Taming The Heiress

Chapter 6: Early Retirement

(ZARA'S P.OV)

I decided to call my manager after reading the article.

[Zara thank goodness tumawag ka na---]

"WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT MY F*CKING EARLY RETIREMENT?! I NEVER SAID THAT, WHO THE HELL SPREAD THAT KIND OF BULLSH*T!?" Agad kong sigaw sa kabilang linya.

[What? Hindi ikaw ang nagsabi non? Wait.. I was trying so hard to contact you because I thought you came up with that retirement idea without discussing it with me, Zara.] sagot ni Kim sa telepono. Ano? So hindi niya rin alam, at akala niya na ako nga ang nag announce?

Kung hindi ang manager ko, sino?

[Anyways, get ready for your commercial shoot for now Zara, papunta na kami ni Jessi diyan sa apartment mo to pick you up.] Dagdag ni Kim, I roll my eyes at walang sabing pinatay ang tawag.

Napahinga ako ng malalim at tumayo sa kama para maligo. Bigla kong naalala yung sinabi ni Dad sa akin nung nakaraan, hindi kaya... Siya ang nagpakalat ng balita?

Heiress of Mavros. Hindi ko alam kung kaya kong gampanan ang pagiging tagapagmana ng Mavros. I am not ready for this, all my life hindi ko inaasahang ito ang magiging kapalaran ko. All thanks to Zaino's sudden death, Mom will surely hate me more, hindi niya palalagpasin kung sa akin talaga ititiwala ni Dad ang lahat ng ari-arian niya.

My stepmother, Caroline, also came from a wealthy family. Well not as wealthy as Dad's but my Lolo (stepmom's father) is such a good person who supports Dad in running the Mavros Group so well. Although hindi ako masyadong close sa kanya, he never did something that could harm me in any ways.

Mom seems to be a good mother to Zaino all this time. In fact, she's also a good wife to Dad. Being the first lady of Mavros, she had a lot of contributions to charities and orphans which made me conclude that she's a good person too.

Sa mansion dati noong doon pa ako nakatira, mataray man siya pero hindi niya minamaltrato ang mga kasambahay namin sa bahay, mabait siya... Maalaga at mapagmahal kina Dad at Zaino. Pero kapag ako ang pinag-uusapan, bigla nalang siyang nag babago. She hates me so much ever since kinuha ako ni Dad sa totoo kong nanay.

Dati... I really tried my best to be loved by her. Ginawa ko ang makakaya ko para laging maging top sa school, ginawa ko ang lahat para ma realize niya na gusto kong tanggapin niya ako bilang anak niya, but instead, she get it in a wrong way. Nagalit siya dahil inaagaw ko kay Zaino ang spotlight, kasi dapat si Zaino lang magaling at hindi ko dapat siyang tapatan.

Wala siyang ibang ginawa kung hindi ang pagsalitaan ako ng masasakit na salita, at pagbuhatan ako ng kamay kapag wala si Dad. Ini-brain wash niya din si Zaino na kamuhian ako para hindi kami magkalapit ng kapatid ko.

Kaya minsan tinatanong ko nga sa sarili ko... Did she really just hate me because I'm Dad's illegitimate child? What if I was born to be her daughter in this world? Sa ganong paraan, mamahalin niya kaya ako?

Of course I understand bakit kinakamuhian niya ako, who wouldn't be if her husband cheated on her at nagkaroon pa ito ng anak sa labas?

Pero.. Hindi ko naman ginusto ang lahat ng yun eh... If she just accepted and love me, then I will be on her side forever too.

The day the doctor in the hospital announces Zaino's dead, nakita ko kung paano gumuho ang mundo ni Mommy. It seems like her world was taken from her, and I felt bad knowing that I can't even comfort her because she hates me.

Mariin akong napapikit at pinatay ang shower ng marinig kong may nag door bell. I sigh, enough with the drama, Zara. You still have work to do.

