Chapter 1

The Aisle of Medellin is the longest super straight highway in Cebu. A seven and half kilometer highway from Dayhagon to Curva at the heart of sugarcane fields, which the Mangubat owns from the foundation of Medellin until the present age.

The green and glorious field is the crown of Don Sebastian Mangubat and Donya Belinda Sanchez-Mangubat. And the little nipa hut at the right portion of the field is the favorite spot of their daughter, Jewel Laine.

What she loves in that place is the peaceful ambiance. She could see in the distance the green sugarcanes and the white road of the Aisle from inside the hut. But what she likes most is that no one bother her reading.

It's a great place for her reading enthusiast. Fresh air, birds' chirping, quiet place ...

"Miss Laine! Miss! I'm back and I've got a lot of books here!"

She blinked. She'd just praised the place but then... hay, she groaned and stood in her feet. Nevermind.

She came out of the small hut and frowned when she saw Dalya smiling as the girl walked towards her. Dalya was carrying two large bags that she thought were books from Pandayan and NBS.

"Dalya, could you please lower your voice?" she asked when Dalya placed the two bags in front of her. "And why did you put it there on the ground? You should brought that bags straight home. I don't want my people to know that I'm reading those kind of books."

"But Miss, Pedro said that Don and Donya were in the mansion. Maybe your mama and papa will drive me away when they see that I brought these to your house. You know the attitude of your parents. I'm afraid they might burn me alive."

She frowned and crossed her arms. Nah, not good. "Fine." She rolled her eyes. "Put these books in the hut. Where's Pedro?"

"He's on the side of the Aisle, waiting for you."

"All right. I'll bring Pedro back here later. Place the books in a box. Then deliver them from the back of the house and go straight to my room. I'll let the door open so you can come in right away. I'll talk to mama and papa to distract them."

Dalya smiled sheepishly. "Hey, miss, why are you ashamed of books? Doesn't Donya prefer to see you reading?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Dalya."

"Yes, Miss?"

"Don't ask. Just do what I said and I'll give tip to you and to Pedro."

Dalya's eyes sparkled in delight. "I'll do it, Miss!"

She hid her Iphone10 at the pocket of her pants and put the book titled The Sexual Assault inside one of the bags, together with other erotica books. "I'll go. Look after my books, okay?"

"Okay!"

She wore again her summer hat and boots that were lying at the corner. "Did he bring Fransisko?"

"No, Miss. He just rented a motorcycle at the entrance of the Aisle. Horses are not allowed in the city."

She raised an eyebrow but did not say anything. She finished wearing the boots first and she put the hat on her head before facing Dalya. Her eyes narrowed. "You think I didn't know he was forbidden in the city?"

"I'm sorry, Miss. But I just said and you might have forgotten -"

She turned her back on the girl and marched to the side of the Aisle. She even heard Dalya shout, "Be careful, Miss!"

But she did not look back at the girl nor raised her hand. Not that she was offended by Dalya's words, but she wanted Dalya to learn to choose her words appropriately. Sometimes, Dalya cause hurt to other people without the girl knowing.

Ramos complained the other day. Dalya scolded the poor man in front of the other gardeners. Curses and hurtful words came out of Dalya's mouth. Ramos, on the other hand, cannot hurt Dalya because the latter is a woman and there is an ordinance in the city that forbids men from laying hands on women.

Nonetheless, Jewel doesn’t like people who don’t know how to self-discipline. And the staff shouldn't be reprimanded in front of a lot of people because it's really embarrassing when that happens.

She took a few steps under the scorching heat of the sun. Later, she saw Pedro in the distance.

The servant was talking to a man wearing a big hemp hat. She saw only the stranger's sharp nose and thin lips. But because the sun was so hot and she was sweating profusely, she stopped wondering who the man was and turned her attention to Pedro.

She held out her palm to take the motor key from Pedro. She wants to get home soon.

"But miss," Pedro said. "You have to give money first. A thousand for a trip."

Her forehead furrowed. "Who says that?"

Pedro pointed the man he was talking to earlier. She turned her gaze to the stranger. First that grabbed her attention was the wide grin on the man's lips.

