at Olivia, her chest heaving with rage. “You will regret this, I promise you,” she thundered before storming out of the room and slamming the door behind her.
Olivia was furious. She punched the air and stomped her legs on the floor in frustration. When she turned around, she saw the artist looking at her with concern, noticing her bloodshot eyes.
“Get out of here,” she yelled at them, and they hurriedly left the room, leaving her alone. She angrily flopped onto the bed, her mind consumed by the memory of Helen’s slap, which played on a loop in her head.
‘Just you wait. I’ll marry your son and bring you all down.’ She thought fiercely, gripping her duvet tightly.
The door swung open, revealing her father as he entered the room. He was puzzled by her lack of preparation. “Olivia!” he called out, but she was lost in her thoughts, already giving it a second thought to break off the engagement herself.
“Who’s… Oh, it’s you, dad.” She was startled but relaxed when she saw him.
“Why aren’t you ready yet? The guests are waiting, and Javier is downstairs waiting for you,” her father said, taking a seat beside her.
Olivia remained silent, lost in her thoughts. Finally, she spoke up, “I’m done, dad,” she said bluntly, meeting her father’s confused gaze.
“What do you mean?” Alverdo asked gently, taking her hand in his. “Talk to daddy,” he urged her, hoping she hadn’t blown their cover and ruined everything with her temper.
“My dresses are ruined, and I don’t even know who was behind it. Just a few minutes ago, Helen slapped me,” Olivia burst into tears, leaning on her father’s shoulder. “I don’t want this marriage anymore, daddy,” she cried.
Alverdo sighed softly. “What did you say to her?”
“I insulted her about how she left her marriage and how Uncle Reyes was mistreating her,” Olivia sputtered, feeling a slight guilt for her words towards Helen.
“You shouldn’t have said that, Olivia. We can’t afford to miss our chance at getting what we’ve always wanted. All the insults and embarrassment you’ve endured are about to pay off. You shouldn’t have messed everything up with your temper,” Alverdo scolded sternly.
“I’m sorry, Daddy,” Olivia apologized, playing with her fingers.
Alverdo sighed softly with his shoulders dropped as he considered a way out. “Helen has no authority in this house, but Reyes’ parents are here and they’ve always been against Reyes mistreating her. They would at least support her and take her words into consideration,” he revealed.
“What should we do now?” Olivia inquired.
“We’ll go downstairs, and you’ll offer her a glass of wine and apologize for your actions. Show genuine remorse and act pitiful. If possible, cry until she forgives you. Once you have her forgiveness, then we can move on to plan B,” Alverdo explained.
He was confident that Helen would forgive Olivia, knowing her forgiving nature once apologies were made and mistakes acknowledged.
Olivia nodded and stood up from the bed. She picked up the dress her father had brought for her, even though Helen had suggested she choose from the one she had ordered abroad a few weeks back.
Within a minute, she was fully dressed in her orange slim-fit gown. The gown hugged her skin perfectly, accentuating all her curves and making her look beautiful. She found a matching shoe to complete her outfit and giggled excitedly, saying, “All done!”
“Let’s go,” Alverdo said, extending his hand to lead her out of the room, closing the door behind them.
Father and daughter walked down the stairs hand in hand. Olivia’s mind was preoccupied with thoughts of how she could win over Javier’s mom, following the advice her father had given her. However, she soon realized that it was easier said than done.
As they descended the stairs, Olivia expected the crowd to start clapping at the sight of her and her father, but to her surprise, no one even spared them a glance. All eyes were fixed on the stage, leaving her confused and wondering what had captured their attention and prevented them from acknowledging her presence.
Suddenly, she began to hear whispers: “Javier’s fiancée is stunning.”
“Her purple dress exudes luxury, girl.”
Intrigued by the compliments, she let go of her father’s hand and approached the stage. There, she saw Javier holding hands affectionately with a woman whose face she couldn’t see because she had her back turned.
However, she quickly recognized the woman standing nearby, whom she had encountered in Elvis’ company when she tried to seduce him.
Without hesitation, she ran to stand in front of Javier, her jaw dropping when she saw the woman he was holding. “You?!” she exclaimed in disbelief.
Natalie’s lips curled into a sly smirk, anticipating this reaction. “Yes, it’s me,” she replied boldly, her smirk growing wider in mockery.