Lumabas ako ng bathroom at nakitang nag ring yung phone ko, it's a call from Kim kaya sinagot ko yun.

[Zara it's us, open your door.] saad agad ni Kim sa kabilang linya.

Napataas naman ang kilay ko sa tono ng pananalita nito,

"Inuutusan mo ba ako, Kim?" mataray kong tanong pabalik.

I heard her sigh afterwards,

[Miss Zara, can you open your door for us? We're here to pick you up.] Paraphrase niya sa tanong niya. Good.

"Tse, okay I will, but let me change my clothes first." nakangisi kong sagot.

[Whaaat? Then how long should we---]

Hindi ko na pinatapos ang tanong niya at pinatay ko na ang tawag. I smirk, alam nilang kapag sinabi kong mag bibihis pa ako, it means it would take time bago ko sila pag buksan. Pft, bahala kayo diyan.

It took me 30 minutes to prepare myself from picking of clothes and applying a light makeup. Napatigil ako sa pag aayos sa mukha habang nakatingin sa salamin ng bigla kong naalala yung sinabi ni Xavien kagabi.

'You still look unbotheredly gorgeous without makeup.'

Namula naman ang kaunti ang pisngi ko ng maalala yung mga sandaling yun. He must really be out of his mind. Bakit nga ba nilapitan niya ako kagabi? He never approach me before kahit laging nag kru-krus ang landas namin tuwing kasama siya ni Zaino.

I shook my head, nevermind, let's not think about that, Zara.

Tuluyan na akong lumabas ng kwarto ko at pinag buksan ng pinto sa entrance sina Kim at Jessi.

"Finally, pinag buksan mo na rin kami---" Saad ni Kim at akmang papasok sa apartment ko para makiupo but I stop her.

"Where do you think you're going? Let's go." mataray kong saad at isinirado ang pinto ng apartment ko.

"Jusko naman Zara, 30 minutes kaming nakatayo dito di mo man lang kami pauupuin!" reklamo niya.

I give her a bored look at nagsimula ng maglakad, "I don't have time for that, do you know where's Dad right now, Kim?" tanong ko habang nakasunod sila sa akin.

"Aba malay ko sa tatay mo, hindi niya naman ako secretary." sagot niya. I stop and glare at her,

"Then call his secretary right now!" sigaw ko.

"Sabi ko nga tatawagan ko, heto na." Natataranta niyang saad at inilabas ang phone.

"Hello, Sir Jonas? Kasama niyo po ba si Chairman Zack? Ah opo pinapatanong ni Miss Zara. Po? Ah sige po sabihan ko si Miss Zara. Salamat po." rinig kong kausap ni Kim sa telepono.

"So where's he?" tanong ko.

"Nasa mansion niyo pa daw, nasa office niya nag kukulong since kaninang madaling araw." sagot ni Kim.

What? Don't tell me hindi siya nagpahinga?

"Okay, then let's drop by to the mansion before the shoot. Let's go." Saad ko at tuluyan na kaming naglakad papunta sa parking area.

~

-MAVROS RESIDENCE-

As soon as nakapark yung van sa entrance ng mansion, agad nagsi-tinginan yung mga bodyguards at katulong na nasa labas. Lumabas ako mula sa van at gulat silang lahat na napatingin at lumapit sa kinaroroonan ko.

"Good day Ms. Zara" bati sa akin ng head butler ng mansion, pagkababa na pagkababa ko mula sa van.

Pahikab naman akong tumango at dumeretso loob.

"Good morning Ms. Zara." sabay sabay na bati rin ng mga kasambahay.

"Where's Dad?" tanong ko sa isang kasambahay.

"Nasa office room niya po, nagpapahinga ata." sagot nito. Hindi na ako umimik at maglalakad na sana paakyat pero huminto ako saglit.

"Eh si mommy?" tanong ko pa ulit.

