Chapter 2

2 Heart raised her eyebrows when Lush arrived at the mansion. He was reluctantly invited to a late-night dinner with his family. Ignoring his Mommy’s deadly stare, he quickly approached his smiling younger sister. “Hi, sis,” he greeted, causing her eyebrows to twitch as he kissed her on the cheek. Then, he turned to his mother, squinted his eyes, and said, “Mom, you’re getting younger, a,” he remarked.

“Where have you been? You didn’t even reply to my messages.” “What? I replied. You better check your phone, Mom. You’ll see my reply,” he proudly said. “When?” Heart asked sternly. “Just now!” His proud response made Delight smile while shaking his head. “You’re really crazy,” his father teased. “What’s important is that I replied! Mommy is always high blood,” he added, sitting beside his father. “How’s Babuela?” He inquired about his father’s grandmother. He never forgot to ask about his father’s grandmother all the time. Carmenzita was quite old, over a hundred years, seemingly impossible to believe. She was in a wheelchair and mostly stayed at home, but she still recognized them, even though she often forgot things. “She’s fine. She’s already asleep since it’s too late for her to join us,” Lux informed him. Believe it or not, his parents personally took care of Carmenzita. They were the ones living with their grandmother, while he and Love had their own lives. Since they turned eighteen, they were given the freedom to do what they wanted in life, as long as it didn’t involve wrongdoing, because his mother was the first to oppose it.

“I’ll check on her later,” Lush said as he sat down. He noticed some missing faces—Love’s spouse and nieces and nephews were absent. Delight’s spouse and child were also not present. As for him, he had no spouse or children to account for, as he didn’t want them in the first place. “You better. You know Mama’s overjoyed just to see you,” Lux told him, and he nodded. It’s indeed true, and even if he doesn’t show or say it, he feels saddened by his Babuela’s age, whom he has been with since childhood. Carmenzita was still young back then, practicing yoga. Many friends and even her colleague, who managed the foundation, passed away a long time ago. The fortunate one who enjoyed a long life was the elderly Carmenzita, despite her forgetfulness.

Carmenzita was now declared the oldest person in the Philippines, at the age of 121, turning 122.

“You’re going to cry,” Love teased him, so he looked at his sister. She knew how much he loved their Babuela. Despite their aging, that term of endearment for the old woman remained unchanged.

“Silly. Why would I cry? Babuela is still strong, you’re crazy!” he retorted, making his sister laugh.

“She was asking for you these past few days. You didn’t visit her,” Heart told him, causing him to bite his lip, feeling a pang of guilt. He admitted it.

“Lush Miguel,” his Mom said with teary eyes, “Mama is really old now. If being with some women is your reason for not checking on her, please don’t.”

“I’m sorry, Mom,” he nodded to his mother.

“For me, it’s okay if you don’t reply to my chats, but there’s an old lady here hoping to see you before she sleeps.”

“Abstain from women for a while, bro,” Delight joked, but he couldn’t smile.

His Mom was really onto him.

“I won’t sermon in front of food, but I don’t have time for that. If I do it through chat, you won’t read it anyway. Maybe you’re Diana’s child, your Dad’s ex, always in the inbox zone.”

“Come on, Mom,” he said as his father scratched his head.

“I’m getting dragged into this. We’re senior citizens, but your Mom still knows the history.”

They laughed, except for his mother who just smiled.

“I’ll visit her every day. I promise. Let’s eat, Mommy. Sorry again,” he said, and she nodded.

God. Who would even feel so glad and happy if a hundred messages were badly ignored? Even being in the inbox zone wouldn’t bring joy.

“WHERE have you been really?” Love scowled at him as they walked towards their grandma’s room. Her arms crossed over her chests. Love acts taller but she is not tall, taking a height after their petite Mommy.

“Don’t even bother asking, Love. It’s like we don’t know our brother,” Delight chimed in, wrapping his arm around him.

“I don’t know whose side you’re on, Kuya,” Love retorted, laughing.

“I’m not taking sides. I’m just in the middle. Like a turncoat.”

They all laughed.

“You know, sis, women are part of a man’s life. We will get weak if we do not womanize.”

“Ugh! You involve other men, but you’re the only womanizer here. I’m praying you get karma.”

She left them and quickly approached Carmen’s room.

“Look at this, it’s like you’re not my sibling,” he teased, following his gaze to his youngest sister. He paused as something vibrated in his pocket – Melo’s call.

He saw Melo’s number.

“There, another woman calling. When Melo calls, it’s always about a woman,” Delight remarked, looking at the screen of his smartphone.

“This could be about business, bro,” he insisted, leaving them and joining Love.

“Whatever you say, bro.”

He raised his hand and entered Carmen’s room.

Even though Delight wasn’t blood-related, Carmen considered him a great grandchild. Lush godfather, Vandros, acted as a father figure to Delight, treating his dad as a true brother.

He answered Melo’s call, as it could be a business emergency. He couldn’t afford to miss that.

“Mel,” he said to his right hand.

“Sir, Miguel, I delivered the documents for the new film you needed to review. Funding is required immediately once you approved it. I brought them here to save you the trouble of returning to the office to find them on your desk.”

“Thank you,” he replied.

“They’re in the reception area, sir. And… your ex-girlfriend arrived fifteen minutes after you left the office.”

His brow immediately furrowed. He wasn’t aware he had an ex-girlfriend.

“Who? I apparently have an ex, and I didn’t even know,” he said, chuckling. "Miss Anne Estravez."

Jesus. She's not his ex. That's the rumor she's spreading, but it's not true. He simply escorted that woman. She's the acting CEO of TodaMax Network, and her father is the chairman. She's preparing to take over her father's position, and because they are business partners with Don Benito Estravez, he also maintains a professional relationship with Anne.

They were together when TodaMax was launched a year ago. Anne was the face of the app, and he was the face of the production company. Since then, rumors circulated that they had a relationship. He would admit that he had sex with her more than ten times, but he got tired of it and avoided her.

They were just friends because his Mommy saw Anne kissing another man back then. Since then, Lush distanced himself from that woman.

"She personally delivered an invitation for the upcoming birthday of her father, sir Miguel."

"Okay. Is there anything else?"

"Nothing more, sir."

"Thanks," he said and ended the call.

He didn't know if he would attend Don Benito's birthday party. Most likely, Anne would cling to him like a snake, something he hadn't even tolerated.

That woman was too dramatic and played innocent when they first met.

Of all things he disliked, he couldn't stand a woman who acted all cute and had too many demands in life. Even if he wasn't a macho man, being ordered around by her felt worse than being a male nanny.

He didn't become Lush Miguel Montesalvo just to be played around and commanded by a woman.