"Here are the results, Ernestina," a doctor hands a document to Ernestina within the hospital hallway.
"Thank you so much doctor," she hugs the document folder close to her chest.
"Are you certain you don't want your daughters to know about this?" the doctor sincerely asks concerned for Ernestina.
"Not until the condition gets better," she grips the folder with sad eyes.
The doctor merely sighs, looking away, "you've been receiving money from your youngest daughter. Everything is fine for now. But the next payment is fast approaching. Will she agree to give you any more?"
Ernestina earnestly contemplates, "I don't know."
"Why don't you tell her the truth?"
"No! sorry, but I can't let that happen, sorry, doctor. I will somehow get the money, don't worry."
"I'm only looking out for my patients. Belen Astares is paying your granddaughter's payments."
Ernestina's eyes widen, "d-did you say the one paying the hospital bills for Emma is Belen?"
"You mean you didn't know?" The doctor curiously tilts his head, "that's what I saw. The receipt is in her name."
"Then that means something must be going on between Mabel and Belen…" Ernestina whispers underneath her breath, astonished.
"Did you say something?" the doctor asks.
"Nothing. Thank you again, doctor. I will see Emma one last time before I leave."
"Please take care of your health," the doctor waves walking back into his office.
***
Iris just parked in the driveway of her house. It's her dad's house, but she lives in it rent-free. She just came back from spending time with her boyfriend and seemed to be in a great mood.
"hmmm, mmm…" she continuously hums while getting out of her car carrying a purse and her lanyard of keys.
"You're in a good mood, aren't you, Iris?" says a deep male voice, nearly paralyzing Iris when she quickly turns around to see a short man with black hair and puberty acne on his face, "Cameron Vallens?!"
She terrifyingly shakes, unable to believe the person standing before her is Cameron Vallens, better known as her first love and Azaan's biological father.
Iris immediately rushes to the side of the house by the garage when he chases after, "why are you trying to run away? What did I do to cause you to look at me like that?" he maliciously smiles, making Iris tremble in fear.
"Are you stalking me, Cameron?"
"I had to find you, but I didn't stalk you. Thanks to your lovely cousin, I was able to track you down."
"What do you want?" she says thoughtfully, trying to calm her frightened heart.
"I will you listen to me and not run away for once?" he smirks.
"I'm not scared of you. Let me go, and I'll listen like I always have," Iris boldly stares into Cameron's eyes.
"Okay," he releases his grip on her wrist, "I found out something interesting when I was at work a month ago."
Iris twist's her brows, "yeah? And?"
"Your little brother's name was placed in my registry," he stares at her widened eyes, "do you know anything about that?"
"N-Nothing! I have no idea what you're talking about! There are many people in the world with my little brother's name! Why come find me?" she tries to play it out.
Cameron tries to be sly, "that's what I thought as well. Remind me, Iris. What was your brother's name again?"
Her eyes widen in anger as she was just about to say something. She overhears steps following closer, and a voice speaks out, "mom?"
The two were quick to turn, "Mom?" Azaan curiously peeks his head beside the house where she and Cameron were currently.
"M-Mom?" Cameron turned to give Iris a confusing stare.
But Iris's eyes looked ready to pop out when yelling, "A-Azaan! My mom is not here yet! Go back inside!"
Azaan realizes that now is not a good time seeing how hostile the suspicious-looking man is glaring at him.
He takes a step back when Cameron walks near him, "so you are Iris's little brother?"
"Azaan! Don't listen to him! Go get Abu-" she stops herself from finishing the word biting her tongue from revealing anything to Cameron, and instead shouts, "GET DAD!"
"How old are you, Azaan?" Cameron pretentiously smiles while patting his head in a caring way, making Azaan somewhat happy, "t-thir-"
"What is going on out here?!" Edy furiously shouts, making the three flinch.
"D-Dad!" Iris says in relief, but Azaan quietly whispered underneath his breath, "Abuelo."
Cameron, on the other hand, clicked his tongue, "I'll see you another time Iris." He walks past her only to whisper, "and bring your little brother too."
He left right after when Edy angrily yelled, "get in the house! Both of you!"
