Chapter 6: The Contract

Jade was already tired of arguing with her. He faced the table like a bored student, being lectured by his mathematics teacher. Lucas in the other hand was trying to make her understand.

"I don't think you guys understand what I'm saying!" She whined. "I have no relationship to BB Company whatsoever, and I don't need any shares! I don't know this Mr. Stephen Alejandro either! I don't need his money or his charity. Furthermore, I'm satisfied with the kind of life I live... Can't you understand me?"

"It's too late to wiggle out of this now Miss teacher, you said that you knew him just now so why are you pretending?!" Jade fired up while his friend touch his arm to calm him down.

I'm, I think you did acknowledge that you know him ma'am. Lucas explained.

"Don't you know who the President of the United States is? You must have heard of Bill Gates, have you met these people? I know other prominent people in the world, but I don't expect them to know me in return."

"Then... You've never met him in person?" Lucas asked.

"Who? The President of the United States or Bill Gates? I haven't met these people personal, I've only seen them on television of course! You must have also seen them on television too! The chairman of BB Company is also on television and the radio sometimes, right? I'm not even a business person, so I'm not interested in your company! Why don't you believe me? I'm telling you, I don't know him!" She cleared.

"Alright then, sit down let's continue our conversation." Lucas smiled understandingly.

Both Jade and Sapphire were pissed, but they just had to seat.

"Um, this is definitely not a mistake of any kind." Lucas expantiated... All of these brings nothing but pains and headache to Sapphire. She just grabbed a handful of her silky hair out if frustration.

"If you must meet with these requirements, you will be the owner of these documents!"

"You know, those 'requirements' have been bothering me for a while. What are they?" She clutched her face and begged.

"Umm, well... Umm. They're umm, fortune..." Lucas tried to explain, but he couldn't find the words to use.

"Is it hard for you to tell me what the condition is?" She asked Jade that turned away anxiously. It was as if he had Gale hissed somewhere on his mouth. He couldn't swallow it yet, he couldn't spit it out.

"The condition is... You must get married in order to inherit it." Lucas said clearly.

"W...what? What did you say?" She asked quirking an eyebrow.

"If you get married to someone of the Chairman's choosing, you will inherit his fortune. Of course the details of the proceeding will--"

"Wait, whoa! Hold up!" Sapphire closed her eyes and took in deep breaths. "So, this is kinda contract is a marriage stuff? I've only read of this in books and probably movies! For goodness' sake, I'm not even related to this chairman of yours so why am I involved?! Perhaps, who does he wants me to marry?" She asked, interested.

"Well, umm, the man that Mr. Alejandro has chosen is Mr. Jade Alejandro. If you're against that, however, the next person would be Ace Da--" Jade immediately stopped Lucas from talking any further.

"What? Just stop it already, could you?!" Sapphire exclamations abruptly.

She huffed in disbelief. She tried to control her deep breaths once more. It was getting unbearable for her.

"OMG!" She turned to Jade and read the expression on his face.

"Wait! Are you that... Mr. Jade Alejandro by chance?" He raised his gaze at her, still fuming by her reactions.

"Wow! What a nightmare?!" Sapphire rolled her eyes at him.

"Same here, bitch!" He hissed at her and turned to the attorney. "Alright, what do we do now?"

"Mr. Jade Alejandro is the eldest grandson of Mr. Stephen Alejandro and the most closely related to him." Lucas tried to make Sapphire see why Jade is a cool guy to be with. "He is the CEO of Blue Bird Hotel for now, so... He's very capable. If he marries you--"

"Stop spouting nonsense!" The both of them stopped him at once.

"No way... Not now, not ever! Ugh!" She let out a soft sigh.

Jade turned to her... "What was it with that sigh just now?"

"It was a sigh of relief. At least we've agreed on something important. I don't have the slightest intention of marrying you!"

"What do you mean?" He asked her.

"What do you mean by what do I mean?" She replied as they share awkward glances towards each other.

"What are you planning to do?! That's what I'm asking, obviously! You should have taken care of the marriage business when you seduced grandpa!" He blurted out, hitting the table the way he used to do in his office.

Watching him do this made Sapphire terrible.

"By chance, do you have any learning disability?"

"W...what?" Jade stammered to her question, dumbfounded while Lucas covered his nose.

He couldn't help but to chuckle at her words and actions. For some reasons, he thinks Sapphire is the perfect girl for him.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I don't know your grandpa! Why would you accuse me of something I didn't do?!"

***

It had been a long day. And the clock just stuck 5:00 p.m. Jade and Lucas had to take their leave because it was already getting late. Their faces weren't friendly at all, especially the look on Jade's face. It looks as if he later swallowed the Gale in his mouth. He felt so offended by the visit.

"I really think that she don't know anything about this." Lucas explained as they walked out if the school premises.

"You're not falling for her too, are you? Don't tell me that you believe all what she said." Jade muttered with a suspicious look at his friend.

