Chapter 22: Chapter 22
Christian's POV
I knew when I was little that life was beautiful and it had a powerful meaning to have a life and enjoy every day of living. We own a restaurant that was named after my mother, Marjorie, and my father, Alejandro. I was 9 years old at the time, and we were pretty much happy at the time. After a year of being successful, my parents thought to give life to another being, and it was Jenny. We are a happy family, and we don’t have too many problems other than those who eat at our restaurant. "Eat and run" people are those who just eat but don’t pay. Yes, that was my life back then: joyful, not selfish, happy and sad, any other emotion was acceptable as long as you had your family to guide you.
Until one day, something unexpected happened, and me and Jenny just stayed in the room while Mom and Dad were having an intense conversation that we were not supposed to hear. I was calming Jenny because of all the rackus, but it wasn't enough.
"You're always blaming me for something I didn't do, Alejandro. Aren't you ashamed of our children? " Marjorie asked while talking to her drunken husband.
Marjorie was still in shock at how drunk her husband was, but she didn't stop it. She just looked at her husband, frustrated.
"What are you doing?" Marjorie asked, "You can't do this, Alejandro." said Marjorie.
Marjorie witnessed her husband packing his things, and she didn't know what to do and just held her head like she was going crazy.
"Really? I can't do this? When you're serving me lies to be with your ex-lover? Who among us both now doesn't have the right to do this? " Alejandro stated this as he arranged his belongings.
Marjorie didn't find the right words on how to convince her husband of what they had talked about over the years. She also didn't know where it all came from, but she was watching her husband intensely.
"What are you talking about?" asked Marjorie, clueless.
"Really?!" Alejandro's cry was so deafening.
And because they were busy arguing, they no longer realized that Christian had gotten out of the room and started to hear everything.
"Didn't you lie to me just to see Christian' real father? Don't you dare deny it in front of my face! " Alejandro added and threw all the pictures Marjorie was holding in her face, proof that she'd previously seen her ex-lover. Then Alejandro shifted his gaze towards the young Christian and was speechless.
Marjorie didn't know what to do when she saw Christian crying, but she did nothing but call her mother, telling her mom that she'd be out of the country for work. She never explained everything to Christian, and after that incident, they were left in the care of their grandmother. Then one day, Christian found out that both of his parents were married, but to someone else. Christian didn't know what to do and decided to gamble his remaining allowance to fill his business course to turn that restaurant of theirs into a bar.
Christian met his mother when he knew she was selling the restaurant, and Christian' dreams and hard work were crashed to bits, but one day he received a phone call from someone claiming to be his long-lost father, offering his apologies with cash, and Christian blamed the man because his family was ruined, but then he decided to do a favor and ordered someone to buy the restaurant from his mother and place it under his name, and then he would consider him for helping him, but not as a father.
Christian's plan was successful, but he never got a chance to meet his father because he didn't want to. He turned his old restaurant into a retro bar, and it was a hit until he was able to send Jenny to a nice school with his own money. But of course, like other businesses, there are days when you also have a down side, and when Christian decided to stay late to compute all the debts of his company, he encountered a lady who passed down on his doorstep.
He didn't know who else to call, but while calling the ambulance, he was mesmerized by the maiden's face, clueless as to where the woman so beautiful came from.
"She's okay, just full of stress and fatigue, so that's what happened," said the doctor.
I was still looking at the maiden when the doctor tapped my shoulder.
"Don't ever argue with your wife again. And congratulations. Your wife is 2 weeks pregnant. " He said, and I just looked at the maiden who was lying on my bed.
That's how I met Lily, and as the days grew longer, so did my feelings for her. I was there throughout her hardship, late at night, because Steve's needed my assistance. I became much more like a father figure to Steve. But I didn’t know that, after all of those, it was obvious to me that she thought of me just as her brother and as a brother only.
When I saw them in the VIP room, my mind went crazy, and I'm not sure what I'm going to do or how I'm going to act when I meet her.
"So you've finally decided to meet me," said the man who was in front of me shipping his coffee. I was just looking at him, amazed by his features and how his face looked so young and was really far from what his face should look like for his age.
"So, what was the point of your reason for meeting me here?" He asked
"You told me that I had to be ready for something, right? Then I'm ready. " I said to him, and he chuckled.
"Hold your horses, that's not how it works. Who will take care of your bar? You can't just leave that successful business hanging." He said, and I was just looking at him.
"That's not something you should be concerned about. If I state that I am prepared I'm ready. " I insisted.
"Very well then." he said sparingly.
And then he handed me the contract. I didn't want to reach this situation, but I'm so at my limits and I don't want what I see and feel right now. Lily and Steve are mine and mine only. No one can take them from me except God.