"Azaan, go to your room. I have to speak to Iris," Edy strictly demands.
Leah gently walks Azaan to his room, "are you okay? Did that man do anything to you?"
Much to her shock, Azaan glared at her for a split second until it trailed to the floor, "no, he didn't…" he says lowly.
***
That afternoon Belen slept in, she went to A Star, but after noticing the slow progress at work, she left to work from home, seeing Noah and Everest diligently working in her stead. There was nothing for her to do now since she pretty much-covered everything around November.
Thanks to her finishing her duties before December hit, Belen has a lot more free time than she thought. She learned to do things ahead of time due to experience because she often used to procrastinate at the beginning of A Star, but the board minimally accepted her sloppy work due to Noah's editing.
From then on, Belen started working on finishing her scheduled work a month ahead, especially for December since it's the most critical month in the world.
Belen entrusted A Star in Noah and Everest's hands because the two seemed to get along better than before. Which was a bit odd, but she didn't mind as long as it didn't interfere with their work.
The beautiful rays of noon sunlight shone through her lavender bedroom, giving light to the darkest corner of the room, which led her to awaken. The bird's tweets were no longer signing out in her balcony.
It was quiet as she heard the wind dance through the curtains of the balcony, a chilly wind that was utterly numb to the warm sunlight that hit her naked body.
Her bare leg wrapped around a silk pillow and distressed bed hair that looked like threads of black linen, her hair glimmered beautifully like the ocean at sunset.
She felt a tingling sensation of the sun on her eyes. Unwilling to open them, she buries her head into a pillow.
For once, Belen thought, she feels at ease, paying attention to her quiet breathing, the softness of her blankets against her skin, and lastly, the gentle hug from the sun kissing her to wake.
"I wish this can last forever," Belen weakly mumbles, realizing that staying in bed is all she wants but remembers the promise she made to Noah and Everest.
Recalling, "nugh! Why did I make such a stupid promise?" Belen finally sits up on her bed, looking confused while scratching her bedhead hair.
"I got the meat, but now I have to cook the beans and rice and…" she trails off, noticing the time, "IT'S 3 PM?!" she gasps, turning to the balcony only to see the sun getting ready to set, "this is exactly why I hate this time of the year."
Belen slowly approaches her closet, looking for a shawl to cover herself, "what should I wear? I'll get sick if I wear my pajamas," she finally pulls out a navy blue shawl with beautiful silver patterns. It almost resembled the starry sky at night.
"Hello?" she answers Noah's phone call, "yes, I am about to start cooking. Do you want me to start the grill-"
Noah urgently raises his voice, "no! uh, sorry. I meant, there is no need for you to do that. Everest and I should arrive in an hour."
"Okay," she calmly responds in a gentle tone making Noah a little curious but at the same time can already guess, "did you sleep well?" he grins.
"I did…" she softly replies, "but it's cold. How is everything at A Star?"
"Christmas decorations and the advertisements are still being put up. We've closed early, but I still have some reports to receive from the heads of the departments."
"Sounds good, and Everest?"
He inwardly sighs, "he is busy directing and organizing the Christmas decorations with the employees."
"mmm, then I'll see you guys in an hour. Bye."
As she hung up, she felt less anxious, knowing that A Star is well without her assistance.
She made her way downstairs into the kitchen as she began to play songs that she's heard from anime introductions and endings. Belen grew up watching anime, but because of her father, she often had to hide her love for anime cause he deemed it a "sin" and evil cartoons.
Belen didn't think anything evil of anime. She enjoyed and loved watching it because most of the characters shared her hardships. She mostly loves watching fighting-style animes that have a weak protagonist who has to fight the whole world and make new friends along their journey.
Belen often saw herself watching Disney movies like Snow White, Cinderella, and Belle when it comes to romance. And more often than not, Belen engaged in reading novels online because she does not like others knowing what she likes to read.
Not even Noah has any idea that she reads because Belen has done a great job at hiding her likes and dislikes from those around her.
Ding!
Belen just finished putting the beans to boil and was about to start making white rice when a message interrupts her process, "Mabel? What does she want?"
