Chapter 2

(Sky’s POV)

I need a miracle.

As to where or how the miracle will happen, I do not know because I was still raging in annoyance when I got home. One of our drivers, Frank, panicked, seeing me leaving my car in the middle of the driveway, and as he approached me, I tossed the key to him, my nostrils flaring in anger as I walked into the house.

The maid must have known I was coming because she had already opened the main door before I could hold the knob. She lowered her gaze as I walked past her, and I doubt if any of the female servants would want to look me directly in the eyes except for Elenita, our housekeeper, the one who managed the house and the household maids after Mom divorced my father two years ago.

Elenita was only twenty when she was hired as my nanny when I was born, and now that I am twenty-four years old, she is still here, focusing on taking care of my eight-year-old sister and managing the house since Mom left and Dad got sick.

“Sky!” I heard Elenita’s voice calling me from the living room.

I rolled my eyes, wanting to escape her and ran to my bedroom, but she had already seen me.

“Sky!” She called again.

I heaved a deep sigh, walking toward the living room in the direction of the woman I considered my second mother. She is braiding Olivia’s long hair while my young sister reads a children’s book. My forehead creased seeing my brother, Finn, playing a video game with my cousin Leo.

“What happened to your face?” Elenita asked worriedly, leaving Olivia and walking toward me.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, my eyes fixed on Finn, ignoring Elenita. “You’re supposed to be in school.”

“The principal suspended him again,” Olivia flickered her eyes on me, explaining briefly why our irresponsible brother, who was supposed to be in school, was here enjoying playing video games with our cousin.

“Did you get into a fight?” Elenita carefully held my face, checking the skin.

I brushed her hand off and walked toward my brother, and when he did not answer me, I unplugged the Xbox.

“What is wrong with you?” Finn glares at me, standing up, facing me to show how pissed he is with me.

“You should be asking yourself that,” I snarled at him, poking him in his forehead. “How long do you think you will stay in high school, Finn?”

“Stop acting as if you’re Dad.” He kicked the throw pillow he was sitting on the floor a while ago and left the living room furiously.

“Then act like a responsible son!” I shouted, clenching my hands before I could hurt anyone in the room.

“Woah! What happened to your face?” Leo asked, standing up to check on my lower jaw, which was not exactly swelling, but the skin was red and tender.

“Aww!” I hissed when Elenita pressed a cold compress on my face and then took my hand to hold it.

“What happened? I told you not to go out today because your horoscope is not good,” she snarled, returning to what she was doing when I came in, braiding my sister’s hair. If there was one downside to Elenita’s personality, that was believing too much in the horoscope.

Olivia turned her head to Elenita. “Yeah, but you also said Sky will meet his true love today.”

I shook my head, slumping on the couch and placing the cold compress on the side table. “True love? Pfft!” I sneered and took a deep sigh.

I was in a hurry to catch Lalaine at the airport, and though I promised her I would come, I still missed my chance to see her, my last chance to prove I loved her, and I got late because a monster on the road appeared, wasted my time, almost broke my jaw, and damaged my car.

“Bad day, huh?” Leo asked, sitting beside me and creasing his forehead as he looked at me. “I told you to stop chasing Lalaine. A lot of women are dying to have your attention, Sky.”

I pursed my lips, glowering at him but not saying anything because what he said was true, and these women didn’t care about having a one-night stand or a not serious relationship with them. All they cared about was that one moment with Sky Mars, the son of the billionaire and the future captain that would steer the direction of the Mars Group of Companies. But Lalaine is all my heart want, no one else.

“You should come with me to Jake’s party tonight. Give yourself a break.”

I leaned my head back on the back pillows of the couch. “Break…” I whispered, my voice trailing off. Since dad got diagnosed with cancer, he became more aggressive in training me, honing and preparing me to handle everything and be ready as the next CEO of the company.

Leo and I are of the same age, but I never got the freedom to party because I had to study, work, and look after Olivia and Finn. At my age now, I was already shadowing my father in doing his work.

My young sister is manageable, but Finn loves to bring me problems as if his goal in life is to piss me. Dad always reminded me to have more patience because, unlike me, Finn didn’t take their divorce lightly. I wish to tell him that, like Finn, I didn’t take it lightly, and like any normal child, I wanted to enjoy my life, but how could I resist, say no, to my beloved father.

“I don’t know,” I sighed, standing up. “Elenita, I’ll just check on dad.”

“No need to check on me, Sky. I’m here.” Dad came in, walking slowly with a cane in his hand. He could still walk without it, but he felt safer with something to rely upon on his body weight when he walked.  “Leo already told me about that party. You go and enjoy.”

I kissed him on the cheek and shook my head. “I have papers to review, Dad,” I lied, wanting to resign now to my bedroom, calling it a day. I want to plan my getaway to follow Lalaine, and at this point, I don’t care if I have to follow her at the ends of the world.

“That’s why I went out of my room, Sky, to tell you to have a break. Go to that party with Leo and have fun.” When I shook my head again and stepped to walk past him, he grabbed my wrist. “Son, you’re a good son. You deserve a break. Please, don’t make me think I’m drowning you with all these responsibilities and taking a good life from you.”

I want to tell him it is precisely what he is doing when he finds out his cancer is terminal already, changing his will, suffocating me with responsibilities, and letting go of Mom, agreeing to the divorce she has been begging for many years.

Leo kissed Dad on the cheek. “The guys have an offering for the god, Uncle Steve,” he whispered but audible enough for Olivia to turn to him, raising her eyebrows and probably thinking what he meant by what he said.

He laughed at his joke when I glowered at him. He knew I hated it whenever they called me the god.

Dad chuckled gently as he sat on the couch. “Just make sure my son won’t do something stupid that netizens and media would love to feast on, Leo.”

“Of course, Uncle. We won’t let the Mighty Sky do something stupid and fall into the ground,” he promised. “He might really meet his true love tonight,” he winked at Olivia.

She giggled, running to my father when Elenita was done with her hair and sitting on his lap. “Daddy, Sky’s face is hurt. I think someone punches him in the face.”

Dad raised his eyebrows and stared at me, confirming his cute daughter’s words.

I groaned, closing my eyes. “I did not get into the fight, Dad,” I said, touching my lower jaw as I opened my eyelids. “A monster threw potato on my face and my car,” I gritted my teeth, hating the ugly woman I met a while ago.

“A what?” Leo guffawed, imagining what happened to me.

“I was in a hurry to go after Lalaine at the airport when suddenly a teenager appeared out of nowhere,” I did not add that I almost hit her.

Olivia’s beautiful eyes went round. “Elenita is right. She must be your true love,” she said, amazed with her realization.

“You read too many fairy tales, Olivia,” I scoffed at her and scowled at Elenita. “Will you please stop influencing Olivia with this silly horoscope?”

“They’re not silly, Sky,” Elenita frowned at me. “She might be your true love.”

Remembering her face, looking hideous because her left eye was swollen while she could hardly open her right eye, her face puffy and red with spots or rashes-like, I could not even bear just imagining her ugliness.

“If she’s my true love, then,” I heaved a deep sigh, shook my head, and frowned at her. “I’d rather stay single for the rest of my life.”