17

Chapter 17

Sonia was at a shop buying bread. The shop opens exactly once a week on Thursdays. She loves that bread and wants to share it with Fabian and France, so she passed by before picking up France.

She bought a lot since she really missed that bread. After making her purchase, she was about to leave the shop when one of the staff refused to let an old man in.

The man was carrying a garbage bag and his clothes were somewhat dirty. He was mistaken for a beggar.

"I'm here to buy. I have money," the old man insisted. The staff argued that the old man might attract attention and bring bad luck to their shop.

Sonia just rolled her eyes at this. It was a good thing she was wearing a facemask and a hood when she came, or she wouldn't have been let in either.

Sonia approached the old man who was being pushed out by the staff. The sadness was evident on the old man's face.

"Grandpa, you can have what I bought. I'll just buy again," Sonia said, handing the paper bag full of bread to the old man.

"Are you sure I can take this? My wife will be very happy," the old man said. The woman smiled and nodded, mentioning how delicious the bread was. She even whispered in the old man's ear that some of the staff had bad attitudes. The old man laughed at this.

Sonia was about to leave when the old man stopped her and offered her money.

"No need, grandpa. My fiancé has plenty of money," the woman joked and winked. She walked back into the shop to queue up again for the bread.

The old man glanced at Fabian's driver, who was standing in front of the car, eyes wide as he watched the old man who had just spoken with his madam.

The old man put a finger to his lips, indicating for the driver to stay quiet.

The old man walked away, carrying his garbage bag and hugging the paper bag of bread. He crossed the street and headed to the entrance of a nearby hotel.

Several people in suits bowed as the old man entered the hotel, followed by some staff in the lobby.

The old man entered the elevator and went up to the top floor of the hotel.

A door opened, and the old man went straight to an office.

"Honey, why are you wearing that again? I told you, you don't need to collect the rent in cash monthly."

A very beautiful woman with blue eyes removed her glasses and looked directly at the old man who had just put down his garbage bag.

It was full of money. The old man happily approached and placed the paper bag on the table.

"This is just what I do. I get bored at the mansion, and you don't let me work," the old man said, showing the bread.

"Because you don't need to. I can provide for all your needs. Why work?" the woman replied, taking the bread her husband was holding and eating it.

"Anyway, I met a kind woman at the shop. She gave me this because your new staff wouldn't let me in," the old man said with a smile. The woman paused and looked up at her husband.

"What do you mean? My staff kicked you out of the shop?"

The woman's blue eyes lost their color upon hearing what her husband said. The old man quickly waved his hand, explaining that he went there dirty and carrying a garbage bag.

The woman picked up the phone on her side table and called her two secretaries.

"Wifey, they're new. They didn't know who I was and—"

"Shut up. No one disrespects any member of the Martinez family, especially you," the woman said darkly. The old man laughed awkwardly and offered his wife some bread, asking her not to be angry.

"Who was the woman who gave this to you?" the woman asked. The old man excitedly leaned in and whispered in his wife's ear. The woman's eyebrows furrowed.

"Are you saying... girlfriend?"

—

I had to get out of the car and go into the University to fetch France from his classroom. I was 10 minutes late. France must be in the room since there's no one else to pick him up.

I drew attention because of my appearance. A University staff member approached me.

"Sorry, ma'am. But your outfit is suspicious. Do you have a child studying here?"

I adjusted my facemask and took a step back. I nodded.

"He's studying in grade 2."

I pointed to France's classroom, where I usually see him come out. The staff squinted.

"Mommy!"

France ran out, followed by his teacher, who was slightly surprised to see me.

France immediately hugged my leg. With a soft expression, I picked him up and hugged him.

"It's my first time seeing you. Are you France's mother?" the teacher asked. France looked annoyed at his practice teacher.

Practice teacher, yes. This must be the one France mentioned who acts like his mom in the room since his dad attended the parent meeting.

"France is my fiancé's child, so? I'm like his mom too. Is there a problem?" I asked flatly. The teacher looked me up and down. Luckily, I was in disguise. France asked to go home, so I said goodbye and turned around, carrying France.

"Wait a moment."

The teacher blocked me. She mentioned that there were kidnapping rumors and they needed to ensure the children's safety at the University. She asked me to remove my facemask. I didn't want to attract more attention and have France be teased by his classmates.

"Hey, stop bullying my mom, or I'll tell my dad," France said, glaring at his practice teacher. For a moment, I saw Fabian's irritation in him. I stroked France's head and hugged him.

The teacher quickly took back what she said after France's words. The staff also changed their tone and let us go.

I whispered an apology to France. France looked at me and asked why I was apologizing.

"I shouldn't have come here; I should have just called you. I attracted attention," I said. France looked at me directly, then hugged my neck tightly.