"Ah kakaalis lang po, bumalik na po doon sa Funerary dahil darating ngayon si Sir Carsein." sagot ng katulong.

Natigilan ako, si Lolo?

Napabuntong hininga ako at tuluyan ng tumungo sa office room ni Dad.

I knock twice,

"Dad? Are you there? It's me, Zara." pag tawag ko sa kanya, nag hihintay akong sumagot siya bago ko tuluyang buksan ang pinto.

"Come in." rinig kong sagot ni Dad kaya tuluyan na akong pumasok.

Pag pasok ko nakasandal siya sa swivel chair sa office table niya habang nakapikit ang mga mata.

"You should be resting in your room, Dad." Panimula ko at lumapit sa kinaroroonan niya.

"It's fine sweetie, what brought you here?" tanong niya.

I sigh, "The news about my early retirement. Is it you, Dad?" direkta kong tanong. Unti unti niyang ibinuka ang mga mata niya at umayos ng upo.

"So you went here to see me because of that?" tanong niya pabalik.

Tama nga ako, siya nga. Dahil kung hindi siya malamang kanina pa nawala ng parang bula yung mga news articles na yun dahil haharangan niya. He doesn't want to tarnish my image in the first place but now that he wants me to walk into another path, siya mismo ang gumagawa ng paraan para tumigil ako.

"Dad, I don't want to quit." pagsasabi ko ng totoo.

Napamahal na rin sa akin ang pagiging artista ko, malayo na ang naabot ko tas sa isang iglap, papakawalan ko lang lahat ng 'to? I can't do that.

"Sweetie don't make things hard for me, it's time for you to stop being an actress." sagot nito.

"Dad naman! I work so hard to reach this high, you know that, I don't want to give up this easily! And I'm always doing well with my work, please let me continue to do so."

"Zara, you need to look deeper for our future, your future. You are given a better opportunity now that Zaino's gone. You know being the heiress of Mavros is more better than being just a celebrity!" sagot niya sa akin.

"But Dad.. I-I don't want this." saad ko at napayuko. Dad made this decision because it leaves him no choice. After all, I'm just a replacement of a dead person.

Pero agad akong napatalon sa gulat ng malakas niyang ibinaba sa lamesa ang hawak niyang glass of water.

Galit siyang tumayo at nilapitan ako. Hinawakan niya ng mahigpit ang magkabilang balikat ko,

"A-Aray.. Dad." reklamo ko sa higpit ng pagkakahawak ni Dad.

"Are you telling me that you don't want to take over our company, Zara?! Naririnig mo ba ang sarili mo?! Not everyone is given this chance to be like you, and you're refusing? You're my daughter, Zara, and you need to prove that you are! Ikaw nalang ang natitirang tagapagmana ko. I won't let your uncle and his son covet the Mavros Group so you need to brace yourself. Do you understand?!" sigaw niya sa akin.

Dahil sa takot sa mukha ni Dad, agad akong tumango tsaka niya ako binitawan.

Napahilamos siya sa mukha niya at bumuntong hininga.

"I'm sorry I've been so stressed out lately, anak, please understand." pag hingi niya ng paumanhin pero hindi ako umimik at yumuko nalang.

"I will make an official announcement soon after Zaino's burial that you will take over his place as my successor, when that happen you will automatically step down in the celebrity industry." It seems like nakapagdesisyon na talaga siya. Why does he sounds so scared and threatened anyway?

"You don't need to do anything for now, Zara. I will handle everything, so leave." Dagdag pa niya.

"O-Okay, I'll see you later Dad." Paalam ko din at agad na siyang tinalikuran.

Nang makaalis ako sa office room niya, agad na dumilim ang aura ko.

Fine, since my future is to become the next owner and Chairwoman of our corporation then this won't be an easy fight. Pero kapag tuluyan ng naging akin ang lahat, then there's no turning back, I need to protect what's mine and there's no way I will let anyone messed up with MY Mavros...

~