“What’s up, Myra?”
Jake was looking at her with a concerned look. She had been looking listless ever since she peeked out of the door but could not find who she saw earlier.
Two months of becoming a CEO transformed him from the douchebag he was in the past, but sadly, another had taken Myra. Although he sensed that she still carried feelings for him, he had to work hard and fast to prevent Myra from progressing in her relationship with that foreign Chinese man. What was his name again? Hatta Baderan.
Myra finally gave up. Was she dreaming, or was it really him?
“Nothing. I must have mistaken someone for-” she stopped before she said his name. Jake understood immediately.
She must have powerful feelings for that man in just a few months, Jake interpreted. Amidst his dismay, Jake had only himself to blame for how he treated her during the vacation. The days that he and the others lost contact with her were the loneliest and most remorseful days of his life. He allowed Yuna to tag along with him because of the so-called pregnancy, but once they returned, she only proved a hindrance.
Fortunately, when his father announced he would retire from the affairs of the company and handed YX Limited’s affairs to him, not only was it an opportunity for him to advance himself but also a splendid excuse to spend time away from Yuna. He sent her to safe beauty treatments and whatever she needed to live out the rest of her pregnancy.
Because his father could not stand the sight of her, he arranged for her an apartment to stay in and even had a maid take care of her. He accompanied her when he could, but like his father, he detested even having to spend a minute with her.
Yuna was always nagging at him. He wished he had never known her. He wished he had treated Myra better and believed her when she admitted her feelings. Being the high achiever he was, he exceptionally hated losing, especially for Myra.
Myra felt guilty about the kiss earlier, but seeing Hart with another girl just made her feel sour. The events over the past day already contorted her mind. She wasn’t ready to let Hart go, but there was too much in her mind she wasn’t sure about. Starting from waking up after a wild night with no memory of who she had slept with. Now it was another ardent kiss with Jake and her confusion.
She should speak to Hart about it, she promised herself. It wasn’t right for her to keep things, but what sort of relationship did they have? She admitted the last two months were fantastic for her, but after seeing him with that girl earlier; she wasn’t sure if they were what she thought, right for each other anymore.
While it was normal to have second thoughts about a relationship, she didn’t want to be the one to cheat on him and hurt his feelings. It weighed extremely on her conscience.
Although maybe she had already done that when she kissed Jake earlier. The kiss felt so natural that she knew her heart already betrayed Hart.
“Let’s eat, Myra,” Jake’s tapping gestures diverted her thoughts. “The food is getting cold.”
“Ah,” Myra quickly responded with a smile. As she gripped a serving of sushi between the plastic chopsticks, she sensed Jake’s hand on hers, in a somewhat possessive, yet warm manner.
“Myra, let’s not lie to each other,” he blurted. He gazed at her intensely, drawing her in so deeply that she almost surrendered herself to him in her mind.
“Jake,” she responded with a shiver. “You know… it’s, it’s too late now.”
“Your heart is beating hard,” he commented, which she quickly inserted some distance between them. He inhaled hard, then after a pause, continued.
“Actually, my reason for calling you here is because I have something to tell you. Perhaps I should have told you this, months ago, but I didn’t want to frighten you.”
“What?” her fingers trembled, causing her to drop her sushi in her dish.
“It’s a long story, and this is exactly why my father wants to see you,” Jake calmly explained. “It doesn’t matter if you don’t like me now and you love the Hatta guy, but this is something.... Something between our families. Something that our fathers kept from us. Until now.”
Jake’s words triggered suspicion in her. She wanted to know, yet she was afraid. What if they were related?
What if her family had owed his family a debt?
Or what if they weren’t their fathers’ children, after all?
Too many what-ifs. She shrugged and watched Jake finish his sushi before following suit.
“Myra, there’s a lot on your mind.”
She nodded. “I can’t explain it all at one time, Jake. Between Hart and I....”
He waved his hand with a displeased look. “Myra, when you’re with me, I don’t wish to hear about that guy’s name. I hope you can give me your time and attention. I don’t like to share, even if he is your boyfriend.”
Why was he acting as if he owned her? Myra scratched her head, swallowing down her doubt. She fathomed that if he were to kiss her now, she would again allow him to have her way with her, because she couldn’t find the strength to push him away. Even when she spent the night with Hart in the same bed, Jake was all over her mind.
Wait, Jake had Yuna. The entire university was talking about that, and even Sierra and their friends were aware of their relationship.
Then why hadn’t he brought up that all this while? If he really liked Yuna, why didn’t he mention her at all? Instead, he was kissing her all over, be it yesterday in a public bathroom or here, in their private dining room.
Jake reached for the cup of rice tea. She observed how his hair moved slightly with his gestures. So undoubtedly handsome, that she even forgot Hart was another handsome, but older, male. Perhaps it was the effect of childhood love?
First love was always harder to forget, even after his careless treatment of her in the past. She extended her chopsticks to grab a portion of agedashi tofu, not expecting Jake to aim for the tofu at the same time. The moment her skin touched his, she blushed red with embarrassment.
Jake eyed her, rolling his eyes playfully at her.
“Myra, if you wanted the tofu, I could get it for you, but if you wanted more, um…”
He didn’t finish his sentence. Myra didn’t know what came over her, but she wished he was kissing her again. She chewed nervously on her lower lip, trying her best to ignore the thumps in her chest.
No, that wasn’t it… she shouldn’t be so selfish to only think of herself after the trouble her father and his hotel businesses were in.
Stop, Myra. She hastily changed the topic.
“Jake, what is it you wanted to tell me about?”
He put down his chopsticks slowly before lifting her chin to face him. Bravely, she stared back at him, waiting for him to tell her, while crossing her arms in front of her chest.
“We’re betrothed, Myra.”
His words were so straightforward, yet hit her like a meteor. He released her chin abruptly, causing her to retreat to the wall.
“What?”
“I repeat, we are betrothed. Perhaps that’s the reason why our fathers were so strict with us from the beginning. No matter who I dated in the past, my father would oppose it. I didn’t know till maybe when I was twenty. And that time, I was already abroad. I didn’t expect it, despite how close our fathers were. I mean, it’s the twenty-first century after all. Who believes in such things?”
“I…”
Myra sought a response in her heart. She didn’t know how to react after how she just found out about their ‘family secret’. Neither did she understand why this was happening so soon, just when she moved on with Hart and had yet to understand him more deeply. It was just too complicated for her to accept at once.
So she and Jake were a promised couple?
What did that even mean? Did their betrothal mean anything other than they had a future arranged marriage? But they could cancel it, couldn't they?
She found her voice again.
“Jake, are you saying you want to proceed with this arrangement by our fathers? Do you want to be married while you’re still in your twenties?”
Myra hoped this question would stall him and hinder him from deciding he would regret it in the future.
“Yes and yes, Myra. I said I will fix everything.”
“But Jake, what about her?”
He felt as if she had hammered a thick nail into him.
“What do you mean, her?”
“Her. The girl at the party.”
He didn’t like her bringing up Yuna. His lips convoluted into an uncomfortable look, but he remained calm.
“Myra, I appreciate it if you don’t bring her up. You can refuse to like me, but you can’t force me to love someone I do not.”
This was new to her. If he didn’t love that woman, why was he hugging her at the party?
“Then, who do you love then?” She simply wished to know.
His eyes twinkled. “That’s for me to know and for you to find out. But now, we should finish our meal.”