Chapter 14

Isabella went home the following morning, just after she had breakfast at Carlo's house.

"Where have you been?" her mother asked while sitting on the couch in front of their television.

"Carlo's," she said, still walking towards her room. Her mother stood up and followed her. When Isabella turned around, she received a hard slap on her face. Her sight dimmed for a few seconds before she recovered.

"If you will just flirt with a guy like Carlo, I would rather sell you to someone who can actually feed you."

"Is that what life for you is, Mother? Is it all about money?"

"Yes! You will only understand me once you have your own family and your love can no longer feed you. Look at me! Look at us! I chose the one I love and where did it bring me?"

"That's not my fault you married a lazy man."

"Shut your mouth."

"Why? Is it not your point? You're so eager for me to finish college and start working so I can take you out of this mess that you've made? You only see me as a gold mine but not as your daughter! Why don't you push your husband a little bit more and maybe, good grace, he will start working again?"

Isabella received another slap on her left cheek, this time, harder than the first one.

"Go ahead! Hurt me as much as you want. It's not going to hurt me anymore, because you have killed me a long time ago. You have killed my entire being, my sense of belonging. I am just like a zombie, walking around without any soul, without a heart because you've numbed me. You can kill me now physically but I am not marrying anyone else but Carlo."

"You are not going out of this house, Isabella, and you are not going to see him again!"

Isabella went inside her room and buried her face in her pillows, crying hard, hating everything in her life. Her mother left her and went to her own room and picked up her phone. She called Franco.

Franco is a well-known engineer in their town but he stays mostly in Manila. He has a house in GMA, Cavite where he only visits during long weekends or holidays. Mostly, he stays in a condominium that he bought which happened to be near Isabella's school. Lisa knew Franco when he hired Eddie one time to help with a project they're working on in town. Franco has seen Isabella when he picked up Eddie from their house. He immediately had an eye for her because of her beauty although she was only fourteen at that time. So when Lisa came to him, two weeks after Isabella lost her scholarship, asking for help, he was both surprised and excited.

Lisa decided to ask Franco to help her with the expenses for her studies and that once she graduates, she can pay him off from her own salary. Franco assured her that he will definitely help Isabella, however, regarding the payment, he asked Lisa to come back after a couple of days so he can think about it first. He also asked for a picture of Isabella. Her mother pulled out her wallet and gave him Isabella's ID picture.

That night, Franco stared at Isabella's picture, that's looking back at him, smiling, showing her perfect white teeth. He also noticed her big tantalizing eyes, with long eyelashes, and her long black hair.

Franco is a decent guy, he only had one girlfriend and that was when they were in high school. They dated for almost a year and a half but when the relationship failed, he focused himself on his studies. Now that he is thirty-three, he felt like he is already past his romance stage. He doesn't want to get involved in any kind of relationship. He gets attracted to women but there's no desire for him to get them into bed or to be in any sort of relationship. He was pretty much satisfied with his work-home-gym life. But now that he is staring at Isabella's picture, he realized that in seven years, he will become forty but still has no family. It is just now that he became eager to have one and make Isabella his wife. He kissed her picture before putting it on his bedside table and went to sleep.

After two days, Lisa returned to Franco's pod.

"I will surely help Isabella with her studies and all other expenses. I know that she is an intelligent woman and no matter how much I spend for her, it won't go to waste."

"Oh, thank you so much, Franco! You are such a good man."

"No worries. Now, regarding the payment, I will only ask for one thing."

"Anything, Franco."

"I want her to be my wife."

Lisa's eyes grew big.

"Your wife?" she repeated in disbelief.

"Yes, I'm single and I believe that she's already at the right age."

"Well, yeah, she's eighteen."

"Isn't that of legal age already?"

"I guess," she said hesitantly. She wasn't expecting him to propose marriage in exchange of helping her but that's better than her wasting her life with Carlo, Lisa thought.

"Do we have a deal?"

"Of course! I believe she has met you already before, and I'm sure she will like a handsome guy like you."

"Alright. When are you going to bring her here? Or should I just pick her up?"

"You can pick her up so she won't have any trouble bringing her things."

"Okay, but please talk to her about this clearly. I don't want any commotion or scandal."

"I will. I'll call you when she's ready."

"I will be waiting."