Heiress (Hanazono Series #2)

Heiress 30: Losing Her Rights

Jace's POV

I woke up early so I took a bath and prepared myself earlier than usual. I remembered that this is our last day in visiting the Frostwood Academy, which I found out belongs to Lavalee's brother, Mr. Frost Hanazono.

I wonder, if her brother have that prestigious school then why did she choose to study at a dangerous school like Red Fire Academy. I did a little research and it turns out that most of the students of Red Fire Academy have a tainted record, for example, some of them were ex-convicts from rich families.

I went out and heard noise in the kitchen making me shake my head. Here she is at again. I went inside and I saw Lavalee struggling with cutting a frozen chicken.

"Here." I said and took the chicken. I took it and placed it in a clean bowl

I poured hot water from the kettle to make it warm and to remove it from being frozen. I saw Lavalee looking at me so I raised my brow at her.

"Is that how it should be done?" She asked and I nodded.

After a few minutes I poured the water to the sink and placed the chicken on the cutting board. I watched her as she held the knife. She was able to slice it neatly and evenly.

"What are you cooking?" I asked her

"I – I'm trying to cook..." her voice faltered and I looked at the phone on the table and that's when I saw what she's trying to cook.

"Chicken cordon bleu?" I asked her and she nodded

Something seem off with her today. I held her shoulder and she looked shock.

"What's wrong?" I asked her and she shook her head harshly

"I'll help, I just need to follow this right?" I said and showed her the note on her phone

"Okay." She said and continued cutting the ingredients.

I cut the vegetables on another chopping board because Lavalee told me that if I chop those on where she chopped the chicken there will be cross contamination. She washed the chopping board she used earlier as I chop the vegetables.

After that I placed it on a plate and she strictly said that it should be grouped according to which goes first and which goes last. I had no choice but to follow her.

"What temperature?" I asked her

"Medium to low heat." She replied so I held her hand and opened the stove with it. I saw how she got a little startled when she saw the fire.

"This is medium heat." I said and showed her the difference. She nodded and we continued cooking.

"I'll just wake them up." She said and took her phone after we finished cooking.

We're just waiting for it to cool down a bit before transferring it to the serving bowl.

"She cooked?" Chelsea asked when she arrived so I nodded

"Chicken Cordon Bleu?" she asked and I can see that she can't believe it

"Anything wrong?" I asked and she looked at me with narrowing eyes

"You helped her. Didn't you?" She said with narrow eyes

"So?" I asked her and she sighed before smiling

"Thank you. You may not know why but still thank you." She said and left to go to the back door.

She's acting weird, actually even Lavalee is acting weird because if she's astonished with fire then how come she's afraid of cooking and doing things in the kitchen?

"Jace? Ginagawa mo dito?" Irene asked when she entered the doorway.

I continued transferring the food to the serving bowl and that's when Lavalee entered.

"I forgot." She said and helped me ready the table

"You cooked?" I heard Jess asked Lavalee

Why does it seem to be a big deal to them? It's unlikely that they didn't know Lavalee can cook based on their closeness and tight knitted friendship.

"Thank you." Jess said when she passed by.

Why are they thanking me?

My comrades are already up too when I went out, they helped me prepare the table. I dialed my Mother's number because she might be worried and would sulk at me because I didn't contact her for long.

[Goodness! At last tumawag ka na. Kumusta?] she greeted me and I clicked my tongue at her greeting

"I'm fine." I replied

[So? Kumusta na yung assignment?] she asked and I glanced at the dining room where I can hear their chatters.

"Fine. It's not that hard." I replied

[How about the Hanazono Heiress? What do you think of her? I heard na maganda daw siya? Mabait ba?] my forehead knotted when mom bombarded me with questions

"She changed my point of view. I was wrong, you were right." I answered

[Maganda ba siya? Tingin ko mabait naman siya.] she said

"Yeah but there's something." I said and I saw Lavalee going out the dining room

Her eyes are looking at me curiously, I pointed at my phone and she nodded

[Something? Anong something?] Mom asked

"Contradictions with what I know and what I see." I confessed

[Oo nga pala. Any updates dun sa nagmamay-ari ng necklace na nahanap mo, nahanap mo na?] she asked and that reminds me. I have no clue apart from the fact that there's a possibility that it's connected to the underground, an illegal organization that we, the Police, can't shut down.

