RI-RI woke up to the sound of her cell phone ringing loudly across the room. For a moment, she just stared at the ceiling. Nope—it wasn’t a dream. She felt butterflies again as she remembered what happened last night. They went home with smiles on their faces, even holding hands. His grandparents instantly knew what was going on, but they didn’t say a word—they were simply happy for the two of them.
Her phone kept ringing, so she reached for it on the bedside table. She had forgotten to turn it off last night after chatting with Blanca. But at this hour, it was her mother calling. She frowned. They had just talked the other day, and now she was calling again?
“Mom? It’s still early in the morning,” she said with a yawn.
“It’s almost seven, Strawberry,” her mother said on the other line. “And what the heck are these photos all about?” she asked bluntly.
Her sleepiness instantly vanished. “What photos?” she asked, sitting up.
“You and Zion are all over the internet—kissing. What’s the meaning of this, Strawberry?”
She swallowed hard. She hadn’t expected that someone had taken a picture of them last night. This wasn’t how she imagined her parents would find out about her relationship with Zion. “M-Mom, let me explain—”
“Your fans are furious. They think you’re prioritizing running off and having fun instead of resting like what we told the press. For goodness’ sake, your fans already paid for tickets, and now you’re giving them this? They think you’ve been lying about your condition, and now they want their money back. Oh my gosh, Strawberry! What have you been doing? You’re supposed to be keeping things low, but now you’re making headlines all over again!”
“Mom, please listen—”
“Enough, Strawberry! One way or another, you are coming home.” And with that, the call ended.
Just then, there was a knock on the door. Absentmindedly, she let whoever it was come in. It was Zion, and he looked rather uncomfortable. She guessed he already knew what was happening.
“I’m sorry, Ri. Your mom called me. I have to take you back,” he said as he sat beside her. He caressed her cheek, and she leaned into his palm.
“You know?” she asked, and he nodded.
“It was on the morning news earlier,” he said.
“What did my mom say to you? Did she scold you?”
He shook his head. “No, not really. But we’ll definitely talk once we get there,” he said, then sighed. “I’m sorry we were careless.”
“No, don’t be sorry.” She gently caressed his cheek and smiled at him. “We don’t have to adjust for other people. We didn’t do anything wrong.”
He nodded. “Right. We’re just two people in love, kissing in the middle of the street,” he said, making her cheeks flush. Zion laughed and kissed her forehead. “You better get ready now. We still need to go back to the lake house to get our things.”
She sighed. “So annoying. We didn’t even get to fully enjoy our vacation,” she said irritably.
“You’re always welcome here, Ri. Anytime you want to come back, just tell me. I’ll whisk you away and bring you here. Just say the word.”
She smiled at what he said. Then she got out of bed and hugged him. She still couldn’t believe he was her boyfriend now. It felt too good to be true. But at that moment, she knew she wasn’t dreaming—especially as Zion hugged her back, whispering sweet nothings in her ear.
Her mother might not approve of their relationship, but she was more than ready to fight for him. She knew things wouldn’t be easy once they returned. Even with the fear she felt, she was ready.
TWO days had passed since they returned from the lake house, and since the last time she saw Zion. Even though they hadn’t seen each other, they talked on the phone the previous night. Their conversation was light and happy, and she didn’t sense anything unusual from him. She even asked if her management had spoken to him, but he said they hadn’t contacted him.
As for her, her management did talk to her. Well, “talk” was an understatement—they had actually scolded her. They said she should have thought about her fans first. She wanted to defend herself, but she wasn’t given the chance. Nothing new there. She didn’t have a voice in any of it.
At the moment, she was at her father’s vet clinic with Blanca. Since it was Saturday, her friend didn’t have classes and wasn’t busy, so she decided to keep her company while she dealt with everything. She wasn’t even allowed to go anywhere for now. To put it simply, she was grounded. Blanca had also advised her to stay offline for the time being since things were still chaotic—especially with her fans.
Both she and Blanca were helping out at the clinic. Even though her father already had two assistants, there were still a few clients coming in, and they just wanted to help since they had nothing else to do. Around noon, things finally slowed down, giving her and Blanca a break.
“Didn’t Zion text you?” Blanca asked after a while. They were both eating chicken club sandwiches, sitting in the pantry while watching a quick news flash before a noontime show.
She shook her head at her friend’s question. “We talked last night. But now, no texts or calls from him. But that’s okay—he’s busy taking care of his sister who’s about to give birth in a few days maybe. He’s handling things for her for now while Matteo hasn’t found a replacement yet.”
“Wait, why would they need a replacement when Zion is also your bodyguard? Your mom hired him for you too.”
Ri-Ri shook her head sadly. “He’s no longer my bodyguard.”
Blanca’s lips parted as she stared at her for a moment. When she recovered, her eyes widened. “He got fired?”
Ri-Ri sighed. “Yeah. And Zion only told me about it late. He told me the moment he got to his sister’s place. I think he just didn’t want things to get even messier.”
“Don’t tell me he’s not going to fight for you.”
She quickly shook her head. “No, it’s not like that,” she said. “He told me we’re just going to keep a low profile for now. At least wait until things aren’t such a hot topic anymore. He’s also thinking about what might happen to my career. He’s looking out for me, you know?”
Blanca nodded in agreement. “I agree. I think that’s the best thing you can do—for both of you. Let’s just hope management doesn’t do something drastic.”
Ri-Ri didn’t know exactly what Blanca meant, but the thought made her uneasy. She found herself thinking about Zion again. Surely, management hadn’t said anything to him. Him not texting or calling her today had nothing to do with what was happening… right? If they had said something, Zion wouldn’t keep it from her.
“Oh my God, Ri!” Blanca called out, pointing at the flat-screen TV in front of them.
Her attention snapped to it. Their photo—hers and Zion’s—was being shown on screen. And to her horror, an alleged statement from her was being displayed. Her vision zoomed in on the text as her heart pounded while she read it.
“We’re just friends. The kiss meant nothing. It was only a spur-of-the-moment thing. We were both a little intoxicated at that time, but nothing happened. It was just a kiss, nothing more. He means nothing to me.”
“What the—” she heard Blanca mutter beside her.
“Ri-Ri…” Her father entered the pantry, likely having heard about the supposed statement. His face was filled with worry and sadness. They were probably thinking the same thing—her mother could be behind this. And the thought hurt her deeply.
“I didn’t say that. I would never say those words,” she said, her voice breaking. She wiped her tears and looked at her father. “I—I should go, Dad.”
“Wait, Ri. Where are you going?” Blanca asked.
“I need to see my mother,” she replied simply, not even glancing back at her friend. Her father didn’t stop her either. She got up, stormed out of the clinic, and climbed into her car.
She sped off, driving straight back to the mansion.