Chapter 1 The Man In A Black Horse

• Scorching and filled with smoke. Humid because of the passengers crowding the bus travelling to the province. Noisy because of complaints and sentiments from different people; some gossiping about others' lives, some have their arms crossed while choosing to take a nap.
• Eesa just shrugged her shoulders before glancing at her friend who seemed to be fidgeting. They're both sitting on the second seat from the driver, thus they could clearly see where they were headed. There were no houses in sight, only trees, greeneries, and the two-way lane made for transport.
• It was a secluded area, perhaps. But Eesa didn't care about wherever her friend's gonna take her. The important thing was that she could be away from the Metro and hide from her whole clan who's surely flipping the world just to find her.
• "Are you sure you don't want to go with me? I need you, best friend. . ." sje dramatically pleaded, even pouting just so she could gain her attention.
• Her friend rolled her eyes. "Are you stupid? Then Tito would have found out that I'm the connivance to your little runaway drama!"
• She laughed at the remark. If her father didn't think of basically handing her to a stranger, she wouldn't have ran away. Eesa felt guilty of what she did but she had to do it to save herself. She couldn't just agree to get wedded to a person that she didn't love one bit. She's not a part of a royal family nor had a blue blood to follow whatever her father ordered her to do, and so she's now in this situation.
• Eesa sighed and leaned her back against the red chair of the bus. She was thinking about what would happen to her for the next days and the life that awaited her in the province. She knew that she would go through a lot of difficulties with her new life, considering that she's lived like a princess throughout the twenty-three years of her life. In one snap of her finger, she could have everything. But now. . .
• She sighed again. With a lot of worries in her head, she picked up her back which contained a few things she needed and a wallet. She peeked at it and saw a few thousand bills that she could use for the following days. Inside the wallet was also her Mommy Ramona's picture. She wanted to look at it but she stopped herself, knowing that she just might cry out of missing the woman so much.
• "Oh, Maribilis! Maribilis Terminal!"
• "Shit! We're here!" her friend exclaimed.
• The bus stopped at a small terminal. When Eesa peeked through the window, she only grimaced at the sight. There were vendors parading around the area, pushing each other and shouting just to sell their foods. One man called her attention and pointed at the food he's selling but the woman only shook her head politely in refusal. She was not used to it and she didn't even know how to react. It seems like she's really gonna be challenged by her new life.
• "Hey!"
• "Ouch!" Eesa glared at her friend when the latter hit her shoulder hard.
• Krist only shrugged and signalled her to stand up before suddenly leaving her without notice. Eesa couldn't even see her expression because of the mask her friend was wearing. She was also clad in a black Adidas jacket and jogging pants.
• "Ma'am, your friend already left."
• Eesa quickly snappee out after hearing what the conductor said. She immediately hung one strap of her backpack on her shoulder and went out of the bus. She even passed throught a crowd of people who wanted to ride the bus. She successfully saw her friend waiting for her with both hands on each her waist, looking pissed while glaring at her.
• "Sorry, Beshie. . ." she apologized.
• The other's eyebrow raised. "My job is done here, Tereesa. I already gave you the address. All you have to do--"
• "Señorita!! Señorita!!"
• "Shit!"
• Krist and Tereesa both cursed. When they looked at where the sound came from, the weren't wrong. It was her father's men that were yelling. So they glanced at each other before holding hands and running to lead the men away.
• "Señorita Tereesa!!" they called again which they ignored.
• They passed through crowds while getting chased, sometimes even tripping or accidentally bumping on someone, but they couldn't care less. Even the scorching sun was ignored. Their main focus right now was just to get away from the men, until they reached a small public market and hid inside a comfort room.
• "How did they follow us?!" Eesa exclaimed while catching her breath. She even bowed her head and to hold her wobbling knees but grimaced when she saw the dirty tiled floor and the old toilet bowl that was also dirty. "Shit!"
• "Yuck!" the other also remarked.
• They hesitantly went out of the cubicle. Eesa went to the door and took a peek outside. She sighed in relief when she didn't see any of her father's men. She was confident that they successfully managed to lose them. Eesa went back to her best friend and hugged her tightly.
