Marrying Glaiza De Castro (Book 1)

#MGDCFirstGlance

|Rhian|

"What?! No! I can't marry that -- whoever she is! I'm not a lesbian Dad, for Pete's sake!" My voice echoed at the living room of my apartment where I and my parents are talking. Shocked and disbelief was written all over my face.

We're all sitting on the couch but I can't help standing up as I heard the craziest and stupidest thing I've ever heard in my entire existence. At hindi ko alam kung ano bang dapat kong isipin o gawin, nag uunahan ang mga emosyon ko.

"We're not saying you are Rhian. This is just a marriage for convenience, just to secure our businesses future ... your future. At ng magiging mga anak mo kung sakali."

"And how on earth can I possibly bear kids if I'm marrying a girl?"

"Well, I heard about this special treatment that they do nowadays --"

"You're impossible!" I sighed in disbelief.

"Rhian, sweetie, can you just hear your father first?" My mom stood up and held my arm as she motioned me to calm down.

"No Mom, I've heard enough of this foolishness. And my answer is no." I said firmly.

"Rhian, our company is at stake here. And we expect so much from you."

"Really, Dad? Who's we? You and your business associates? Do you really expect me to marry someone I don't even know existed, and for the love of God a lesbian, in exchanged for the company's statues quo?" I asked sarcastically.

"It's not me I'm talking about neither the board. I can cope up, we sure can. But not the people who worked for the company almost all their lives. I'm more worried about them. Hindi ko alam kung saan sila pupulutin kapag tuluyan ng nagsara ang kumpanya."

"Oh, God! This is insane!" I cried helplessly then sat down, my knees are getting weaker by the moment. "I can't give up my life just so other people can have theirs. That's so unfair." My eyes went back to my parents. "But surely, there's other options. There'd better be."

Mabilis akong nabuhayan ng loob ng may maalala. "Yeah, how about our properties in Manila and in Cebu, and the ranch in Batangas that I inherited from grandma. I can wave that. We can liquidate those properties, can we?" I asked Dad but he just gaze at me with sadness and then shook his head.

Napatingin ako kay Mommy, tingin na nanghihingi ng eksplanasyon sa gustong ipakahulugan ng pag iling na yun ni Dad.

"Anak, even if we sell all our assets. Hindi pa din sasapat para isalba ang buong kumpanya."

"But Mom, that's worth billions. Ganun kalaki ang utang ng kumpanya?" Napayuko lang si Mommy sa tanong ko kaya muli akong bumaling kay Dad. "Dad, how can this happen? I thought Howell Chain of Hotels is one of the top and growing hotel in the country? You said it yourself, how come we're facing bankruptcy now?"

Dad took a deep breath.

"This past two years our hotels face a lot of troubles. The competition became so tight that we hardly survive. Heiress Hotel was not an easy competitor. They're huge and so much stronger than Howell Hotel."

"We can't beat them and so we merge with them, huh? But at my expense? What a great business strategy to save Howell Hotel." I said, full of sarcasm.

"Rhian, I don't have a choice." Bryant Howell replied agonizingly.

"Ofcourse, you have! We all have Dad! You just wanna choose the easy way out!" I blurted out in anguished.

I saw hurt slowly registered on his face. And suddenly I wanted to regret the words that came out of my mouth.