"None. I still have no lead." I answered

[Ah, sana mahanap mo na dahil possibleng mahalaga ang kwintas na iyon sa sino mang nagmamay-ari nun.] Mom said

"Don't worry, I won't give up." I assured her

[Sige na, bye, I love you.] Mom said

"I love you too." I replied and hanged up

When I faced the dining hall I saw Lavalee walking towards there. I went in and ate too.

"Ang sarap, sino nagluto?" Caspian complimented while we're eating and I saw how Lavalee's head bowed slightly

"Lavalee." She looked at me her eyes asking why I called her I cleared my throat

"Lavalee cooked." I clariffied and we continued eating

"Marunong pala kayo magluto?" Elijah asked the girls

"Of course. Mom taught us when we're kids." Jess said and I saw how here eyes widened when she looked at Lavalee

"Sorry." She apologized

"It's fine." Lavalee said and we continued eating

"Oo nga pala. Hanggang ngayong araw ba kami bibisita sa FA?" Irene asked

"No, we'll be going back to classes today." Lavalee answered

"Did you enjoy?" she asked them

"Oo naman." My comrades replied

"Wait until you experience RFA's definition of fun." Irene said and shook her head

"Ang ganda pala nung Frostwood Academy tapos ang dami niyo ring kakilala doon. Bakit hindi kayo doon nag-aral?" Ethan said

"Kasi sa RFA nag-aral si Lavalee." Chelsea replied

After eating, Irene volunteered to do the dishes while we prepare to go to school. After brushing my teeth I saw that Lavalee's already in the car so I drove to school while we're on our way I noticed that a group of vehicles are following us so I changed my direction.

"What? Where are we going?" Lavalee asked and sat properly

"We're being chased." I answered her

I kept on glancing at her because she became uneasy when I said that. She kept on mumbling something about revenge, danger, issues.

"Hey, don't worry, I'm here." I assured her and removed one of my hands from the steering wheel to hold her hand. She looked so confused so I smiled at her, she looked confused so I returned my gaze on the road ahead and removed my smile.

"Turn right." She said so I turned right and she continued giving me instructions while dialing on her phone.

"We're being chased, Chelsea. Keep your guards up." She said and I saw her hang up the call

I don't know if this is still part of Lagresch but we seem too far from the town because we rarely see a house.

"Is this still part of Lagresch?" I asked and she nodded

"The boarder between Lagresch and Aricav is only a meter away." She said so I sped up a little and the vehicles are still following us.

"Are you familiar here?" She asked me and I shook my head

"Wait, I think I know a place but..." Her voice halted and she seem uneasy

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked

"We have a rest house in Aricav but it's dangerous to use this car." She said and dialed something on her phone

"A rest house?" I asked

"Yeah." She answered so I glanced at her and i saw her placed the phone on her ears.

"Bring me my black Porsche at the hideout, bring Mnemosyne along too. Wait for us, make sure to secure secrecy." She ordered on her phone

"Go here." She said and placed her phone on the stand so I followed the direction on it.

We arrived at a place full of trees, we lost the ones who are following us but it's still dangerous to be at ease. When we stopped at a huge abandoned building Lavalee told me to park inside and I saw a black Porsche and Lavalee's butler. We went down and I took the car keys.

"Young lady, I have informed Master Frost of your situation." He said and bowed before giving Lavalee a set of keys.

"I'll be gone for a while." Lavalee said and I gave the car keys to her butler

"Let's go." She said so I rode her porsche and I saw her butler drive the car we were riding earlier. I saw Mnemosyne sleeping in the backseat.

"Where are we going?" I asked her

"To our rest house in Aricav." She replied and drove away from the building.

While she's driving her phone rang so I answered it and placed it on full speaker

[The rest house's ready.] her brother said from the other line

"Arigatou, nii-sama." She said

[Stay safe.] Mr. Frost Hanazono said with authority

"I will, Nii-sama." She replied and the call ended

"Dial Chelsea." She said so I dialled Chelsea's number and placed it on a full speaker

[Lavalee! What happened?] I can hear that Chelsea's worried of her

"I'm fine. Tell the professors to send the lessons and activities, I'll be taking online class for a week with Jace." Lavalee said and I heard Chelsea's sigh

[Alright. Anything else?] Chelsea said

"Stay safe." Lavalee replied

[You too, Lav. Stay safe, don't worry much about us, okay? We'll always be here.] Chelsea said and hanged up

After a few hours of driving she stopped at a white house with a wrecked house on the side. She drover her car in the garage, and the first thing I noticed about the house is that it's just a two story house. It's not that grand but not that simple either.

