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Chapter 25

Daniel's P.O.V

I know he can play several instruments, and that include the piano. What I wasn't aware was that he can sing as beautiful as a siren.

He started singing the first verse of the beautiful song.

Some people laugh, some people cry

Some people live, Some people die

Some people run, Right into the fire

And some people hide, their every desire

But we are the lovers, if you don't believe me

Then just look into my eyes, cause the heart never lies

He looked at me in the eyes, and I know that he really meant every word on the lyrics of the song. I was falling in love with him more deeply than ever before.

Some people fight, some people fall

Others pretend they don't care at all

If you wanna fight, I'll stand right beside you

The day that you fall, I'll be right behind you

To pick up the pieces.

 If you don't believe me,

Just look into my eyes, 'cause the heart never lies.

The servants had stopped doing their chores and one by one they gathered around the room, listening to Angelo's angelic voice and talented piano skills.

Another week over

He changed the word 'year' into 'week', since we've been only together for a week now.

And we're still together

It's not always easy but I'm here forever

Yeah, we are the lovers, I know you believe me

Because the heart never lie.

It felt like Déjà vu to me, but the difference was that I was the one he serenaded this time, and he is way more excellent than my singing skills. The crowd of servants started clapping their hands and praising Angelo just right after the last note in the keyboard. I saw a women on the corner wiping her teary eyes while a guy was brushing her back, I'm guessing they were couple and was touched by Angelo's song. Well, who wouldn't? My boyfriend has some excellent talent and he meant every lyric with all of his heart.

Angelo looked at me with a smile plastered on his face, his cheeks were blushing.

"Wonderful as always, dear one." A woman in a long white dress walked in to the room. The servant gave way to her as they parted like the red sea. She walked straight in to Angelo and hugged him. I wasn't sure if she noticed me at all as she excitedly but gently tackled Angelo on the piano.

"Mum...can't breathe!" Angelo struggled as the woman, who was supposedly his mum, broke her hug and kissed Angelo in the forehead.

Angelo's mother was gorgeous. She has a fair skin complexion, a gentle smile, she had a simple but elegant style, brown eyes with thick eyebrows, pointed nose, long black straight hair and she smells like rose. She smells exactly like Angelo.

"Hijo. Na-miss kita ng sobra anak." (Son, I've missed you so much) she said to Angelo as she cupped her hands on her son's face.

Angelo held the hands of her mother. "Miss din po kita ng sobra Mama." (And I missed you a lot too, Mama)

I was there standing tongue tied behind Angelo and trying to make out on their little conversation. Angelo has been teaching me some of major words of his language like 'Kumusta?' which means 'How are you?', 'Salamat' which means 'Thank you' and my most favourite word 'Mahal Kita' which translates as 'I Love You'.

After a minute of emotional reunion of my boyfriend and his mother, Angelo's mother finally noticed me. She quirked her eyebrow, just like Angelo, and studied me with her tantalizing eyes, again just like Angelo's. "So...is this the guy who caught your heart?"

"That would be me ma'am." I held out her hand and kissed it in courtesy.

She smiled at me. "I like this guy. I can see that you know how to choose a good one." She said, more like to my boyfriend who was then blushing. "My name is Maria. Well, I'd like you to call me Mama." She said with a wink.

I blushed and answered, "It's my pleasure to meet you Ma'am..." she quirked her eyebrow again. "I mean... Mama"

The servants were back with their chores as the butler of the manner called us out for the lunch.

We entered the dining room, and I was actually amazed how massive it was. In the middle was a massive wood carved table that looks antique but somehow were restored into good condition. The table was huge it can actually accommodate a total of 20 people. I also noticed how the house looked really old in the outside but the inside radiates elegance and superiority.

Maria seated in the middle while Angelo was on her left side. I seated next to Angelo. The table was full of meal such as sea foods, steak and lots more. The food presentation was genuinely high class as if they have their own high class chef.

When everyone was seated, Maria suddenly spoke. "Wait, I thought you brought my grandson with you?" she looked at both of us.

"Grandson?" Angelo asked confused and looked at me. I had the same expression as him. His face then suddenly lit up as if he remembered something important. And I read his mind.

"Jared!" We said in unison. I was about to stand up from my seat when a man in a formal suit entered the dining hall while, a giggling Jared on his arms.

"I found this cute little angel playing in the garden." The man said looking at Jared. He then looked at us and his expression turned hard. "I didn't know we're having a guest today."

"Daddy! Papa! Mr. Old man gave me this." Jared climbed down from the man's arms and showed us a bar of chocolate on his hand.

"Daddy? Papa? What's going on here?" the man in a suit asked. He looked at me and Angelo. Meanwhile, Maria was relaxed in her seat. She didn't look intimidated by the presence of the man.

"Nice to see you too, Dad." Angelo said from his seat, his tone was leaking sarcasm but somehow, the man who was supposedly the patriarch didn't notice it.

