Chapter 15
JASMINE
Finished
After saying goodbye to that cute little kid, I didn’t forget that Bruno was still waiting for me.
Bruno has been waiting for me the entire time; I hurry into the high–end restaurant, muttering words of apology for the long wait.
“It’s fine, you came that’s all that matters,” Bruno smiles broadly, his eyes flaring with surprise when I presented him with the gift.
“Happy birthday Mr. Zamora!”
The waiter arrive with the food and cake I had specially ordered for Bruno and we start to eat. I begin to explain to him how I saved a child from a kidnapper.
“You didn’t think about your safety? Honestly, you’re quite an interesting woman, Jasmine, I’ve never met anyone as brave as you are,”
I smile as I suddenly remember the brave cute little boy from earlier.
“You like children a lot, I see. Ever thought about having another one after.
My smile freezes, the heavy ache from earlier returning to snatch me with full force. I shake my head, the appetite suddenly gone from me and a lingering pang of bitterness settles within.
Jasmine, is something wrong? I only… shit! I shouldn’t have reminded you about your loss, I’m so sorry!”
“Mr. Zamora, let’s cut your cake!” I say in a forced cheery that Bruno’s gaze seems to notice, the guilt in his gaze thickens.
When he had found me four years ago, he had asked about the baby, and I had told him then that the child died; I didn’t explain the details surrounding the baby’s death to him and allowed him to simply assume that I had a stillbirth.
“Jasmine, don’t you think it’s time to move on?” Bruno murmurs so softly that I almost don’t hear him. I look up to see his eyes burning with an emotion that makes me shift in my chair uncomfortably.
All this time I’ve stayed with Bruno, I would be stupid if I hadn’t noticed that he feels a certain way about me. Once, he had been drunk and had even confessed to me, only to apologize the next morning.
I don’t want to waste the time of such a good man.
I don’t deserve him.
Delving into a relationship is something I refuse to do in this lifetime again. I’m frightened by
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Chapter 15
“You cannot remain in the past forever, you’re such a beautiful young woman—
Finished
“Mr. Zamora, I suddenly remember that I have somewhere else to be this evening!” I interrupt his words, my heart clenching at the hurt that flashes in his eyes.
It kills me to cause him such pain, but I also cannot accept his feelings.
We’ve already finished eating dinner and also cut the cake; we are walking out of the restaurant when my phone suddenly rings, and a lump of unease lodges in my throat.
“Hello, Dad,”
“Come have dinner at home tonight,”
A brief period of uncomfortable silence passes between us. The tension makes my palms become clammy with anxious sweats.
“Dad, I…”
1 hear
my
father sigh from the other end of the line as he says, “Do you still hate me?”
Do I hate him?
This is the same man that ignored my whole existence after my mom’s death, who also allowed. another woman and her daughter to come into our home, taking I and my mother’s place.
I get that my mother’s infidelity turned him into upper society’s biggest joke, and I’ve also recently learned that Romano had crumbled my father’s business and threatened to even kill him if he attempted to interfere with my marriage, but I still cannot simply forget everything.
Several months ago, I still don’t know how he got my number, and I noticed his eagerness to try to bridge the distance between us.
“Jasmine is coming back. Cook a bit more for dinner. I hear my father’s voice saying to someone, and my stepmother’s high–pitched voice comes through the next second.
“Oh, she’s coming back? Why do you need that bitch whose mother slept with another man? She’ll ruin the atmosphere if she comes around!”
I can even hear her resentment through the phone, and the coil around my chest becomes even tighter, only this time it’s from anger.
“She’s still my daughter. Let the past stay in the past, alright? Jasmine, will you come?”
I wasn’t planning to, but now, I certainly will.
If not for anything, I simply want to make that woman uncomfortable just as she made my life a living hell.
I arrived at the ‘home‘ in my memories. Even though I hadn’t been back in many years, this place
Chapter 15
Finished
I inhale raggedly, clenching my fingers around my purse while staring at the villa. The bittersweet nostalgic memories of this place echo in my memories.
It has been so long since my last return; because of my stepmother’s cruelty, I had to live with my maternal grandma most of the time.
I walk into the large living room to see that everything has changed, and no more the cozy apartment I used to know.
“Oh, if it isn’t Jasmine
holding the handrail.
It’s been a while.” I look up to see Petra slowly coming downstairs while.
Her eyes are narrowed as she rakes me from head to toe like a vicious vulture. I can see the hate. in her gaze and it fills me with satisfaction because I know that I’m no longer that malnourished girl that she used to bully.
“Time changes everyone, even the ugly duckling can turn into a swan.” She remarks mockingly and I regard her with a cool smile.
“Look at you, and you look older, have the years been unkind to you?”
Rage bubbles in her eyes at my words. I know how vain she is; ageing is quite a normal process, but Petra doesn’t just accept that; she has undergone a lot of botched surgery just to attempt to look younger.
“Do you think you can be rude to me simply because you work for Scentual Dreams? I also know that you created the Love Pearl No. 1; your small success has gotten into your head!” She spits in
annoyance.
I hide my frown perfectly, I’m not even too surprised that she knows about me. Petra also owns a perfume company as part of one of her businesses.
I know she must be restless because my new product had outperformed hers, “I hear that you invested quite a lot in your project, you must have suffered a huge loss because of me, allow me to apologize,”
Petra’s gaze grows more intense with fury at my taunts, she walks towards me, a tight smile displaying on her face.
“We’re a family, if you succeed, it’s also to the glory of our family, why don’t we stop being mean to each other? I want you to come to work for me; after all, it’s better than slaving for a stranger?”
A sneer curls around my lips, is she trying to bargain with me?
With this fake attitude of hers?
The nerve!
“I’m not your family, Petra. The life of a stranger has more worth to me than yours,” I say coldly, the bitter memories resurfacing again.
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Chapter 15
time I returned from my maternal grandma’s house.
Finished
She would always call my mother a whore and my grandmother a witch, and tell me that she is. only cleansing me so that their jinx will not affect me.
She always humiliated me at every given opportunity and even tried to marry me to one of her old business partners when I just turned eighteen.
Marrying Romano had prevented that, but then again I ended up getting chained to the devil himself.
“Ah, you’re back,” My father’s voice sounds from behind.
I turn around, our gazes clashing and holding for some seconds.
“Dad,” I say; he looks older than I remember, too, with several grey spots on his head, and the wrinkles around his eyes are more prominent.
Another walks inside the living room, I see the shock in Fiona’s gaze as she sees me.
She is Petra’s daughter, my step–sister.