"I missed this place." Lavalee said and parked her car.

"Let's go." She said and we went down only carrying our school bags.

I carried Mnemosyne and when we entered we saw some toys messed up on the living room but Lavalee didn't seem to mind.

"It's just the same as it was when Fuego left." She said and sighed

"Fuego?" I asked her

"My younger brother. He left a month before I arrived." She said and sat on the couch

"We'll have to stay here for a week." She said

"What? Why?" I asked her

"Those people who are chasing us? They're Mafia members." She said and sighed when she said the last thing

"Mafia? How did you know?" I asked her shocked

"They are hunting me. Being the only Hanazono exposed to the world, well they can't touch Nii-sama even though he's exposed too. They think I'm the youngest and I will inherit everything because that the family tradition but not with Eomma and Appa. They will never allow that only one will have to carry everything." She said and leaned on the couch

"You know, since I told you this, I lost all my rights as the Lady Hanazono." She said and smiled bitterly

"What? Why did you tell me this then?" I asked her with wide eyes

If she will lose all her rights once she tell me this, why did she tell me then?

"Because I trust you, and I want you to protect my siblings." She said and stood up

"How? I mean why did you come back if you know you'll be in danger?" I asked her in surprise

"We are always in danger, Dreice and the reason I came back to Seryphil because I need to find this." She said and opened her phone and showed me a necklace, a very familiar necklace.

"What will you do once you find it?" I asked

"Finish the semester, accelerate." She said and sighed

I don't know but I had the urge to keep my mouth shut.

"Tao po!"

"Tao po!"

"Sunny!"

"Sunny!"

"Tita Abby!"

"May tao po ba diyan?!"

I looked at her when she chuckled. I knotted my forehead and went out with Lavalee behind me. There are four kids in front of the house, two girls and three boys.

"Hala ka, Lala. Maling bahay." The little girl with pink dress said

"No, sabi ni Sunny this is their house kaya." The girl with a long hair and brown eyes said

"Hello po." She said and turned to us

"Sorry po. Mali pong bahay yung inistorbo ni Zhela." The fair skinned boy said

"But... Shiru! Nag-lie sakin si Sunny?" she asked innocently and I was a little surprised she spoke Japanese even though she seem to be a Filipino

"Sunny didn't lie, Mia." I looked at Lavalee when she said that while chuckling

She opened the gates and the kids entered. She hugged the little girl and smirked when I noticed she seemed to have her eyes watery.

"Lavalee-chan! I miss you po." The little girl told her

I think she's 8 or 7 years old.

"Hi, Mia." Lavalee greeted

"Wala na po dito si Sunny?" the olive skinned boy asked

"No, Sunny left." She said and I saw how the shoulder of the girl she called 'Mia' fell

"Wala na ang prince charming ni Iay." The fair skinned boy said

"Babalik pa naman siya, right, Lav-chan?" the little girl asked innocently

"Don't worry, what did Sunny told you ba?" Lavalee seemed patient with them and I'm kind of surprised because of her attitude.

"He promised na when we grow up he'll come back and he'll marry me." Lavalee's grin widened when she heard what the guy said

"Mia! Uuwi na kayo!" we heard a guy's voice said and the kids ran to him.

"Okay, Kuya. Sayonara, Lav-chan!" 'Mia' said and they disappeared

"Who's that?" I asked her after closing the gate

"Mia. My brother's best friend." She replied

"You allowed him? I mean I thought you're the only known Hanazono apart from your brother?" I asked her when we're inside the house

"Well, only Mia knew. Fuego couldn't lie to her and besides they're kids, Dreice. They'll forget it soon." She said

"Anyways, you need to teach me how to do household chores." She said to divert the topic

We did stay in that rest house for the rest of the week and we returned to their mansion when Saturday arrived. I don't know but even though I could help her I chose not to because I feel like I don't want her to leave, not yet.