Chapter 1

“David!” Mrs. San Diego’s voice echoed inside the bedroom as the old woman’s eyes went round.

Bewildered by what she was seeing, she quickly went inside the room. No, it’s more correct to say, she was completely shocked to see the people on the top of the bed in front of her.

“David!” she shouted again when there hadn't been any movement from the two people in bed. “Goodness, gracious! What are you doing here in Lynette's bedroom?” Mrs. San Diego couldn’t hold her emotions because of the sight that welcomed her as soon as she opened the bedroom door.

The old woman walked towards the window and raised the blind.

Slowly, the people on the bed made a movement as the light outside entered through the open window.

Mrs. San Diego faced them.

“What the f---?!” David said as he woke up and saw the woman lying beside him but felt his heart stop beating when he lifted his head and saw his mom standing in front of them.

Shock was written all over his face. The woman gives him a look saying that he needs to explain.

“Mom.”

He tried to cover his eyes because the light that was passing through the bedroom window was blinding him.

“God,” finally, Lynette, the woman beside him, woke up.

He saw the surprise and shock cross her face when she saw him beside her and his mom in front of them.

“What are you doing here?” Lynette said as she bowed down her head when she noticed David’s mom.

“You two! Dress up and meet me in your Dad’s study room,” Mrs. San Diego said to them in an authoritative tone.

She didn’t wait for them to answer. She turned around and left the room.

As soon as the door closed, David looked at Lynette, “ Tell me, Lynette,” he said as he turned the woman in his direction. “Tell me, that there was nothing that happened between us, right?” He said in a calm tone but on a serious face. He was trying his best to keep his sanity.

“I am sorry but I don’t know,” Lynette bit her lower lip and bowed her head again. She couldn’t stand to see David’s gaze on her. There are a lot of emotions at the moment inside her.

She was happy because her dream finally came true. Mrs. San Diego found them on her bed naked.

But, looking at David's grim face, she could feel sadness inside. Obviously, the man wasn’t happy and despite how they looked at the moment, he even asked her if something happened between the two of them.

“Lynette, tell me, please…” David said as he closed his eyes. Obviously, the man was trying to calm himself. “I can’t believe this happened!” He exclaimed.

She could imagine how the man would refuse when they asked him to take responsibility for what Mrs. San Diego saw in the bedroom.

God. She didn’t know what to feel or what she had to do. She was starting to get mad at herself. How did they end up being in one room?

Lynette fell into deep thought.

The man lying in bed with her was David. He was the son of Elizabeth San Diego, her late mother’s best friend, and her godmother. David was five years older than her but that hadn’t been a hindrance for her to have feelings towards him. She knew that it wasn’t a brotherly love just like everybody told her.

If it was, then why had her heart broken into pieces when she learned that David was already engaged to his girlfriend Alona Imperial? She wanted to shout and cry, why? But, she kept silent.

She started to like the man when she was a teenager. It wasn't puppy love because until now, that love grew each and every day.

Lynette looked at David. She couldn’t say anything about Alona Imperial so maybe, this was God’s way for her to save him from marrying the woman.

“I want him too for myself, I want him to be my life partner and my husband but I am just seventeen, how can that happen?” She asked herself. But, she will be turning eighteen next month so that should be something already.

She was just a bit worried about David. No, it’s more of thinking that David didn’t like her as much as she liked him. Maybe, the man liked her but not as a woman but like a little sister.

“Lynette,” David said as he held both her shoulders and shook her. This brought her back to her senses. “What happened? Tell me! Please, speak up.”

“I am sorry but I really don’t know,” she said to him as she tried to avoid meeting his eyes.

She was so afraid. She could feel that the man was enraged with anger.

“What are you saying you don’t know? How did we end up sleeping here?” The man said and he tightly held her shoulders.

“You are hurting me,” she said. She could feel her tears coming out of her eyes. She was more afraid now than hurt. She feared what David could do to her at any moment.

“Don’t cry on me, Lynette. Do you expect me to believe that you don’t know what happened and why we are here?”

“Please, let me go, Brother. You are already hurting me,”

David and Lynette grew up together. Elizabeth, David’s mother, was the one who took care of her since the day her mother died. This is the reason why she had her own room here at the San Diego’s house.

David let go of her. “Lynette, I am telling you. Mark my words. If I found out that you have planned this, I will never ever forgive you,” David said in a firm tone as his handsome face darkened. The man got up and entered the washroom.

