"Ashley!!!" I overhear his voice desperately shouting my name, not even caring about the eyes that are staring at him.
My heartbeat beats faster and faster for every step I took away from him. I grip the handle of my suitcase before taking a deep breath. I turn around one last time to see his familiar face.
I can see him running towards me, with emotional tears streaming down his charming face.
" Please! Can we talk about this first?!" He yells as his eyes desperately staring at me.
He is not even bothered by how many people are currently observing the scene he caused, nor he cares about my personal bodyguards preventing him from coming any closer to me.
One of my bodyguards walks near me before whispering in my ear," Young miss, we need to leave. Your parents are already waiting on the private plane."
" Ashley, please! I beg you! Let's talk please!" He desperately tried to forcefully remove their secure grip against him, but they are far stronger for someone like him.
I stare at his crying face. It pains me to watch him like this. Tears are forming in the corner of my eyes, threatening to fall anytime. But before he can see them fall, I turn around and walk away. My steps are becoming heavier and heavier the more I walk away.
I can still hear his frantic shouts continue to echoes in my ears. Even the airport guards forcibly tried to stop him from causing more ruckus. I bit my trembling lips to prevent myself from sobbing uncontrollably as I force myself to continue walking away... from the dear one I have genuinely loved with all my heart.
From the man who stayed by my side, when I went through a lot of things, to the man who has supported me since the very beginning. The charming man that I will never forget no matter how much time will pass. Maybe this is the end of our love story... so goodbye, Sean.
=
"Hey! Wake up already!! We will be late for our appointment!" a deafening shout echoed in my ear, which wake me up. I grab my plump pillow, before instantly throwing it to whoever causing that ruckus.
"Hey!! Ashley!! Get up already! Just because we finally graduated college, does not imply you can just sleep anytime you want!" I felt someone strike me with my pillow.
"Argh! You are extremely noisy!! Shoo! Go away!" I yelled at the woman that bothered my beauty sleep. I sit up as I blink away the blurriness of my eyes. When I naturally turned to my right, my eyes widened in mild surprise when I saw how close her familiar face is to mine.
" Ahh! How ugly!- ouch!"- I glare fiercely at her as I stroke my arm that she pinches.
"How dare you call my gorgeous face ugly?!" she yelled at me before whacking me with my pillow.
"You are the one who started this first! If you didn't ruin my lucid dream then I would not have called you ugly!" I jokingly respond to her.
"Hmph! I've been trying to gently wake you up since earlier!" she pouted before slumping beside me. I stand up from my bed before straightening my body.
"Where are we going anyway?" I ask her as I gently open the door of my modern bathroom.
My bathroom is located inside my room. I also have a walk-in closet. The color theme of my private room is a combination of Angel's blush paint and gray paint. I have a queen-sized bed with gray-colored bed sheets and a white comforter. My plump pillows are a mix of white baby pink colors.
I have a white dresser, a tall mirror on its side, and a black bookcase full of published books I am carefully collecting. I also have a beige carpeted floor, where I sometimes lay down to properly read my books. Although having a carpeted floor made the cleaning a bit difficult.
Whenever Yuki, my best friend, wakes me up I already know we are going somewhere. It was always the routine we had since our high school days.
--
As for my modern bathroom, the light blue color is the theme and of course, it naturally has a tiled floor. I have a shower plus bathtub that I can use for my enjoyment.
Upon facing my polished mirror, I can already see my nest-like hair and tired-looking face.
"Just get ready! Today is our girl's day out! So take a shower and wear something nice." Yuki shouted gleefully before slamming the door of my bathroom shut.
I just rolled my eyes before carefully removing my pajamas. I turn the shower on, letting the water flow freely for a few seconds before stepping inside.
As expected, a hot shower is really the best!
After showering, I carefully cover myself with my bathrobe while carefully drying my lovely hair with a clean towel.
"Yuukiiii! Find me something pleasant to wear! Just don't get me something sexy!" I had shouted from the bathroom before I heard Yuki opening the door of my walk-in closet.
Yuki and I always argue when it comes to the clothes I'm going to wear. She genuinely likes to dress me up fashionably while I just want to wear comfy clothes.
Besides, my dear mom and Yuki have the same taste when it comes to modern fashion. As a result, whenever my dear mom is not here to 'guide' me to what clothes I should wear, Yuki is the one taking that task.
Staring at the mirror, I can see my alluring black eyes staring back at me. I got my pointy nose from my handsome father. While my eyes and my red lips are the features, I've got from my dear beautiful mother.
I have fair skin and a slim body. My dear mother is a very famous model during her younger days. While my dear father is a son of an extremely remarkable businessman. Their marriage is nothing but an arranged marriage between their wealthy family, the Carson family
my mother's family
, and the Seto family
my father's family
.
The Carson family owns an extremely famous music company and also few modeling agencies. Their first child, my dear uncle Joey is the one that naturally took over the company.
While the Seto family is one of the wealthiest families in Japan. They are prominent in the business world that gained them a lot of enemies. I heard they have a massive scandal back then because of one of their children. Their formidable enemies eagerly took advantage of this that made them lost a huge amount of economic profit.
With the valuable help of the noble Carson family, they managed to get back everything they've lost. In exchange, they arranged their first son to be with the sole daughter of the Carson family... aka my dear mom and dear dad.