"Did the kid just called you daddy?" he asked Angelo, ignoring his son's remarked.

"No. He called me Papa. And this is Daniel, the boy's Daddy. Daniel here is my boyfriend. Now, can we eat?" Angelo answered straight to the point. I was actually surprised about how confident Angelo was, considering the intimidating presence of the patriarch and the tension building in the room. Meanwhile, Jared was completely oblivious to what's going on as he was trying to figure out how to tear off the chocolate bar wrapper.

"Your boyfriend?" his dad asked, surprised.

Angelo was about to answer when Maria interjected. "Nicholas honey, why don't you join us here? I'm sure you're starving." She stood up and pulled Nicholas on her seat while she took the chair on Nicholas right side.

Maria marched in towards our direction and stopped at Jared's chair, she stooped down and said,  "What's your name deary?" she asked Jared.

"Hello, my name is Jared. I'm 4 years old." He introduced himself.

"Such a lovely kid. I'm Maria, Angelo's mother."

"You're my Papa's mother? Are you my grandma?" Jared asked, amused.

Maria covered her mouth with her hands and then hugged Jared. "Yes dear one. You can call me grandma." Jared hugged her back.

No one spoke up when we started to eat. It was actually a decent meal in a room full of tension. The foods were astounding and tasted like heaven. We were nearly done with the lunch when Nicholas spoke up.

"So Daniel... that's your name, right? He asked. I nodded though he didn't see it because he didn't even bothered to look at me. "What do you do for a living, son?"

I looked at Angelo. He looked at me with worried eyes. But I smiled at him and grabbed his hand under the table. I turned towards his father's direction though the patriarch wasn't looking at me. "I'm a full time Law student sir, and a part time clerk at the local law firm."

Nicholas nodded. "So where's the mother of your son?" he asked, his expression was hard and intimidating. Somehow, the food doesn't taste like heaven anymore.

"Sir, I..." I was about to explain it when Angelo cut in.

"Why do you care?" Angelo snapped. He looked at me with his pearl black eyes then turned to his father. "I demand you to respect my boyfriend if you want me to respect you back."

Jared looked surprised by Angelo's sudden outraged. Maria stood up and took Jared to a playroom. She looked back at us concerned before leaving the room.

After the kid and Maria was out of the room, the war begun. "What are you?" Nicholas asked his son.

"I'm me. I'm human. I can feel love and compassion, unlike you!" he said, every word was hard and dignified. I tried to calm him down by holding his hands. I actually got a little bit worried because I never seen Angelo so angry before.

"Son..." Nicholas voice was softened, as if he was struck by Angelo's words. "I honestly don't care about your sexuality. I didn't mean it that way. But I don't approve with this guy." He looked at me in disdain. "He's got a son from probably his teenage year. He's got not future to hold for you." he said. Every word cuts through me like a knife.

"One more insulting words to my boyfriend and I swear, you'll never have a son!" Angelo screamed at his father.

Maria walked back to the room. "What's happening here?"

"My good father just insulted Daniel in front of me." Maria scowled at Nicholas while I tried to whisper Angelo that I was alright.

"I was just helping you to realise that you're making a mistake. If I only know that you like a person with the same gender as you, I have my business partners' sons who are gay. They are billionaires unlike that man you're trying to defend."

I have never been downgraded in my life ever before. I know that most of what Angelo's dad said about me was true. I don't have billions and billions of fortune in my bank, I got a woman pregnant during my teenage year, I was a single dad, and even if I don't admit it, we are struggling to survive. I don't have anything to offer to Angelo... What do I have? I don't belong in Angelo's world.

"He loves me more than anyone else. Every cents of money of all your business partner has nothing compared to his love for me." Angelo said, holding my hands. I squeezed it gently in response. "If money is the most important thing to you; then good luck finding your new heir. I don't need your money, I can survive by myself!" he turned around and pulled me out to the room.

When we were about to step out the door, his father spoke up. "That man has nothing to give to you. He is nothing but a trash!"

I stopped in my mid step after hearing those words. I turned around and faced the patriarch. "With all due respect sir, I've been through a lot of trial in my life and I am still standing in front of you right now. That only means I'm strong. I bet I'm stronger than you. You only survive because you have money. Your son doesn't even seem to like you. Do you even love your son or do see him as a puppet, because that's what I am seeing.  You're trying to use him as your puppet. You are the trash. Not me! I love Angelo, like it or not!" I retorted, breathing heavy. Angelo squeezed my hand gently. I looked at him and he gave me a comforting smile.

However, Nicholas wasn't done yet. And he did the thing I've never expected to happen. "How dare you talk to me like that in my own territory? James! Leonardo!" He screamed out of his lungs, his face was full of rage and the veins on his neck were popping out. Two armed man emerged from the door on the side, each one were holding a pistol.

"What are you doing Nicholas? Stop this right now!" Maria blocked us from Nicholas' view.

"That trash needs to know who's supreme over him!" he boomed. "Dispose that man!"

