章 5: Mr and Mrs Young

Third Person Point of View

As soon as the call ended, Chlea sat quietly at the edge of her queen-sized bed, staring blankly on the floor, processing what her Dad just told her.

'Should I not come? Of course, I should! But, why do I get a bad feeling about this?' Chlea thought to herself.

"Oh my God! I can't believe you're meeting him and his family right now! This means, their family must be residing on the island too, right? What are you waiting for? Go and get changed!" Hyolyn excitedly uttered.

Hyolyn hurriedly threw all of Chlea's clothes out of her suitcase and scrutinized each and every piece of it when she suddenly came to halt.

"This won't do, you did not bring even a single evening dress with you. Let's go to my walk-in closet and make you look like an angel who fell down on Earth!" Hyolyn merrily exclaimed throwing her hands up in the air.

Looking utterly displeased, Chlea turned around to see her ecstatic cousin. "Doesn't that make me a demon?"

Ignoring her remark, Hyolyn hastily reached for Chlea's hand.

"Aish, whatever!" Hyolyn rolled her eyes as she dragged her uninterested cousin out of the room.

Moments later at exactly 7:30 PM, the glam session headed by Hyolyn came to finish. Chlea, wearing a gold sequined dress which is hugging her goddess-like perfect body feature. She swayed her naturally brown hip-length hair on the side which made her gorgeously stunning. She applied a hint of berry red tint on her lips that accentuated her porcelain white skin, a pearl shade of highlighter at the end of her cheekbones, and a slightly beige eyeshadow to give her eye some depth. No blushers were needed as her cheeks were naturally pinkish. At this moment, Chlea checks herself in the mirror, quite impressed with how she looks.

"One last magic!" Hyolyn cheered as she took a box out of one of her wardrobes. She took out nude colored stilettos that complimented her tiny feet.

Hyolyn looked at Chlea in awe and clapped happily with eyes shimmering with delight. Without much effort, Chlea could surely pull off that subtle look. Her hip-length hair looks so good on her as ever.

"You will surely be turning heads tonight, Miss Alcala! Don't forget to wear that flirty smile of yours when you finally meet Mr. Lucky guy!" Hyolyn winked as she slightly slapped Chlea's arms giddily.

As she wore her heels, Chlea really looked like a goddess. Ever since she was young until now, Chlea was often complimented for her remarkable beauty as she got it from her mother, Miranda.

At 7:45, Chlea finally arrived at The Grand, a strictly membership-only admission course dining restaurant. Only families of reputable and massive wealth were invited to be a member of this restaurant. Not even the governor of the island was given an invitation by The Grand. The restaurant's strict membership-only admission is composed of some aristocrats on the island, but not all, since the invitation is based on various factors, reputation to say as an example. World-renowned chefs at The Grand amaze its members with elegant and filling foods. Located on the 31st floor of Majesty Hotel, the vicinity provides a glamorous panoramic view of the island's city lights. Majesty Hotel, a part of Alcala's group of companies, is a home to key public figures whenever they set foot in Cebu. Known for its exquisite services, social climbers aim to even get inside just for once but just can't due to the enormous price they have to pay for its amenities.

The valets, recognizing Regan Alcala's vehicle, immediately guided Chlea and the bodyguards to the exclusive elevator made for VVIPs.

'Why so fancy? I could even take the normal elevator.' Chlea thought to herself but did not resist anymore.

When they finally reached the 31st floor, Chlea was hurriedly escorted to an exclusive dining room reserved for Mr. Regan Alcala. As she glided the hallway, people regardless of gender, turned their heads and eyes on her. Aristocratic men, wondering where this beautiful girl has been all this time regretting why they married the woman in front of them. Women, on the other hand, are jealous of the attention this stunning woman is getting. Plus, itching to know who the designers of her dress and purse are.

Meanwhile, Chlea's used to all this attention, given all the infinite parties she had to unwillingly attend all her life. Shortly as she entered the elegant and gold accented room, she then came to see her Father along with her stepmother, Vivienne Lao.