Introducing my dear parents, Sasha Seto and Ryuu Seto. My mother is half Filipina and half-Canadian while my dad is pure Japanese. They both settled here in the Philippines seven years ago, we were living in Japan for eight years after I was born. My full name is Ashley Yumi C Seto.
We move to Canada before moving here. They fell in love with one another, during the years they spent together.
"I'm sure both Yuki and I will also be arranged for marriage. Just like what happened to both our parents." I mumble to myself as I wear the underwear that I brought with me.
Yuki also came from a wealthy family like mine. Her full name, Miyuki Kearsley C. Hamilton. We are both at the same age of 23 this year. We grew up together since we are young children. Actually, our dear mothers our cousins that why we are ended up seeing each other often.
She is my only best friend, although we have a lot of mutual friends that we've met during our high school days and college days.
She has medium curly auburn hair that reached below her shoulders. Her almond-shaped chestnut eyes, upturned nose, and rosy thin lips are the same features as her mother.
We both get our lovely features from our dear mothers, who are both famous models. The only difference is Yuki being taller than me since both parents are exceptionally tall.
Introducing her parents, Uncle Louis Hamilton, an attractive American man who married my dazzling Auntie, Katie Carson. Both of them are always away, either because they are busy with their successful business or because they are typically traveling around the world.
This is the reason why Yuki is always in our modern home.
I heard a gentle knock on my door as I open it slightly, revealing Yuki holding my clothes.
"Here are your clothes!" she said before giving them to me.
"Thank you!" I smilingly replied before gently closing the door.
I quickly wore the dress that she gave me, it was a casual dark blue sleeveless dress with a floral pattern and a light pink belt.
Drying my hair, I gently comb it before applying lip gloss. I don't usually wear make-up since there is no social occasion.
Stepping out of the bathroom, I grab my black wedge, two inches heels sneakers.
=
My room is located on the second floor of our house, so after stepping down at the last steps of the polished stairs... I headed directly to our diner area.
Yuki is already seated in one of the dining chairs with a delicious breakfast on her decorative plate.
"Yuki~. Why didn't you wait for me?" I said before sitting down on my plush chair.
A lovely maid quickly serves me my breakfast as Yuki took a sip of her orange juice before answering, "That's because you dress up way too slow and I'm already hungry."
I glance thoughtfully at the remaining empty chair before I start eating my delicious breakfast. We usually eat together with my parents, but they are currently out of town.
=
After eating breakfast we sat down on a bench located in our front yard while we wait for the driver to get the modern car we are going to use.
"Tell me... where are we going?" I ask curiously as I carefully check the notifs of my phone.
"Well... we need to drop by to your parent's company first before meeting with Shaina. Auntie said that we needed to fix our portfolio." Yuki answers while checking her reflection in her mirror.
"It hasn't even been a week since graduated, but we already need to apply for a job," I said with a sigh, before slopping against the bench.
"Hey! Fix your posture! What will you do if you damage your spine?" Yuki said while glaring fiercely at me.
I just roll my eyes before sitting properly, when our driver finally arrives.
He just came back from our company since he also drives my parents to work. Manong Rody is our most trusted driver, thus he is our one and only driver. The reason why we only have one driver is because of an accident that happened before I was born.
My older sister went missing because of our former driver. It turns out that he was rewarded with a lot of money by one of my father’s enemies. He was interrogated by the police and detectives but they never found my sister.
My parents, even both my grandparents hired a lot of private investigators to find her but...
That's why they are extremely protective of me, they hired a lot and I mean a LOT of bodyguards the moment I was born.
Everywhere I went, they all dutifully followed me. My friends can't even come closer to me because of them. Thankfully, my grandmother from my dear mother's side took pity on me and convinced my dear parents to give me my own space. So when I entered my first year in high school, my bodyguards were ordered to observe me from afar.
And they did... well until after graduating high school I have to part ways with someone special.
"Hey! Let's go!" Yuki called me as we both stand up from our seats.
I have to forget those memories... it's for the best.
--
Once we enter the car, my bodyguards have also followed us... entering the cars that were assigned to them.
"Right! I forgot to give this to Auntie earlier. Here Ash, Can you give this to her instead?"- Yuki spoke before giving me a red envelope.
"Why is it red?" I ask before glancing at the initials elegantly written in the seal.
"I don't know? It looks pretty though? That's an invitation from Ashton. I think they are celebrating the anniversary of their company. I heard it will be held at their luxurious mansion." Yuki properly explained.
"Ashton? The Ashton Corporation? But, I'm pretty sure we haven't had any direct contacts with them." I ask confused.
Yuki just shrugs at me before carefully applying some lip-gloss on her rosy lips.
"How should I know? I did not study business. Maybe they want to develop a business connection with your company?"- she said before putting away her lip-gloss.
"Maybe... Did you guys receive an invitation too? ".
She looks at me with a mischievous smile before saying, "Of course!".
"Why did I even bother asking? I said sarcastically.
"You are coming right?"
"Nah... not interested." I quickly answered before tapping my fingers on top of my mobile phone.
"Come on!!! I heard their second son was coming to visit! I'm pretty sure he is the handsome and quite famous one in the US."
"Still not interested, I don't care whether he is attractive or not. I'm just going to fix my portfolio."
"Oh come on! It will be fun!" she said while pouting.
I just laugh at her antics as she hugs my left arm.
=