First Love Never Dies

"Emerald!, get down there...”

"Get down, you brat.." shouted again by her Nanny Lorie anxiously

Emerald laughed as she came down from the mango tree.

Nanny Lorie nagged emerald 0nce she got down.

"Oh you brat, get inside the mansion your sister Kristina has a visitor"

Emerald's eyes rolled. There is only one person wh0 visits the mansion. He is the eldest s0n of the Zobel de Ayala.

"Br0ther Vincent!" shouted by Emerald as she ran into the mansion.

Aling Lorie was just shaking and smiling as she watched emerald running into the mansion.

"Hello emerald, is your sister Kristina here?" Vincent said as he stood up from sitting on the living room of the mansion.

"Huh? I don't know brother Vincent" Emerald didn't know to herself why she answered that to Vincent.

She doesn't know why she felt annoyed when the first thing he looked for was her elder sister, I'm also beautiful like my sister. Emerald couldn't help but frowned.

"Oh Why that kind of facial expression? do you think I don't have anything for you? At the same time, Vincent smiled and t0uched Emerald's long hair.

Emerald got starstrucked by the smile 0f her br0ther Vincent. Why is it that brother Vincent's smile became even more attractive to me? The man who is becoming more handsome with his cleft chin. She sighed

"Oh here, your favorite chocolates that my mom and dad brought from touring abroad" Vincent handed the chocolates to Emerald at the same time.

Emerald immediately reached those chocolates while smiling widely.

"Oh Why is your shorts dirty"? The young man noticed 0n her sh0rt.

"You know that child is acting like a boy, her day is not complete if she can't climb the trees around the mansion 0r the hacienda." Nanny Lorie replied next by Emerald who entered the mansion.

"Yaya, I'm not a child anymore" Emerald stomped her feet on the marble floor of the mansion at the same time, she didn't know but she didn't want to be called a child especially in front of Vincent. She frowned again.

"Hahahaha, Vincent’s laughter could be heard loudly," is this girl still climbing the trees?

Vincent laughed while teasing Emerald, he was very fond with the bride's y0unger sister, he was close to her because he does not have a female sibling, so he treated Emerald as younger sister.

" Duh I'm not young anymore " Emerald frowned even more, she wanted herself to be a grown up lady on the eyes of her brother Vincent.

"Dont climb the trees anymore, you might fall and besides it’s not appropriate for a girl" Vincent ruffled Emerald's hair again before turning to nanny Lorie.

" Is Kristina here a yaya? "he asked Emerald’s nanny while smiling.

" She might Come down any moment hijo, she just having a rest fr0m h0rse riding.

Emerald feels disgusted that Vincent is here because of her sister. She immediately went up to her room.

She saw Kristina in the middle of the stairs, she was beautiful on her lilac dress that matched her white and porcelain complexion. She hurriedly went to her room with gloomy facial expression.

Inside the room, she looked at the princess sized mirror given by her father on her 15th birthday from his business trip to Egypt, she was not satisfied with what she saw. Except for her sharp nose that she inherited from her late mother and thin lips that naturally have redness and narrowed eyes that he inherited from her father, she has nothing compared to her sister Kristina.

In addition, she has dark skin brought on by frequent bathing in the sea that is part of their hacienda. Is it why Vincent just treated me like as his sister? Because she is not as beautiful as her sister? She thought.

Emerald just sighed and started eating the chocolate given by her br0ther Vincent.

“Ladies and Gentlemen please fasten your seatbelt any moment from now we will arrive at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, on behalf of Capt. Sandoval we would like to thank you from choosing Philippine Airlines as your travel partner”

Emerald suddenly st0p from reminiscing her past when the voice 0f the stewardess echoed inside the huge plane.

Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

After 12 hours of long travel from France, the huge plane finally landed plus an hour stop over at Dubai International Airport.

The door of the huge plane exited a slender woman, with a curvy hip that fits her long legged legs that you would think of a model dressed in pastel Armani fitted jeans and long sleeve white folded up to the elbow fitted with a wide hat with broken hair that beyond shoulders with dark glasses.

Exactly five years before Emerald returned to the Philippines, she did not return immediately after four years of studying fashion design at the Instituto Marangoni, a well -known fashion school in Paris France.She had to stay a year in France for personal reasons, even herself has no idea what she wanted to avoid in the Philippines. Its good thing after I received my certificate degree in fashion and Design I was lucky to be hired as junior fashion designer in one of the prestigious fashion company in France.

