(A.N. Yvonne Chapter - about damn time)
Yvonne Marie was the eldest daughter of a crime lord. As the eldest and only child, she was raised as the future heir. For the first couple years of her life, she was constantly pampered and spoiled by her father. But it all changed when she got a little brother. At first she had found him cute and enjoyed playing with him. She did notice her father had suddenly got considerably more distant but didn't mind it. She had a younger brother to play with instead!
She was happily making her way to her father's study when she realized the door was slightly ajar. She could hear her father talking with someone. She decided to eavesdrop instead of knocking.
"...that Milkovich is here we don't need to worry about leaving the legacy to a girl. Instead I had another plan for her. I'd like to propose a marriage between your son and my daughter. We've got bigger problems to worry about than a rival gang."
Her lessons with "tutors" ceased and instead playdates were set up between a stranger and her. She first hated the other boy for daring to take time away from her younger brother. But just like her father, he too began lessening his visits. He was too young to actively distance himself but instead was kept away from her by none other than her father. Instead, she would be sent to play with the boy. He had introduced himself as Veniceno Muzzati. Heir of the Muzzati family.
Eventually, Yvonne became softer and kinder around the boy. She realized he wasn't to blame as he was also fucked over by their arranged marriage. In fact, Veniceno already had someone he claimed to be in love with. He had seen a girl while walking in the park with his mother. She was naked and splashing in a pond. Her long brown hair, though it was wild-looking, made him feel the urge to stroke it. After finding out that he would have to marry some other girl he had thrown a tantrum. Under the threat of a beating, he had reluctantly agreed and began to meet with Yvonne.
During their first meeting, she had beaten him black and blue when he brought up the topic of marriage. The next day went the same. After shakily explaining that he wasn't actually supporting this marriage she stopped beating him. That day, they got into an agreement to fake their love. And so they grew up as fake lovers.
Even now, as college students, they were still keeping up the charade. There had been quite a few close calls but for now, everything was fine. They had even moved in together to maintain their fronts. Their respective families had also practically cut ties with them. Asides from a house, they were expected to provide for themselves. Both of them had their own jobs as well as their classes to attend to.
Unexpectedly they did not get much closer. Since they were so busy, the times they spent together at the house was minimal asides from sleeping or an occasional meal. They were friends but nothing more. Yvonne never felt anything for him and Veniceno was too busy goggling over his phone staring at posts of some model.
In a chance encounter with her Instagram page, he somehow immediately recognized the girl as the very same one he had met so long ago. Now he was drooling over the pictures that he saved onto a folder. Her name was Reeves? She didn't really care much. Ignoring his antics, Yvonne went back to her work station, hovering over a computer monitor with a tablet. On it was a three-dimensional view of a brasserie set.
During the day, Yvonne worked at a small restaurant/cafe tucked away deep within the residential district. At night she attended her classes. However, she had a side job. Whenever she had free time, she'd usually work as an amateur designer taking commissions off the internet. Though she was a newcomer, her talent was recognized by several small clothing stores that now referred to her for their clothing designs. Her influence was steadily growing and she had recently been contacted by a famous company to design something called a fantasy bra for their upcoming fashion show.
This was one of the reasons she hadn't signed up for any recent shifts at the restaurant. The deadline for the underwear's design was within the next week and she wanted to focus solely on this deal. She was busy trying to manipulate the dimensions when she heard Veniceno call her out. Apparently, there was a person at the door looking for her.
She yelled out that she was coming and quickly fixed her hair and stepped out. And she saw a familiar face.
Adam Martin.
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Adam had first arrived at the restaurant almost two and a half years ago. At the time he was extremely quiet and reserved. He was a hard worker who never complained. He wasn't perfect but he was definitely the hardest worker there. After he worked long enough to receive his paycheck she paid careful attention to his reaction. Considering his efforts, she wouldn't be surprised if he got a bonus and she was curious as to what kind of face he would make.
But that reaction never came. He didn't even open the envelope and even Yvonnne had to admit it was looking rather thin. Without bothering to ask Adam, she went directly to the manager of the restaurant demanding answers. She thought Adam was being exploited and wanted to do something about.
Luckily that wasn't the case. The manager had rubbed her head and sighed. Apparently, Adam was an undocumented worker. She was able to give him a paycheck from the restaurant funds but was unable to do more than that. Giving him more than his already regular pay would likely alert the IRS and implicate the manager in an embezzlement scheme. The manager was quick to inform her that she had already talked to Adam and told him he didn't have to work this hard. He had just responded by saying he was just used to giving it his all.
