"It's so good seeing you happy again Andy" Nicole squished my body in hers and when I pulled away I smiled and thanked her for her support.

"Andy can I talk to you?" Damon stood in front of us with his hands tucked in his pockets and the look in his eyes didn't seem friendly making me wonder what may had happened. "W..what is it?" I noticed a look that transpired between the cousins and it made me worry. "What's going on here?" I looked between the both of them.

"Let's go, I have to talk to you in private" he emphasized while glaring at an annoyed Romero. I was about to follow him out of the living room but Romero held my wrist to stop me from leaving.

"No Damon, whatever you have to say you'll say it in my presence" he deadpanned and Damon rolled his eyes.

"Quit being a child cousin, we have the right to our privacy" Damon pulled on my other wrist. "Hold on you two! What's going on and what is it with the bickering?" They had one last glare before Damon spoke up.

"Since when did you start keeping things from your best friend Andy?" He shot me an accusing look which drowned me in the depths of confusion.

"I don't understand Damon, what did i keep from you?"

"Why did decide to keep the fact that this idiot got an opportunity to pursue his career and he refused it" I was hit with cognizance and looked at Romero to seek for his approval to give an explanation.

"I'm sorry Damon. Trust me I'd have told you but he made me promise not to and you know I don't break my promises" I apologized which didn't erase the slight disappointment and hurt in his eyes and it made me feel guilty.

"Don't pull her into this Damon and what's your issue about this, I already rejected the offer and nothing would change my mind about it". Romero hissed out in annoyance which mirrored Damon's expression.

"I understand the meaning of rejection Romero, the question is why? We both know how much this opportunity would have helped your career and you rejected it? C'mon bro, that's so abnormal of you" he uttered out in frustration.

"You want to know why I rejected the offer? Fine I'll satisfy your stubborn ass. It's because they didn't want to take in the whole team, they only wanted me Damon" he explained making Damon's eyes soften.

"Now you've heard the reason can I sleep peacefully at night?" Romero sarcastically retorted.

"You turned down such a big offer because of us?"

"You won't make me repeat myself Damon and if I had told you guys y'all would have made me accept the offer" he glared at his cousin and I silently watched the cute drama that was yet to unfold.

"I'm sorry I.I didn't know. That was such a golden opportunity for you cousin and because of the team... Tears hid in his eyes but he tried so hard not to let it out.

"I would never turn my back on our team Damon. This was a promise I made before getting in and you know I stick to my words. Remember our motto; we fall and we rise together. I'll never forget that Damon and you don't have to worry because as long as we're together we will get many more golden opportunities.

"Fratello" Damon whispered and hugged him and at that moment the tears rolled down my eyes. How I envy their relationship

They pulled away and Romero patted his shoulder and smiled at him. "We have a tournament next week Saturday, we need to practice hard cause it's the last for the year and it'll determine the team that will qualify for the state's basketball competition for the year and you know how much that will benefit us" Damon nodded and took his phone out from his pocket.

"I'll inform the others" Romero bobbed his head in agreement and left with me.

My sniffs made him stop walking and he looked down at me to see the tears in my eyes. "What's wrong tesoro?" He cupped my cheeks and gazed at me with concern.

"T..that was one of the sweetest moments I've seen in my entire life" I stuttered out but it didn't seem to settle his confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"I.I mean what happened back in your place, it was cute" his chest rumbled in laughter and he pulled me into his body.

"You're so fucking amusing and adorable Angel" he said between his hilarious moment and kissed my forehead.

When we pulled away he wiped my tears and pecked my lips. "Is that why you cried?" I glared at him and smacked his chest. "Don't tease me Romero" he raised his hands in surrender and wrapped his arm around my waist.

