Princess Series Three: The Beauty Within A Beast

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Note: Belle's story is set in a time before Erella and Jasmine.

Kingsley Heir
The Royal ICON is one of Asia's biggest and most successful businesses. They rage from resorts to casinos to residential homes and to anything in between and more. It is without a doubt that the Kingsley family is one of the richest and most influential families in Asia and—did I mention richest?

"Napaka-unprofessional naman ng writer," komento ko at pinakita kay Ari ang nakasulat.

She snorted. "What do you expect, Belle? The writer is obviously smitten. Hindi ba't si Kenna Velasco 'yan?"

"Oo. I never liked her works."

"Pero marami siyang connections, e. So she still gets headlines." She leaned back and started typing on her laptop. "At isa pa, Kingsley naman ang topic kaya walang dudang headlines talaga."

"They're really powerful," wala sa sariling sabi ko at binasa na ang article ulit. I've always been intrigued by the Kingsley family and business. It's one of those businesses that are so popular that even people who knows nothing about our world knows the name. They're a household company—everyone has heard of them.

Ari shrugged. "Ganun talaga. Old money sila, e. And their business is really huge."

"One day Clishique will be a household name, too." Napangiti ako. Busy kaming magba-barkada dahil sinisimulan na namin ang plano naming magpatayo ng sarili naming kumpanya—Clishique—and I have no doubt in my mind that we will make it big. Nasa dugo na naming lahat ang maging successful pagdating sa negosyo. Of course, unlike them, pinaghirapan ko ang kung ano man ang meron ako. All my friends were born in gold while I was born in an old cloth. Hindi naman kami mahirap, pero hindi kami mayaman. It was only because my dad is one diligent and smart man na umasenso kami. He built the first ever pain-detector na naging dahilan ng agad na pagyaman namin. He invested in a lot of businesses at mas pinalaki ang negosyo namin. He produced and invented more things and hired about 100 men the first time ELITES—Electronic Life In The Early Society—opened and now the business has over five branches worldwide and over 5,000 employees. My dad is amazing.

"Dadating din tayo doon," Ariel said and showed me the banner she was working on. "I was thinking na baka mas okay na lilac ang background tapos golden intricate ang type. Italics, most preferably. Ano sa tingin mo?"

I shrugged. Wala akong alam sa arts, although Ari loves to paint and Jasmine is an interior designer and Erella is a fashion designer. Ako lang ata ang walang artistic bone sa aming apat—which is super fine with me. Mas magaling ako sa statistics at hindi ako maaasahan sa freelancing life ng isang artist. I can never make something new, I always have to follow something—a formula, maybe. "Si Jasmine kaya tanungin mo? Or maybe si Erella. Baka sila may idea."

"Sabagay," mahinang sabi niya tapos ay tinabi ang laptop niya. She leaned over to grab her drink. "Asan na ba 'yung dalawang 'yun? Alam kong late lagi si Jasmine, pero si Erella?"

Tumawa ako ng mahina. "Si Jasmine alam kong pagising palang 'yun. However, si Erella dadaan daw ng pagkain sa Jade's para hindi tayo gutumin. She's ordering the buffet."

"Lifesaver," aniya tapos ay hinarap ulit ang laptop niya. I continued reading the article about the Kingsleys.

Reynaldo Kingsley, the current CEO, has announced last Monday, the twenty-fourth of January 2012, that he will be retiring soon. Many of their workers were saddened by this, some stating that he was the best boss they've ever had. And a lot raised brows when Kingsley further announced that his son, the notorious Prince Kingsley, will be taking the position his father is leaving.