"Ashton is here!"

I looked outside our classroom and saw that my brother was really there, waiting for my class to end para sabay kaming umuwi. May mga kausap s'ya, those friends of his and classmates that I often saw with him.

Ang gulo nila sa labas ng room. Napapairap na lang ako kapag may mga dumadaang babaeng estudyante and they would stare at them from head-to-toe, assessing them pagkatapos ay magtatawanan as if they have a secret joke.

I already knew that my brother was like this. He was... a playboy. Well, he's handsome and I couldn't really blame him as those women were the ones who were approaching him that was why he became kind of... conceited. Mas nafi-feed ang ego n'ya dahil sa mga babaeng 'yon.

"Ang gwapo talaga ng kapatid mo," Harper, my seatmate, whispered to me. "Kahit ikaw."

I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Gwapo ako?"

"No! I mean, maganda ka, Xanthe. Ang ganda ng lahi n'yong mga Larrazabal." She looked at me. "Baka pwedeng magpaampon."

I giggled. Napailing ako at isinulat ang nasa board. I tucked the strands of my hair behind my ears. Humaharang kasi.

"You can't have our genes, even if my parents will adopt you."

"It's fine! At least, maaambunan ako ng yaman n'yo."

I squinted my eyes at her.

"Wow. What a way to say that you are after our riches."

"At least honest." She didn't even deny it! "Alam mo bang may dalawa akong pangarap? First, to become Ashton Larrazabal's wife."

"Eew!" I exclaimed na ikinatawa n'ya.

"Second, to become Xanthe Primrose Larrazabal's sister-in-law."

This time, I laughed. Iisa lang kasi ang dream n'ya since I didn't have any siblings other than Ashton. So, she was saying that her second was still Ashton's wife, as she would be my sister-in-law that way.

I was aware of how many of my classmates had a crush on my brother. Minsan nga naiisip ko, they were only attending my birthday parties and overnights because my brother would be at the house. And they didn't bother hiding their intention. Itinatanong kasi nila muna sa 'kin kung nasa bahay ang kapatid ko ng mga panahong 'yon.

It didn't really bother me. I got used to this kind of treatment. People would only approach me because they had an agenda. It was either because they wanted to get close to my brother or they wanted to get close to me to share my popularity and my family's riches.

The Larrazabal family is rich. We have a lot of connections. We were all living lavishly, and we got everything we wanted. We were what they called 'old money' as all my ancestors were rich too. Minana iyon ni Daddy, 'yung family business namin. And there were other businesses that he built himself. Walang pumalpak sa lahat ng iyon. All his businesses became successful, making us, the Larrazabals, even richer.

Dad was a great businessman. Marinig lang ng mga tao ang pangalang Theodore Larrazabal, alam na nila kung sino s'ya. He was so powerful and influential that a lot of businessmen looked up to him. Some even tried so hard to get acquainted with him and even used their children to befriend Ashton and me para lang magkaroon sila ng connection kay Daddy.

And to share his luck, Dad had a lot of charities that he was supporting, and he even built orphanages to help kids. Nado-donate rin s'ya sa mga school and even helped students by being his scholar. Hindi ko na mabilang kung ilang tao na ang natulungan ni Daddy. I was so proud of him.

Our family was influential. I was just fourteen years old pero ramdam na ramdam ko na iyon. Kahit si Ashton. A lot of people wanted to be friends with us. We both know that they have their agendas, but... well, we're rich. Hindi namin maiiwasan ang mga taong ganoon so we just let them be. It didn't hurt us anyway. Mayaman pa rin kami.

Hindi pa namin naranasan ang maghirap. Hindi kami sanay sa hirap. My bags, shoes, and clothes are all designer and limited editions. Lahat ng mga gamit ko ay mahal. Hindi ko kilala ang piso.

Ashton was the same too. He had collections of cars, and our mansion had an underground garage for all of his cars.

