His Notorious Wife

At Valdez Defenders law firm, V City...

A woman clad in a white crisp business suit with a dignified and authoritative aura stood in front of a French window gazing down at the wide streets with her greenish pair of contacts while deeply lost in her train of thoughts.

People who were busy walking on those roads were almost compared to mere ants in size meeting in one direction from her position. Valdez Defenders Building is located at the center of the urban community of V city.

It was one of the best law firms in NA state and its building measures 60 floors rendering its tower proudly higher than those of normal law firms. As the woman gazes out from her 50th office window, raindrops started to fall heavily slowly pouring down on every corner of the crowded streets.

People started to gallop their heels for someplace to shelter themselves to prevent getting wet, some unfolded their readied umbrellas in hand, and others took the rain as a hoax and just let themselves get damped.

Was getting damp by the rain certainly just a mere fun for them? Who wants to get wet by the sleet when it was freezing their muscles and bones to no end? It was a big torment yet they chose to ignore it and walked defiantly like a stoic humanoid and proceeded to fight nature's willpower heads on bravely.

Shivering on the streets helplessly wasn't a joke but others didn't put much thought into it. Perhaps they degraded such persons as stupid or fool for getting wet but what if those persons didn't have any choice but to go on? Those drenched individuals remind her of how helpless she was way back.

*********

8 years ago... It was raining cats and dogs and the 17-year-old Zane just had the dinner table ready for her family of four as she also felt famished after a long day of struggles.

"Suzy, where is Laira? Your father is coming from his business trip and he wants to have a talk with your sister..." her mom Lydia inquired and narrowed her eyes at her.

Suzzane shifted uncomfortably on her seat. She was in a pit of her dilemma as her sister's words lingered on her mind, "...don't you dare snitch on me or I'll ruin you myself!"

It was a clear threat and having grown up with Laira, she knows that she wasn't bluffing nor joking. She was capable of turning tables and she feared that she would end up starving the whole night! She still had a lot of assignments to answer and she couldn't think straight if her stomach is rumbling for food!

"Mom... she... she went to her classmates' house for a group project..." Caught up with her fear, she lied, her hands were sweating profusely and nervousness crept the hell out of her!

"Go! Find her at all costs! You must bring her back!" Her mom roared out angrily facing her with her blazing eyes.

"Y-yes mom..." she responded reluctantly as she stood up from her seat and took her lazy steps towards the main door. She was just about to hold the doorknob and give a twist when another nerve-wracking scream berated in her ears.

"You don't need to come back if you didn't find her! You better get lost!" Her mom added in a loud and furious irritating voice.

Suzy momentarily froze in her current spot. Her heart seemed to turn like a heavy stone however, she nodded her head vigorously and went out silently enduring the pang in her chest.

That wasn't the first time that she heard such heart-stabbing words from her mother and she was supposed to get accustomed to it nevertheless, she felt indescribable pain inside her chest. She took a sharp breath and pushed the pain aside and focused on her task at hand.

She walked and run down the streets towards her sister's location without paying attention to the heavy rain. Her feet were hurting so bad as well as her body was shivering in too much cold! She couldn't even ride in a taxi because her allowance was too limited for her. She needed to tighten her belts every day and make do with what she could afford to. Her pocket was almost empty as it was already the weekend and her little money was all consumed for her meals at school. It's always been like that, she looked like Laira's personal maid rather than a sister. But that doesn't matter to her, as long as she could go to school and study, everything was fine for her. She was determined to finish her senior year and grab a scholarship program. She wanted to be a successful lawyer someday! Stay independent and move away from her so-called family!

"Ughhh..." she groaned and shivered as she hasten her steps towards her designated location while wrapping her arms on her chest to shield the cold breeze that blew off her skin. Her clothes were drenched in rain as she had forgotten to take an umbrella due to her mother's heartbreaking words.

"Five minutes more... just five minutes more..." she reminded herself while gasping for her breath. She was desperate to find her sister or she might end up sleeping on the streets for the whole night shuddering under her wet clothes. She doubts if she is strong enough to sustain the cold along with the fever after showering in the rain for too long!

Up ahead in the distance, she could finally catch a glimpse of colorful bright lights. The bar where her sister went together with her so-called friends. She was overjoyed as she could finally find the person she was looking for and her miserable state would come to an end! She made her way to the bar's entrance but the two muscular men deprived her of entering the chaotic premises.

"Young girl, you're not allowed to enter this establishment!" One of the guards informed her flatly and pointed out his finger at the warning sign with bold letters stating that 'MINORS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO ENTER'.

"Sir, please... I need to find my sister..." she pleaded desperately almost weeping as her purple lips quivered.

"Young girl, don't make these things difficult for us, why not call your sister out instead and let her fetch you from here?" Another guard suggested. He was kind enough to remind her.

"I... I don't have any mobile phone with me, sir..." she whispered pitifully while rubbing her palms to produce a little friction of heat.

The kind-hearted guard shoved his hand on his trouser's pocket and offered his phone to her while saying, "...here, you may call her using my phone."

Suzy smiled gratefully at the guard and took hold of the gadget with her trembling and numbing hands. She recalled her sister's phone number in her mind and dialed in a huff. The line rang and was immediately answered.

"Hello? This is Laira speaking..." came her sister's voice, seemingly drunk on the other end.

"Sister, it's me... please come out, I'm at the entrance I'm he-..." she wasn't even done with her words, and the line was directly hung up. She glared at mobile beeping phone and frowned. Her heart skipped a beat! Was Laira going to ignore her? What should she do?

"Young girl, how is it going?" The guard asked, looking concerned.

"She already knows I'm here sir, but she hanged up on me... here's your phone sir, thank you so much for your kindness..." she then handed the phone to its owner and took a seat at the foyer sulkily. She clutched her rumbling stomach to muffle its embarrassing sounds. She was drenched and hungry at the same time! 'How unfortunate!' her mind scowled in annoyance.

A half an hour later...

"Sir, was there any young girl who previously came here and tried to get inside?" Laira's concerned voice echoed through the entrance.

Suzy who was sulking for half an hour at the corner literally jumped up from where she had seated and scurried her way towards her sister. "Sister, I'm here..." she waved her hand at Laira cheerfully.

Laira stared daggers at her and whispered something to one of the guards and the latter nodded his head repeatedly.

"Come, you may now be allowed to go in..." Laira reached out for her hand and dragged her inside the noisy bar without caring for her current state. She lead her to their table and took hold of a glass filled with a bluish liquid in her hand taking a huge gulp of it.

"Sister, Mom ordered me to find you, she said dad is coming home tonight and wanted to talk with you..." Suzy explained, oblivious to her awful surroundings.

She wasn't aware that staying in the place with colorful lights, with dancing sweaty people in loud music and drunken strangers was a dangerous den for her!

"I'm not done yet..." Was Laira's annoyed response as she continued to gulp her liquor.

"She said, I must take you with me..." she added with a bit of uneasiness. She was doubting if she could talk to her sister into going home with her like this. She must have known that Laira is a hard nut to crack