Hello, Kenzo

Busted

The stale and acrid smell of the smoke coming from this stout, flabby, vile man in front of me was burning my nostrils. I could not bring myself to cry as frustration was overwhelming me.

My eyes were only fixed on Kenzo sitting beside Kate while Tim sat beside me. It was a sight that made my chest constrict with a heavy sensation. My hands clenched tightly around my arms, nails digging into my skin.

Many questions were going through my head right now, but nothing could be articulated by any language or sound. It took all I had not to scream out loud in frustration. It was too painful for me to continue with my silence, yet I just couldn't bring myself to speak.

Why would he just turn his back on me?

Now he loves Kate again?

Or was it always Kate; he was just using me to get her?

Bullsh*t!

The awkward silence that had fallen over us after that initial greeting back at the hall still lingered in this air, even after the short exchange that had gone through between everyone. A tense atmosphere surrounded the group, making it more difficult than ever for me to say anything at all to break up the silence that had taken hold. The situation was unbearable until a server came with the last tray of food the Illominus had ordered.

"Let's eat. I just hope that Miss Del Mundo here will find this feast sufficient for her standard," the old, nasty Mr. Illominus grinned, eyeing me with a disgusting gaze. "I'll take the first bite to ease your mind that I meant no harm."

He gobbled the whole meat of the pork leg in one gulp. I knew now why he ended up so enormous. My brows twitched in irritation; however, as much as I wanted to object, I simply obliged without any words escaping my mouth. The last thing I wanted was to anger or make anyone else angry at me in such an environment. To avoid the awkward tension that lingers around the room, I quickly reach out and grab the fork from the small dish on top, taking my first bite.

"It was good, but not good enough," I said nonchalantly, not even bothering to look anyone in the eye before I took another bite.

Mr. Illominus gave me his crooked grin and the corner of his lips lifted. "You never failed to amaze me. Well then, let's see if that stubbornness and pride of yours will serve you in the long run, Miss Del Mundo."

Mr. Illominus gestured at his two men standing at the door, and one came rushing to open the door. The man I met at the hall, the one who gave me the news that the collaboration I pitched for the GRIVA brand was no longer proceeding, entered, and at that instance, I realized what was happening.

Though I am used to these dirty tactics, I never knew that the Illominus were this nasty and greedy.

"Mr. Vasquez, welcome!" Mr. Illominus stood up, wiping his greasy hands with tissue paper, and walked up toward him with a big smile on his face, offering his hand for a shake. "How have you been doing? How has everything been working out?"

However, Mr. Vasquez did not seem interested in shaking hands, instead looking at him with narrowed, dark eyes. "Enough with the pleasantry. Why do you ask for my presence?" He asked, looking rather annoyed.

Mr. Illominus laughed lightly before giving out a sigh. "I apologize, I had to take some of your time. But you see, my friend here, Miss Del Mundo, was not so happy about the cancellation of the contract earlier. She is not pleased with it and wants the contract badly; therefore, I humbly ask you out of concern that you let the issue be set aside and consider her contribution rather than her inappropriate behavior," Mr. Illominus explained casually, chuckling heartily at his joke.

"What?" I finally broke my silence. "Inappropriate behavior?"

Mr. Vasquez sat down across from me; his eyes were like daggers in my soul. He leaned forward, put his elbows on the table, and clasped both his hands, putting his chin on it before saying, "Our company aims for child well-being, and we are always looking forward to helping them grow and nurture them emotionally and physically through clothes. So, after learning your unacceptable perception about children, though your designs were above standards, we do not tolerate unprofessional conduct such as child abortion."

Abortion? A cold shiver travelled through my spine, trying to take in all what he just said.

"What did you say?" I replied calmly, though inside I was fuming mad. I refused to show any emotion outwardly.

I heard Mr. Illominus scoff, almost bursting into laughter. My gaze shifted to Kenzo, who looked rather uncomfortable than shocked. Beside him, Kate was looking like she had seen a ghost, her eyes filled with surprise and horror. However, they quickly hardened, the emotions quickly disappearing behind those cold, steel-colored eyes I hated so much. Two-faced b***h!