Even our mom, Cosette Larrazabal, has collections of bags and shoes too. And her favorite collection was her fur coats. She was wearing them kahit sobrang unnecessary dahil mainit sa Pilipinas. But no one dared to laugh at her, as her fur coat cost a million dollars. Mas mahal pa iyon sa buhay nila.

Kaya gustong-gusto ni Mommy mamasyal sa iba't ibang mga bansa. She could flaunt her fur coats there without the judging eyes of people who only knew how to critique those who were more successful than them in order to satisfy their miserable lives and find flaws in those with success so they wouldn't feel insecure.

And I think that was what made them even more miserable.

It's not like my mother was also bothered by them, though. She was happy with our lives to even mind people like them. Iyong mga walang magawa kundi ang mainggit na lang.

I had those people in my life too, but just like my mom, I was just ignoring them. Hindi rin naman sila nakakatulong sa 'min. They can continue judging us or even get inggit by us pero hindi naman mababawasan ang yaman namin. We're still rich.

The teacher finally dismissed us. Nag-ayos muna ako. I brushed my long, straight hair that almost reached my waist. One of the things that I love about myself is my hair. They looked healthy and bouncy. Marami sa mga kaklase ko ang naiinggit sa buhok ko. It was natural. I haven't even bleached or dyed it since.

I put on face powder. I didn't have to put on a lip tint because my lips already looked naturally red. Nakita ko pa ang tingin ng mga kaklase kong lalaki habang nag-aayos which wasn't unusual for me. I know I'm beautiful kaya sanay na ako sa tingin nilang iyon. I just smiled at them.

I have natural beauty. Maamo ang mukha ko and yet my beauty looked elegant and was screaming of sophistication. I have bushy, thick brows. Hindi ko pinapabawasan ang kapal noon. Ipinapa-thread ko lang to fully shape my brows. I have a small but pointed nose, cupid-bow lips, and black eyes.

People often call me the modern-day Snow White. My hair was black, and I had fair skin. Maputi that I even had freckles on my face, sa cheekbones, and bridge ng nose ko, which added to my charm. At first, I hated my freckles, but when a lot of people said that they looked good on me, I learned to love them.

"Do I look good?" Harper asked.

I looked at her and shrugged.

"Pwede na."

"Do you mean pwede na as in pwede nang mapansin ng kuya mo or pwede na as in pwede nang tumayo sa tabi mo?"

I forced a smile at her. I couldn't understand what she was saying.

"Pwede na," ulit ko na lang.

Sabay na kaming lumabas ng room. Si Ashton ay umalis sa pagkakasandal sa pader nang makitang papalapit na ako. He held out his hand, and I gave him my bag. Mabilis n'ya iyong isinukbit sa balikat n'ya at inakbayan ako.

"How's my little sis?" he asked. Ginulo pa ang buhok ko.

I glared at him.

"I just brushed my hair!"

He chuckled, but he fixed the strands na nagulo dahil sa ginawa n'ya.

"Maganda ka pa rin naman kahit magulo ang buhok mo, Xanthe," sabi ng isa sa mga kaibigan n'ya.

"Of course. Kapatid ko kaya 'to." Ashton kissed my hair. I playfully made a face at him. Natawa lang s'ya.

"Hi, Ashton," mahinhing bati ni Harper sa kapatid ko. Napailing na lang ako.

"Harper." Ashton just nodded at her before he looked at me. "Tara na?"

I nodded. I said bye to Harper at dahil nakaakbay sa 'kin si Ashton, nadala n'ya ako nang magsimula akong maglakad. But since a lot of students were greeting my brother, may mga sandaling tumitigil kami kapag kinakausap n'ya ang mga 'yon. Most were girls, and I hated their conversations. I hated how they were obviously flirting with him na kinakagat din naman ng kapatid ko. So, yeah... maybe it wasn't fully their fault.

I just checked my phone. I have a lot of friends and followers on Facebook and Instagram. I checked the comments, which were mostly complimenting me. Ang iba ay nagpapa-aaccept ng request and nagpapa-follow back. Ibinalik ko na lang ang phone sa bulsa ko.