The two men readied their gun and pointed in my direction. I hugged Angelo tightly to protect him. Everything was a mess and I couldn't think straight until Angelo screamed. "Sebastian! This is my order, get us out of here!"

For a second, nothing happened. And then a screamed of pain rang through the whole room with a loud thump. I looked over to see what was happening. I was shocked on what I saw; the two men holding a gun was on the floor unconscious. Both of their hands were twisted in strange angle. Nicholas was standing shocked as I was. Maria was holding her mouth.

After a while, Angelo walked in front of me. "Remember this day father, try to threaten us again with your power, I'll make sure that you'll regret the day I was born. I can burn everything around here to the ground with nothing left but ash. You will have nothing." His eyes was black, I'm not talking about the pupil and iris black. At that moment, his whole eyeball was black. "Now, as the new head of this family, I order you not to bother my life anymore. You can have all your money and fortune, and I will have my own life!

Nicholas, still in shocked, struggled to sit. His mouth was hanging open and he looked like a child that being scolded by their parent. Actually, he was trembling.

Who wouldn't be? Angelo was radiating supremacy. The tone of his voice was authoritative, as if he was saying 'I'm the big boss here!"

I embraced him, blocking view of his father. He heaved a massive sigh on my chest before he looked at me. His eyes were back on its usual colour, brown. "It's okay now. Let's get out of here." I whispered.

"I'll go get Jared in the playroom." Maria said before marching out the dining room.

We followed Angelo's mum into the living room before she turned to her right direction to get Jared, the guy in a black tail coat suit and white gloves, whose name was Sebastian, trailing behind us.

"Sebastian..."I whispered. "I remember that name. He was the guy..." I was cut off by Angelo.

"Yes, he's the one who helped us from Derek's group. He's my butler. He's been always around us watching and waiting for my orders." Angelo explained. That moment, I realised that even though we've known each other for more than 3 months, I still have no idea on what to expect from my boyfriend. Each day, he doesn't cease to amaze me.

"Daddy! Papa!" Jared ran to us and jumped on Angelo's hand. "I played cars and bowling in the big playground." He told us.

I took him from Angelo. "Come here buddy, Papa is a bit tired now. It's time to go home. Okay?"

"Okay. Good bye grandma." He waved good bye to Maria.

Maria marched towards us and took the boy from me in her arms. "I'll visit you soon, okay?" she kissed Jared's forehead before giving him back to me.

"Sebastian will drive us to the hotel. We will stay here for another two days to give Jared a tour. Come and visit us if you like." Angelo said to his mother.

Maria turned her gazed to her son. "I'm so sorry about this my dear one." Her eyes was getting cloudy from the tears building up.

Angelo wiped it away with his hands. "It's not your fault Mama. I somehow expected that he'll act like a god over me, what I didn't expect was that he 'll insult my boyfriend considering how professional he was."

Then Maria turned to me and held my hands. "I'm deeply sorry Daniel. I believe that everything Nicholas said about you is not true. I actually admire how you defy his authority. And I admire how you stand for my son. I know he's in a good hand."

We bid our good bye to Maria. Sebastian drove us back to the hotel in the same black Lamborghini that picked us up from the airport earlier.

We had the luxury suite, big enough for the three of us. The room was elegant with complete entertainment appliances and unlimited food supplies. There were two beds, one was a queen size bed for a couple and a single bed on the side.

Jared lied down straight away on his bed, while playing the PSP that Maria gave to him from the play room. Angelo said he never been to that play room before, but he remembered that his mum told him once about it. His mother built it so she would feel that somehow Angelo was there with her, playing with toys and gadgets.

Angelo was sitting in the balcony of our room. The view was fantastic. From the balcony, you could see the famous Opera house and the glittering river surrounding it. The street was very busy with people rushing to catch a bus or train or a ferry.

I seated beside Angelo, silently watching the view. There were no words needed as long as my skin touched his. I just needed to feel his heat from a simple skin to skin connection. I need his heat to survive. I need all of him.

After a while, Angelo spoke up. "I'm so sorry about what happened earlier." He wasn't looking at me. In fact, he was looking down.

I put my arms around his shoulder and he leaned on me. "Let's forget about it. We have each other, and our son. We also have my family, your mother, and our very supportive but crazy friends. That's all we need." He snickered. "It's your father against us. Our love is much stronger than him. Well, you're more than stronger compare to him."

"Did I scare you?" he asked.

"A bit. At first, I thought you're gonna breathe fire and all..." he slapped me playfully on my chest. I sniggered. "Actually, I was scared that something might happen to you. I was scared that he might hurt you. And I swear to God if he touched you, I'll....." I didn't finish my words because it would sound terrible to hear. I still considered that Nicholas was Angelo's father after all.

"What did I do to deserve you and to love me like this?" he asked me.

I lift up his head so he could look at me. "I saw that you are perfect and so I loved you. Then I saw that you were not perfect and I love you even more."

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