“Why are you marrying the woman who does not love you?” Amadeus suddenly blurted out.
“None of your stupid business.”
His eyes narrowed. That was not the answer he’s expecting from Aiden. Why could he not defend his love for her? Except that… “You don’t love her.”
His expression darkened. "What do you know about love, brother, except loving yourself? All you know is chewing people out of their goodwill and weakness, then spit them out. You don’t care about anyone. You only see how you could take advantage of them. Even if Esmeralda loves you, you will throw her like a dirty rag in the end.”
Something kick Amadeus on the chest. “She loves me?”
He gave him a smug look. “That is just hypothetical. You only have one night with her. You succeeded in seducing her. You were just a trial that we had to go through to know if we should push through with the wedding or not.”
“She seduced me,” he clarified. As if that was his last card to stop the wedding. “It would be a big mistake to marry her. Do you really want an unfaithful wife?”
“You are her biggest mistake. And I will marry Esmeralda so you would see every day how happy we are. You won’t win this one, brother.”
Then Aiden confidently turned around and left the office. He had an air of victory around him. While Amadeus felt like a war general who used all of his soldiers and strategy but was still the loser in the end. No. This is not yet over.
ESMERALDA was still worried even though the doctor reassured her that Jeremy only needed rest. Her brother collapsed because of the heat outside. They went to Fantasy World and strolled with his friends from Childhaus. It was bad for him to be exposed to the sun because it would weaken him. By tomorrow, he could go home.
When she reached the hospital suite, she could hear his laughter from inside. She thought he was talking to Luvelyn, the private nurse. But Esmeralda was stunned when she found Amadeus there, talking to her brother.
Jeremy waved. “Sister, I have a visitor. It’s Brother Richard. He brought me books about surfing and different kinds of adventure sports. It’s cool!”
“That’s a lot better than gadgets. Radiation is not good for you,” he said and poked the tip of Jeremy’s nose. Fire erupted in Esmeralda’s chest. After finding out about Amadeus’s lies, she could not bear to see him pretending to be kind in front of her brother.
The door opened, and Luvelyn came in. "Ma'am, I just took a break, and Sir begged to look after Jeremy." She gave a sweet smile to Amadeus and handed the paper cup. “Coffee for you, Sir.”
He gave her a sweet smile. “You are so sweet, Luvelyn. Thank you.”
Esmeralda wanted to throw up at the nurse's cute gestures. She did not know if she had any idea that Amadeus was Aiden's brother. But she needed to talk to her about letting anyone in Jeremy's room and other people seeing him. She wanted to distance Jeremy from Amadeus. She would never let Amadeus hurt her brother.
She planted a kiss on her brother’s forehead. “Give me a minute, okay? I’ll just talk to Richard.”
“Thank you for the visit, brother. Remember your promise, okay?” he said.
“If you promise to get better,” Amadeus said before leaving the room after Esmeralda.
“What are you doing here?” she asked as she closed the door.
“Just checking on your brother. I found out that he was rushed to the hospital. What’s the doctor’s prognosis on him?” he asked, worried.
“You were not still satisfied embarrassing me and lying to me. How could you involve my sick brother? Leave him alone,” she snarled at him.
He threw his hands up. “Chill. I am just checking if he is okay.”
She pointed at his chest. “My brother will be better if you stay away from him, from us. Because no matter what you do…”
Esmeralda paused when two nurses passed and gave them intriguing stares.
"It seems like we have a lot of things to talk about. Do you want to discuss it here, or we go somewhere private?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Not here, of course." She was carried away by her emotions that she forgot where they were. She had no plans of telling her private life to the world. It was enough that Amadeus did it.
ESMERALDA was stunned when Amadeus’s car entered Wild Orchid Boutique Hotel. “What are we doing here?” she asked, alarmed.
“This is the latest addition to Brava Hotel. This is the nearest to the hospital. We have a grand opening next month, but the penthouse room is occupational. I am staying there at the moment to check the progress of the project.”