Emerald sighed as he walked dragging her luggage towards s0me part 0f NAIA where a private helicopter owned by her family was waiting to take her to their hacienda in Quezon province.She felt mixed emotions when she got off the huge plane. She will admit that she missed the Philippines. Especially the man who caused her to leave and study abr0ad.

The helicopter pilot met her immediately.

"Where's Daddy uncle Jun? Emerald asked in astonishment as soon as he reached her luggage. She expects that he was with her father who would pick her up.

"I'm the only one he sent, señorita," the middle aged older pilot avoided looking at her, who was obviously hiding something.

She was still in elementary school when he became the pilot on their hacienda so they consider him a family member he is good at operating helicopter.

"Welcome home señorita" said uncle Jun after the helicopter landed on the ground not far from the mansion of the Buensucesos. It will be four o'clock in the afternoon when they reached the hacienda.

There was a warm caress in Emerald's heart, has she been selfish to the people with her for not coming home for five years? Emerald felt the warmth in Uncle Jun’s words.

She really missed her father and her yaya Lorie. The trees, the sea, the cattles and horses inside the hacienda. Emerald was full of emotion when she set her feet on the ground.

"Dad ..." he ran to her father as she saw him standing at the spacious door of the mansion and waiting for her.

Don Enrico hugged the youngest child, God knows how much he missed her princess.

"You're finally here my sunshine?" The girl nodded in tears, she felt how much her father missed her, he only called her sunshine when his father was tender and when he wanted to make her feel that he missed her.

"I’m home and I miss you dad"

"Is it why you put up with me not even visiting me for five years?" There is a sadness of her father's sullenness.

"So sorry dad" she said and wiped away her tears.

She was ashamed of her father, if her father hadn't visited her in France two years ago they wouldn't have meet her father. And his body changed a lot unlike when he visited her abroad last year.

"Yaya" she turned to nanny Lorie who was quietly crying next to her father.

Aling Lorie was very happy seeing Emerald to come home for a long years, which she has taken care off since she was born, and is now already back home, which is also the day of the death of Doña Corazon, her mother who died in childbirth with her.

"My child is so beautiful" she cried as she hugged her tightly by Aling Lorie whom she considered her real child so she couldn't get married.

"I miss you so much nanny" cried Emerald while she hugged her Yaya Lorie.

"Rest in your room first sweetheart, her father said "I know you have jetlag, I'll just wake you up with Yaya Lorie for dinner" said Don Enrico as they entered the mansion.

Mang Jun smiled as he watched the three enter the mansion, finally the princess of the hacienda is already home.The mansion and the hacienda will come to life again in the return of señorita.

Upon entering her room, Emerald immediately closed the door. She feels the nostalgia, she briefly recalled the happy memories during her childhood, abruptly tears roll from her eyes as she walks toward familiar cabinet. She carefully pulls the drawer and sits on the bedside and puts it on her lap.

She tried to forget the man in her heart while she was in another country, but the more she tried to forget him the more she realized that the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life is the same man she adored when she was on her teens.

And she didn't know herself how to deal with it, but it was too late, here she was she had no choice but to pretend not to be hurt.

Now she misses her mommy so much, "Mommy, she whispered to herself while looking at the ceiling as if she could see her mommy "

Tok, tok, tok, Emerald heard a faint knock at the door of her room.

"My child ..." her nanny Lorie.

"Come in yaya, it's open" she muttered while wiping away the tears.

Her nanny Lorie came in and was sad and with gloomy face, she saw what on her lap, it was the drawer containing various gifts that she knew were came from her child's first love.

"Do you still love him?" At the same time, she sat next to Emerald and at the same time caressed her long hair.

Instead of answering, she hugged her nanny and cried. She couldn't keep it a secret because she had an open book with her nanny that the man she loved was she still loves him so much until now.

Aling Lorie felt sorry for Emerald, if only Doña Corazon was still alive, her youngest child would somehow be able to ease what she was dealt with.

Emerald calmed down for a while from crying.

"Please rest first, child, I will just call you at dinner time, your daddy just sent this your favorite fresh mango juice harvested by the hacienda "

" Thank you nanny "And yaya lorie handed the glass with fresh mango juice .

Emerald woke up to the touch of the cold wind on her gentle face coming from the open window of the room.

She looked at the Big wall clock hanging on the wall, seven o'clock in the evening the time was set there. She slept for two hours., She thought

Yawning Emerald got up to close the window. At that time, it was very cold in the whole hacienda because there were so many different types of trees surrounded the whole hacienda Buensuceso.