"As we settled here last night, I happened to meet Mr. Illominus by the hall where the party we supposed to celebrate the collaboration after the supposed to be contract signing, he informed me that the hall was instead being decorated for the twentieth birthday of his daughter. I was confused since your assistant had explained all the arrangements before we even took the plane here. The hotel manager informed us then there were changes as the manager was also in a rage about this issue of you having an abortion. Though the GRIVA company believed how much you are a good mother to your child, and someone close to you testified that you did, we cannot continue doing business with someone having issues circulating about you. And honestly, we were devastated!" Mr. Vasquez explained, pouring a wine into his glass and chugging it down instantly.

My body started to tremble, my hand clutching the edge of the table, and my nails dug deeper into the wood, causing a deep gouge. No words were uttered by me because I was beyond speech. It was all too much to take, and I just couldn't process any of this.

"I am leaving! Whoever told you this, nothing that person said was true!" I gritted the words through my teeth in a voice that was shaking with anger. My eyes watered, tears spilling out. "If you do not want my designs, so be it. I just ask that you leave my personal life out of business because you don't know what is true!"

"So you did try?" Kate cut in; her words were like knives, slashing the wound open. I was trying to heal all this time.

"Shut---" But the words stuck in my throat. My eyes fell to my lap as I tried desperately to regain my composure. I knew my face must have been a picture of utter shock as well, for my cheeks started to burn in humiliation and anger. I could feel blood rushing to my ears, and my throat was burning and aching. I wanted to yell and curse at everyone who dared lay their finger on me, judging me as if they were there when I was suffering alone.

"Whatever happened, let's just forget all about it now," Tim interrupted. I held my hand under the table and smiled.

Oh yeah, I forgot he was here the whole time too. That was what I was wondering a while ago: what was he doing with the filthy Illominus?

"I don't need saving..."

"No, Stella! I am not saving you this time." His face turned serious; it was etched with worry and desperation. His voice turned stern and his grip tightened as he placed my hands in front of me. "Once I have learned about your disagreement with my father, I decided to acquire you now. I can no longer watch you suffer by choosing him! Kenzo had caused me so much before, and now I would no longer stay silent."

With everything that he said, there was just this one thing that my mind caught on to: "Mr. Illominus, is your father?" I asked, not fully sure if my head was playing tricks with my mind or if I heard it right.

Tim's shoulders tensed up, and he sighed heavily. "He left my mother, and yeah, he married into the Illominus. But that is not the issue here. I made an arrangement, and as the owner of this hotel, I tried to lessen the damage it could cause you because you chose Kenzo, and that your friends were ready to put you down because of him."

My stomach dropped upon hearing every word he was saying. "Friends?" My voice was too weak to hold my sanity at the moment.

"Your Kenzo here was too naïve to tell your story about losing your child to your friend Dani, trying to reunite you with her by making you look pitiful of also losing someone, and guess what? This story made everything complicated, spreading like a virus with a version of you aborting it rather than losing the baby. I know how my father can be nasty; he wanted to take it an advantage to get back on you of getting the land of the De Guzman's, so, I negotiated. I take you, my sister will take Kenzo as she demanded, and the story will stop spreading as I already told my tech team to stop the leakage of the story on the internet stream."

My gaze shifted back to Kenzo. "And you agreed to all of these?" I muttered to him with so much betrayal in my voice.

"Sorry, Stella! It was the only thing I could think of to help you." His voice broke off.

"That's bullshit! You should know better. I'd rather suffer with you than live a comfortable life without you!" I shot up from my seat. "Whatever you all agreed, I am not here to amend nor comply with it."

I stormed out of the room, and my pace increased as my heart thumped furiously in my chest with pain. Tears kept welling in my eyes and streaming down my cheeks as my mind replayed the words, beating hard in my head with each step. I had too much betrayal already when all I did was love.

My face crunched at the thought of how things had been tortured to me until a call came from Narih.

"Hello," I answered, trying to hide the pain in my voice while I walked back to my suite.

"I know this is sudden, but...I don't want you to panic," Narih was panicking.

I exhaled and shook my head. "Just say it. I swear, nothing more can hurt me worse now!"

"Fine! The relatives here in our province learned about you and Kenzo. You posted intimate photos online! I told you to be careful! Your mother has been calling me since yesterday!"

I dropped my arm holding the phone and gasped. "What a f*cking life!"