The message reads: Belen, I will not ask why didn't you come to my mom's birthday, but I felt the need to let you know that what you did is childish, obnoxious, and rude. We only have one family, and my mom cares about us so much it's not right to treat her as you did. She was staying hopeful until the end, but you didn't come. I just want to let you know that we only have one mom and dad in this lifetime.
Belen was speechless after rereading Mabel's message as she angrily gripped her phone and violently threw it across the counter, "what the hell does Mabel think she is a mom or something? What right does she have to tell me what to do?! What the freaking heck was all that? And the nerve! That bitch can't even tell me all of this in person? Seriously Mabel?" she stares in the direction where she threw her phone earlier, "you sure have the F*cking audacity to tell me that?! Let's see what you'll do once I stop paying for your daughter's precious life support" she evilly smirks.
***
Noah confidently enters Belen's mansion from the back, where the large pool, the grill are located. Belen should be there.
As he made his way, he guessed correctly because Belen is prepping a large table with meat beside the griller right before his eyes.
The closer Noah got, the more he quietly observed her clueless attempt to check the grill and play with the lid by opening it and closing it.
He couldn't hold it in any longer and busted out laughing. Belen immediately turned back, slightly embarrassed to see Noah was behind her the whole time. He walked faster to her side with a grin, "what were you doing?"
She shyly pouts, "why didn't you say anything? Were you waiting for me to do something more embarrassing?"
Noah couldn't contain his smile while staring down at her cute pouting, "You don't have to feel embarrassed in front of me" he suddenly embraces Belen making her eyes widen, surprised when looking up to see Noah's cheery pink face, "we're best friends aren't we?"
Belen didn't know how to react to that. Her heart suddenly started beating a little faster than usual when she felt his sudden embrace, "…I don't like hugs," she whispers.
Noah realizes her discomfort and quickly releases his embrace as she quietly smiled at him to let him know that she's okay.
"Is this all the carne we're going to eat?" he casually looks over at the pounds of meat by the griller.
"Y-Yeah, it is. Do you think it'll be enough?" she asks worriedly because Everest will be eating with them. And she has no idea how much he'll eat, so she only bought 4 pounds worth of meat because she knows just how much Noah loves it.
It's like Korean barbeque, except the meat isn't as thinly sliced. It's a lot thicker and juicer. Noah was first introduced to it the first year he came back to work with Belen, and she usually made rice and beans with it.
It was the first for Noah, and he wasn't sure if he would like it, but to his surprise, it became his most favorite. He especially loves Belen's corn rice and rich beans. The two combined with carne asada, which is beef, became Noah's favorite combination.
Belen noticed how busy Noah and Everest were ever since she visited her father. She, too, was busy at the same time but finished her paperwork first compared to Noah and Everest. Therefore to give them strength, she decided to make a carne asada for Noah. Belen invited Everest as well, which Noah disliked but didn't care as much as before.
Noah has not mentioned anything to Belen about what happened during Ernestina's birthday, and neither did Belen. She did not reveal to Noah what happened to her the night she went to her father's house.
The two kept it a secret, or rather, they didn't feel it was right to bring it up. Oddly enough, the two didn't seem awkward around each other anymore. Belen usually hates hugs unless she's the one who initiates it. Somehow when Noah hugged her just a few minutes ago, it caught her by surprise making her heart beat faster, or so she thinks.
Noah had his back turned to her as he was trying to turn the grill on and began placing the meat along with it.
She curiously observed him, "he's not covering his body up like he normally does…" she tilts her head, "but he's wearing sweatpants which he normally doesn't wear."
"Noah!" she shouts, but before Noah could respond, his body automatically freezes upon feeling Belen's delicate slime arms wrap around his waist from behind.
"W-W-What is going on, Belen?" he shyly stutters, feeling the heat of the grill hit his face, but it could just be his own heat rising within his body.
Belen felt his body tense up like a rock. She clicked her tongue, making him flinch, "Noah! Are you still working out?" she asks, irritated.
He stammers to speak, "U-uh, Ummm, no? I have not had the time to…why?" he peeks his head sideways to glance at Belen only to see her pink rosy cheeks.
