ANONYMOUS SENDER.

"WHAT happened to your shoulder, sister?!"

I almost dropped the glass I'm washing when I heard Raki's loud voice next to me.

I put the glass down in the sink before turning to her. "I'm just so close to you, do you really need to scream?" I asked irritably.

Raki smiled at me sheepishly. "Sorry...but what really happened to you and you have a wound on your shoulder?" She asked worriedly as she glanced at my bandaged shoulder exposed from the racer back tank I'm wearing.

I sighed. "I just encountered a bad guy last night."

"What? Where? What did he do to you?!"

My lips contorted a bit as Raki's voice rose. I turned to her. "Could you please keep your voice down, Raki? It's hurting my ears." I firmly said in a low voice.

Raki hugged me from behind. My annoyance with her just melted away.

"Sorry, sister. I'm just worried about you. Is that all the man did to you? Did someone help you?" she muttered softly.

"Yes. Someone helped me." I answered.

"Good," Raki sighed in relief.

Meanwhile, I held her hand on my stomach and pulled myself away from her. "Your breakfast is ready. Eat now."

"How about you?" she asked.

"I just had my breakfast. I ate first because you were still asleep when I came down. And since your class is still at 10:00 am, I didn't bother asking Manang to wake you up."

"Ms. Clarity, someone is looking for you outside."

Raki and I turned to Manang Alice. She's there, standing in the kitchen's entrance.

"Who is it?" I walked towards Manang while Raki sat down at the table to eat breakfast.

"He didn't mention his name, just looking for you," Manang said before she stepped inside the kitchen.

"Where's that person?" I turned to Manang again while wiping my wet hand with a towel.

"I made him wait outside the mansion."

I nodded to Manang, then I marched out of the mansion, leaving both Raki and Manang in the kitchen.

I met a slender and rather tall man in front of the gate.

"Are you Ms. Clarity Gallego?" The man instantly asked as soon as she saw me.

"Yes, I am. What do you need from me?"

"I am Sir Kade's employee. He is in a meeting, so he just ordered me to deliver your car here that was left at Rosewood Rise."

I raised an eyebrow at what I heard. This is new to me. Although I know that he's a businessman like he said before, it turned out that he had other things to worry about besides his occasional appearance at the place where I was there.

"Ma'am, your car is outside. Do you want me to take it inside for you, or you'll do it yourself? The man called my attention. 

I turned to him with furrowed brows. "Just a minute. How did you bring my car here?"

"Sir Kade gave me the key."

My forehead furrowed even more. I don't remember giving Kade the car keys last night. How does he have it?

I stared at the man seriously. "When will your boss' meeting end?"

"Sir is in Aurora right now, so I don't know."

I sighed exasperatedly. "Nevermind. Thanks for bringing my car here."

I opened the gate and went out to see my car, but suddenly I stopped when something came to my mind.

I calmly folded my arms in front of the man. "You said earlier that you were Kade's employee?"

"That's what I mentioned, Ma'am."

I flashed a fake smile. "May I know what is there in your company? What does your company do?"

Scratching onto his head, the man gave me a critical smile. "Well... Ma'am, you'd better ask Sir Kade about that. I'll leave now. I still have work to get back to." 

My jaw just dropped, especially when the man quickly disappeared from my sight.

"What's with you, Kade?" I asked internally.

* * *

I LEFT THE MANSION first because I had a client to meet at Mango Farm. Janna was already there, she was just waiting for me and our client.

Our client meeting ended quickly, and Janna and I immediately returned to the resort. 

"Ms. Clari, are you sure you're alright? Doesn't your wound hurt?" Janna asked, who followed behind me as we headed to the hotel.

I shook my head. "I'm okay, Janna. Did you and Mrs. Gallon finish the process yesterday?"

"Yes, Ms. Clari. We finished right away. She'll just have her sister to get her separation fee. She will just send a promissory note." Janna answered.

I nodded even though I had my back to her. "I'll inform the payroll team, so they'll know."

Janna hurried to my side at the right distance as we entered the hotel, along with the guests. She kept me from getting hit on the shoulder, especially since I'm wearing a black corporate blazer. People wouldn't notice that I had a wound on my shoulder.

"Good morning, Ms. Clari." Dean greeted us when we were in the lobby.

"Morning too. Before I forget..." I stopped in front of the front desk. "We'll be having a meeting at exactly 3:00 pm. I need you all managers and old staff to be there."

