Isabel went out of the air plane, along with her siblings. Hugh was already in front of her, talking to the air plane crew. When she reached him, he was already bidding farewell to the person. "Shall we go?" he asked, slipping her hand into his. They were only a few steps forward when Alexander Parker, Hugh's close friend, appeared in front of them. He was holding a bouquet of red roses, a sweet smile plastered on his face. "Welcome home, Hugh" he said, smiling at Isabel. "Thank you. Are the flowers for me?" Hugh teased, causing Alex to blush. Reina was already by Isabel's side when Hugh said this. Maximiano noticed the flowers and let out a whistle. "Red roses for Reina the Loveless? My, what a great improvement there!" Maximiano teased, making Reina kick him in the shins, though that was when Isabel distracted Alex, just to give Reina a chance to 'hurt' Maximiano.
Maximiano was rubbing his shins when all of them walked over to a chauffeur driven car. Antonello was pulling Maximian's collar in order for him to 'hurry up' while Reina and Alex were already in their own world. It was the month of July, thus the country of England was facing the hot season of summer. Which was why Hugh was wearing a pale grey shirt that fits his well-built body. It wasn't the first time she had seen Hugh wearing an outfit that accentuates his body line, she was just not used to it. It seems that he knew about it, too, since he was looking at her a mischievous smirk on his face. They sat in the car, Alex being their tour guide, while Reina was looking at him with dreamily. Antonello was engrossed with Alex's explanation, while Maximiano piped up; "Are there women that would like to have fun with me?". He was then rewarded with a slap from Isabel.
They reached their destination, and it made the siblings gape in awe. The Bradford's mansion was a sprawling estate, and it was newly built too. It may be due to the fact that they were newly rich, but Isabel never thought that they would be that rich. Especially when they were new money. Isabel stepped out of the car, and noticed that there was a butler waiting at the doorsteps, as if awaiting for their arrival. The butler bowed to them as they approached him. "Master Hugh, welcome home" he said politely while bowing. Hugh let out a bright smile. "Alfred! It's been such a long time" he said. "Too long" Alfred admitted. He then looked at Isabel. "And I presume this were the guests that you brought...? If I'm not mistaken, you must be Lady Isabel?" he said to Isabel. Isabel gave him a friendly smile and nodded. "Nice to meet you" she said politely. After Alfred finished greeting her siblings and Alex, they were brought to their respectable rooms. Even the rooms were huge. Isabel wanted to survey the house, but she was tired after the journey, and the party will be held the day after, so she decided to take an early night. She was informed that Hugh's parents were unavailable at the moment, but she will meet them the next day during breakfast.
The next day, Isabel woke up early. She could see the early sunrise through her window. After taking a shower and dressed herself up, she went out of the room. She noticed Alfred walking down the hallway. She greeted him, making the man shocked. It seems that he was worried by the fact that she slept before having dinner in her stomach. She brushed it off with a sweet smile and asked him where the garden was. He showed her the direction of the garden, and apologised to her that he won't be able to escort her, since he was busy with the party's preparations. She assured him that she was all right with it. She walked to the garden, and noticed a figure at a bench. When she walked nearer to the figure, she found out that it was Hugh.
He was reading a book, his face screwed up in a serious expression. She giggled at this; she never saw him having a serious expression before. She noticed that she never asked him about his work and his family. She knew his hobbies and everything, but not his work and his family. She wondered if it never crossed her mind, or was it due to the fact that Hugh intercepted the conversation before it reached to the subject. She was so engrossed with her thoughts, she didn't notice Hugh standing in front of her, waving his hand in front of her face. "Earth to Isabel! What's wrong?" he asked, making Isabel snapped out of her thoughts. "Nothing, I was just thinking the garden looks stunning!" she said, looking away from him. When she took a glance at him, she could see from his expression that he knew she was lying. Before she could explain herself, they heard Alfred calling out to them for breakfast. Isabel sighed in relief at this, and walked with Hugh to the dining room. Usually, Hugh would slip his fingers through her hand, but she could see that he was keeping a safe distance from her. She didn't say anything, instead she just thought of it as her thinking into the subject too much.
