LOVE 2.0

June 19, 2016. Sunday. That evening, after the games of D' ZINGERS, Tita Gina, along with her husband and son, left for their flight back to Australia. Geoff and Ella had sent them off. Tita Gina's parting words for them were, "Take care of each other, Geoff, Bri. Although you both have your respective love partner already, you still have to watch each other's back." Geoff assured their aunt, "We always do that, Tita. Just keep on enjoying your family life in Australia. Next time, we will visit you in Australia." Tita Gina reminded Ella, "I can feel Zach's sincerity towards you. Vi also assured me that she and her husband would always support the two of you. But you have to be strong against whatever challenges that might come your way, especially involving Zach's grandfather." Ella told her aunt, "I will be fine, Tita. You do not have to worry about me and Kuya. As for my relationship with Zach, we will face together all the upcoming challenges that might come our way. We love each other, so that matters the most for now. We have not confirmed our relationship yet with others except for our closest family members. The fewer people who know about it, then the safer our relationship will be." Tita Gina insisted, "Still do not hesitate to give me a call when things get tough. And you will always be welcome to stay with us in Australia should you want to get away." Ella decided to somehow affirm, "I will bear that in mind, Tita." When Geoff and Ella arrived back at her private residence, the other members of the ZING brothers and the BING sisters were already there. Nate said, "Zach already ordered food from Tita Gina's." Irvin added, "And we also brought drinks." Zach stated, "We can have our victory celebration here." The sharp-eyed Gwyneth then noticed the queen crown ring that Ella used as a pendant, and the king crown ring on Zach's right pinky finger, "Hey, how come the two of you have a king crown and queen crown rings? As I recall, you only won the king crown and queen crown hoodies as well as bracelets with king crown and queen crown during the Treasure Hunt Race last August. I knew it! I've been telling them before that the two of you have feelings for another but they won't believe me." Everyone looked at Zach and Ella. Geoff told them, "I think that it is about time that they knew." Nikki exclaimed, "So the two of you are really in a relationship?! Then she asked her boyfriend, "Why did you not tell me?" Geoff told Nikki, "It is not for me to tell. They just happened to confide in me separately because I had individually pointed out to them their feelings for each other. Zach had bided his time so that Ella could finish her studies while Ella was just fine admiring him from afar, knowing that Zach's marriage had already been pre-arranged. I cannot interfere in their matters of the heart." Irish asked, "So when did he confess, Bri?" At the same time, Gwyneth asked, "Is he your secret admirer?" Ella was speechless, so Zach answered for her, "I am her secret admirer. I revealed myself to her last January 7 on our way to the invitational cup for Cyber Wars. She just wanted our relationship to be as private as possible. So only those who had guessed it right, knew. They are Geoff, my parents, and Tita Gina. We are also still being watched by Lolo Delfin's men. We both like the quietness of our relationship. The lesser people know about it, the better." Irvin then said, "We can keep your relationship a secret as well," Nate stated, "We understand the situation." Gwyneth said, "So your grandfather still wants you to marry that witch, Zach?" Zach confirmed, "Everyone in my family agrees that I should be given the freedom to choose my own lifetime partner. Lolo is still decisive, pushing through with the pact that he made with his best friend even if they know that I and Kelsey don't match at all. Once he finds out who my girlfriend is, then he might do anything to break us up. There have been many instances when he had almost caught us." Nikki asked, "So, how long will you keep your relationship?" Ella stated, "We are not keeping it. We just want to be private about it. Personally, I do not want my love life being the subject of discussion among our e-sports fans. I have always been private about my personal life. You all know that. So, we are just being private about our relationship. As for his grandfather, Lolo Delfin might already be suspecting that I am Zach's girlfriend. For now, we just do not want to confirm his suspicion. He cannot do anything to me if he has no concrete proof that I am indeed Zach's girlfriend." Irish affirmed, "You have a point. So we just need to stay as we are. ZING brothers and BING sisters are always seen together anyway. We will all help you out to keep your personal lives private just like we have always been doing." Nikki stated, "The two of you are so good at hiding your true feelings for one another. We, except for Gwyn, did not even notice, but we did not believe her." Irvin recalled, "Gwyn started suspecting about it when you suddenly just felt chest pain on Zach's 25th birthday." Nate added, "Yeah, I remember that. Gwyn even said that you could have been heartbroken seeing Zach dance with Kelsey." Gwyneth shared, "And they did not believe me. They all said that you are just like brother and sister. So I did not bring it up anymore." That night, as the others left them, they talked while they were cuddling on