The girl looked out of the window. From where she was standing on the second floor of the mansion, she could see the eternal darkness except for the lights that surrounded the mansion. Various emotions enveloped her heart again, there is no place like home. She's just worried about how she will deal with the man until now was in her heart, full of love toward Vincent whe treated her as his only younger sister.

She has to get ready, any moment from now her nanny Lorie will pick her up for dinner.

"Emerald ..." Exactly Emerald was able to get ready when her nanny Lorie called for dinner, she felt a little cold in the water after she took a shower.

"Come on child, your daddy is waiting in the dining room" she said after opening Emerald At the door of the room.

The two of them went downstairs to have dinner at the same time.

Emerald looked at their large family portrait on the living room of the mansion, she stared at the image of her mother.

" Do you miss your mom? "Aling Lorie asked.

Why do I seem to be getting emotional especially when I stepped on the mansion again, Emerald sighed.

The smile on the lips of the girl who looked at yaya. "Come on nanny, daddy is waiting" instead of answering the nanny.

Sadly Aling Lorie just followed the beautiful Emerald to the dining room.

"Hi Dad" Emerald greeted her father.

"Both of you may sit down and the food will be cold" Don Enrico signaled.

Emerald just kissed her father and she sat on the left side of the father's chair parallel to her nanny Lorie.

All The food prepared by the chef is Emerald's favorite. Except for the lechon de leche and crabs pellet which is my father's favorite.

"How are you Dad?, You look thin" Emerald asked her father once she got sitted.

"Don't mind me hija, your father is really like this when he gets older, anyway , do you stay here for good?"

Emerald suddenly stopped eating, She drinks first the fresh mango juice in front then replied to her father who was staring at him.

"I don't know Dad" she replied.

"Why? do you still have a plan to return to France and leave the Hacienda?" There is a sad melody in Don Enrico's voice. As a father, he doesn't want his princess to go back to go back in Paris.

Even Yaya Lorie is looking at her dearly , in her heart she doesn't want Emerald to leave again that she already considers as her own child.

"I just came home to attend my sister Kristina's wedding, by the way, dad, when will my sister come?" Emerald pretended to show excitement on her voice so that she could hide her feelings for her sister's upcoming wedding. As a sole sibling, it doesn't look good and it's not appropriate not to attend her eldest sister's wedding.

"I don't know to your sister, she said she'll be here before the wedding day, because she can't just come back from Switzerland yet in an early schedule. She can't just leave her job abroad without proper endorsement of the person who will replace her." Her father responded while shaking his head.

"But dad, how did ate Kristina's wedding dress measurement if during the preparation, she was abroad?"

"You don't seem to know your sister, she just sent the measurements to their wedding planner, and family of your brother -in -law took take care of their upcoming wedding "

Vincent is unfortunate, based on what he observed then, she knows how much the man loves her eldest sister. She was sad inside. And that did not escape on the sight of her father.

...........

Meanwhile at Hacienda Zobel de Ayala:

Two days before the grand occasion, the festivities are beginning even before the day of the union of the eldest son of the Zobel de Ayala, Vincent with the eldest daughter of the Buensuceso.

It is just next to Hacienda Buensuceso which is just in the middle of the national hi-way in the province of quezon. It is almost as big as Hacienda Buensuceso and includes a hacienda with an area of more than one hundred hectares of copra and cattle as its main products while hacienda Buensuceso is known for its mango plantation and horse bread.

All hacienda workers and staff are invited, There is no stopping the noise of cows and pigs being slaughtered while all the women are having fun while preparing dishes of various kinds of food. Young or old is pleasure in the face can be seen. It was an extraordinary occasion that they would witness because two influential clans in their province were getting married.

"Hooo..hoooo .." the newcomer Vincent stopped riding his horse. He visited the slaughter of cattle and the preparations made by the staff of the hacienda.

"Good evening señorito Vincent" almost simultaneously greeted by those workers of the hacienda Zobel de Ayala.

"Tatay Kardo, how was the preparation? He asked the caretaker while riding the horse.

" Cows are ready for barbeque and lechon, the ten cows for different dishes were done "replied mang Kardo

" The prawns and crabs señorito are also finished from the fishery "replied the 0ther woman besides Mang Kardo

Vincent nodded with satisfaction on his face. "Just tell me father Kardo and mother Mila if you need anything more"

" You can count on me señorito" replied Mang Kardo and Aling Mila simultaneously.

Vincent waved to the others who were having fun while preparing for the occasion to come and run away with the horse going back to the Mansion.