ALEXA’S POV


    ‘ I wish you were here to witness this,’ I weakly whisper, and a tear falls down my cheeks.


    ” Beshy,” I heard Rhea call me, so I immediately wiped away the tears on my cheeks. I looked in her direction with a sweet smile drawn on my face. She immediately ran towards me.


    ” Congrattion, Lex. You really did it. I am so proud of you,” Rhea proudly congratted me and hugged me tightly.


    ” Thank you for believing in me,” I sincerely told her after hugging her back.


    ” Princess,” I heard my brother call me too, so I let go of Rhea’s embrace and walked towards where my family was standing.


    ” We are so proud of you,” My mother said with teary eyes when I approached them.


    ” Thank you for trusting me that I can,” I thanked them with a smile.


    ” My princess is really grown up now,” My fathermented.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.


    ” She can be pursued,” My brother jokingly said. I hit his arm because of that.


    ” If the man is brave enough to ask my permission face to face, I will surely give my blessing to him,” Dad added. They love to tease me, really.


    ” Mommy, you heard what dad and brother said,” I childishlyined to my mother.


    ” Hmm, I am excited too to meet my daughter’s soon-to-be boyfriend, ” Mom said, making me pout.


    My family startedughing because of my reaction, but they stopped immediately, and their face went to serious ones. I am getting crazy with my family. They are fast in changing their moods. I looked at where they were seriously looking at. I saw Ken walking towards our direction.


    ” Good afternoon, auntie, uncle, and brother Sebastian,” Ken politely greeted my family.


    ” Good afternoon, son. Congrattions on winning Mr. BEU,” My mother greeted him with a broad smile on her face.


    ” That is right. You amaze me with how beautifully you answer the Q and A, it seemed real,” Brother Sebastianmented, which made me cough.


    ” Are you all right, sweetie?” My mother asks with worry all over her face.


    ” Yes, mom. I choked on my own,” I exined.


    ” Ah, auntie, uncle, and brother Sebastian, if you will excuse us. We will take some photos together with the judges,” Ken politely stated.


    ” Sure. We will wait to you two in the parking lot. I asked the maid to cook something for dinner. You should eat with us,” Mommy said.


    I looked at my father, who was currently looking at us in silence. It seemed like he was observing us.


    ” Is there any problem, Dad?” I could not help but ask. It seemed like he hade back to his senses.


    ” Nothing, sweetie. You two should go already, so you will finish early,” Daddy replied.


    I simply nodded in response to what my father stated. Ken supported me while we were walking towards the photo booth. When we arrived, many students started surrounding us because they wanted to have some pictures with us. On the other hand, Ken made sure that I was stillfortable during the picture-taking.


    JAMES’ POV


    I could do anything but look from afar at the woman I love while another man was supporting her. Seeing how she smiled andughed because of another man was excruciating. I used to make her smile andugh before. I could not take it anymore, so I turned around and decided to leave the gymnasium when I met Alexa’s parents and his brother.


    ” Good afternoon, auntie, uncle, and brother Sebastian,” I greeted them with a big smile.


    ” Oh, James. Are you going home already?” Alexa’s mom asked.


    ” Yes. The pageant is already over, so I will go home,” I politely replied.


    ” I asked the maids to prepares something for dinner. You shoulde with us,” Alexa’s father offered.


    ” Ohh, it is kind of embarrassing,” I shyly rejected his offer.


    ” Do not be. You are part of the family,” He said.


    ” Dad is right. Beside, I want to talk to you. Mom and Dad mentioned to me that you asked their permission about pursuing my younger sister again,” Brother Sebastian insisted.


    ” I guess I could not disagree anymore,” I replied, which made uncle and brother Sebastian smile. On the other hand, auntie seemed serious.


    I know that when Ie over to their house, Alexa might feel ufortable with my presence. However, I could not reject the offer from my uncle and brother Sebastian because I knew that they would not stop until I agreed with them. Besides, I need to get their vote as I pursue Alexa. This is the only way I can do to protect her from that insane woman. We went to the parking lot together because we would wait for Alexa. I was also informed that we will be having dinner with Caleb, Rhea, and Ken.


    ALEXA’S POV


    After more than an hour, we had already finished the picture taking, so Ken and I went straight to the parking lot to take his car. Since we took so much time, I decided to ask my parents to go home earlier than us, so they would avoid waiting for us too much. However, before we went to the parking lot, I decided to change my clothes first because I was facing difficulty moving around while wearing a gown.


    When we arrived at the parking lot, we saw Caleb and Rhea inside Ken’s car, almost a meter away from each other. What does it mean? Is it a sort of social distancing? Is it a new trend? Ken and I looked at each other, but we both shrugged because we did not know what really happened between Caleb and Rhea. Instead of stressing myself because of them, I shrugged it off and went inside Ken’s car. When everything was set, Ken started driving towards my home.


    After almost twenty minutes of travel, we arrived at our house. While Ken started arranging his parking space, Caleb, Rhea, and I immediately got out of the car. We entered the house and saw my mother in the dining hall, who was currently busy setting the table.


    ” Oh, you are here already. Where is Ken?” my mother asked while smiling.


    ” He parked his car properly. He will be here afterwards,” I exined.


    ” Where is brother Seb?” I asked my mother.


    ” He is still in the library. But maybe he will be here in a bit since I asked our made to call him,” My mother replied.


    ” How about Dad?” I asked again.


    ” He just answered a call from the office, he will be here too,” My mother responded.


    ” You three should take your seats, so we will start eating after they arrive here,” My mother added.


    We simply nodded in response to my mother’s instruction and went straight to the vacant seats at the dining table. After a while, my father had already arrived.


    ” Oh, the queen of BEU is already here,” My father cheerfullymented.


    ” Whoo!” Rhea eximed and pped her hands. My father simplyughed while I blushed.


    After a while, we heard some footsteps approaching the dining hall, so we looked at the door. We saw Ken, who was seriously looking at the stairs. The lines on my forehead were erased and were reced by my eyes widening when I realized who was walking down the stairs. What is he doing here?


    ” Oh, you are already here, Ken. Let’s go because James and I are starving,” Brother Sebastian said.


    Ken smiled at my brother, even if I thought he felt awkward seeing James here. They walked together towards us. James was about to sit beside me when Rhea grabbed him, which made him sit beside Rhea’s chair. That became Ken’s chance to sit beside me.


    ” Let us eat!” Dad remarked.


    We simply smiled and started eating. While we were enjoying our meal, I could feel that James nced at me at every chance he had. However, I did not bother to pay attention to it because I was a bit worried about Ken’s silence. He was just speaking if my parents and brother asked him something, then he would be silent again. Until we finished eating, Ken remained silent.


    TO BE CONTINUED!