His Devious Rule

Catalina went to the kitchen and swiftly returned with a broom in her hand, "You, take whatever you brought inside. If you leave a paper, I will thrash you guys." Catalina growled at the secretary.

Harrison:

A graduate from a top reputed university was reduced to a house servant. He started to grab the box and papers, cursing Cordelia in his mind.

Dennis and Anya glanced at each and stayed pin-drop silent. Catalina has an outburst when Anya does something drastic. And when Catalina gets angry, it\'s better to stay silent. Or else she will snap at them.

Catalina observed their look of disbelief, watching her like a creature from another world, "What? Just because we are treating you well, do you think we will bear you silently?" Catalina questioned moving them away from the couch, at the same time controlling their speed.

Catalina didn\'t stop there. How could she forget what Cordelia called her daughter? "You old hag!" She pointed the broom at Cordelia. She sounded angry but wasn\'t screaming.

Cordelia\'s eyes widened. When they had arrived, looking at Dennis and Catalina\'s inferior behavior, she had assumed they were afraid of them, afraid to offend them.

Catalina continued, "You are shouting like a shrew at my daughter in my daughter\'s place, how dare you call her ill-bred trash?" If Cordelia was younger, Catalina swore she would be beating that woman.

Looking at Catalina\'s behavior while holding a broom, Gianna was repulsed by the Owen family. "Tsk, daughter like mother. No class." She hissed under her breath but it fell on Catalina\'s ear.

Catalina swung the stick on Gianna\'s legs without holding back. She was considering letting go of Gianna as she was silent. With her words, Gianna successfully offended her.

"Class?" She scoffed, "I will teach you what class is. You arrogant women say…" Catalina spoke eloquently as she mimicked elegant, confident ladies on the television. "Bodyguards, send these out. Maids, clean this up."

If wealthy people do, it\'s class and elegance. If she does, is it lowly? Catalina wanted to beat them up.

Anya and Dennis pursed their lips controlling from laughing or stopping Catalina. Anya found her mother rather innocent. Catalina had no idea how sly those people were.

Catalina sneered at Gianna who was tongue-tied, "Here, we are the owners and we are the bodyguards. What bullsh*t class are you talking about?" If they had bodyguards and maids, they would probably ask them to do it too. How are they any different?

She held the cleaning brush at their face, "If you dare bring your gifts and show your face here, I will shove this in your mouth. Get out." She shut the door on their face and breathed out loudly.

Instead of gentle Catalina, Alvin liked this side of her. Alvin found similarities to Catalina in Anya. If the younger Anya was like Dennis, collected and mild, the current Anya was a mixture of both the parents. She will endure if required, else stand against to protect herself.

"Your mother…" He looked around but Anya was missing, leaving him alone with Catalina and Dennis.

Should he run away too?

Well, it was too late. Catalina squinted her eyes at him, "I will come to you afterward. Where is she hiding? Anya Owen, come out."

Alvin:

Dennis tried to calm his wife, "Lina, calm down."

Catalina angrily stared at her husband who fell silent. "Anya."

Whereas Anya, who jumped out of the kitchen window, startled the three by appearing in front of them out of nowhere.

"Gianna Sallow, Casper Matthews…" She mused she nodded her head, turning to face them, "You two didn\'t learn the lesson last time. Did you?" Her low voice was colder than the wind that blew their air. Her gray eyes were distant and icy.

Cordelia clenched her teeth. \'What kind of woman did Alvin like?\' Those words were at the tip of her tongue. But she learned that leaving her tongue loose will only affect her.

Gianna and Casper recalled how Gianna had to go to the police agency when she tried to meet Dennis and Catalina. She couldn\'t help but nervously look behind Anya for cops.

Anya continued, "I am here because of my effort. I greatly respect my private space. The last thing I want is somebody like you to ruin my peace."

She had enough of running from place to place to stay safe. No more running, she wanted to keep them away. As far as she could.

She took a step closer, ignoring one\'s fearful eyes, one\'s livid gaze, and the other one\'s judging eyes. Her lips curled at one side, "If I see you or any of your people around my home, trust me, I will break your pride, your ego, your dignity in front of the whole world."

She took a step to leave but paused in front of Gianna, "I am not warning you. I am threatening you. Cross me if you dare."

Gianna swallowed hard looking at Anya. The plump Anya Owen was like a girl passing by the road with no attitude, completely clueless and naive. Looking into the eyes of this lady, she could feel her heart roar in her chest, her throat turning sore as if being choked.

Was she going to lose to this girl? Gianna wasn\'t ready to accept it.