Noah was so shocked to see her flushed face which nearly distracted him enough to almost get burned when he almost fell forward into the grill until Belen firmly pulled him back by pulling on his white shirt, "ARE YOU OKAY?!"
He finally turns to see her worried expression. He couldn't believe that she was concerned, making his heart skip a beat, "Y-Yeah, I'm good."
She deeply sighs, stepping away from him, "so where is Everest?" she glances around, "he's not hiding too, is he?" she hurriedly turns her head back and forth like a paranoid maniac.
In Noah's perspective, she looked like an owl frantically scanning the area when he chuckled, patting her shoulder, "Everest will be here soon. I think he said his sister called," he shrugs, "something like that" he returns to the grill.
Belen only nods, "makes sense. But is that what's really taking him long?" she narrows her eyes suspiciously, feeling a bit strange.
***
Everest has just finished coming out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist. In normal circumstances, he'd never come out wearing a towel, but because he knew Noah wasn't going to be in the house, he took the opportunity to walk around naked.
He casually entered his room and sat down on the bed while drying his hair, "A carne asada, huh."
In truth, Everest is not familiar with barbeques of any kind. This was his first one, and not going to lie, Everest is pretty excited. Since Belen mentioned it, his ear's perked, but he pretended he didn't know anything until she invited him. He could see the displeasure look on Noah's face behind her. But Everest didn't care and, like a happy puppy, accepted her invitation.
He even went as far as to buy dessert out of respect, he did not want to show up empty-handed. It was also his first time looking forward to eating Belen's home cooking other than the meat.
His heart jumbled with excitement because this was the first time he felt so close to someone. Was it the start of a new friendship, maybe?
Buzz! Buzz!
Everest stares at his phone vibrating beside him, "What's up, Leena?" he answers brightly.
"Everest!" she internally gasps, "it's about time you answer my call!" she says strictly.
He only laughs, "Yeah, sorry about that. Where are you? It sounds busy."
Right now, Leena was in a gathering she went on to attend with her fiancé. That's why there is so much background noise, so instead, she escapes into the hallway.
"I'm with my fiancé," she whispers.
"Oh! Are you still in Singapore? I thought you'd be back by now."
She sighs, relaxing her posture against the wall, "not yet," her voice becomes low.
Everest senses her shift of tone, "is something the matter? Did you end up taking Dad and that woman?" he asks coldly.
"That isn't what's bothering me."
"Then what is it? Are his snobby cousins bothering you again?" Everest firmly asks recognizing his sister's concerned tone.
Leena only giggles, "No. Who do you think I am some kind of amateur?" she says brightly, feeling a bit pumped up.
Everest relaxes his shoulders, "then what is it? why do you sound tired?"
Leena takes a deep breath when saying, "aww, is my little brother worried about me right now?"
He sternly responds, "Yes, I am. What happened?"
"Nothing, don't worry," she smiles, "I'm just a little sad you didn't come."
Everest sighs, unknowingly rolling his eyes, "Leena, I already told you my reason for not going."
"B-But there are people who want to meet you!"
He scoffs, raising a brow in disbelief, "who? You know better than I do how much I hate conversing with stuck-up rich people."
"But my fiancé is disappointed you didn't come, and he keeps asking about you," she admits, gently making Everest give into her story.
"Does he know I'm working?"
"Yeah, I told him that-but-OH~!" Leena is suddenly interrupted when Everest asks, "if that's him, just put him on the phone. The least I can do is-"
"Hello? Hi, Everest~" says a sweet angelic voice.
Everest recognizes who this voice belongs to as his eyes widened in shock. He didn't know what to do but pressed his phone against his ear harder.
"W-Who is this?" Everest, already knowing the answer to his question, still asks to make sure. But at the same time, his heart nervously began to thump against his throat as he swallowed his saliva in anticipation.
The angelic, sweet, pure voice responds with a chuckle, "It's Sun-Young, have you forgotten me already?" her voice lowers with pretense.
Lovestruck Everest can't tell the difference and tightens his grip on the phone, stammering to repeat that very same name that hurt him once, "S-S-Sun-Young?" he exasperates.
***
"Noah," Belen nonchalantly asks, sitting on a chair next to the meat that Noah has just finished grilling, "mhm," he nods to her.
