The kidn*pped Billionaire

Graduation

Vea

The following days after my birthday were not different from a normal day of my life. I wake up, my father scolds me, I prepare for work, go to work, and then spend my whole day working, trying to impress my dad. Many people think that being the only child and only heir of a very rich and powerful family is a great thing, but they don’t see what’s inside the curtains. I get to carry all the responsibilities to keep the pride of our clan, and exhaust myself trying to be validated by every member of our family. I never chose this life. 

If I were able to choose, I would rather become a child of a local here in Sta. Corazon. The only good thing about being rich is that I never worry about where I will live, what I will eat, or what I will wear. That’s all. Sometimes I just want to run away and live by myself. Or plan my own k********g-- well that’s a weird idea but it’s smart. Nevermind. 

I need to get ready quickly. Today is graduation day. Finally, father will stop making me do errands that are unnecessary. However, I’m kinda sad because my mother is not here. She went overseas to meet some business partners. She wouldn’t be able to attend my graduation day. Mom and dad are talking over the phone, maybe it’s about me again.

“I told you I don’t have time for events like that! I have a lot of work to do today. I wouldn’t be able to attend your daughter’s graduation!” 

Mom and dad are arguing again because of me. I get it. Even if I’m the only child, I will never be my father’s favorite child. 

“Our daughter, Aki. She’s your child too! And it’s your responsibility to be a father to her. Please Aki, attend her graduation.”  

That won’t do anything mom. Even if you cry tears of blood, dad’s mind would not change-- especially when your favor has anything to do with me. 

“No. I’m busy today. She can do it herself. I need to go now.” See? He never cares about me. He doesn’t have time for me. But when it’s other people’s graduation, he has the time to be a guest of honor, and sometimes even the speaker. 

“Fine. Do whatever you want.  You never listen to me Achellous. I never should’ve married you. I won’t ever ask you for any favors anymore. If one day I give you divorce papers, don’t even bother asking why.” Mom hung up on dad. 

It’s painful to hear your parents arguing because your father does not want to attend your graduation ceremony. But sometimes I think that I’ll become a better person if my mother and father were separated. Of course I will go with my mother. I can never live with dad without my mother. 

“It’s okay. Don’t go to my graduation. I’ll just go to the ceremony on my own. It’s just like the old times. Nothing new. Right? I’m fine on my own anyway. If you don’t want to treat me as your child, can you have some decency to treat me as a human? And don’t worry about mom. I’ll call her later, and I will tell her that I don’t want you to go to my graduation. As if I ever wanted you to go either, because the moment you told me that you never wanted a child like me, I told myself that I also don’t want a father like you. So go continue your life.”

Father just looked at me and didn’t say a thing. It pains me whenever I go to special ceremonies on my own. No mother, no father, no anything. It’s a big fat whopping lie whenever I tell my father that I don’t want him to go to any special events in my life. The truth is that I want him to be there. I want him to see me go to a new chapter of my life, I want him to be proud of whatever achievement I have reached, and I want him to be a part of whatever milestone I stepped into. 

But I have accepted the fact that it’s all a dream. My father will never be proud of my achievements, and he will never be proud of me being his child. I said those things to him because I attempted to hurt him. Does he ever have feelings? I hope so. I want to hurt him like how he hurts me and mom. 

I went upstairs to my room, and left dad alone in the kitchen. Before I started preparing for my graduation, I grabbed my phone and called mom. 

“Hey mom. Are you doing well there? I hope you’re fine.” 

“I’m fine sweetie. Thank you for asking. How are you doing? I’m sorry if I will not be able to attend your graduation. I tried talking to your dad about it but he refused. I’m really sorry Mae.” I can hear my mother sniffing. I think she’s crying. Well now I’m sad too. 

No, mom. It’s okay. I told him that I didn’t want him to attend. Don’t worry too much mom. I’ll just ask our driver to come as my guardian. I think he’s not busy today. I’ll just pay him some cash. If it’s okay with you, mom?

“You’re a really smart kid, Mae. I’ll go call him and ask him if he wants to. I’ll be the one who will pay him also. Thank you for being considerate, my princess. I love you so much.”

“I love you too mom.”

“By the way, what do you want for your graduation gift? I’ll buy you anything you want. Name it.”

“Please come home. And a tub of mango ice cream. That’s all mom.”

“I’ll come home as soon as possible. With a tub of your favorite mango ice cream. I love you so much, Mae. Congratulations on your graduation. See you soon. Goodbye!”

Bye, mom. I love you too. 

I hung up. I hurried downstairs to look for our driver. I asked every house helper if they’ve seen him, but all of them said no. I tried to call him but his phone is unattended. I went inside of our house, then my phone beeped. 

*Phone beeps* *1 text message from Viennyyyyy

“Hey! Congratulations! I’m proud of you!” 

I texted Vienna back, thanking her for her greetings. A few minutes later, a vehicle arrived outside our house. Yay! It’s our driver. Again, I went outside to ask him the favor.

“Kuya! Did mom call you?”

“Yes, miss. I’d gladly attend your graduation. What should I wear? I don’t have any fancy clothes.” He was very shy. 

“Don’t worry, Kuya. That’s very easy. I’ll just call some friends to help you with your clothing. Did mom already pay you? If not, name your price I’ll give it to you.”

“No miss. It’s okay, please don’t pay me. Besides, I’m sure that the clothes you will give me will cost more than my whole year's worth of salary. It’s already an honor to come to your graduation and be part of one of your successes.” Our driver is so humble! I wish dad was like him.

"Kuya, you know  that whether you like it or not, I am going to find ways on how I can pay you."

“Any amount will do Miss Vea. What time will be your graduation rites anyway?”

“Two o’clock in the afternoon, Kuya.”

“But Miss, it’s already one o’clock. You should get ready.” I was shocked, so I quickly called some connections to help our driver with the clothes he’s going to wear for the ceremony.  

“Kuya, please wait for them. They said they will be here in 10 minutes. I will go inside to prepare myself. Just call me if you need something.”

I ran inside the house to fix myself. Good thing I already washed my hair last night. I decided to have a quick shower because I don’t have time for a long bath. I dried myself then proceeded to put on a fitted beige dress and some nude-colored three-inch heels. 

Did my makeup, and curled my hair. Sprayed on some perfume, grabbed my stuff, and went downstairs to check if our driver was already done. I did all of these in a span of forty-five minutes. When I finally got downstairs, I saw our driver wearing a dark blue tuxedo partnered with pants of the same color, a sleek dark gray tie, and brown leather shoes. 

“Kuya you look nice! Let’s take a picture later. Can we go now?”

Our driver nodded in agreement. We both hurried to our car. He started the car and drove off fast. The venue for the graduation is only ten minutes away from home. We arrived there just in time.