the couch. He asked her, "Were you really heartbroken that night when you saw me dancing with Kelsey, sweet?" She admitted, "Yeah, that could probably be the reason." He told her, "It won't ever happen again. It was just one of Lolo's schemes." She recalled, "But then the emcee announced her as your girlfriend." He assured her, "You are my only one." She then asked, "Have you had any other girlfriend in the past?" He told her the truth, "I had a special relationship with some when I was in senior high school. The girl and I get along very well. She is from a rich family as well. But our families did not get along that well. We hang around but before it could progress to something else, Lolo had already put an end to it. Her marriage had also been pre-arranged by her elders with the man she didn't like." She asked further, "Have you already had any physical relationship with somebody else?" He also answered truthfully, "Yes, with that same lady. We experimented on the physical aspect of a romantic relationship even if we knew that we don't have any feelings for one another. We had done lots of making out or the so-called non-penetrative sex." She curiously asked then, "Do you still have communication with her? Where is she now?" He answered, "We don't have any contact anymore. She was a year ahead of me. After senior high school, she went abroad to study. The last thing I heard about her was regarding the news about her wedding to her betrothed." She then uttered, "I see." He knew that whenever she said those two words, there were still things that somehow bothered her and so he assured her, "You are the only one for me, Ella. No one else can replace you in my heart. I was even inviting the idea of staying old alone if you had rejected me or if God would not send someone else for me to fall for for the second time. We can get married as soon as you are ready. You are the only one I want to spend my entire life with." She then all of a sudden voiced out, "I am still worried of what Lolo Delfin might do." He cuddled her much tighter into his arms, kissed the top of her head, and said, "I already told Tita Gina my future plans of marrying you. Geoff is also aware of it. I just don't want to rush you into marriage. But if we are married already, then Lolo cannot insist anymore on having me married to another person." She then voiced out, "Then let us secretly get married." He was surprised but he liked the idea, "I want nothing else but to get married to you, Ella. But are you sure about this? Coz if you are, then I will ask Mom to make the necessary preparations for our low key wedding as soon as the National Championship Cup ends. Dad and Mom had already talked to Tita Gina and Geoff about our possible marriage when your aunt was still here." He brought our a jewelry case, "I am even ready for an engagement ring. I was planning for a grand marriage proposal but then you had beaten me again at marriage proposal ." She kissed his lips quickly all of a sudden and then said, "Then do this grand marriage proposal some other time. Keep that engagement ring for now. You can already ask Mommy to make the initial preparations for our wedding then." He responded, "She will be very happy about it. We can have a low key wedding at the chapel of Almeda Estate just for family and friends." She asked him, "What about Lolo Delfin?" He told her, "He did not have to know. We can just inform him when we are already married." She commented, "I don't feel comfortable with that idea." He told her, "Everyone in my family likes you. He also likes you but he is just so obsessed with the idea of marrying me off to the granddaughter of his best friend. He has no other choice but to accept you once we are already married. So do not worry much about it. He will see reason eventually. On the other hand, Lolo Delfin's men were reporting to him regarding the happenings from that entire week. One of his men reported, "Sir Lex and Ma'am Vi had gone to Tita Gina's Restaurant last Thursday, Don Delfin. But we didn't know whom they met because we couldn't just find them in the dining areas. Perhaps they had occupied one of those private dining rooms the restaurant had on the second floor." The other man reported, "As for Sir Zach and Miss Bri, they just usually meet whenever they have team practices, trainings, and games. Sir Zach had not been frequenting the condominium building where Miss Bri resides. But tonight he came there with their other friends. Their group usually does it once or twice a month. Miss Bri's three best friends sleep over at her residence every once in a while. Usually, the ZING brothers go there at such a time and then leave as well. Their friendship among the eight of them seemed really closely-knitted. Other than Miss Gwyn, Sir Zach had been friends with the siblings and their families for more than eight years already. The Solomons, Riveras, and Cortezes are all good families. None of them is involved in any illegal matters. All of them started off as middle class families, but with the success of D' ZINGERS and ZING Technology, their lives have all improved financially. Nevertheless, they are still not living very extravagantly." The third man said, "Miss Bri had usually been busy with all of her endeavors. If before she was very focused on her studies, now that she had already opened up her own company just a few days after she graduated, she has focused more on her