When they reached the dining room, she could see the addition of people at the table. It was the first time she met them, and she admitted that she was quite nervous. It was Hugh's parents, both of them dressed fancily, even for a breakfast. Melissa Bradford, Hugh's mother, stood up first. She was beautiful; she had dark brown wavy hair that was tied up elegantly and doe eyed grey eyes. She was slender and fashionable, and each of her hand was decorated with jewellery. Melissa held her hand in front of Isabel, and Isabel took it, to shake hands with the woman. "My, what a beautiful lady we have here" she said with a sweet voice, giving Isabel a warm smile. She noticed Maximiano giving a face at Reina, as if saying "She didn't compliment you". "In fact, both ladies in the room are so beautiful I seem to be fading into the background!" she joked, looking at Reina. Reina gave Maximiano a triumphant smile at this. Isabel then clasped Melissa's delicate hand. "Oh, no, that is such an exaggeration, Madam Melissa. You're very beautiful in your own way; you have more experience in the beauty department than us. We are just mere young girls" Isabel assured her. Melissa let out a soft chuckle. "My, such sweet words! Well, don't regret feeding me with it!" she said, amused.
They heard a coughing behind them. They turned to see the source of the sudden sound, and Isabel saw Hugh's father. He was the mirror image of Hugh, or Hugh was the mirror image of the man. Charles Bradford was a tall man, with a wide frame. He had sandy blonde hair like Hugh, though his was cut short, like a typical businessman. He looked tan, as if he has been standing under the sun all the time. He also had sharp blue green eyes like Hugh's though while the latter's eyes looked warm, Charles' eyes looked cold. When Charles smiled, Isabel could feel that it was insincere; as if he smiled out of force. Even when she shook hands with him, where his hands were rough, she could feel the coldness of the air. She couldn't help but shiver, though nobody noticed this. But there was one thing that she noticed; Melissa looked down at the floor, as if scared to make eye contact with anybody, while Hugh's face was tight. What was up with this family? she thought. Even so, the breakfast passed with polite conversations and a few friendly exchange of jokes, lead by Maximiano, who seemed to sense the cold atmosphere between the Bradfords.
The day seemed to pass by quickly, and before Isabel realised it, the party was about to start. She wore the wine red dressing gown that she brought from Spain for the party. She came out of her room, expecting Hugh to wait for her. Instead, it was Antonello who stood in front of her door. Confused, she asked her brother about this. He told her that Hugh had to do a few preparations and he was unable to escort her. Reina was being escorted by Alex, while Maximiano said that he would 'escort' a few girls during the party, making Isabel roll her eyes. Even so, she was bothered by the fact that Hugh didn't inform her about this himself.
They walked towards the ballroom, Alex and Reina in front of Isabel and Antonello, while Maximiano walked behind them, already geared up to pick up a few ladies. When they entered the ballroom, they could see many important people. There were even her father's colleagues gathering at the table, deep in their conversation. When Antonello walked towards the colleagues to greet them, of course the siblings had to follow suit. Even so, she was too focused in searching Hugh's figure. After searching him with her eyes, she saw him being gathered by a few young women. One of them even grabbed Hugh's arm casually, as if they were lovers. It may be immature of her, but she felt a slight jealousy in her heart. She heard the people at the table nearby theirs: "Look at that! It seems that Hugh Bradford, the heir of the Bradford, is chummy with the Duke of Leightond, Rebecca Winters". Isabel stabbed the steak in front of her, making Antonello take her hands in his, before she stab the person that said the statement earlier.
"How is the party tonight, everyone?" said a deep voice that she recognised so well. Hugh gave all of them a smile, and Isabel could hear the young ladies at other tables sigh dreamily. He was handsome, but that didn't mean that he was allowed to be 'chummy' with other women. Hugh seemed to notice her tight face, since he asked her with a worried tone, "Is everything all right, Lady Isabel?". She noticed the young ladies giving her death glares, but she ignored it. "I seem to have a headache. Can you show me where the balcony is? Maybe the fresh air would lighten up this headache of mine" she said sweetly, looking at him with an innocent expression. He nodded at this, and helped her stand up. "Let me escort you. It's not proper to leave a woman alone, especially in such a party" he said politely. Once they excused themselves, they walked towards the balcony. Isabel rudely shook off Hugh's hand from her, and walked ahead of him, angry.