• "Thank you," she sincerely said. "I will make it up to you when I come back," she added.
• Krist only shook her head before letting go from the hug. "I want you safe. We're still gonna attend the next Hot Men Society's party,"
• The woman grimaced. She suddenly remembered what happened at the party that was held on an exclusive village of the HMS members. The reason why she hated to be drunk again and the reason why she could still feel pain in her core. A week has already passed, yet what the stranger did still left her sore. She unknowingly bit her lips. It was actually both painful and pleasurable.
• "You're zoning out again. Here's your phone." Krist handed an old model which was a 3310. It looked very out of trend and used.
• "Why this?" she complained.
• "You're role playing, right? Stop whining. There's no selfies on a mountain. Here!" She handed the device again which Eesa took without another word. Krist went to the sink and opened the bag that she was carrying. She pulled out a black short-haired wig and a complet set of a make-up kit before giving it to the other.
• "I know you're a model and you know how to put make-up, so it's up to you to make yourself look ugly."
• Eesa nodded at that. She smiled at her best friend when she finally gave her all she wanted. They embraced each other once more and almost cried if they failed to hold themselves back. After that, Krist bid her goodbye to which the other thanked again before finally letting go.
• Tereesa stared at her reflection in the mirror in front of her. The maiden sighed and started to have her make over. She wore the wig which she definitely wasn't comfortable with but had to endure. She put light make-up on her face and put some freckles around her pointed nose. She also made her brows thicker using a waterproof brow tattoo pencil and put a dot of fake mole above her lip.
• After finishing, she smiled at her reflection and put on her thick eyeglasses that seemed to come from Betty La Fea's era. She inwardly laughed as she walked out of the comfort room as people stared at her.
• "Mister! To Hacienda Guerrero in San Vicente!" she shouted loudly at the tricycle driver. The place was crowded and noisy, so in order to be heard, she needed to be louder.
• The driver stared at her up and down before asking, "Do you have money to pay for the fare?"
• "Of course, I do!"
• She glared at the driver though the latter failed to notice it. She was pissed by what he said but she decided to just let it pass. If he only knew how rich she was, he'd probably be so embarrassed. However, she didn't want to do just that.
• "Well, get in!"
• Eesa rushed to get inside the vehicle. A few moments after, they're now travelling towards the mansion of the Guerreros. Krist said that her former maid, Nanny Melba, was currently working there. Her friend talked to the old woman about Eesa and she agreed to preted that the maiden was her neice from a far province.
• Everything was planned about her new life. She's ready even for the worst case scenarios, but the rain was not one of those scenarios, and so the tricycle driver left her in the middle of the muddy trail. She forced herself to walk and find a shelter, but she couldn't find any, not even a tree as she was surrounded by a corn field.
• "Why, Lord?!" she shouted, which made the rain pour even harsher.
• Tereesa looked up, frustration enveloped her being. How unlucky must she be that even the sky was not in favor of her? She let her tears be washed by the rain.
• "How frustrating!" she shouted out loud. Her voice echoed the place.
• She was discouraged by what happened. Eesa wanted to just lay down but the mud made her force herself not to. She lost hope, but when she heard a weird sound, a tint of hope sparked again. She looked around and blinked repeatedly when she saw where it was from.
• 'What's that?'
• Tereesa's vision was blurry because of the heavy rain but she could still manage to see the black horse, running faster towards her direction. The sticky mud and the heavy rain didn't hinder the speed it was exerting.
• The woman was amazed at that, but she was more awestruck when it got closer and revealed the one riding the horse. It was a long haired man with broad shoulders and tanned skin. Having a hard expression with his eyebrows furrowed, he looked more intimidating.
• She was suddenly reminded of a scene from Lee Minho's movie. The difference was that, he was riding a white horse and dressed conservatively, while the one in front of her had a black one. Aside from that, he was topless, a reason why her mouth agaped in astonishment. His six pack abs were a check.
• She gulped. It seems that she wasn't that unfortunate at all, because all the while amidst the muddy place soaked in rain, she saw the real definition of Adonis. And it was the long haired man in his black horse