"Copy that, Ms. Clari," he nodded. "By the way, Ma'am...someone was looking for Ms. Raki earlier, but he left immediately as soon as we said she was still in class."

"Who is it?" I asked with knitted brows.

"He didn't say his name, but he left an invitation card for Ms. Raki."

"Where's the invitation card?"

"Here..." Dean handed me the black card. It's a silk-coated card with a gold print and gold swirl frame.

I read what's written on the card. Written in a calligraphy font, I learned that it's an invitation for a commemoration ball. I checked who's the sender of the card, but it only had Raki's name on it. It's a handwritten 'Racquelyn Anjell Gallego'.

I stared back at Dean. "I'll just give it to Raki. Don't forget the meeting later."

I hid the card in my corporate blazer's pocket. I continued walking, but I immediately stopped when my eyes caught Star sitting comfortably in one of the couches there.

"Calleiah."

My jaw tightened when she called me. She took one leg down from sitting with legs crossed and stood up. "Good morning, cous."

I approached him coldly. "What are you doing here, Star?"

She smirked. "I heard that Mrs. Gallon just resigned yesterday, so I'm here to volunteer myself as the new HR manager of our resort."

"What made you think that I'm going to hire you? You sure you're qualified for that position?" I asked seriously.

Star scoffed at me. "You really don't trust me huh? Come on, Calleiah. We both know that I'm perfectly qualified for that. I'm also a BA graduate, Major in Human Resource Development Management. I'm just reminding you if you don't remember."

My lips formed a line when she came closer to me and folded her arms.

"My cousin, don't be hard on yourself. You should be grateful that I'm here to pick up the jobs Mrs. Gallon left behind."

I remained silent as I gave her a blank expression.

"Well...silence means yes." She snickered before she turned to Janna, who's standing beside me.

"Janna." She called my secretary's attention, causing the latter to jerk a little.

"Y-Yes, M-Ms. Star?" Confusion and panic were evident in Janna's expression.

"Bring me to my office. I'm starting my work today as HR Manager." Star demanded.

"Ah...ahm..." 

Star breathed violently when Janna even turned to me reluctantly.

"Ms. Clari..." Janna muttered, asking for my response whether she's going to do or refuse what Star just asked.

"Go ahead, Janna. Bring her to the HR office." I ordered and glanced at Star, who's grinning widely. It's a smile of victory that she just won the argument. "I'm reminding you, Star, that we're running our family business...so please be serious with your work."

She rolled her eyes. "Jeez, Calleiah! I already know that, you don't need to remind me. I'm not an empty head." She grabbed his bag and quickly passed me. "Let's go, Janna. I need a cozy room."

"Y-Yes, Miss..." Janna followed him in a panic.

I looked at the two as they headed to the elevator. I hope I made the right decision to turn over the HR department to Star.

* * * 

I STOOD UP as I felt tired from sitting in the swivel chair for several hours.

I don't have a scheduled client meeting after lunch today, so I'll be in the office for a few hours until three o'clock for our meeting later with the managers and staff of the resort.

I carefully took off my corporate blazer and placed it on the swivel chair. All I had left was a black tank top tucked into my pencil skirt that exposed my bandaged shoulder. I changed into flat shoes from the pumps I was wearing before I left the office.

"Where are you going, Ms. Clari?" Janna when she saw me outside the office.

"Are there people on the rooftop?"

"N-None, Ma'am." She muttered, looking over my shoulder.

"I'll just go to the rooftop to get some fresh air. You take care of the office for a while." I declared.

Janna nodded at me. "Sure, Ma'am."

I marched towards the stairs. I don't know what made me decide not to use the elevator to go up to the rooftop. Maybe, I'm just thinking of having a little exercise since I rarely do that because I'm always busy at work.

It took me almost 20 minutes before I reached the rooftop. I wiped off the sweat from my forehead. I'm catching my breath because I was really exhausted from walking from the second floor where my office is to the rooftop of the five-story hotel.

I swiftly stepped towards the patio to get some shade as the sweltering heat from the scorching sun gradually hurt my skin.

It's a small patio, including a dark-gray L-shaped couch along with four navy blue trellis throw pillows. Next to the couch is a glass coffee table, with a small stand for a small scented candle. I sat on the couch and got one of the throw pillows aligned at the side. I breathed furiously. I feel hot as sweat drips down my forehead and neck.

