CHAPTER 21: FORGIVENESS

"Tell Ms. Jones to come here." Ms. Dein immediately followed and looked for the department she was in. When she discovered it, she noticed that she was fixing her things while still in tears and that she appeared to be about to leave.

"You're Ms. Vera Jones, right?" Ms. Dein asked.

Vera looked at her in wonder and nodded while wiping her tears.

"The CEO wants you in his office," she told Ms. Jones before she left because she still had a lot to attend to.

People immediately started gossiping when they heard that Vera was being summoned to the CEO's office.

"The CEO didn't seem to like Vera's actions."

"Tsk. She really had the guts to talk back with Mr. Buenavista’s wife."

"Deserve!"

She heard that a lot of employees were badmouthing her. She just bowed in shame and immediately went out to go to the office of Mr. Buenavista. When she got to the front of the office, she had second thoughts about opening it. What if she got punished because of what she said earlier? She has no idea what awaits her.

…

Meanwhile, Red had just finished eating when someone knocked on his door. He and Chelsea looked at each other and seemed to understand who this person was.

"Come in," Red said briefly to the person who was knocking.

When the door opened, it spat out Vera. "Sir, you called me," Vera said while bending down and unable to look into Red and Chelsea's eyes.

"Yes, we have decided not to fire you," he stated flatly.

Vera immediately looked at him and seemed to be about to cry. Little by little, tears formed in her eyes. Feeling the satisfaction of what she heard.

"Thank you very much, sir. I really need this job, and I can't handle it if I'm getting fired. I'm the breadwinner of our family, and that's why I apologize for what I've done..." Vera wasn’t able to hold back tears because of the joy that she would not be fired from her job. With so much gratitude, she even knelt down in front of Red.

"You shouldn't apologize to me; my wife is the one who decided on that thing. She forced me not to fire you," Red pointed out to Chelsea. "If it wasn't for my wife, I would have decided to fire you, Ms. Jones. This is my company, and since she's my wife, that means this company is hers as well. You shouldn't treat her like you did earlier. " Red said seriously.

Vera immediately bowed, saying, "I'm very sorry for my actions. I'm sorry, Mrs. Buenavista, for what I did to you earlier. I was just following the company's protocol, but I know what I did was wrong. I hope to be forgiven. Please forgive me..." Vera apologized.

Chelsea immediately approached Vera and helped her stand. "I didn't mind what you did earlier. You don't have to do that. But hopefully next time you won't treat other people like that," Chelsea said.

"I'm really sorry, Mrs. Buenavista," Vera cried.

"Don't cry anymore. You asked for forgiveness; I'm okay with that. I hope it will not happen again, Ms. Jones," Chelsea said.

"It won't happen again, ma'am," Vera replied.

"Good. You can go back to work," Red said briefly.

Vera immediately bowed and apologized one last time before leaving Red's office. Chelsea came to Red's table and arranged Red's food.

"What? You're leaving right away?" Red asked her.

"Kuya Roy is downstairs. He's waiting for me. I need to go home. Besides, I know you're busy today, and I don't want to intrude on your time." Chelsea said that made Red sad. It was true what Chelsea said—he still had a lot to take care of, so he didn't make any more choices and left Chelsea alone.

Chelsea rushed out after organizing everything, but before closing the door completely, she said, "Don't worry too much about work."

Red smiled at what she said.

"Is that her way of saying I love you?" he whispered to himself.

Chelsea rushed out of the company and looked for Kuya Roy. Fortunately, he hadn't left yet and was still waiting for her.

"Kuya Roy, sorry it took so long... Red ate so slowly..." Chelsea said shyly.

"No, ma'am, that's okay. Let's go?" Chelsea agreed and helped her get into the car.

While on the road, Kuya Roy and Chelsea had a conversation.

"Do you know about Red’s sister?" Chelsea asked Kuya Roy.

"Ma'am? Why did you ask?" Kuya Roy asked back.

"It's nothing... I saw her photo in Red's office. It's just sad to think about what her life was like." Chelsea said.

Kuya Roy looked in the mirror and glanced a little at Chelsea. "Madam doesn't want to talk about the Buenavistas' only daughter. She just heard the maids gossiping about it, so they are definitely fired from work," Kuya Roy said sadly.

"Mrs. Buenavista's anger towards Red's sister is really bad... It's a pity that she treated the child like that even though she was innocent. The sins of adults should not be borne on children," she said.

"It's a pity that there is nothing we can do because we will lose our jobs," Kuya Roy added.

Chelsea kept quiet, and when she arrived at the mansion, she immediately handed the maid what she was carrying and went to her room.

