Kinda hit some writer's block with this story. I honestly had this chapter done a month ago, but I wasn't satisfied with it. I'm still not satisfied. However, IDK what else to do with it, so I'll just upload it. I feel like I'm rushing things now compared to the slow romance in the beginning, which is why I want to keep the pacing the same as before. Nevertheless, IDK how to slow down the action because I hate typing action. I'm not creative enough for drama, nor am I interested in it. I just like pure romance. Hopefully I find motivation for this story again because I have ideas! Enjoy~
Chapter 18
"Who are you?" A servant asks the teens standing at the front doors.
"We're here to see Drew." Betty weakly replies.
When the servant gives them a suspicious look, Tyler responds, "We're from the orphanage."
Sighing, the servant disappears inside for a while. Eventually, she makes her way back to them where she leads them to Drew who is sitting in the living room. Betty instantly tackles the man in a hug, which he is very grateful for.
"I miss you, Drew! We all do!" sobs the girl, and it pains Drew, but he needs to put on a normal expression.
Smiling, the man exclaims, "I'm glad you're doing well!" He then shakes Tyler's hand. "What brings you by?"
"We just wanted to see how you're doing." Betty whispers.
Since there are too many eyes on Drew, he just continues grinning at them. "I'm awesome! I'm about to get married soon too!"
Before Betty can say anything, Tyler speaks, "We're happy as long as you're happy." Betty gives him a questioning look, but he continues speaking, "The orphanage is doing fine, and May plans to keep us around for a while, so don't worry about us, Drew."
Smiling, Drew nods. He knows why they're here and what Tyler is trying to say. May believes the orphanage will be fine, and Drew really hopes it will be. He'll put his trust in the woman he loves. Pulling out some money, he hands it to the teens. "For your ride back home. And here."
Tyler gladly takes it because he used his wages from his part time job to get here. "We look forward to watching your wedding on the news." Tyler gives him a small smile.
"Thank you. I appreciate the visit." Drew tells them while walking them out. Although the visit was short, it's too risky having them here for too long. It's only a matter of time before someone slips something up, even if May didn't send them.
Once Tyler and Betty leave, Drew walks back inside the mansion where his mother is waiting angrily. "I thought we told you to cut communications with the orphanage?"
Sighing, the man replies, "I did. But it's not my fault that the kids miss me enough to visit me."
"What are you doing, Drew?" she suspiciously narrows her eyes at him while he shrugs.
"Nothing. You won't let me do anything except marry Brianna, which I don't even want to do."
"If you give her a chance-"
"I'm not interested."
"Andrew Shu Hayden." The glare his mother gives him makes him inwardly groan. "You will not ruin what we have going on with the Wakana family."
"Yeah, because my happiness means nothing."
His mother frowns for a split second before returning to her glare, but he saw it. "You can learn to be happy with Brianna, but the company can't do that without her."
"I think it can."
"It's a guarantee with her." Drew shakes his head since he knows arguing with his mother won't get anywhere, Walking past her, he decides to head to his room until she says, "Brianna will be staying with you the week before the wedding. I expect you both to get very close."
"No! We should be saving that for our wedding night!" Drew exclaims with a deep blush to his mother, and he hopes he doesn't sound too angry or surprised.
"It's already been decided. Brianna doesn't want to wait that long. I suggest you learn to get along with her, Drew."
Groaning, he walks away. What good is his opinion anyway? His parents only care about the business and the money. That's why they only had one child: to pass on the company. It's never been for love, and it never will be. To think he used to be just like them. A flash of brown hair and sapphire blue eyes pop in his mind, which makes his heart ache. Solidad did mention he just needs to bear with everything until his wedding.
Orphanage
"You did what?" exclaims the angry brunette, She just found out that her two most trusted orphans went on a solo adventure to see Drew. This is bad. What if they let something slip? While May has been talking to Brenden about legally protecting the orphanage, it hasn't been very private because they speak in the cafeteria. If either of the teens had hinted anything in that Hayden mansion, it could ruin the whole plan.
"We didn't say anything, May." Tyler tells her. "We just checked up on Drew."