"He's the owner of the motor, Miss. Two thousand for the whole Aisle trip but I asked for half of it earlier to deliver the books to the hut, so you can give the other half. I don't have money anymore because the books went up in price. The manager said the price of gasoline went up so the books went up too."

For a few seconds, she looked back and forth between the two men. Eventually, she fanned herself. "Well, Pedro. The weather's hot... okay, here it is."

She took the purse out of her pocket and took a thousand. She handed it to the stranger. "I'll run the motor. You know me, right? Just get your motor later at my dad's mansion. I'll call Ramos to drive you, Peter, and Dalya to mansion."

Pedro interrupted. "But Miss -"

She raised her free hand and turned to him. "I don't want to ride with a stranger, okay?"

"But Miss, Don Sebastian will scold me."

She rolled her eyes. She folded her arms and fixed her eyes on Pedro. "If you had just brought Fransisko here on the field, we wouldn't have had a problem. But you didn't tie my horse on the field, so be patient."

Pedro scratched his own nape.

The stranger suddenly cleared his throat. Jewel looked at the man. “I’ll just take you to the end of the Aisle,” the stranger offered.

She shook her head. "No worries." She laid her palm in front of the man. "Give me the key. Don't worry, I have a student permit here. You won't be harmed if there's a checkpoint ahead."

The man was silent for few seconds, but eventually sighed and he pulled out something from his pocket.

Jewel expected the man to put the key in her palm, but when the man got the key, he just held her hand. Her forehead furrowed as she felt his warm palm covered hers. She could still feel the motor key between her palm and the man's.

"Let go," she warned.

But the man just smiled and tightened his grip on her hand. He guided her closer to the large motor.

"I said let go!"

But the man didn't listen. He could pull her easily because of his strength.

She turned to Pedro. She saw her servant scratched the back of his own head. "Pedro!" She shouted in the hope that her assistant would help her.

"I'm sorry, Miss. I can't just order Sir Gideon."

Her forehead furrowed. "Just help me out, okay? Mama will be mad when she finds out!"

She pulled her hand back but the man's grip was too tight. She angrily slapped the man's hand. "Mister, let go! Don't you know me?"

"Everyone knows who you are, Jewel."

She smirked. "Then let go. Who are you?"

She pulled her hand again but nothing happened. Then the man named Gideon looked at her.

He smiled and without a word, he lifted her onto the motorbike. Her lips parted. "Jerk!" She shouted angrily.

The man quickly got on the motorbike and did not give her a chance to jump because the Xtown revved up. She held his shoulder at the sudden speed of the motorbike.

"Let's meet at the mansion, Sir!" Pedro shouted.

Sir? Are there other rich child in this area? Well, she had never met the one Pedro called as Gideon.

The shape of the body was unfamiliar, and the man's perfume was new to her smell. So she was sure that the man wasn’t from Medellin.

And if he was from Medellin, then the man was not staying here. Because she knew already almost all the heirs of prominent families in the whole place but she had never seen the brusque man.

The motor speeded faster on the straight Aisle. The wind hit her hard in the face. A few strands of her hair danced freely towards the front.

Her eyes suddenly widened with realization. They’re not wearing helmets! When she touched her head, she was no longer wearing her hat. She stared angrily at the stranger's head.

Suddenly, the motor stopped. She screamed when her face almost hit the back of Gideon's head. Fortunately, she avoided it so her face sank into the man's shoulder.

"Don't be a reckless girl, Jewel." He grabbed her hands clinging to his clothes, then guided them around his stomach. He even tapped her hands gently.

She held her breath. It was the first time that she would hug the motor driver and she was really disgusted. She was not born to submit to a stranger! "Stop that -"

"Shh," Gideon stopped her. He started the motor so she hugged him tightly. She felt even worse. "Prevention is better than cure. You've heard that, Jewel?"

The speed of the motor accelerated so she hugged Gideon tighter. She was afraid of being blown away by the force of the wind. And it seemed that the stranger had no intention of slowing down the motor, because it just went faster.

Her heartbeat also quickened. She didn't want to die young.

~~

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