Five years later...

(Luke’s POV)

“This way, Sir.”

“Thanks,” I said to the mansion’s attendant, who guided me to the dining table where Arturo Lee and I agreed to meet and talk about business.

It was a mansion owned by Arturo Lee. He invited me over so we could discuss business.

I glanced at my wristwatch as I continued to walk—12 PM.

When I finally arrived, I found Arturo already seated, drinking vintage wine as if it were holy water. He stood up, greeting me with a welcoming grin.

“Governor!” he said. “Still carrying the world on your back, I see.”

I just grinned, too, and coolly shrugged my shoulders. “Nice to see you again, Mr. Lee.”

I extended a hand for a shake, and he accepted it.

The owner and business tycoon, Arturo Lee, founded Emerald Lands, Inc. since a decade ago. His years of experience made him a well-known and respected local and international real estate developer. They were offering large, eco-friendly, and elegant homes all across the country at different prices in various places. Their collections included high-rise condominiums, rental units, and masterplanned structures and buildings.

The majority of people acknowledged that homes built by Emerald Lands were of high quality and well-designed. They had options for every allotted budget and personal choice and taste. They had been a top real estate developer for being dedicated to building and maintaining residential niches that meet the needs and demands of their clients.

I must convince Mr. Lee to push through the negotiation of his sponsorship for my first-ever project as a public servant. The truth was even during the campaign, as he got to know me and my plans for my local unit, I got his support right away. He told me to contact him in case I would be needing his help as the new governor when I won.

I wanted to give back, especially to the people who supported me and gave me their trust during election, making me a landslide winner for the position. One of my advocacies and primary project was to provide housing projects especially to the poor and homeless people. When Mr. Lee personally came to congratulate me after the election, I began to give him hints that I needed his sponsorship to make my dream project possible.

He was willing to provide lands and high-quality supplies as long as I presented him concrete plans. But in return, I was also aware of the possibility that he would ask something back in exchange of the real estate sponsorship. Anyway, it always worked that way. I highly believed that everything should come for a price. It was not just because he was so kind or extending his generosity. If he would ask something in return, I wouldn’t be so surprised.

By the way, he invited me to the table, and I nodded, agreeing to come with him and sat down.

Our small talk was strained, built on unspoken histories. Arturo waved the server over for another bottle of red wine.

“Anyway, I hope you don’t mind if my daughter’s joining us today?”

I was surprised. “She’s in the country?”

The last time I knew, as far as I was concerned, his daughter was rarely going home because she was a busy careerwoman flying here and there abroad. At least, this was all according to Arturo himself as he always proudly talked about and bragged about his daughter to me.

“Yeah. She just got home last week. A short vacation indeed.”

A few moments later, I caught a glimpse of an elegant woman approaching our table. She had been guided by an attendant.

“Is that her?” I asked Mr. Lee, pointing the woman.

Mr. Lee looked at her, and his fatherly aura lightened the mood. “Exactly. Hey there, my dear daughter, Serenity!”

I initially didn’t react, but the nearer she got to our table, the frown in my forehead began to show. Her face was becoming clearer to me until my breath almost stopped when I recognized it was Grace Moore! I couldn’t be wrong! It was really my ex-fiancée!

She walked like she owned the world beneath her high and expensive heels. Tall, poised, confident, and dressed in a white mid-length dress that screamed her classy femininity.

How the heck did it happen?! How did she survive that night?!

The father and the daughter granted each other a comfortable hug.

And then Mr. Lee introduced her to me. “This is Serenity, my one and only daughter. And Seni, please meet Governor Wilson. You can call him Luke, for short.”

Serenity smiled and turned to me. She even offered me a hand. “Hi, Governor.”

I almost didn’t move at first, still stunned at the face that was approaching before me…

I wasn’t aware she was actually taking it as a rude gesture that I didn’t immediately hold her hand, I just realized it when she smirked. And as she was about to get it down, I was quick to hold it. I wouldn’t want her to have an impression that I was ungentleman.

“Hello, Serenity. Please to meet you.”

Skin to skin, there was tension between us, I could feel it. I just wasn’t sure if she could feel it, too. But the way her eyes looked, her posture, and that lazy smirk in her lips, it seemed like she was a bit displeased. While I remained confused…

A while later, we all sat down and began our meals after they had been served in our table.

“Dad, I’m genuinely surprised to see that the governor you were talking about that you would have a business meeting today is actually so young. I thought he would be some kind of an oldie bloke, you know…” Serenity said in the middle of our meals, almost a hint of shading me.

A grin of animosity hinted at the edge of my lips.

Arturo chuckled like it was the funniest thing he ever heard this afternoon. “My dear, haven’t I mentioned he was only thirty-two?”

Serenity shook her head. “You didn’t tell me.”

“Oh. My bad.”

As we continued to eat, I couldn’t help but look at her frequently. She really looked a lot like Grace, if she really weren’t her. There were, however, clear differences between them. Grace was simple and even shy, while Serenity seemed to scream a woman of confidence and luxury.

Blond hair that seemed well-maintained from toptier salons, thick and long lashes, perfectly curved brows, dark eyelids, and wine-like lipstick. Her gold earrings were shining. I couldn’t help but contrast Serenity from my ex-fiancée. She seemed nothing like her. Grace was ordinary and hadn’t have the same privilege as she enjoyed.

Even from the color of their skin, I could tell the obvious difference. Although they were both fair, but Grace used to look like she wasn’t getting enough nutrients, while Serenity appeared to be well-maintained in high-quality skin clinics.