Once they were outside at the balcony, Hugh grabbed her arm. "What is the matter?" he asked, oblivious to her anger. "What do you mean 'what is the matter?"?! You didn't tell me that you weren't going to escort me and you were being all chummy with that Rebecca girl!" she burst out, controlling her voice, worried that the other guests would hear her. "Isabel" he said with a gentle voice. "I came here to see your parents and celebrate your father's birthday, but all you did was ignore me and avoided me all day! You even let a total stranger grab your arm!" she continued on, her face red with anger. "I was busy with the preparations, and Becca's my childhood friend!" he replied, now losing patience. "Childhood friend? Childhood friend?! For your information, even if I have a male childhood friend, I wouldn't cling to him as if we were loves, especially when I have you!" she said, now losing her temper even more. Hugh then pulled her into a hug, making her now angry at herself. Whenever he did this, her temper would melt away, as if his hug could take away her worries and anger right away. Hugh was about to kiss her when they heard the ballroom became quiet.
They peered into the ballroom and they knew why: Charles and Melissa Bradford were already in the ballroom, dressed up formally. Charles was wearing a dark blue suit, while Melissa was wearing a blue silk gown, her hair coiffed up in a bun. All the guests gathered to the couple, no doubt wishing Charles a happy birthday. Hugh brought Isabel with him, his hand in hers. Isabel noticed everyone had their eyes on them, and she could feel the death glares from the young ladies. Once they reached the couple, they noticed that Rebecca Winters was by Melissa's side, joking with each other. Melissa noticed them, and her face lit up. "Ah, Hugh, Isabel! Rebecca, meet Isabel Manuel, Isabel, meet Rebecca Winters" she introduced the both of them. Rebecca Winters was like a winter fairy in the picture books that Maria always read to her when she was a child: fluffy blonde hair that looked like cotton candy, pale skin and lips as red as rose. She was almost as tall as Hugh, and this reminded of Isabel's petite stature. She didn't mind it; her grandmother hated tall women, stating that they were giants and women were supposed to be short and adorable for their tall husbands.
"Nice to meet you, Isabel. I heard that you were the youngest daughter of the Manuel family? Is it all right for you to be here without an escort?" she said, and even though her tone was friendly, Isabel could feel the sarcasm in her inner voice and expression. So she thinks I'm her rival. Hmph, I will show her! Isabel thought. "Oh, Hugh is my escort" she said, glancing at their intertwined fingers. "How about you, Lady Rebecca? You seem to not have an escort of yourself. Or is he busy eating at the dinner table?" Isabel added sweetly, pretending to look at the tables. She noticed Rebecca's face reddening in embarrassment. "Hugh, when are you going to tell 'that' to your parents?" Rebecca said coyly. "Oh, you mean the fact that I will be helping you in your studies? Yes, I've told them about that" he said, oblivious to the hidden meaning behind her sentence. "No! I mean marriage!" she whispered frantically. Somehow, Melissa picked it up. "Marriage? What do you mean marriage? Wait, Hugh, you have someone special in your life?" Melissa asked, innocent. Isabel sensed that Melissa knew about her relationship with Hugh, but she pretended to not notice it. "Mother. Forgive me, I didn't inform you of it before. I'm currently in a relationship with Isabel Manuel, and it's been six months" he said, looking at Isabel's eyes. She blushed at this, and noticed that Rebecca, along with the young ladies who heard his declaration, all looked shocked. Rebecca, whose face has become as red as the lobster that was being served, walked away from them. Melissa, confused, called out to her, but Rebecca ignored her. Isabel looked up at Hugh in surprise, and was rewarded with Hugh's bright smile. Isabel noticed that Melissa was hiding a secret smile behind her hand, but Charles expression was so cold, she thought that the room would freeze due to his expression. Why was it that?
TO BE CONTINUED