Betty nods. "Yeah! We didn't tell him about how you're working with Brenden and lawyers."
May closes her eyes in frustration. Even if Betty and Tyler believe they didn't say anything, the Haydens could think otherwise. She'll have to call Dawn later because speaking with Solidad is too risky. "Just don't do it again." May sighs. Although she knows they did it for her, she really can't let the orphans get involved right now. It could ruin everything.
And a few days later, it did ruin everything. May glares at the letter in her hands:
Dear LaRousse City Orphanage, Due to budget cuts, the city has decided to shut down the orphanage. As there are only 14 children this year, and 2 will be leaving soon, we will disperse the rest of the children to the other orphanages in Hoenn. Rest assured…
May's hands are shaking while gripping the letter. She decides to rip it angrily all over her desk because no one threatens the orphanage! No one will close it down! Calling Brenden, she informs him to prepare for the worst. May then calls a cab to get her out of here. According to Solidad the other day, the aches to her pains are in Hayden Mansion.
When the cab pulls up to the front gates, the guard asks for her name and who she's seeing. "Everyone." May glares at him. "Tell them it's May Maple."
The fire in her eyes scares the cab driver and the guard, who quickly speaks into his walkie talkie. Eventually, the gates are opened for the cab to drive up. May hurriedly pays the cab before exiting the car where a guard escorts her inside.
"You are not supposed to be here." Mr. Hayden angrily exclaims at her from the living room.
May sits across from him and his wife as she glares at them. "I'm here for Brianna Wakana."
"Go to her house then." Mrs. Hayden hisses.
"I know she's here." May angrily stands up again, but a bodyguard forces her down.
"This is our house, and if you want to stay, you will treat us with respect!" Mr. Hayden shouts.
"Like how Brianna respects my house? Why are you letting Drew marry such an evil woman?!"
"Enough!" Mrs. Hayden firmly responds. "We only allowed you inside to tell you that you need to leave Drew alone! Your orphans need to leave him alone! You all need to leave him alone as he builds a life with Brianna!"
"We will since the city is shutting us down!" May furiously tells them. She won't cry. Not yet. These people don't deserve her tears, so she'll cry in the privacy of her room later.
The Hayden parents seem confused by this. They didn't know the orphanage was shutting down. "Why is it shutting down?" Mrs. Hayden asks.
"Because of Brianna! But I want to let her know that we're not going down without a fight." The intensity in May's eyes make Mrs. Hayden flinch while Mr. Hayden curiously watches her.
"Why are you here?" he calmly asks the fuming brunette.
"To talk to Brianna. I don't care about Drew! Everyone just needs to leave the orphanage alone!" Those kids don't deserve anymore suffering. They're already growing up without parents, and many have been abused. Now that they have a family at the orphanage, they shouldn't be pried away from that too!
"You hear that, hunny! She doesn't care about you!" sneers a voice from behind May.
Turning her head, May sees a stoic Drew whose arm is linked with the smirking Brianna. May tries to stand, but the bodyguard's hand keeps her on the couch. Thus, the brunette opts to just speak from her seat. "Leave the orphanage alone."
Brianna cocks her head innocently. "Whatever do you mean, Ms. Maple?"
Glaring daggers at her, May exclaims, "You know what I mean! Leave us alone or you'll regret it!"
"Drewy Bear, she's threatening your fiance." Brianna whines in his face, but he doesn't flinch. Despite his poker face, Drew's hurt. May doesn't care for him at all. She only cares about the orphans and the orphanage. No wonder why she kept him around. It's all for the orphanage, which isn't entirely bad, but his heart hurts.
"How dare you threaten our future daughter-in-law!" Mr. Hayden angrily says to May who ignores him.
"Leave the orphanage alone." The brunette hisses again, which is enough to send shivers down everyone's backs.
"I think you need to leave." Mrs. Hayden suggests while nodding to the bodyguards.
They grab May by the arms to roughly push her, but May pulls her arms. "I can walk by myself!" She shouts, and they let her go. True to her words, May focuses on the exit rather than the people around her and walks out calmly. She's already done her job. So what if she totally sabotaged her plan with Dawn and Solidad? The orphanage and the orphans come first before her heart.