I darted my eyes to the rectangular pool beside the patio. It's made from fiberglass as its clear turquoise water was sparkling under the flaring sun. There's five tanning chairs aligned in each long side of the pool-facing the kilometer-away islet from the seacoast to the middle of the sea, aside from the East-rising sun and the whole seascape of Palisog Beach-a beach that gives off a serene ambiance with the gushing waves drenching the fine, white sand and the wailing of a few seagulls patrolling above the glistening ocean. The strong wind rages in my direction, bringing the smell of salt throughout the ocean that eventually clung onto my nose.

My thoughts got interrupted when my phone vibrated in my skirt pocket. I immediately answered the call without checking who the caller was.

"Are you at the resort, niece?" It's Aunt Roma, who just returned to Paris the other day with Uncle Gavin.

"Yes, Aunt? Why did you call?" I took off my flat shoes and put my two feet on the couch. My back was leaning on the couch sideways while I sat on my two feet.

"Star called me earlier. Is it true that you gave her the position?"

"It's true." I replied.

"I see...but are you okay with that, niece? Because if not, I can have her—"

"No, Aunt. I'm fine with it. Let's give her a chance to show what she learned from her course."

I heard her deep sigh on the other line. "Clari, I know it's hard for you to work with Star, but I'm begging you to be patient with her. You know your cousin...she's stubborn."

 "Don't worry, Aunt. I already know that. I can handle her stubbornness."

"If Star does something stupid there, call me right away. Anyway, I'm going to release this call now. Maybe I've interrupted you from your work, niece. I'll call you again later. Bye!"

I put my phone back in my pocket after Aunt Roma already ended our conversation. I moved away from leaning and reached for my hair tie, which I gently removed.

My hair slowly fell over my shoulders as I laid my back again on the couch. I put a throw pillow over my deflated stomach and set my eyes at the sky blue vinyl ceiling of the patio—staring blankly at it for a few minutes until my eyelids slowly became heavy and my vision gradually dimmed...

"You disappointed me so much, Clarity. I thought you were different from your cousin. I made a mistake in choosing you. He glanced at me with a hint of disappointment flickering in his sunken eyes.

I bent my head down. I couldn't look at him directly. It pained me seeing him with a gloomy face.

"I-I'm really sorry, Granpa. I'm sorry for disappointing you...I'm sorry...I know what I've done is unforgivable...so if you disown me now...I'll accept it." My tears fell one after another. I gripped the side of my hospital gown and slowly went down on bended knees. My tears and sweat were already mixing, but I didn't bother to wipe them. I kept sobbing while Grandpa stayed silent.

Later after, his feet moved closer to me.

I felt him trembling as he put a hand on my shoulder. "Stand up there, my granddaughter. If you think I'm going to disown you...you're wrong. Yes, you disappointed me, but it doesn't change the fact that you've been a good granddaughter to me."

All of you have committed sins but I will never harbor anger towards you because you're all my granddaughter...you...Star...and Raki. Wipe your tears and stand up."

"But Grandpa—"

"You won't tell anyone, even your closest friend. This secret is the whole family's secret. No one should know, whoever is it that will ruin the whole of Gallego. Do you understand me Calleiah Clarity?"

"But Grandpa, Jia...saw us..."

"I'll take care of it. Don't worry…"

"SISTER Clari, wake up..."

A familiar voice and a gentle shake on my shoulder woke me up from slumbering.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Raki's worried face. I got up and carefully slumped on the couch. "Why are you here? You still have class, right?"

She shook her head. "Our class was over a while ago. I just stopped by so we could go home together, but you weren't in your office."

"How did you know I was here?" I asked.

"Janna told me. By the way, Ms. Kalliope was looking for you earlier. She said you told them you'll have a meeting with them at three o'clock."

I glanced at my wristwatch before standing up. It's a good thing Raki came, otherwise I would have slept longer and I'll definitely miss our staff meeting.

"Are they all in the conference room?" I shifted my gaze back to Raki.

Raki nodded. "Yes. Ms. Calliope told me. You are the only one they're waiting for."

I lightly slapped my forehead. You're not a good example of punctuality, Clarity!

I took my phone out of my skirt's pocket and called Janna, who answered quickly.

"Ms. Clari—"

I cut her off. "Tell them I'll be there in 15 minutes." I said straightly.

"Okay, Ma'am," I heard Janna say before I hung up.

"Let's go." I glanced at Raki before I started walking.

Raki and I went back down to my office together to get the corporate blazer I left there and to change my shoes.