"Well, I don't know if I actually believe her completely or not. But judging from what she's saying to how she acts... It seems she really doesn't know." Lucas explained.

Getting to the car, Jade turned to his friend. "If you're trying to scam me, then do it properly! It's always the scammers that seem more believable!.... Like seriously, scammers!" Jade broke into laughter. Lucas laughed out loud as well.

"Scammers? No way! Judging from my experience, that teacher didn't really know what's going on."

Jade wore an annoying smirk at his friend's words.

"That's why you're a lawyer and not a judge..." He hissed at him and got into the car. Lucas couldn't help but to laugh even more.

"Hey, wait up man! Why are you so pissed?" They got into the car and zoomed off.

Tired of what just happened, Sapphire went into the staff room to rest a bit before going home. On the table she saw a newspaper and decided to check on it. At the cover page, she saw the charming photograph of her very cute Gabby. As she read the front lines 'Gabriel Anderson, the Rising Star!'

A bright smile immediately lightens her face as she started reading the article.

"Do a thorough check on her." Jade tells Lucas. "Something is definitely fishy."

"Hey, I'm busy dude! Why don't you do it yourself? Perhaps, I have a lot of work on my table! I'm going back to the office." He murmured. "I've already wasted most of my day following you around!"

"Shut up!" Jade cuts in aggressively.

"You're BB Company's legal consultant. Shouldn't you be doing things to please me? What work is on your table, liar? You're partly responsible for this deplorable thing happening! It's all your damn fault!!" Jade hissed.

"Ugh!" Lucas let out a soft breath. "That lady knows you so well. I really get why you need to go around with a lawyer now, too. It's just so obvious. The nasty way you talk to others always gets you in trouble." Lucas said, intimidating the voice of Sapphire.

Jade nodded his head with a smile across his face. Remembering Sapphire and her attitude. It's no news that she's totally a different kind of person

***

Back to his hotel, Jade met Ace, his cousin while going back to office. Immediately his dark eyes caught up with Ace, he changed into his annoying look. Staring at his cousin like an insignificant creature, Jade walked towards him. Meanwhile, Ace was admiring a new painting on the wall.

"Oh, I see you're here." Jade caught his attention.

"I came to check out your hotel. Well, it's quite impressive than how I last remembered it." Ace replied with a smile.

"What brings you here, exactly?"

"I'm a guest here too, right? Can't you treat me properly the way you treat others? Is this the best customer service that your hotel can offer?"

"Regardless, it's much better than BB Mall." Jade mouthed with both hands on his pocket.

"What are you insinuating, Jade?"

"I've never seen a stranger run someone else's household well."

Hearing him say this sent anger into Ace's blue eyes. As if he couldn't stand Jade's arrogant attitude.

"Look here Mr. CEO, I'm the one managing BB Mall. You don't tell me what to do!" Ace chortled with a cruel look.

"Yeah, but that's for the main time, actually." Jade rolled his eyes at him disgustingly and walked away.

As if what he just stabbed Ace's heart. He stood in astonishment, thinking about what his cousin just blabbed.

"Oh, Esteemed Guest. The exit is this way please." Ace heard Jade's faint voice from the distance. Well, he was referring to him.

Furious and offended, Ace walked out of the hotel while Jade whooshed to his cousin as he walked away. It's no doubt that these two never gets along.

***

11:59 p.m

Jade was still in his office, staring at Sapphire's cute photograph. He checked back and forth, as if he would get something from his observation. Skimming and scanning through her personal report, Jade pondered as he looked into other files attached to it over again.

"What?! She's the president of some fan club?" Jade sizzled as his eyes caught up on the information.

"At her age? How possible?" He added, curiously.

Glancing back at her picture, he notices how cute and beautiful her smile was. Her brown-red hair looked so soft and admirable just like Marple leaves during summer. Thinking about her made him remember how harsh her words were. How stupid he looked in front of her...

'That insignificant termite, a liar, a pretender and a seductive prostitute. Who knows if she's into black magic? She must be a crazy witch, right?"

Thinking about Sapphire made him go nuts. He tore her pictures in anger and threw it into the waste-bin. He whooshed out a heavy sigh and threw himself on his executive chair like a bag of rice against the floor.

Looking back at the table was another picture of her in a white laced gown.

"Look how innocent and cute she is, how did she seduce grandpa?! Everything about this girl annoys me, most especially her smile. Why this girl of all people?! What's so damn special about her?! She's a pretender right? A new type of gold-digger!" He hissed and paid attention to her facial look.

"But with this kind of face, though? Ugh!" He rubbed his head simultaneously as if he would collapse at any minute. His tired hands grabbed his phone as he dialed a contact. He failed it over and over, but the person wasn't replying.

"Great! Good job, grandpa! You've done well by avoiding my calls and messages. Fine, I'll come to you. I'll come to you, damn it!" He squawked and left his office like a sullen fish.