The air in the dining room was tense, Miguel stood up and took an excuse to leave, with the fact that he couldn't leave Cecilia in the room all alone.
"Take some snacks, she'd need them." The old man suggested as he had a servant take some snacks to Miguel's room.
"Thank you, father. I'd take my leave now." Miguel bowed before exiting the dining room.
Marco stole glances at Miguel's back as he watched him leave. He stood up from his seat, pushing the plates as he took an excuse to leave.
"Where are you going to? Dinner isn't over yet." His father said, throwing shades at him.
"Father, my tummy hurts. I want to sleep early, will be having a basketball practice tomorrow." Marco said in the form of an excuse knowing fully well his father only accepts tangible excuses.
Julia dropped her fork, her gaze locked with that of her son. "Basketball practice? Since when did you become a basketball player?"
Marco face palmed himself. "Dad enrolled me without your consent. Sorry about that Mom. Goodnight." He said hastily, as he walked out of the dining room.
Julia exchanged glances with her husband. "What's Marco up to this time?" She muttered, enough for her husband to hear.
"He just said his tummy hurts. Let's continue, shall we?" The old man said as he continued with his pleasant meal.
Meanwhile, Marco caught up with Miguel on the stairs and his voice halted Miguel's steps.
"Wait up, Miguel," Marco said panting.
Miguel turned around and found his brother having a hard time climbing the stairs. "Eishh, what's it now?" He rolled his eyes.
After what seemed like an eternity, Marco was able to meet up with Miguel, standing in front of him, panting. "We have something to talk... about."
Miguel raised his brow, giving him a questioning look. "And what's that?"
Marco crossed his arms on his firm chest. "You see, your stand-in wife is pretty, and besides you stood her in for Anna?"
His sudden question, made Miguel's ears twitch.
"That's none of your concern, Marco," Miguel said trying to walk past him but Marco held his shoulder, making him pause.
"I helped you while father was furious because you didn't bring home an innocent woman as your wife. Now that you've done that, why lie to him and forge a marriage certificate?" Marco smirked, his face etched with seriousness. His questions came with a deep meaning that Miguel couldn't comprehend.
Miguel removed Marco's hand from his shoulder. "And so? Anna isn't what father wants and besides Cecilia fits in the description."
"She indeed does. Aren't you worried you'll hurt her I know you'll ditch her because of Anna."
"Marco, you're not in any position to tell me what to do and what not to do. Go get some sleep." Miguel yelled as he walked away from his brother but the words that escaped Marco's lips made him pause in his tracks, sending cold shivers down his spine.
"Just so you know, I got my eyes on Cecilia. You better stop playing games, 'cause I want her to be mine." Marco said with a low tone as he walked away, straight to his room with a smirk plastered on his lips as he left Miguel stunned and dumbfounded.
Miguel couldn't shake off his brother's words from his head. With a sigh, he walked back to his room, gently locking the door.
He heard some crunching sound that forced him to turn on the light, startled, he found Cecilia eating the snacks that were brought you her by the servant.
Miguel's face palmed himself in disappointment. "Ceci, since you're eating all that now, don't sleep immediately."
"I won't." She nodded, with her gaze not tearing from the snacks she was eating.
Miguel didn't know what to say as he stood still by the door, his gaze glued to Cecilia's chubby face as she looked so innocent even as she ate. His brother's words kept playing in his head. " 'cause I want her to be mine."
"Urghh!" He groaned in annoyance.
Cecilia finally spared him a glance. "Are you okay, Miguel? Do you want some?" She offered him some cheese balls but he ignored her and went straight to the wash room. The latter didn't pick an offense as she continued with her delicacy.
Miguel hit his fist on the wall, as he couldn't get Marco's words out of his head. That's unlike his brother, he doesn't have time for ladies, what must have caused him to crave Cecilia so badly?
His thoughts were disrupted by the buzzing sound of his phone. He frowned upon seeing the caller ID as he reluctantly answered the phone.
"Didn't I warn you not to contact me while I'm away?" Miguel yelled over the phone.
"Sir, it's not Anna, it's her manager. Ms. Anna passed out while shooting a scene for the next summer show." The voice of Anna's manager was etched with worry and urgency.
Miguel sighed in frustration. There's a lot on his plate and now, this! He massaged his temple not knowing what to say or do to the so-called manager of his girlfriend.
Without saying anything, he hung up, leaving his phone on the sink before dashing into the bathtub. He needed peace of mind but he wasn't getting any and Cecilia...Urghh, he doesn't want to think about it. His eye caught a bottle of red wine beside the bathtub as he had some drink while he erased all the troubling thoughts from his head.
While Miguel was having a hard time getting some peace, Marco was on his computer, going through some search results on "HOW TO MAKE A WOMAN FALL FOR YOU." A smile was plastered on his face as he could relate to the search results. The more he thought about his incident with Cecilia, the more he wanted her to be his because he was fully aware that she had nothing to do with his brother in terms of pure romance.
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