"Shh..Don't cry love. I hate seeing you cry. I love you so much and I can't take it when you're crying especially because of me" -Zander 

JEWEL's POV

I didn't know if it was just my imagination or what but he looked like he was pissed off. He was just standing at the doorway, motionless, while staring at me and Mr. Rowland alternately. Mr. Rowland noticed that my attention was no longer with him and followed my gaze.

"Mr. Montealegre?" I heard Mr. Rowland muttered. I cleared my throat as I felt like there was a lump that I need to get rid of as my heart began beating faster than normal. I was about to answer him when Zander suddenly strode his way towards us.

"Good afternoon" He said formally and I suddenly got confused of his tone. He sounded mad and I didn't understand why.

"Good afternoon too Mr. Montealegre" Lovely interrupted excitedly that she even approached us but instead of looking at Lovely, he remained his piercing gaze to me that I almost gasped of the sudden tension in the air between us.

"For you" He said and handed me the bouquet of flowers he was holding. I was hesitant if I would accept it or not because I didn't accept Mr. Rowland's flowers. I could feel the stares of the three towards me, waiting if I would accept the flowers or not. When Zander couldn't wait for me to accept it, he suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me outside the faculty room without saying anything.

I wanted to protest but I didn't have the strength to do it. His grip wasn't tight but the warmth of his palm sent small shivers to my senses.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked when I saw that we were on our way to the parking lot.

"Getting you out of here" He said without any hint of emotions. I stopped on my tracks and pulled my hand from his grip.

"My things are still in the faculty room" I said and he cursed irritably but then opened his car.

"Get in" He instructed and I looked at him with disbelief.

"Why would I do that?" I asked him exasperatedly.

"Just get in before I lose my patience and carry you inside" I wanted to yell at him for suddenly behaving this way but for some reason, my protests were trapped in my throat. I've never seen this side of him and the anger in his eyes told me to just go along with the flow.

I got inside his car. When he got in, he handed me the bouquet of flowers and then called someone on his phone. Not even a minute later, a man in a uniform approached us.

"Go and get Jewel's things in the faculty room then drive her car to her house" Zander instructed which made my mouth parted in shock.

"What the hell? Why are---"My litany was interrupted by him putting his finger on my lips and silenced me. I got irritated and I wanted to slap him.

"Give me your car key" He commanded but I just ignored him and looked away from him.

"Jewel, I am talking to you" He sounded like he was controlling himself not to get angry at me. I glared at him but he remained serious. I heaved a sigh. Seriously?

"It's in my bag" I said with an almost inaudible voice.

"You heard her. Now go" He said to the man and then he started the engine of the car. I wanted to ask him where he was taking me but I just shut my mouth up. Even though I was so angry and irritated of his behavior, I knew for sure that he wouldn't do anything bad to me.

Then I heard my phone ringing incessantly. Thankfully, I didn't leave it in the faculty room. It was inside my pocket so I took it with me. But my lesson plans, the test papers of my students and my bag were left behind because of this unreasonable man beside me.

"Hello"

"Where are you? I just hope that Mr. Montealegre didn't kidnap you" Lovely's voice was worried that I chuckled softly.

"Of course not. We're just going to talk about something. Anyway, did somebody came and get my things?"

"Yes. There was a man who came here a while ago and asked for your things. I didn't want to give it to him because he's a stranger but he insisted and told me that you sent him"

"Y-Yes. I sent him to get my things. Sorry, I can't come with you guys today. There's a sudden important thing I must do" I bit my lower lip. Lovely and Helena asked me yesterday to go out with them after class today and I said yes. But now, Zander suddenly appeared and kinda forced me to go with him.

"It's okay Jewel. There's always a next time. I guess, you have a d-date with him?" She asked hesitantly and I almost dropped my phone because of her question.

"O-Of course not" I said and tried my best to laugh it off. A date? No! That's impossible!

"Okay. I need to go Jewel. Enjoy" I heaved a sigh and pressed the end call button. I didn't know what to think about the whole situation.

When we first met after 6 years, we hated each other. But now, a lot of things happened and he suddenly changed the way he treats me which left me confused. I shook the thought off and just concentrated on watching the scenery outside. But my traitorous eyes kept on looking at him discreetly. He was wearing his business suit and he looked like he just came from his office. But gosh, he still looked so handsome and fresh. His delicious scent was tickling my nose and sending me unexplainable feelings. Damn! What are you thinking?! Have you lost your mind?!

When 15 minutes have passed, I couldn't keep my mouth shut anymore and spoke.

"Where are you taking me?" He threw me a glance and smirked at me.

"Just wait and see" I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms across my chest. 5 more minutes later and the car finally came to a halt. I curiously looked outside and I saw a fancy looking restaurant. I threw Zander a questioning look but he just ignored me and opened the door. I was about to open my door when he did it for me.