Vivienne Lao, is her stepmother. Vivienne often gets into her nerves due to her venomous behavior but straightaway shifts to an innocent sheep-like attitude when they are with other people. Chlea and Vivienne have always been in bad blood due to the fact that she is her father's mistress which possibly contributed to other reasons her biological mother succumbed to sudden death. Chlea has one pureblood sibling 10 years her senior, Sierra Alcala, a renowned neurologist. On top of that, both of them have two half-siblings, Aciel and Odette, 21 and 18, respectively.

With motherly love and affection towards Chlea as a facade, Vivienne gracefully waved her hand, looking as if she was overjoyed to see her.

"My dear Chlea, you look stunning!" Vivienne greeted and kissed her cheeks. Chlea could sense betrayal oozing. It was like Judas's kiss.

Regan looked at his lovely daughter with utmost pride, especially that her husband-to-be's parents seemed to be absolutely in awe of her daughter's aura and overall looks.

"Mr. and Mrs. Young, this is my precious daughter, Chlea Ingrid." Regan introduced.

Chlea slightly bowed in front of them with Mr. and Mrs. Young nodding in approval. With the smile plastered on their faces, no doubt, they are in favor of this union.

As soon as Chlea was able to sit down, Mrs. Amelia Young held her hands right away. She looked at her wistfully and said, "Welcome to the family, Chlea." Mrs. Amelia's said in a recognizable British accent. Mr. Landon Young then warmly smiled at her.

A fake laugh coming from Vivienne then resounded in the whole room.

"Isn't it too soon for you to say that, Mrs. Young?" Vivienne thoughtlessly remarked.

'What is she trying to do? Such a disgrace.' Chlea thought.

Regan then visibly raised his eyebrows towards Vivienne warning her to stop talking, or else. Vivienne, slow enough or pretending not to read the situation continued to talk.

"I see that your son is a very secretive person, Mrs. Young? I searched the internet over and back but could not find even a single photograph of him." Vivienne nosily said.

Mrs. Young looked at his husband and said, "He doesn't like to be photographed, Mrs. Alcala. Such a shy boy for a handsome face." She said.

"That's true, him growing up, we had to take down innumerable paparazzi sites and eventually had to buy a huge share from several newspaper and magazine companies to make sure his face never appear again." Mr. Young said.

Having a feeling that Chlea may butt in as Mr. and Mrs. Young's son seems to be as secretive as her, Vivienne hurriedly replied.

"Is that so? I feel like our Odette and your son would be a good match. Such a waste haha." Vivienne proudly said while Mr. and Mrs. Young kept a straight face.

'Huh, as if. It seems that Odette's face is on every magazine nowadays.' Chlea mentally rolled her eyes she almost saw her brain.

Chlea could not help but wonder as to why his fiance has not arrived yet. Regan, sensing that Mr. and Mrs. Young's son is late, tried to divert the conversation topic.

"Isn't this great? With our hectic schedule, we were able to squeeze in this business dinner or should I say family dinner?" Regan said.

"You can say so, Mr Alcala. Sooner or later, we would become a family." Mr. Landon Young affirmed.

'Business partners, that's what you guys mean.'

Mrs Young fiddles her nails and seemed to be uneasy. Vivienne with a hawk's eye observed this.

"Are you alright, Mrs. Young?" Vivienne worriedly asked.

"You see, our son has never been late at dinners, most especially that this is a very important matter." Mr Landon Young spoke in behalf of Amelia.

Moments thereafter, a woman in her 30s entered the room and whispered something to Mr Landon Young's ear. He then relayed the message to his wife as the woman who I presume to be their personal assistant exited the room.

'This is bad. What would Mr and Mrs Alcala think of us? Why would he drink so much to the point that he passed out? That brat!' Mr Landon Young thought to herself.

"Mr. and Mrs. Alcala... I am so sorry our son could not make it tonight as there was an urgent matter he had to to attend." Mr. Young said as he bowed out of embarrassment.

Mr Regan Alcala, on the other hand, seems to be weighing out what he should say.

"I am extremely sorry. I don't know what to say, really. This is such a shame. Mr. and Mrs. Alcala, is there any way for us to cover up this mishap?" Mrs Young uttered as if about to cry anytime soon.

"It's alright, Mrs Young. I suggest we should just go on with this dinner and set some time where your son can show up." Vivienne suggested.

"Shall we?" Mr Regan Alcala suggested.

'It seems like it was not only me who felt this way about the engagement.' Chlea came to realize that maybe his fiance is against this.