"Mommy, if they hate you, that's their problem, not yours. I like you, Mommy, more and I'm happy because you always pick me up even though I have a driver. I used to be jealous of my classmates who were picked up by their moms, but now that you're here, I'm not jealous anymore!"

I laughed at hearing that. I hugged France tighter. France was right; it's their problem if they don't like me and are uncomfortable with my appearance.

I put France in the car, and he immediately noticed the paper bag on the seat.

"Mommy? What's this?"

I took it and handed it to France. I told him it was my favorite bread.

"Try it; it's delicious."

I also gave some to the driver, who took it and thanked me. France and I ate together. France seemed very happy and liked it. He took more bread, and I gladly gave it to him.

"Ma'am, Sir Fabian is filming nearby. Do you want to stop by?" the driver asked. I paused and looked at him.

"Can we visit? Won't we disturb them?"

The driver explained that we couldn't go in, but we could have Fabian's manager come out.

"I heard you whisper earlier. Do you want to bring him a snack?"

My face lit up, and I agreed to stop by. The bread would be better while it was still warm. There was also a nearby coffee shop.

—

Amara was no longer comfortable with the repeated takes of the rape scene. Victor accidentally touched some parts of her body.

"Alice!"

Victor screamed when Fabian literally broke his arm and kicked him to the ground. Amara's eyes widened, but she quickly recovered and continued her line so there wouldn't be a second take.

At the exact moment the director called cut, Victor was writhing in pain, asking for help, saying his arm was broken.

The camera caught Amara stiffening, requiring another take, and Victor forgetting his line.

"I didn't mean to, Director," Fabian said. Victor yelled that Fabian did it on purpose.

The man was furious, but no one on set could reprimand Fabian for the mistake or blame him. Because of this, Victor became even more furious, and they needed a double for Victor while his arm was being treated.

Amara quickly finished her scene, and then it was break time. She sat, shaking, holding her script.

She had been harassed earlier and couldn't react. She was crying because of it— it wasn't the first time she had experienced such abuse during filming, which made her feel smaller.

"Why didn't you report it?"

Amara stopped and looked up. She saw Fabian's manager. The woman tried not to cry and gave the manager a small smile, asking what he meant.

"Fabian wouldn't have done that without a reason."

Amara started to cry, saying she just wanted to act. She loved acting so much that she would endure everything, but there were times when acting made her lose her dignity.

Fabian's manager could only comfort Amara and calm her down.

Later, Fabian and Victor were facing each other. The staff were whispering about them.

"What did that woman say to make you so angry?" Victor asked. Fabian raised an eyebrow and asked what Victor meant.

Fabian pulled up a chair and said he wasn't special enough for that woman to give him attention. Some staff stifled their laughter at Fabian's comment.

"My fiancée didn't mention anything about you either. You're overthinking."

That started the whispers. Nobody knew that Fabian had a fiancée. Victor was even more infuriated by the idea that the man didn't even try to hide it and seemed to have no intention of doing so. He was too interested in Sonia, which irritated Victor more.

"You call that monster... your fiancée? Aren't you lowering your standards too much, going for a married woman? It would be different if she was pretty," Victor said with a grin. He was sure that it would make headlines tomorrow.

Victor frowned because Fabian didn't seem affected at all by what he said. Fabian's eyes remained on the script.

"I just wonder what you're trying to get at. Do you want to share with everyone the idea that your ex-wife left you because you abused her and kicked her out after she saved your children? Then you replaced her with her best friend."

"Let me correct you, Victor Valencia," Fabian said as he slightly lowered the script. He looked directly at Victor, whose eyes were widening.

"My standards for women aren't low; you just think too highly of yourself and have a narrow mind because you don't know what you've lost," Fabian said with a grin. He reminded Victor of Sonia's real name before she became his wife.

"The woman you call a monster and whose standards you think are low—she ranks second on the list of the best artists on the continent. Before the accident, she was the most beautiful actress in the country and won numerous awards yearly. She achieved all of that without anyone's help. No money or influence was involved. She graduated early due to her intelligence and, as usual, received all the rewards and had the highest ranking."

Fabian paused. He propped one hand on the table and spoke with a grin.

"That's the reason you married her, right? To gain a lot of popularity?"

"What! What are you talking about! That's not true!"

Fabian just smiled and added something that caused Victor's face to lose all color.

"I even found out that the reason you got the main roles in most of your dramas with Sonia was because Sonia begged and used her influence several times to get you into the drama. It's funny because the Valencia's money and influence weren't enough to make you famous since everyone knew you had no talent. No one wanted to hire you."

Due to what Fabian said, the news spread quickly, not just on the set but also in the media, boosting the drama's exposure to the point that the taping had to be temporarily halted due to the issue between the two actors.