"What would you do if I suddenly die one day?" she brazenly asks.
Noah unexpectedly dropped the tongs in his right hand, "w-what are you talking about?" he asks, stunned by her strange question.
Belen is staring at the pink, blue sky that's just beginning to darken when she nods, "So, what would you do if I died?"
He half-laughs, "well are you being serious?"
"Of course!" she jumps up from her seat, "I could one day disappear or die. What would you do?"
He goes back to flipping the meat, "well," he contemplates, "I'd cry and be sad."
Belen sighs, rolling her eyes uninterested, "boring."
"huh?!" Noah stares at her, perplexed by her bluntness, "what do you mean boring? That's what any person would do" he awkwardly laughs.
"But I mean like, WHAT would YOU do?" she emphasizes.
"I don't get what you're asking?"
"Ugh! Come on, Noah! You weren't this boring before! Give me some creative ideas!" she exhaustedly grunts while sitting back down.
"If you were to be gone one day, then I" he gets cut off.
"You'd look for work, wouldn't you?"
He stares at her, confused, "where are you getting all of these assumptions, Belen?"
She chuckles, seeing his annoyed expression, "you wouldn't have to look for work. Because I will leave everything to you," she reveals confidently.
Noah only passed her claim as a joke, "don't say that. I'd most likely go back to Korea and live in the orphanage" he sadly looks up to the sky.
"Then! You can take my money for the orphanage!" Belen excitedly points out.
He violently shakes his head, "No. I wouldn't want that. Why don't you leave that money to your family?" he sincerely asks.
Belen falls back on her seat while crossing her arms, "hmph! They don't need my money. They just want it!"
"Speaking of the orphanage, will you be going to see them this Christmas?"
Belen exaggerates her groaning, "uuugh! I REALLY want to! But I have to do that rats bidding."
"Has he told you who from your family is next?" he glances attentively.
"Yeah~!" she whines, "It's HER!"
"Who?" Noah asks, obviously not aware of who she is referring to.
"…My Mom," she sneaks a bite off the grilled carne asada beside her when Noah gives her an authoritative stare making her twitch with a smile, "I-I'm just test tasting to make sure it's well-done!" she teasingly sticks out her tongue.
Noah does not believe her and only sighs, "that's the fifth time you've been "test tasting" it. Anyways, about your mother. What's the event you have to take her to?"
"I don't know" she smacks her lips while tasting the carne and evilly grins like a cat. Noah can practically see the hearts in her eyes, "No more until I finish!" he closes the lid making her eyes droop in sadness, "come on!" she whines, looking up at Noah as if she were a starving kitty.
He cracks into a smile, "I'm almost done. So tell me, what event?"
Belen grumpily answers, "I am not sure which yet. But it has to be before we leave for New York next year."
After a long pause, the two suddenly yell out.
"The New year's party!" the two say in unison as they stared into each other's eyes in amazement by their synchronization.
"Or you can do the Christmas event as well," Noah suggests rubbing his chin.
Belen automatically shakes her head, "Nah, that won't do."
"Wouldn't that be more convenient than waiting longer for the New Year's party?"
She narrows her eyes at Noah, suspiciously making him turn to her in a cold sweat, "what is it?" he worriedly asks.
"Do you really not know? Or are you acting stupid because you think I'll find that cute?" Belen suspiciously asks him.
"The Christmas event?" he cocks his head.
"The 24th is Mabel's birthday," she annoyingly reveals.
"D-December the 24th?!" Noah asks, completely unaware, making Belen a bit confused, "how do you not know? I assumed since you practically hang out with her every time you can, you'd somehow know her birthday."
"I-I had no idea!" he astonishingly feels like his mind exploded learning the date of Mabel's birthday.
"Hmm," Belen smirks.
"Then, most likely, your mother will celebrate her birthday."
Belen rolls her eyes, but deep down, they are filled with anger and envy when saying, "that's an understatement. If she had the money, she'd throw her a birthday bash. Maybe now you'll see the difference in treatment between Mabel and me."