company. She just goes to the base on the scheduled practices and trainings. Her brother usually visits her every evening when she was at her private residence. I have also discovered that Miss Bri's company is doing very well. She has already been offered an actual printed publishing deal for her existing comic story. As soon as the online comic story ends on her platform, then the printed copy of the comic story will be released sometime in September. She has also been offered a one-woman art exhibit by a well-known art director of one of the biggest art galleries in Vienburg. She had already agreed verbally but she had not signed any legal contract yet. There is a great possibility that she will have her art exhibit after her retirement from e-sports. One thing more, she is already a billionaire based on the Vienburg's Annual Billionaires List released this June. Sir Zach has already been included in the said list for a few years now. Miss Bri is also receiving lots of endorsement offers but she has been declining them. Even if she is very rich and famous, she has remained very grounded. No one will think that she is very rich because she does not live a luxurious life. Her car is not high end. Her clothes are all very nice but they are not that flashy and attention-catching. She just dressed up appropriately for all the endeavors she is undertaking. She does not even have a bodyguard, even if she is already a billionaire. She knows how to blend in the crowd. She does not like standing out. She is also very well-loved by all of the employees in her restaurant and in her company." Lolo Delfin had dismissed his men afterwards. In his mind – Zach and Bri are very cautious when it comes to their relationship. They had managed my men not to gather any concrete proof that they were indeed a couple already. They are behaving just like in the past, like friends and teammates. How can I even confront Bri and ask her to break up with Zach if I don't even have concrete proof that they are in a relationship? Lex and Vi have also been supportive of Zach's relationship with his girlfriend. What must I do to break them apart? What will Crisanto have to say? He was very upset upon seeing the press conference. I did not even tell him about Zach already having a girlfriend, even if I had known about it last January. My other grandsons are just not good enough to be a son-in-law of the Marianos. Zach has the makings of a great leader. He can be a powerful politician if he marries into the Marianos. Why does it have to be you, Bri? You are a very nice young lady, but you are an obstacle to my plans for Zach. I cannot accept you as my granddaughter-in-law. Zach has to marry Kelsey, only her. Lolo Delfin was into that deep thought when suddenly Lola Armina came in to the study room. Lola Armina asked her husband, "Did those men report the whereabouts of Zach and Bri to you again?" And then she requested, "Please stop bothering them, Delfin. If they are really in a relationship, then you must support them. I do not like Kelsey for Zach. She is just an overbearing young lady who does not know how to be thankful to the people around her. She has been overindulged by her parents. She has no contentment. She just complains a lot when things don't go her way. No matter how she tries to hide her smugness, it just simply comes out because it is already her nature. Do you really want Zach to marry such a kind of lady? He has already asked you to give him the freedom to carve his own life, but you are still insisting on this plan of yours. Do not ruin his happiness." Lolo Delfin responded, "So you are also against my plans?" Lola Armina admitted, "Yes. Zach is not a puppet, Delfin. You cannot just pull the strings and control his life for him. If Bri as indeed his girlfriend, then he has made a great choice. That young lady is very sweet and thoughtful. She is also very respectful of all the people around her regardless of her social status. She is also very thankful of all the people who do things for her, even the simplest ones. She knows how to appreciate all the blessings bestowed upon her. She is already very successful in her chosen career. Her online publishing business has just been operating for less than a month but it has been well-received by online readers already. She and Zach are very well matched. So please just let them be. Zach hasn't been visiting us lately anymore, since you insisted again on having him go on a date with Kelsey. He even built his own private residence here in Horrev, away from us." Lolo Delfin replied, "I have nothing against Bri. But a pact is a pact. I cannot back out on it. Besides, Kelsey had improved a lot already. Her dance academy is also doing very well. Why do all of you seem to be against my plans for Zach? I just want the best for him." Lola Armina pointed out, "Kelsey is definitely not the best choice for a wife for him, Delfin. Can you not see that they don't even get along. Zach cannot stand her arrogance, but as a perfect gentleman he has tried very hard to just tolerate her. Such arrogance of her can never ever change. She has always lived a luxurious life, so she will never ever be able to appreciate the smallest things and smallest deeds done towards her. She even complains a lot. When things do not go her way, she blames other people except herself. If you insist on their marriage, then Zach's life will definitely be a living hell."