"You need to tone down your testosterone," I said when the sixth girl greeted him.

Natawa si Ashton.

"My what?"

"Geez, Kuya... we can't peacefully go to the parking lot because of your girls!"

"Hey! I was just greeting them back!"

I grimaced.

"You mean flirting back at them?"

He shrugged.

"I can't do anything with my looks."

"Yeah, right..."

"Hey! It's not as if I were the only one."

"And what do you mean by that?"

Ngumisi s'ya sa 'kin.

"Akala mo hindi ko alam na maraming nagkakagusto sa'yo?"

"Kuya, 'wag mo kong itulad sa 'yo. Hindi ko sila nilalandi."

"And I won't let you."

I rolled my eyes at him.

"I don't understand you."

"Li'l sis, a piece of advice. A lot of men will flock over you. But don't you ever entertain them." He stared at them. "I'm going to kill him if you ever have a boyfriend. You're just fourteen."

"And you're seventeen pero ang dami mo nang naging girlfriend."

He grinned at me.

"Iba ako. You're my little sister, and I'm supposed to protect you."

I shrugged my shoulders. Bahala s'ya d'yan. It's not like nasa plano ko ang mag-boyfriend nang maaga. I already learned a lot from those women he had a relationship with, and he dropped them like a hot potato as soon as nagsawa s'ya sa mga babaeng 'yon. Those women approached me and begged me to let my brother talk to them. Na mas ikinagagalit ni Ashton kaya mas lalo silang nawalan ng chance na balikan ng kapatid ko.

No. I don't want to be like those girls. Baka sa akin mapunta ang karma sa pagiging womanizer ni Ashton.

Nakarating na kami sa parking lot. Ashton opened the car door for me. He made sure I was settled on my seat bago s'ya umikot sa driver seat. He had a student license kaya s'ya na ang nagda-drive ng kotse kat isinasabay n'ya ako kapag pareho ang oras ng pasok at uwian namin. Most of the time, it was our father's men using the family car ang naghahatid-sundo sa 'kin sa school.

"Seatbelt," Ashton reminded me before he started the engine.

He checked his phone first to take time habang pinapainit n'ya ang makina.

"Do you know that Mom will have a Europe tour next week?" he said.

Napatingin ako sa kanya.

"S'ya lang mag-isa? Hindi kasama si Daddy Tim?" I asked, talking about our stepfather.

He shrugged. Isinusuot ang sariling seatbelt.

"Well... busy si Dad sa business n'ya. So, yes. Mag-isa lang ulit si Mom."

"I wish she'd wait for the school break para masamahan ko s'ya."

Ashton chuckled.

"Gusto mo ring mag-Europe tour? We can both go on school break. Let's have our own tour too."

"And watch you flirt with foreign women? No thanks. I'd rather go alone."

Malakas na natawa si Ashton.

"Hey! As if Dad will let you. Papayag lang 'yon kapag kasama mo ko."

I sighed.

"I don't know. Pag-iisipan ko."

"Well, think fast, Xanthe. So, I could book our itinerary."

"It's not like Europe is just on the next street."

"It's alright. We have money."

"That's not what I..." I sighed. "Okay. Sige, let's go."

Ashton grinned at me.

"And that's why you're my favorite little sister."

I glared at him.

"I am your only little sister."

Natawa s'ya at nagsimula nang mag-drive. Napailing na lang ako.

Well... he's my favorite brother too.

---

Hi! This will be a really, really slow update until matapos ko ang His Forbidden Desire here sa Wattpad. I think 20 chapters left na lang naman ang HFD. But updates from HVS will be continuous and mabilis sa VIP and Patreon. Currently, may 6 chaps na roon and mauuna s'yang matapos there.

And just a warning that this story will be a hundred times more violent and dark than Killian's story. Wala ring masyadong romance here. Hindi na red or black flag ang ML, death flag na. This story is twisted in its own way.

If you're a death flag enjoyer, this story is for you. Enjoy!

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