"…"
"My mom's favorite will always be Mabel," she seriously states with uninterested eyes, "Mabel always gets whatever she wants and no matter what she does, good or bad. She gets praised for it, while I, on the other hand, barely decide to do something for their sake, and they don't hesitate to mark me as the villain," she chuckles, "it's quite nice though, I don't care what they have to say."
Noah can see and hear Belen's indifferent cold tone towards her family. But more of her anger and jealously is directed towards Mabel, which is extremely visible in his perspective.
But before he could say anything to comfort her, his phone rings.
His eyes widened in shock as he went a distance further to answer.
Belen got up from her seat and walked across the pool where a giant lion statue sat, behind it is where the switch for the lights is located since it was beginning to darken.
At that exact moment, her personal phone started ringing, it alarmed her to shake when she checked it was someone important, she sneakily answers wearing a dark complexion, "What are you doing calling me at this time?!" she whispers aggressively.
"MADAM! IT'S BAD! VERY BAD!" a man voices out, panicked.
"Belen!" Noah happily yells at her while running with all his strength, "Belen! I just received awesome news!!"
She quickly hung up, hiding the phone behind her, and turns to Noah with a nervous look, "yeah? What happened?"
Noah stopped to catch his breath, "M-My parents!"
"Yes?" her complexion suddenly darkens at the mention of his parents.
"MY PARENT'S HAVE BEEN FOUND!!" Noah excitedly shouts with a flushed face, "can you believe that Belen! that call just now was the team I was working with tracking down my parents! They-They found them!!" his voice cracks almost in tears but more relieved than crying.
Belen couldn't believe her ears, unable to process what she just heard from Noah, "T-That's great!!" she pretends to hide her dark expression underneath a façade and happily waves her arms in the sky, "W-WE HAVE TO CELEBRATE!!!" she shouts.
He happily nods, unable to wipe the grin off his face, "I'll be right back!!" he runs into her mansion.
Again, her phone vibrates.
She answers with a low-demon-like voice, "what the hell is going on, Halden?!"
"That's what I've been trying to let you know, Madam!" he says alarmingly.
"You should've done your job for the love of!" Belen quietly shouts, trying to hide her aggressive dark tone.
"B-But Madam! I don't know where they got the new information! I swear! I tried to intercept, but!"
"But nothing, you useless son of a!" Belen violently growls while gritting her teeth. It was as if she was ready to transform into a werewolf by how hard she was shaking with anger and frustration. The veins in her eyes almost seemed ready to explode, "you idiot! I can't have Noah find his parents right now!!"
"Ma-Madam! Wouldn't it be wise to let him meet them for a moment?"
"Hide them! Find them before he can get the chance to and relocate them again!!" Belen threatens, "HURRY!" her voice becomes hoarse.
"O-Okay, I will, Madam! You must really want Secretary Noah to work for you forever," Halden accidentally reveals.
"SHUT UP AND DO AS YOU'RE TOLD HALDEN!" she sneers violently, throwing her phone to the grass in a huff.
She heard Noah come out of the mansion holding onto a bottle of wine with light steps when Belen's tense body relaxes, "I don't want to lose you, Noah."
She whispers to herself in a melancholy tone, "I'm...not sorry."
********************
Author's note: Hi fellow readers! First off I want to thank you all for coming this far into BFMF. I am an amateur writer but I love writing and decided to release this story. The characters all hold a special place in my heart and I love them all. I recognize that I need to improve my grammar, story-line, plot, characters, etc. I am doing my best to work on them any time I can because writing is not a hobby for me. My goal is to become a novelist. I am currently busy with College but that won't stop me from updating. I already know how BFMF will end so don't worry that I might not want to continue the story.
Bread For My Family will have 7 volumes in total. Depending on the amount of love BFMF receives then I'll consider releasing a few side chapters. Volume 3 is finished with this chapter. I look forward to releasing weekly chapters for Volume 4!
A BIG THANK YOU!! TO EVERYONE READING!! I will do my BEST to improve my writing skills. Thank you for having patience. I am very shy so I understand if no one wants to comment, but if anyone has any questions about the characters, story, etc please feel free to express yourself in the comments.
Bread For My Family Volume 4 Chapter 61 will come out next week!