Kill for Love

Chapter 17 - It Begins

The man gritted his teeth and clenched his fists while watching the tv monitor. He was sitting on his expensive swivel chair. The monitor showed Ares’ room. He was quite impressed with Ares. He thought Ares would easily back down after a few threats, but he was wrong. It seemed like Ares would fight back. 

He smirked.

"Let's see how far you can fight, Ares Pendleton. Let's see what kind of caliber you've got," he whispered as if Ares could hear him. He leaned on his chair and put his feet on top of the table. He crossed his arms across his chest and watched intently at the monitor. 

He could no longer count how many times he watched the recorded video from yesterday when he called Ares. Every time he saw the part where Ares' phone got shattered after throwing it against the wall, he felt like he already won the battle he set up for him and Ares. 

However, that happiness was suddenly replaced by agony when he saw Cytherea hugging Ares and consoling him.

"So, tell me, what happened to your phone?" Cytherea asked.

"I received a call from someone I don't know. The caller said things that aggravated me and without thinking, I threw my phone. Babe, can we go back to the Philippines?"

His blood started to boil when he heard the conversation of Ares and Cytherea again. He looked intently at Ares' face. His eyes were burning with fire. 

"You think you can get away by going back to the Philippines? No, no, no, Ares. You are dead wrong. You will never be able to take my queen away from me. I'm more ahead than you."

He pressed his lips together. He stood up and got out of his secret room. He went to his office to put into action his other plans. Suddenly, he was disturbed by a knock on the door.

The door opened and showed Nim. Nim entered and bowed when he was a meter away from him. Nim handed him a black card. 

He grinned and accepted the card. He opened it and saw that it was an invitation to the annual party of the Emerald hotel.

"The invitations have been sent out. Cytherea and her company also received it. It was delivered to them early this morning," Nim reported. 

"Good, we have to get ready, Nim. After our encounter in Jackson Square, I don't want to watch him from afar anymore. I want to be near her again." He looked at Nim and smirked. "By the way, have you sent the gift we had for Ares?"

"Yes, Sir. He should be receiving it by now." 

"Good, I can't wait to see his reaction. I wonder what he will do next. That guy never ceases to amaze me," he chuckled. There are times that he got annoyed with Ares, but he couldn't deny the fact that he became his entertainment.

***

Cytherea looked at the time on her cellphone. It's already nine o'clock in the morning and she is still in bed. Athena was no longer in sight. She was thinking that maybe she was doing a run like she always does every morning. 

She remained in her bed unmoved. Her mind was filled with thoughts about what Ares told her last. 

She didn't want to go back to the Philippines yet. She is starting to like the city and would like to extend her vacation after her commitments are done. But Ares was so persistent that they should leave. 

She sighed. They already reconciled and she doesn't want another argument with Ares. It was draining her. She was thinking so hard who could blackmail Ares and why. She didn't think Astilbe would be the one. 

She was still in her deep thoughts when someone knocked on her door thrice before it opened. She was just looking at the door to see who would enter her room. 

Cytherea immediately got up when she saw Ares entering her room. He is holding a tray that contains her favorite breakfast: scrambled egg, bacon, garlic bread, and freshly squeezed orange juice. It also had a stem of a red rose.

"Good morning, Babe. Breakfast in bed," Ares greeted. He was smiling so widely while looking at Cytherea. He slightly kicked the door to close it.  He put the try on the bedside table. He leaned closer to Cytherea to kiss her, but she immediately covered her mouth.

"Nope, I didn't brush my teeth yet," she said, chuckling. She jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. 

Ares chuckled. Even if Cytherea just woke up, he still finds her beautiful. To him, his beauty is beyond compare. Ares got in the bed while waiting for Cytherea. He leaned his back on the headboard and crossed his legs.  He was wiggling his toes while thinking of so many ways to get out of the country or find the person responsible for the call. 

Not too long, Cytherea got out of the bathroom. She was all smiling while walking towards the bed. Ares immediately got up and took the tray, and put it in the middle of the bed. Cytherea excitedly climbed up on the bed. She was thinking that maybe Ares was making up with her because of their argument yesterday.

"You cooked for this?" Cytherea asked.

"Yep, my peace offering. So, go ahead and eat. I checked your schedule today, and I see you're free today. So, I made an appointment for a spa day for the both of us."

Cytherea took the rose and smelled it. Ares grabbed the fork and used it to scoop some scrambled eggs. He moved the fork closer to Cytherea's mouth, to which she obliged. She opened her mouth and ate the scrambled eggs. 

"I love that. What time are we going there?" Cytherea chewed her food and swallowed it first before asking.

"Around 1 PM." Ares looked at his watch. "It's now 9:30 a.m. You only have three hours and a half to do what you need to do before we go."

Cytherea jokingly made a salute. "Yes, Sir!"

Ares made a hearty laugh.

"Great! After the spa, do you want to go somewhere?" Ares asked while still feeding Cytherea. 

Cytherea put her pointed finger under her chin and looked up at the ceiling as if the answer would be found there. "Hmmm, how about a swamp tour or canoeing?"

"Sounds like a plan. I'll check if we can do that today."

"Thanks, Babe, you're the best!" she exclaimed. She moved closer to Ares and hugged him tightly.

Suddenly, they heard a knock on the door. 

"Come in!" Cytherea yelled. She was still hugging Ares, and the latter wrapped his arms around her tiny waist.

The door opened. They saw Athena raising her eyebrows while looking at them. "Really? This early?" 

Cytherea laughed.

"We're patching things up. So, yeah, really," she answered, smiling.

Athena rolled her eyes in disbelief. She was expecting that they will still be fighting for days. To her disappointment, it didn't even last a day.

"Whatever, by the way, some delivery man delivered these envelopes." Athena raised her right hand just enough for them to see the envelopes she got-- two black envelopes and one white envelope. She walked towards the bed and sat on the edge. "I also got a black envelope. It was an invitation to the annual party. I guess that was the one Gaus was talking about," she announced. She handed the envelopes to Cytherea. 

Cytherea accepted the envelopes and scanned the name on them.

"Oh, yeah, the white envelope is Ares'."

Cytherea handed the two envelopes to Ares and opened hers. It was indeed the annual party invitation. It will be held in the hotel's ballroom in two days. The theme is a masquerade.

"Let's shop for gowns, Bestie. I'm excited to attend this party. I wonder if it's okay to take videos."

Athena rolled her eyes. 

"Bestie, we're going there to have some fun. Stop vlogging for a second, and let's just enjoy the party. But yes, for shopping!" Athena exclaimed. "Let's do it today."

"Sorry, Bestie. Ares already made a plan for us this day," Cytherea apologetically said.

"Duh? That's fine. We can do it tomorrow, right?" she asked, hopeful.

Cytherea looked at Ares, who was busy opening the white envelope, and then turned to Athena. "Yeah, I guess we can do that."

"Ok, great!"

"f**k!"

Both women looked at Ares. They were stunned to hear him cuss out of nowhere. He was looking at what looked like pictures from the envelope.

"Babe, are you okay?" Cytherea worriedly asked. She peeked at the picture, and her jaw dropped.

It was her sleeping in her hotel room. She grabbed the pictures from Ares and scanned every single one of them. It was all her.  The photos looked like someone entered her room and took pictures of her. 

Ares gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. He felt like he was about to explode. The person responsible was really making sure that he would be on the verge for Ares to scan the white envelope to see if there was anything else there. And as he expected, aside from the photos, there was also a note. He took the note and read it.

Do you like my gift to you?