"You must wait for me to open it for you" He said and grinned at me. What the hell. Did he become bipolar now?

"Thanks" I mumbled and went out of the car.

"Let's go" He said and pulled me by my wrist.

"Why are we here?" I questioned him while looking around the area. I saw a few people began looking at us and they were dressed fancily too. I looked at myself and felt conscious about my uniform I was wearing.

"Zander, I don't want to go in there. If we don't have important thing to do there then we should just go home" I said but he was just ignoring me that I almost smack him on the head.

"Reservation under me" He told the maître D. My brows cocked up. So, he made a reservation and it looks like they know him here? I felt a tinge of happiness but I repressed that feeling. Shortly after that, we were at our table and made our order.

"Can you just tell me why you brought me here?" I asked him with irritation while we were waiting for our food. He was beginning to get on my nerves because he had been ignoring my questions for a while.

"Can you just shut up and enjoy the moment?" He hissed.

"How can I enjoy it when you practically forced me to come with you here?"

"So, you don't want to be with me, is that it?" I was caught off guard of his question that I suddenly lost my tongue.

"So you prefer to be with that man who just confessed his feelings for you than me, is that it?" I didn't know if my eyes were deceiving me but I saw a hint of pain in his eyes.

"I-I didn't say that" I found myself mumbling. When the food was served, we ate in silence. I didn't know what to say or do so I just concentrated on eating my food and it looked like it was the same case to him. The food was really delicious that even though I was pissed off, I couldn't help but eat it. When the dessert arrived, he finally spoke.

"What can you say about the food here?" What's with that question?

"It's delicious" I said honestly and he smiled. My panties almost fell down from me because of how handsome he became caused by that smile.

"I'm glad you like it. This is actually my restaurant" I was surprised. So, he also had other businesses. I knew from the beginning that he would be successful someday and I was right.

"Wow, congratulations" I said and he nodded while his smile didn't died down.

"Thanks. Anyway, I didn't bring you here to talk about it. I brought you here because I want to ask you if-----I could court you. I want you back Jewel" I gasped in surprise that I almost fell out from my chair. Is he serious?!

I couldn't deny the fact that I felt happy about it but there was a sudden rush of anger too.

"How dare you ask me that when you left me 6 years ago for another woman?" I couldn't control my rage anymore and exploded.

"What are you talking about?" His face was confused and I thought he was a good actor. I stood up all of a sudden and stormed out of the restaurant.

"Jewel wait!" I heard him said but I ignored him. How dare him! After the pain I felt because he left me, he would just say that he would court me without even explaining what happened to him and say sorry? The nerve!

I didn't know where to go but I was determined to get away from him as soon as possible but before I could totally get away from him, he caught me by the hand and pulled me to his embrace. I was so mad that I wiggled out of his arms forcefully but he didn't let me.

"Get off me you bastard!" I yelled furiously and hit his chest with my fists until I suddenly felt like all my strength were sucked out of me and cried in his arms.

"Shh..Don't cry love. I hate seeing you cry. I love you so much and I can't take it when you're crying especially because of me" I suddenly remembered those times when he held me in his arms like this. I felt so safe and loved then whenever he did that. All the good old memories with him came back to me and the pain he caused me came back to me too that it almost felt like fresh wounds again.

I cried and cried until the tears stopped on its own. But he didn't let me go. He kept on kissing my head while whispering words of love, comforting me.

"Why did you leave me?" I whispered with a broken voice. Tears began falling from my eyes again and I cursed myself for being so weak.

"I don't know where you got that idea but I never left you for another woman. I loved you so much to do such thing to you" I looked up at him and I saw the sincerity on his face.

"B-But you disappeared all of a sudden. I even searched for you but I couldn't find you. Your neighbor told me too that you left the country with your girlfriend. My father told me that you approached him and asked for money before you disappeared" I said with a trembling voice and I saw him gritted his teeth. The anger in his eyes was evident.

"They were lying. Your father called me to talk to me and I was so happy because I thought he already accepted me as your boyfriend. He offered me another job instead of working as a waiter at the bar and I gladly accepted it but he has one condition. I won't contact and meet up with you until you give birth to our baby. I naively accepted that because I thought he was genuine in his intention. But one day, he told me that you left after you gave birth because you changed your mind about our relationship. He gave me Camila and told me that you didn't want our baby. He gave me money and I tried to refuse it but he insisted. He said it was for the baby, not for me" So there's more to my father's lies. I thought I already knew everything but not yet because there's more revelation. The resentment I felt for my own father became stronger. Now I remember, he even showed me a check worth of 10 million dollars that time and I saw Zander's name on it and the stupid that I was, I believed him.

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