She sat on the sofa and opened her laptop. She thought of watching the videos taken when her mother was still alive. In his search for a video, one of them caught her attention.

*play*

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday! Happy birthday! Happy birthday to youu!~" voice from Chelsea's parents.

"Happy birthday, my princess! Blow your candle now! 1...2...3... Blow!" Mrs. Garcia said happily in the video.

"I have a gift for you, darling; I'm sure you'll love it!" said Mr. Garcia while holding the camera and focusing on his wife and daughter.

"Wow, papa! It’s so big!" Little Chelsea said happily.

"Of course, darling. Since you are our princess, you should receive a big gift from us. Open it!" Said Mr. Garcia.

Chelsea ran to the gift and hurriedly opened it. After she opened the gift, a massive doll house appeared in front of her. She was so happy that she even jumped and ran towards her parents and hugged and kissed them.

"You like it?" Mrs. Garcia asked with a smile.

Little Chelsea nodded.

"Okay! As for me, my gift to you, my daughter, is from your grandmothers, who bequeathed it to me, and since you are my princess, I will bequeath it to you. I hope you take care of it," said Mrs. Garcia as she handed Chelsea a small box.

"What is this, mom?" Little Chelsea asked in wonder.

"Open it..." she smiled.

When Chelsea opened the box, she saw that it contained a beautiful necklace with a butterfly pendant.

*paused*

When Chelsea paused the video, she grabbed the necklace she was wearing. The necklace her mother gave her. The necklace that came from their clan and is now being worn by her.

"As you wish, mom, I will keep it and pass it on to the future princess of my life," she said with a smile.

She stopped watching and immediately closed the laptop. She took her bag and left the mansion. She didn't ask for Kuya Roy anymore and just commuted.

When she got on the bus, she preferred the seat next to the window. While on the road, she just stared out the window and watched the cars pass by.

When she got to her destination, Chelsea first bought flowers and candles from a vendor outside the cemetery. After buying, she went to her late mother's grave.

"Hi ma!" she greeted with a smile.

She put down the flower and lit the candle.

"How are you doing here, mom? I'm sorry, I can't visit you often. I've just been a bit busy with things in life."

She lay on the grass next to her mother's grave.

"It's terrible; it's tiring to live, isn't it? Even if you don't have any problems, you don't know why you're still tired. The tiredness that can't be overcome by just resting... But don't worry, I'm still taking care of myself. Look, I still have the gift you gave me when I was 5 years old," Chelsea said while holding the necklace given by her mother.

"I hope I can give this to my future daughter. I hope I can find a man who is not like dad. I don't want my future daughter to experience the feeling of being rejected and used by their father. I don't want them to experience what I experienced."

"Does Papa still visit you here? Surely not. What else can we expect from Papa? Don't worry. Even if someone leaves us, I'm still here for you."

Chelsea closed her eyes while feeling the cold wind. She didn't care about the heat of the sun because she was sheltered by a tree right next to her mother's grave.

…

Meanwhile, while Red was organizing the documents, a man suddenly entered.

"How is the progress on the 13th?" Red asked the man who had just entered his office.

"We already got it, sir, but..." he stopped what he was saying.

Red immediately looked at him and frowned.

"If you have something to say, then say it. I don't have much time." Red said grumpily at him.

"But sir, is Buenavista's company planning to go into real estate?" he asked Red.

"Don't worry about it. Just do what I instructed you to do. Also, keep an eye on that land that I told you last time."

"The land that Chua's group wanted, sir?"

"Yes. Keep an eye on that." Red ordered before he left his office.

Red seems to be planning something with the Chua family. He looked at the document holder and smiled at what he saw.

…

On the other hand, Mark is still waiting for Chelsea's arrival. He called her several times, but she didn't answer. It seems that she has no intention of showing up.

"I waited all day and she still hasn't come... Chelsea, will you really not forgive me?" he whispered while rubbing his shoulder.

He was about to stand up when his phone suddenly rang. He immediately looked at her and expected it to be Chelsea, but it turned out to be only his father calling.

He immediately answered, "Yes, dad?"

[Go home immediately!]

"Why? Is there a problem?"

[I'll tell you once you're here. Hurry up.]

And Mark hung up and immediately got into his car. When he reached his house, he found his father, who looked troubled, sitting on the sofa.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Mark asked worriedly.

"It's good that you're home. Son, someone is attacking our company." He said this to Mark, which immediately surprised him.

"What?! Have you found out who it is?!" Mark asked in shock.

His father was silent as he thought deeply. "Not yet," he answered shortly. “But whoever that is, they must be so powerful to even have the guts to fight us…”