TRESE

Leanne grabbed her hair in distress, "Why did I even thought of this as cool at the start!?!" She then sighed deeply. "Fine... I'll do it..."

Leanne 's panic was suddenly interrupted by the knocking on the door. "What happened? Are you alright, Josefa?"

Leanne looked at the door blankly, "Yeah..." She then thought in her mind, "Maria... this girl... perhaps, there is a hidden side to her as well?"

"Can I come in?" Maria's soft voice broke Leanne from her thoughts.

As soon as Leanne gave her consent, Maria opened the door happily and exclaimed, "Good news, Josefa. Emilio has returned!!! You'll be visiting the plantation with Sir Diego again later, right? Then... You'll be able to finally see Emilio again."

Leanne looked as if she was strucked by lightning. "No way! I can't face any of them right now!!!" She then covered herself with the blanket as if blocking the outside world.

"What's wrong, Josefa?" Maria tried to reach out to Leanne, but then, another knock was heard from the door.

"Binibini Josefa, the Alcalde is already waiting for us to leave." It was Diego Diaz.

Leanne used to think of that gentle voice as pleasing to the ears, but now... "I'm not leaving!!!" She screamed.

Maria gasped and pulled on Leanne's blanket. "Josefa! Don't be rude."

Leanne frowned and thought, "Rude!? Fine! I'll show you RUDE..." She then got up and smiled at Maria. "Forgive me. I will get ready now!"

Maria was doubtful, but she still left Leanne to change clothes and fix herself. "Alright."

Diego outside the door, also raised an eyebrow at Leanne's changed in attitude.

Leanne got used to doing her clothes by herself, so she quickly wore a red Baro't saya and also made her lips dark red.

"Good Morning, Sir Diego." Leanne opened the door and greeted Diego confidently.

Diego did not show his suspicion on his face as he returned her greetings. "Good Morning to you as well, Binibini Josefa."

The travel to the plantation was smooth and peaceful... well, at least on the surface. Diego kept thinking of what was Leanne planning, while Leanne sat there annoyed by Diego's nonchalant attitude.

Leanne's thoughts were cut short when they finally arrived and she saw a familiar face. Emilio was leaning against a tree. His handsome face wore a serious expression.

Leanne must admit, she have missed this simple and kind person. Emilio seemed to have noticed her as he smiled at her warmly. Leanne's heart ached seeing that smile. Despite her causing him to get hurt and not visiting him when he was injured, Emilio was not angry at her.

Diego's deep voice filled Leanne's ear as he leaned down to whisper. "Is that him? He does not seem to be that good-looking."

Leanne covered her ears and stepped away from him. "That's none of your business!"

"Oh! I thought that you would keep pretending that nothing was wrong between us." Diego smiled mischievously and looked at the frowning Emilio from afar. "How could I let my wife be attracted by other men... and an Indio at that."

Leanne followed Diego's gaze and saw that Emilio was looking at them and was frowning. "Who is your wife!?" She then stepped on Diego's foot angrily and ran towards Emilio.

Diego touched his throbbing foot while looking at Leanne. "That hurts..." When he saw that Leanne was unconcerned, he then moved his gaze away and turned to walk towards Alcalde Rafael.

"How have you been, Emilio? Are you alright now?" Leanne worriedly scanned Emilio. "Forgive me. It was all my fault... I was also not able to check on you, because I needed to appease my father..."

"Who was that?" Emilio interrupted Leanne's monologue.

"Huh? Who?" Leanne was startled and confused. She then realized that Emilio was asking about Diego. "Aaah... him... He is nobody... just the guy I told you before. The person that my father arranged for me to marry."

"He does not seem to be just nobody." Emilio whispered inaudibly.

Leanne thought that Emilio was sulking at her, so she held onto his arm. "Emilio, forgive me... okay? I missed you, you know!?" Leanne pouted and whined for him to forgive her.

Emilio have not gotten used to this new 'Josefa', but he still felt glad and warm that she acts like this towards him. Emilio smiled and patted her head affectionately. "I'm not angry at you. You are important to me, Josefa. You are like a little sister to me."

Leanne's expression crumbled and thought, "This guy just little-sister-zoned me!" Her smile became strained as she let go of Emilio's arm. "Of course... haha."

Emilio wondered what was wrong, since Leanne let go of him and he felt that his arm was a little empty. Then, he suddenly remembered that Leanne confessed to him before.

Emilio's slightly tanned cheeks turned red and his eyes darted around nervously. "I'm sorry..."

Leanne spiritually face-palmed at Emilio's actions. The atmosphere around them turned painfully awkward as well.

"I have to go now before Father gets angry."

"Al... alright." Emilio nodded stiffly.

Leanne chuckled when she turned around. "Cutie guy."

When Leanne returned to Diego and Rafael, they were instructing the workers to dig a small piece of land. "What is going on?" She asked.

"Sir Diego wanted to see the quality of the soil." Rafael responded simply as he continued to supervised the workers.

Leanne eyed Diego suspiciously, "And how are you going to do that?"

Diego crouched down and touched the soil. "Well... Binibini Josefa... You could touched it if the soil is moist or dry. You can also dig further to see if there are organic matters and other organisms in it."

He then smiled at Leanne, "Isn't it simple?"

Leanne murmured to herself, "Whatever." When she saw that Diego was about to stand up, she stuck out her legs to kick his heel lightly. Diego did not expect her to do that and lost his balance. He fell flatly on his butt.

Leanne was also shocked that Diego actually fell, but also could not contain her laughter. She laughed so hard, her stomach hurts.

Diego was fuming with anger. He has never been humiliated like this before. Looking at Leanne, however, made him laugh as well. His heart actually felt light and warm, like it has been touched by a spark of flame.

Leanne's laughter was actually unladylike, with her eyes squeezing out tears and her mouth wide open. Her voice was also very loud and almost hoarse.

To Diego, Leanne looks so free, unbounded by societal rules and feminine values. She did not care for others opinion, but only her own. Leanne was beautiful and unique, and Diego can't take his eyes off of her.

Leanne was too busy laughing to mind her surroundings. She did not notice that she stepped on one of the ditch and lost her balance.

Diego extended his arms to let her fall on him. Leanne stiffened when she felt the hard chest and strong arms on her.

Diego felt Leanne's abnormality and decided to tease her a bit. He chuckled and whispered in her ear, "Childish."

Diego's natural male scent mixed with sweat devoured her senses. Leanne's whole face became as red as a tomato. Her heart hurts from pumping too much blood.

"A handsome man, indeed." Leanne seemed to have forgotten their earlier mishaps and gave Diego a thumbs up in her heart.

Diego have also forgotten to let go of Leanne, so they stayed in that position like they were the only two people left in the world.

Rafael felt a little awkward looking at them and cleared his throat to lighten up the atmosphere. "Josefa, Sir Diego, we need to return soon. If you leave now, you'll be able to arrive on time to attend the party in Manila tomorrow.