A VERGARA WEDDING(THE YOUNG BILLIONAIRES SERIES BOOK1) SAMPLE

Chapter Five -Updated

CHAPTER FIVE

Ella's heart ached for the people who were once her neighbours and friends. Attending the mass for the dead turned out to be harder than she'd thought but she was glad to be there for them as they had for her whenever she needed some comfort. She gave the money she got from Doña Bianca to the living relatives as well as all the others who had no place to stay. At least all of them could get back on their feet again. The rest of the money she would use to pay off her father's hospital expenses and pay off some of their other pending debts as well.

Ella's ride back home was silent. And because she was so distracted while thinking about Jason, she completely forgot about the disgusting smell the jeepney always had—the stench of dry sweat and stale tobacco.

She glanced out of the window recalling what Doña Bianca had told her. She had never met a woman who's so cruel and unfeeling.

It was a good thing that one of her father's friends had offered them a place to stay even when her father still owed the man some money; they wouldn't have had anywhere else to go.

Ella hoped to God that the envelope she was holding right now wouldn't be the death of her; for one, it was suspicious enough that Doña Bianca hadn't hesitated at all while handing her the envelope.

She sighed as soon as the jeepney pulled over at the terminal just a few walks to the pier where she now lived with her mother and father and her sister Kristina who's a few years younger.

The house was a shanty made from bamboo sticks which stood at the far end of the pier, at the edge, it was practically on water.

At twenty, Ella had taken up all of her family's responsibility, though her father had been a fisherman before he got a job as a janitor at skyline hotels but even so, it was still not enough.

She got a job at a coffee shop two streets away, it was a job she had since she was fifteen and it took a lot to convince her father to let her.

Her mother had quit her job as a house maid for the Roxases not long after Jason had gone abroad.

Apparently, she was afraid her friends might find out who she really was and what type of job she had—so much for getting herself involved with high society women.

At one point, Adele had denied that Eduardo was her husband and when asked why she was living in a shed like that, she wasted no time saying that she was on a charity retreat—if there was ever such a thing. That was before they inherited a three bedroom house from Eduardo's brother after he passed away but now it had been turned into a resort by Doña Bianca who had papers stating that the property had been given to her as collateral for payment of debts owned by Ella's uncle before he passed on.

''Why did you accept the money?'' It was the first thing her father demanded as soon as he learned about the money. Ella thought it's a laugh coming from someone who barely made five thousand a day.

''What do you mean why?'' Her mother countered snatching the envelope from her, ''How much is it anyway?''

''Five hundred thousand but I gave some to our neighbours to start afresh.''

Without any further delays, she ripped open the envelope and wowed at the bundles before she began to count the notes.

''How can you let that woman buy you off so easily?'' he was angry Ella could tell,

''Dad,'' Ella called pleading for understanding, ''It's not that way at all. Besides we need the money.''

He shrugged, '' I'm not going to say anything more because I trust you. And you did the right thing with those people.''

Ella smiled. ''Thanks father.'' She took his hand and brought it to her forehead, accepting his approval and blessing.

''Wow!'' Kristina slid out of the chair she was sitting to her mother's side, she was the exact opposite of Ella and it would surprise no one if mother and daughter were in some kind of a league and yes it could be called 'the league of destructible.'

''Mother how much is it?'' she prodded curiously.

Ella took that moment to slip upstairs and escape all the day's troubles.

While in the solace of the miniscule space that was her room, Ella let out a tired sigh and perched on the edge of the hard bamboo bed which imposed on every nook and cranny of the room.

Ella didn't have many belongings, she owned only a few hand-me-downs that came from neighbours back in Cebu, they were all so kind and sometimes they brought them food when they could easily have let them starve. Ella had always wanted to attend one of those prestigious culinary schools in Paris but couldn't because her family's income was meagre. She didn't have a degree, but she was grateful for the little culinary skill she had and now she dreams of owning her own restaurant hopefully one of the largest–like the Vergara restaurants–she's never eaten there before and being a five-star restaurant it only catered for the crème de la crème and Ella was at the bottom of the pyramid; so much so that while they were feasting on lobsters and smoked salmons she only had rice with fresh tomatoes and fried fish and an occasional chicken sauce.

Her gaze zero in on the dog-eared, tattered and out-of-style diary at the corner of her room. Bending over slightly, she retrieved it; the pages were empty as she'd never really gotten around to making an entry in the past years. She didn't feel the need to have a documented reminder of her miserable life.

Flipping over to the Centre she picked the dead flower by its shrunken stem. The wilted tulip had been a reminder of one of the special moments in her life; it was a reminder of that day when Jason had called her beautiful and stole her first kiss.

It was at a convention five years ago, she had been a flower girl and he did her the honour of purchasing her flowers that were enough to make a bouquet, with it was a note that sent a thrill down her spine.

Even though it had been a one-sided crush, Ella felt the need to keep them both as souvenirs. Even now as she ran her fingers on the note tracing the impressive penmanship she couldn't help but smile ruefully.

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