Lynette followed David with her eyes as he walked towards the washroom. She was looking at the man’s bare back.

She felt her throat dry upon seeing his broad shoulders.

But, she remembered his warning.

She better put a blind on it and continue pretending that she didn't do anything.

David held his temple after he saw his mother leave the room. He couldn’t quite imagine how he ended up in Lynette’s bedroom.

“God, I am screwed,” he said to himself.

He faced the woman and with a sharp look, he spoke to her.

“Lynette, tell me what happened and there will be no problem,” he said as he let go of her shoulders. He didn’t notice that he already tightened his grip on her shoulders.

He was trying to think what exactly happened last night.

As far as he could remember, he dropped Alona at her place after their dinner.

He went straight home and he saw Lynette was watching television in the living room alone.

“Good evening,” he greeted the young woman.

“Good evening,” Lynette greeted him without moving her eyes from the TV screen.

“Why aren’t you sleeping? It is already late,” he said when he saw the time on his wristwatch. Lynette was like his little sister. A sister that he never had.

“I can’t sleep and I already had milk,” the woman answered.

He just shrugged his shoulders. Lynette usually stayed in their house when her father went out of the country.

He went straight to the minibar at their house.

He took an empty glass and a bottle of red wine from the wine rack.

It was his habit to drink at least a glass of wine before going to bed. He poured the wine into the glass and he took a sip of it. He suddenly felt a call of nature so he went to the washroom.

When he went back to the minibar, Lynette wasn't in the living room anymore.

He took the glass of wine he left on the counter and went to the living room.

The living room was empty.

He sat on the couch and switched on the TV. He decided to watch a movie while trying to feel sleepy.

Finally, he was done drinking the glass of wine. He turned off the television as he also felt sleepy.

“God,” he said to himself. He felt like his vision was doubled. Suddenly, he felt dizzy.

“Is that you, Lynette?” He asked the person in front of him. He couldn’t recognize her. His vision was blurry. He didn’t know why suddenly he felt that way.

That’s all he could remember.

“Lynette, you better say something except for I don’t know or else…” he said and closed his eyes. He needs to calm himself. He could be angry but he was speaking to a minor. She wasn’t just a minor. Lynette was her mother’s godchild. She was already a part of their family. Yes, that’s right. This was the reason that he couldn’t imagine how everything happened.

He looked at the woman sitting next to him.

He saw her bare smooth skin especially on her neck up to her collarbone, and her chest that was covered by the quilt.

“I am sorry but I really don’t know. I can’t remember anything,” Lynette said in a cracked voice. He could see that the woman was trying to fight back the tears that were about to come out of her eyes.

“Lynette, you can’t just cry. Do you know what could happen next after this?” He asked the woman if she had any idea what their parents would do after seeing them both naked in one room. For sure, if he wouldn’t be doing anything or Lynette wouldn’t say anything, their parents will force them to marry each other except that he knows it wouldn’t happen right away because the woman is still seventeen.

He clenched his fist.

The woman just looked away from him. He didn’t know if she was guilty or if she really feared the look on his face. He could feel his face turn red because of the anger he felt at that very moment.

“You don’t know or you are already aware of it?” he asked her again and unfortunately just like with his other questions, silence is the only answer he could get from the teenager.

“Mark my words, Lynette. Remember everything that I am telling you now. If something happens that I don’t like because of this, I will make your life a living hell,” he said and stood up. He entered the washroom to refresh his mind. He didn’t want to say those words to her but if this was the only way she admitted whatever she did then he would do it.

He didn’t dare to turn his back because he didn’t want to see Lynette’s face anymore. It was not possible that she didn’t know why they ended up on the top of her bed.

On top of that, he couldn't look back at her, as he felt his lower body rising after seeing her bare shoulders. He couldn’t deny that her skin was alluring. She had an effect on his body.

He turned on the shower and went under it. He let the cold water extinguish the fire that started to light inside him.

“Urgh,” he murmured as he hit the wall with his fist. He couldn’t accept that Lynette was behind what happened between the two of them. He couldn’t imagine that the teenager planned everything that his mother saw in her bedroom.

He knew her as a good girl. He never imagined that she could do such a thing.

He wiped his face with his hands. His mind was in turmoil.

He knew that Lynette couldn’t do it but who else could? There were just the two of them awake last night. Who else could have done it except for her?

There's one thing he found out two years ago about Lynette. The teenager had no idea that he discovered her secret. Her darkest secret.