Arturo began to ask some questions about my housing projects, but the charmer in front of me kept me distracted from anything…

“I would be very honest in you, Governor. Your high margin in winning the election made me believe in you and trust your capacity to lead for your people, especially seeing that they seem to love you. I really hope to associate the Emerald Lands and our name in your name to eventually get more people to trust us. In fact, I’m eyeing a position in the next election in the next few years, even beginning from a lower office first before climbing to higher positions. And it’ll be more possible if I begin to have my name associated with the Wilsons, particularly with you, Governor.”

See? This was what I was talking about. Everything came with a price. He wanted to grant the land and estate sponsorship so his name would be associated with me who already had the landslide win from the masses. He was obviously building his own name by doing this. A win-win situation.

“Meanwhile, on the business side, after we provided our beloved constituents with shelter, we can also help them make a living by giving them small businesses to start,” he suggested, which I was thinking a great idea indeed. “We can start by providing them wet-market stalls and goods, and when they were already earning, we can start taking at least seventy-percent of their daily income.”

Initially, I liked his proposition of giving people small businesses to start. However, the seventy-percent daily cut was what made my brow raised. It was too much, and I wouldn’t simply agree with it. I had to be fair.

“About the business, can you give me more time to think about it for the meantime? I think I just need time to decide before signing anything,” I said while glancing at him, yet my whole attention seemed so magnetized around his daughter.

He nodded. “Once you made up your mind, you can tell me what you think. Anyway, if your dad’s interested as well, he can surely put his minor enterprises there, too. I would still ask for a cut, of course.”

I didn’t think that my father’s businesses should be involved in this serious matter because most of what he had involved gambling and illegal stuff, so putting those things in residential neighhoods would only make the poor people poor. I would like to see my constituents thriving, not engaging in gambling addictions and such.

“You might open it up to him, and I would be happy to discuss with him,” Mr. Lee continued. “Anyway, how is he? It’s been a long time since I last spoke to him.”

Arturo’s next words felt like a buzz in my ear because I didn’t understand them anymore. I was so focused with the woman sitting beside him. And Serenity seemed aware that I was looking at her the whole time. She was even smiling everytime she caught my eyes locked in hers. I could not say a thing about her face. She really was gorgeous…

“Luke?”

Arturo’s friendly tapped in my shoulder made me come back to my senses, realizing that he was still talking to me and asking me about my father.

“I’m sorry. Come again, Mr. Lee?”

“I was asking how’s your father doing lately?”

“Ah, he’s doing just fine. Still the typical Emilio Wilson we know.”

I glanced at Serenity and I saw that she grinned as she intentionally bit her lower lip as though forcing herself not to chuckle because she knew how distracted I was with her presence…

A phone call suddenly disturbed us. It was Serenity’s phone. She had to excuse herself for a while to take it. I couldn’t help but watch her the whole time she was talking to someone over the phone. She seemed so entertained that we could even hear her sexy laughter echo.

My forehead frowned. Boyfriend?

After the call was over, she went back to the table and mentioned to Arturo that Robert was coming over to send his greetings. Who the fuck Robert was?

Arturo’s reaction seemed to light up as he nodded. “Sure. Tell him he can come and join us for lunch.”

“Yes, dad. I already told him you would be happy to see him again now that he’s also back into the country after a few months of flying here and there.”

My brow quietly raised a bit. Was I missing something right here?

The questions in my head had just been answered when we heard a car outside, and Serenity, who seemed like a child, excitedly threw herself to him for a big, welcoming hug.

“Robert!”

“Seni! My darling Serenity!”

How sweet… I smirked at the back of my head while watching them. I didn’t know where the bitterness came from!

She held his hand and pulled him to the table.

“Hijo!” Arturo extended his hand.

Robert accepted it with a tap on his shoulder. “Uncle!”

“Since when did you arrive back in the country?”

“An hour ago, uncle. I immediately called Seni and told her if I could come over to see you and send my greetings. She said I could even join you for lunch today.”

“Of course. Take a seat, and feel at home, son.”

“Thanks, uncle!”

“Oh, anyway, before I forget, this is Governor Luke Wilson. And Gov, this is Robert Adams. He’s a family friend. He and Serenity grew up together.”

Oh? So, a childhood close friend, indeed?

Robert offered me his hand for a shake, and of course, out of courtesy, I accepted it. I didn’t want to create a bad impression especially in front of Arturo that I was rudewith introductions, no matter how I supposedly wanted to turn down that hand!

He sat at the chair beside mine, and he was given his own cutleries as he joined us with our bunch of meals.

The bond and closeness between them was noticeable as they kept chatting and catching up as if they were the only people in the table, and nothing else mattered. Sometimes, they would laugh. Sometimes, they seemed serious. It felt like they really had known each other and were comfortable with each other for a very long time.

“Why don’t you serenade us by playing your favorite violin notes, Seni?” Robert teased her all of a sudden.

She smiled shyly.

Arturo teased her, too, to play the violin.

Meanwhile, I froze in my seat as I heard the instrument they were asking her to play…

“You’re playing a violin?” I asked, almost jaw dropped.

“Yes, she does. In fact, it’s one of her talents, and violin is her favorite instrument to play,” Robert confirmed for her.

The whole time she was just smiling humbly.

I was completely in the state of greatly surprised! I didn’t know she was playing violin! Grace used to play that instrument a lot and she loved it so much!

Was it still a coincidence that Serenity and Grace played the same instrument?!