Orphanage
"What are you doing, May?" shouts Solidad over the phone. It's been a few hours since May returned from the Hayden Mansion, and once she arrived, she locked herself in her office to cry. Fortunately, the orphans left her alone while the teenagers took over.
"They're shutting down the orphanage."
"No, they're not."
"I got the letter, Solidad!" May had shoved the scraps of paper on the ground angrily earlier.
"If they were, I would know! Even if the Haydens don't tell me, I'd hear about it at the office!" Solidad really can't believe the Haydens would already shut down the orphanage. They would never do it, else they'd have nothing to make Drew marry Brianna.
May remembers how shocked Mr. and Mrs. Hayden were when she told them the news about the orphanage. "It wasn't them! It was Brianna! Remember, she threatened the orphanage before!"
Makes sense, Solidad thinks. Sighing, she responds, "Are you giving up?"
"The orphanage comes first. I'll never give up on it."
As much as Solidad would like to see Drew happy, she knows she can't force May to do something the woman doesn't want to do. "Okay, May. Thanks for trying." Solidad says.
"I just want to be left alone. I don't want anything to do with your world anymore." May tells her as tears stream down her face. Since Solidad isn't here, she doesn't see May's tears, which the younger woman appreciates. This whole saga with Drew Hayden is over. Besides, Brenden likes her, and he's her childhood friend and crush. She won't be entirely sad without Drew. Plus, Brenden will be a successful lawyer who can help the orphanage.
Once Solidad and May hang up, the brunette cries some more. Her heart aches, especially from seeing Drew's face earlier. He just seemed like he didn't care. Like he didn't care about her or the orphanage or the orphans. He just didn't care! They don't need someone like that since there's already plenty of people who don't care about them.
As May tries to convince herself this, her heart aches immensely, causing more tears to fall. This really isn't fair. Hasn't she suffered enough? How cruel can Drew be to play with her just to sleep with her? Especially after he learned about her tragic past. This is just a reminder about why she forced herself to be unadoptable all those years ago. Despite being past the adoption age, she will close her world to solely those in the orphanage. Drew Hayden is a thing of the past for her and the orphanage.
Hayden Mansion
"I won't marry anyone who threatens the orphanage!" Drew shouts at the woman in his bed.
"Stop wasting your time there, Drewy Poo. You need to focus on making lots of money in the business."
"Don't tell me what I need to be doing. I don't need to be marrying you. I don't need to listen to you. And I don't need to have sex with you!"
Brianna glares at him. She's tried everything to get on his good side: loving him, complimenting him, spending time with him. But he never says anything to her except today as he yells about the orphanage! That nasty run down place that has no business being open anymore. "You will if you want that orphanage to stay open."
Drew shakes his head before backing up and walking towards the door. He doesn't need this. He already had it from his parents growing up, and now he'll have to deal with the same treatment from his wife for the rest of his life? Screw that.
Before he walks out the door, Brianna exclaims, "Fine! I'll call off the shutdown!" When Drew pauses at the door, she continues. "But the moment you leave me, I'm shutting it down and making sure May has nowhere to go."
The fuming man glares at the ground while thinking about how unfair this life is. Why do people only care about money and not happiness? Well, he was once the same way until he found happiness, but his happiness says she doesn't care about him. Feeling the pain in his heart, Drew keeps his gaze away from Brianna. Why did May say she doesn't care about him? Was everything a lie? He loves and cares about her, and he really believed she felt the same way.
Taking in a deep breath as he pushes the thoughts out of his mind, Drew asks his fiance, "Would you still like me if I left my family fortune?"
Brianna blinks at his back in confusion. Why is he asking this? Who would leave all this money and fame? No matter how good looking Drew is, Brianna needs a man with looks and money. Drew needs to keep his wealth. "If you leave me, the orphanage gets shut down."
"Then I'll make you leave me." he now turns to glare at her.
However, Brianna shakes her head as a mischievous grin appears on her face. "You can't do that either. I don't know what you think you're planning, Drew, but if you don't marry me with the Hayden fortune, I will shut down the orphanage."