During this talk, she learned that Adam was only fifteen years. To say she was surprised was an understatement. Sure he was tall and looked rather used to the labor, but to think he was this young? She shuddered to imagine what the reasons behind this was. She pried for more information and got some.
Adam wasn't hired under the normal process. Instead, he was a referral from a friend of hers. Normally she wouldn't do anything about it, fearing being seen as favoring people, but the friend had really sold her and even claimed they would pay for any mistakes or messes Adam made. That friend owned a construction company and was impressed with the boy's work over the years. Feeling sorry for him, the owner had talked with a friend to try and land a better job for the boy. Reluctantly, the manager accepted the sob story and hired the boy. Which brought him here.
After leaving the office, Yvonne stared at the boy. He was diligently washing a mountain of dirty dishes without bothering to use gloves to protect himself from the scalding water. Upon closer inspection, his hands were extremely rough and she could see that his face was covered in scars. She could see why she hadn't thought of him as old. The way he carried himself was really mature for his age. Fuck...Kids at his age were supposed to be having fun with their friends or girlfriends instead of working everyday. Speaking of which, she even saw him during weekdays. Was he doing okay with school?
She was given a task by the manager. Citing Yvonne's supposed interest in the boy, the manager tasked her with showing him the ropes. The first few days were the usual trial & error slipups. She showed him how to do the basics like cleaning and taking orders. At first, he was barely able to do anything other than clean. He was horrendous with the customers, his stoic face and wild looks even called displeasing by some. But he managed to retain the information very quickly. Within the week he was able to serve tables professionally. It was during this week that Yvonne had decided to take Adam to clean up his appearance. She felt bad and decided that he needed a haircut for that's rats nest called hair. She also took him to a thrift store and showed him how to pick clothes that were usable for work but also priced for a bargain.
And so time passed on. As the days went by, she found herself more and more entranced by Adam. Every day he was working from dawn to dusk and was slowly growing as well. He now looked a lot more grown-up, especially with his new hairstyle and clothes. She couldn't help but feel a little proud as she watched him mature before her eyes. But it was the next year when she realized her feelings for Adam had matured from that of a maternal instinct into romantic ones. She was never really sure of what love was. Seeing her supposed fiancée, she could assume that what love meant was to not be able to think about anything other than the object of their affections. She could only hope the person she loved wouldn't be as perverse as Veniceno. But she slowly began to fill her thoughts with the image of that hard-working boy. After asking Veniceno about it he had guffawed for several minutes. Her fist made a quick introduction with his stomach. But she now knew what her feelings meant.
She wasn't sure what it was that made her fall for him. Was it seeing him work so hard? Was it the way his face looked so serious while speaking? Was it how he was really kind-hearted despite the cold front he put on?
It had happened nearly two years after Adam had first entered the restaurant. Adam was still quiet but had opened a lot more with her. They were on their break together and were chatting. She was complaining about one of her classes and one of the professors being an annoying little cunt. She made a joke when she noticed Adam had suddenly turned away and started shaking. At first she was worried he was crying. Did she perhaps touch a sensitive topic? When she turned his face around, she realized he was actually laughing. It was the most pure laugh she had ever heard. It made her realize that no matter how much he worked for whatever reason, he was still a teenager at heart. It made her determined to protect that laugh no matter the cost. Her face turned beet-red seeing his dazzling smile, it was like god himself was smiling on the earth. She had gone silent and Adam noticed, stopping his laughter slightly and wiping at his eyes.
"What's wrong? You suddenly became quiet?"
She was feeling strange. Her heart was pounding so hard that she was afraid that Adam would hear it. This time it was her who mentally captured the image of the scene.
So this is what love is, she was thinking. It doesn't feel half-bad.
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A.N.
Oh yeah it's all coming together *chuckles*
So the rumor that Yvonne was disowned was just a rumor. In fact she was just sold as a means to peace. The whole boyfriend thing is basically influenced by the plot of Nisekoi. Decided that having them never actually being in love would be better than her falling for some child. Sure he might work hard but that's not really enough to change someone's feelings that quickly.
Anyways I honestly feel bad for Yvonne's "boyfriend." His first love is actually in love with her own brother... Feels bad man. That aside I'm in the works for some bros for Adam to not make it a completely female cast.