Anya looked at the angry old woman who couldn\'t digest a girl in her twenties oppressing them. "Elder Madam Matthews, if you want a virtuous lady, create a heaven for her. Angels don\'t live in hell."

Her eyes brushed over Casper who had no compassion for anything. He was a materialistic man who didn\'t understand happiness and love and made Alvin the same.

He will know his failure when he sees Alvin live a happy fulfilling life with a family while having his successful company. She didn\'t bother him and went away.

Cordelia angrily questioned the two, "What was she talking about? What didn\'t you learn? Did you two do something recently?"

They continued when Anya prepared herself to face Catalina. She peeked inside the villa and pointed at the door for Alvin to open.

Alvin glanced at Catalina who caught Anya. She opened the door and held the broom in reverse. She hit Anya\'s legs, "Nobody is there to stop you now."

"Mom…" Anya jumped, missed the second strike and the third one landed on her bum, "Mom…" Although it wasn\'t painful, she whined running inside.

"Stop right there," Catalina ordered but Anya ran away and stood behind Dennis. "Mom, what did I do?"

Catalina was annoyed because Anya never shares what kind of people she faces and handles. She never gets to know her struggles.

To confuse Anya more, Catalina snapped at her, "You don\'t know!?" She chased after her around Dennis and hit her a few times before Alvin scooped Anya into his arms.

Anya and Dennis:

Catalina pointed at Alvin and scolded him too, "Her father and son weren\'t enough, now you are spoiling her rotten." She hit Alvin\'s leg too but seeing no kind of reaction, she sighed. It was no fun to hit if he stand like a wooden log.

She threw the stick away and sighed. "How did you grow up with such people?" That was for Alvin.

Dennis grabbed a glass of water for his wife when Anya sneakily kissed her boyfriend\'s cheek and got off his arm.

Anya carefully spoke, watching their reaction, "Mom, Dad, I wanted to talk to you about Alvin being Zane\'s biological father tonight. But…"

Alvin pulled her back next to him and wrapped his arms around her shoulder, making her confused by his actions.

Dennis spoke as he sat next to his wife. "Alvin had come home."

Anya:

Anya looked at Alvin in shock. She had assumed Alvin was running away from her but he had visited her parents without telling her.

It wasn\'t Alvin\'s idea. Linus suggested to him that he should speak with Anya\'s parents before they further their relationship. So that Anya\'s parents don\'t stop them later.

At the same time, Alvin was guilty. He wanted somebody to blame him, punish him to get rid of that guilt that was bugging him.

Catalina added, "Zane had also informed us over the phone."

Anya:

She didn\'t know what to say or do. She thought it was important to speak face to face, rather than phone.

"You- Aren\'t you two angry at us?" She mainly wanted to know if they were angry at Alvin.

They were angry, they had scolded Alvin who heard them silently. But seeing him there and confessing everything, they focused on what to do next.

Alvin responded to that question, "Your parents didn\'t want us to be together because of Zane. They wanted me to free you from a loveless relationship." And he doubted if he was forcing her into a relationship. A big stone from his chest was moved when she confessed that she loves him.

Catalina squinted her eyes at Anya, "You rascal, you didn\'t tell us you liked him." Catalina always encouraged her into a love marriage by advising her to be careful.

Flushed, Anya stuttered without accepting it, "\'W-who said I love him? How delusional!"

She was about to run upstairs hiding her grin, Alvin caught the dress and pulled her back.

Her parents shook their heads and went upstairs for dinner. They should be happy to see her flustered around a man instead of acting cold and indifferent.

Looking back at the man, Anya was ecstatic knowing he visited her parents. Tugging his collar, she kissed his cheek, once, twice, and bit him. She itched to do it again but controlled.

Seeing her skipping away, he tugged her back. Although what he did was for himself, he could see she was touched by it. So much that the three Matthews was completely erased from her mind.

He put on a cold face, "What was that for?" He was bitterly indifferent.

Anya shrugged her shoulders as her head tilted adorably, "I\'m happy." She did what she felt like doing.

"Then why are you kissing me when you don\'t love me?" He was going to make her confess.

Anya:

She gave a thought without falling for the pit he dug for her.  Running behind, she blocked him from stepping on the stairs, "Because I am your girlfriend." Standing on her toes, she pecked his lips, "And I can do whatever I want." She smugly claimed the right over him.

,m Alvin enjoyed her silly antics but didn\'t show it on his face. This was much more fun, to see her run behind him and act like a silly girlfriend. Anyway, he continued his act by blankly looking at her. He held her arms and pulled her away to his arms\' length. He corrected her, "That would be my wife."

Not confessing? Then marriage.

Anya: