Chapter 35

Everyone was busy. All the maids have been up since six in the morning and started preparing for the grand arrival of the most awaited guest of the house, Mrs. Laura Ramirez-Magsano.

The maids had made sure the whole house was thoroughly neat and clean as everyone was anxious of her arrival. Contrary to many, Laura was not a cruel person but rather, quite straightforward and just loved her one and only son, Robbie, so much to the point she would go to different lengths to protect him and set him straight.

A single mother for more than twenty years, Laura had never been interested to any men. For her, it was enough to have one man in her life, which was her son. Although her brother, Bernardo "Bernie" Ramirez had helped her raised her son, it was still mostly her upbringing that made Robbie who he was today. Determined and driven were some of the traits she would describe him because that was who she was and she believed she had passed it on to him.

Laura had taught her son well and was even happy when he chose to compete with women rather than with men when it came to the cosmetics industry. Few would survive the "jungle" and only those who were strong enough to beat their opponent could stay afloat in business. Robbie was one of them. He never gave up despite of the rumors.

She arrived in a polished red sports car in a beautiful Saturday afternoon at the beach house. All the people in the mansion lined up outside as Laura came out in a yellow bell-sleeved dress that hit up to her knees and a yellow hat covered her beautiful shiny black hair.

Everyone who had set their eyes on her would marvel of how beautiful the lady was despite of her age. Her deep set eyes, and thin small lips add sophistication on her beautiful face. Her aura could be felt all over as she walked with her black pointed-toe heels with her large purse on her right arm.

Born with a silver spoon in her mouth, she was worth a million dollars and when she got divorced, her ex-husband didn't receive a single penny from her. She wanted to refuse child support for Robbie because of her pride that time, but she decided to let her cheating ex-husband support their son since it was according to the law.

The beach house was bought for Robbie and she had placed it under his name, too. If not for Robbie's grandmother, she would never have moved to Canada. A nursing home and a large estate in Toronto had been left under her name when her mother passed, so she decided to move there when Robbie bought his first house. She knew he was ready and she had raised him to be independent as well.

As she walked towards the door, passing by the maids in line on both sides of the path, Robbie, Alex, Sasha and Bernie were waiting for her by the main door.

Bernie was the first to greet her.

"My dear sis! How are you?" and he gave her a tight embrace. Only a year apart, they become very close.

"Kuya (Big Brother), I miss you," Laura greeted in reply.

"I miss you, too, Sissy," and he kissed her cheek. A slight tear fell from Bernie's eyes and Laura as well. He wiped her tear from her cheek.

"It's been a long time."

"I know," and he pushed her slightly away from him. "I'm glad you came."

"Of course. I would love to meet my granddaughter," she said and gazed at Sasha.

She pulled herself away from Bernie as Robbie hugged her.

"Welcome home, Mom," Robbie greeted. "How was your trip?"

"Exhausting. So is this really your daughter? She had her resemblance with her mother."

Alex felt terrible as Laura just glanced at her without acknowledging her presence.

Robbie, however, pulled himself away from his mother and placed his arm around Alex's waist.

"You remember Alex?" he asked his mom, trying to sound casual as his insides were all entangled from anxiety. It was hard to pretend everything will be fine after last night. He hoped his mother would not suspect even for a bit that this was just arranged.

"Of course," Laura replied. "Alex..."

"H-Hi Tita Laura," Alex greeted.

Laura smiled faintly at Alex and focused her eyes on the girl standing in front of her. The girl was holding on to her mother's arm as she smiled at Laura.

"You must be Sasha. We met online, remember?" Laura asked as she bent a little to level with her.

Sasha smiled. "Are you my grandma?"

"Yes. Are you happy to see me in person?"

Sasha nodded but inside she wasn't sure.

Is her grandma nice? Her mind wondered as she continued to stare at her. Her grandmother's strong presence made her question if she was cool or not.

"I love your dress. Did your daddy buy that for you?" Laura asked Sasha.

Sasha shook her head.

"No. Mom did," she replied. "Mom bought it for me as my birthday gift last year"

"Oh!" Laura felt embrassed and straightened up. The dress looked glamorous in her taste and she didn't have an idea that Alex still somehow had that eye for detail when it came to outfits. It was from a brand she loved and had actually looked up online right before she landed.

Raising an eyebrow, she complimented the dress.

"It's beautiful," she said, then turning to Alex. "I'm glad you still have that taste in clothes."

"T-Thank you, Tita," Alex said.

Alex could sense the indifference coming from Laura and somehow she felt so low by the way the question was given, even if probably it was not how it was meant to be. Maybe it's because her soon-to-be mother-in-law made her feel unimportant right now that she somehow misinterpreted things. She swallowed hard and tried to ignore the tightness in her throat.

She was just glad that somehow Laura appreciated it but she knew that she only acknowledged her because of the dress. Somehow, she was thankful for it. It gave her a sense of pride that she was able to afford at least one beautiful dress for her daughter. It was acutally more of a compensation for the years she wasn't able to bring Sasha to meet her real father.

Now, it was more than she had bargained for, since introducing her to Robbie was the most amazing thing she had given Sasha for her birthday. Realizing that, she suddenly felt more admiration for Robbie as the feeling from last night's encounter came back to her. She swallowed hard again as she tried not feel differently as Robbie's closeness made her feel jumpy all of a sudden.

Robbie felt Alex suddenly tensing up and he squeezed her waist that made her jump. She looked at him as she tried hard to mask whatever she was feeling at that moment.

Robbie noticed the swollen eyes despite of the make-up she had placed on her face. He knew she had probably cried herself to sleep and he couldn't stop himself from pushing a strand of hair away from her face. Now he longed for them to be alone again so they could talk about their feelings, and away from the unnerving glares of his mother.

Laura noticed their exchange and pursed her lips. She didn't like the fact that among all the other women, her son had decided to have Alex again in his life. The news of their engagement and wedding had come to her through her brother, and she was not very pleased.

"Hijo," she started as she cleared her throat, "We need to talk."

Robbie nodded in acknowledgment. Without hesitation, he pulled Alex closer and planted her a kiss which didn't give her enough time to react as he pulled away quickly as well.

Alex gazed at his eyes as he smiled at her, caressing her cheek with his fingers.

"I'll see you later, my sweets," he whispered bringing heat to her cheeks. She bit her lip as she felt the butrerflies in her stomach again and her heart beating faster in her chest.

Laura creased her eyebrows as she saw something different between them.

Could it be that what they really have was real now? She doubted it. Knowing Alex, she knew she would leave her son again as soon she got an opportunity. She couldn't trust her any longer after what she did.

"Son, I'm sure you'll have more time for this later," Laura commented, raising an eyebrow at Alex. Whatever this woman was planning, she will never succeed. She will never let his son get hurt again by her.

Robbie let Alex go but held on to her hand.

"Stephanie, the wedding planner, will be here to help us arrange some things for tomorrow's engagement party and our wedding. Feel free to speak to her on whatever theme you like. I trust you," he told her.

Alex didn't dare to say anything else since she could feel Laura's eyes were on her. So, she just nodded as Robbie kissed her hand.

"I love you," he blurted out and let her hand go.

Alex was still in shock as she watched as Robbie and his mother walked inside the house. Her heart leaped at the last three words he had spoken and yet a part of her was asking...

Did he really mean it or was it just for show?

And she found herself wishing it was true.