"We have to reach dad's office" i nodded and we hastily made our way to Mr Rodrigo's office.

~~~~

"Come in" his calm voice called and we gently opened the door and waltzed inside. My eyes caught him sitting behind the desk in a casual outfit with a file in his hands and I took good use of the opportunity to analyze the father and son. Defined facial structure, built body, a pair of amazing eyes and a perfect smile.

"Hijo(son)" he shut the file and stood up to hug Romero. "Hi dad. So what's so important that you called us here?" He went straight to the point.

"Relax, would you? Besides this goodnews is for the angel you came in with. Hello Andrea" I returned his smile hoping my curiosity and nervousness wasn't obvious through my body language.

"You two have a seat while I get something from my car" Romero pulled out the chair for me and I thanked him before kissing my ass on the comfortable leather.

Once we were alone I tapped his arm and turned my body so I could face him. "Do you have any idea what it is about?" He shook his head and rested his palm on my thigh.

"Relax tesoro, as long as he called you here for a good course you shouldn't stress your brain" he comforted me with his eyes and i pulled up a little smile but it didn't stop me from thinking.

The soft thud of the door made me jerk up a bit and stirred my head towards his direction to find a white envelope in his hand. I followed his every movement until he made his destination to his seat and rested his elbows on the desk with his blue shade locked with mine.

"So Andrea... He drawed out and slid the envelope my way. "Congratulations amore, your hard work and amazing talent did pay off" my head was still stuck in mystery and I needed a solution as quick as possible so I quickly opened the envelope and took out the letter that was in there.

As my eyes scanned through every words I felt the like screaming out my lungs. "W..what?" The paper fell from my hands when I was done reading it and I looked up to find him smiling at me.

"What's it Angel?" Romero questioned and when he realized he wouldn't get a reply due to my state he picked the paper up and started reading through it.

"Museo Gråfico" he whispered in surprise. "This is one of the best art galleries" he stated a fact which was the main cause of my astonished state.

"Congratulations once again darling. This is such a good opportunity for you and if you accept this offer, you'll have your works up in so many other art galleries and museum even, here" he slid a black card my way and I glanced at it then back at him.

"That card belongs to Ms DelRosa, the owner of Museo Gråfico, she wants to meet with you personally" I gawked at him with shock and then looked back at the card. "I.is this real Mr Rodrigo?" He smiled and nodded his head.

"Yes it's. You can choose whenever you wish to meet up with her and send her a text or an email" I still couldn't believe my reality and soon the tears began trickling down.

"Tesoro" he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and immediately I lodged into his chest. "I'll leave you two to have your moment" he announced and left the both of us.

"Andrea" he pulled away and wiped my tears with a proud smile on his face. "I'm so happy for you Angel, I'm happy that all your dreams are coming true" he whispered on my lips and gave me a chaste kiss.

"Thank you Romero, I.I can say this is all because of you" his brows ridged in confusion. "Because of me?"

"All the arts work i exhibited were the paintings I made of you, so if it weren't for your beauty I wouldn't have gotten this opportunity" he chuckled and pulled my cheek.

"You crack me up tesoro. I wouldn't deny the fact that the appearance of the muse counts but what matters the most is the passion and dedication of the talented artist and that is you. I may be beautiful as you say but your zeal and talent to recreate my beauty was what landed you into this golden call" he praised me and my cheeks lit up at his songs of compliments.

"Thank you" I whispered and hugged him again. I picked the letter and folded it back into the envelope.

"We have to leave now, I don't want us to be late for our date and now we have more reason to celebrate" i nodded with a smile and stood up.

"Dad we're leaving" he yelled and Mr Rodrigo strolled in from the balcony. "I'll see you at home tomorrow? Your Grandma wants you two to come over, you know how much she loves the Sunday with her grandchildren"

"I can't make any promises dad but I'll try" Mr Rodrigo nodded in understanding and hugged him. "Congratulations again" I smiled and appreciated him before leaving.

"So where do you want us to go first?" He wrapped his arm around my waist as we exited out from his Father's hallway.

"I don't mind Romero, as long as I am with you" he chuckled and kissed my forehead. "I love it when you're cheesy cause it has a way of... "Andrea" a voice I never thought I'd hear again in my life called.

We halted our movement and looked behind us to find them. Nora and the Hunts.

Romero's face switched up quickly into anger and he pushed me behind him to protect me from any attack. "What are you doing here?" He snapped angrily.

"Relax boy, I came here to talk to my daughter" I scoffed and rolled my eyes at her audacity.

"Daughter? Did you just call me your daughter?" Her eyes drifted to me and for the first time in my life since I got adopted I saw something other than pride and narcissism in her eyes.

"Andrea honey, i..I'm sorry I only came here to talk to you" she pleaded but I wasn't going to fall for her fake remorse. She has probably realized that her reputation was on the line and she needed me to fix her life.

"I'm sorry mother Nora but I can't talk to you so if you'd excuse me I have somewhere to be" I signaled the end of the conversation but she held me back.

"Andrea please listen to me at least do it for the sake of gratitude. I took you in and to.. "Enough" I held my palm out and glared at her.

"Aren't you ever going to stop using that stale line on me Nora? Deep down in that selfish heart of yours you know that i truly appreciate what you provided me with although I still wished you had left me in the orphanage. Even though I wouldn't have been spoilt with riches at least i would have been loved and not forced to change who i am.

Not once did you act like a mother Nora but I acted like a daughter and even more than that cause I became your puppet.

For years you've used me and i wouldn't let that happen anymore. I won't let you guilt trip me again and now I permit you to disown me and face whatever challenges the world will throw at you when they find out who you truly are" I finished my speech and hooked my arm around Romero to walk away but Mr Hunt's voice stopped us.

"You definitely have your reasons for whatever you're doing to your mother but what about my family? What did we do to you?" I gaped at the old man in disbelief and Romero made a move to attack but I stopped him.

"You think what your son did to me isn't enough for me to sue him to court?" He hissed out in annoyance and rolled his eyes.

"Get over it sweetheart, he didn't touch you why act like... "Dad" Leon stopped him and I finally recognized his presence.

His gray eyes were dull, he had bags under his eyes and his faded stubbles had grown longer.

"There's no point in trying to justify what I did. Your greed for power and thirst for political recognition is the sole cause of how my life turned out to be. If you and mother weren't bent hell on making me perfect to keep up your reputation then my life wouldn't be the way it is, so please. She was kind of enough not to drag us to the court and here you are trying to create more problems for us" he spoke angrily and for the first time since we met I saw realness in his demeanor. His parents mouths were left hanging open in disbelief at the attitude their son just exhibited

His tired eyes drifted to me and I was quick to look away in order not to recall the events that took place.

"Andrea" he called and tried touching me but i pushed myself into Romero's body to avoid any contact with him and i heard him take in a deep sigh of regret.

I noticed his height was decreasing so I looked down to find him on his knees with his hands folded in a pleading way.

"I'm so sorry Andrea. I'm sorry for the pain i made you go through that day and I'm sorry for all the troubles I caused upon you. I'm really sorry. I don't mind you dragging me to court cause I know I deserve to be behind bars but one thing I can't bare is your anger, please forgive me" I kept swallowing hard with my eyes looking any where but on him.

The memories of that day may be faint in my heart but it will never leave my mind cause it's like a tattoo engraved in my heart. Holding grudges would make it more difficult to forget so i chose to forgive him but i wouldn't give him that satisfaction. Just the way I'd be carrying a scar of what he did to me I want him to forever live in guilt for what he did.

Without saying a word I left with Romero leaving Nora yelling my name while pleading for me to save her reputation but I was in no position to do that any more.