The CEO's Painted Skin

Catherine woke up to a bright new day, the sun rays were already passing through at the window of her room and bathed her body with a light golden glow. She stretched her body and folded her blanket neatly and placed it above her pillow.

She rose to her feet.

Her eyes landed on the box at the top at the cabinet. She took the box and opened it, there inside lays her crumpled and ruined wedding gown. It's no longer wearable, she just sighed, refusing to give in to her tears again at this moment. She has to work, no time for crying.

Her eyes were already swollen because of too much crying last night. No! she refused to cry this time.

She took her towel and exited her room heading for the toilet. She saw her mother cooking their breakfast in the kitchen, she passes her by without greeting her. She was still upset about what happened last night. Her mother's stubbornness to continue forcing her to file a r-ape case against John gives her a massive headache, she's still so upset just thinking about it. If Caroline wasn't staying in Grace house, she wants to stay there for a few days, better there than here in their house where she and her mothers were starting to look like they were now a complete stranger to each other.

She entered the toilet and began taking her bath. She was not in the mood to go to work in the hotel today and was planning to just file two days leave, but she realized that spending two days in the same place as her mother would be a terrible thing to go through. The hotel is a much better place to be right now.

The wedding will take place in five days, her wedding gown was already ruined, only the wedding ring that is still intact. How can she tell John about the mess that her twin sister had just created?

But she already decided she will marry John...with or without her mother's approval.

Done with her bathing, she exited the toilet, still giving her mother a cold shoulder as she went past her on the way to her room.

She started dressing for work. She folded her hotel uniform and put it on her shoulder bag. She will skip the breakfast that her mother was preparing today, instead, she will just eat in the hotel's cafeteria.

Caroline went out of their house without saying goodbye to her mother.

While Thelma was left alone in the house crying silently, eating breakfast all alone by herself.

...

In the kitchen, John was leaning in the table. His eyes darted on the oven that Catherine comes to like very much. A sad smile curled up on his lips.

It's morning already, he had texted Catherine 'good morning' yet she was not replying. It seemed the trouble in paradise still not cleared.

He can't stand her silence, it's deafening and choking him. Maybe he was just used to her quick replies.

He can't let her suffer alone on her own, he got to share her burden. If Catherine won't come to him he will come to her and make things alright for her.

He called Reba.

"Good morning, Sir!" greeted Reba on the other end.

"I want you to instruct Catherine to clean the Presidential Suite #1 today. I will check in today. Do not tell her I'm the one who will use the suite. Just tell her there will be a new client that will use the suite for today, okay?"

"Yes Sir!" replied Reba.

"That's all for now," he said.

Jonh ended his call to Reba. He will finish his work in his office first before he will go to Cavite City and visits Marigold Hotel.

His cell phone beep, he eagerly checked who texted him. It's Catherine! Finally! He breathed a sigh of relief. He read her long message.

'John, good morning! Sorry for the late reply. Am going to the hotel now reporting for work. I'm very sorry, the wedding gown was ruined, I and my twin sister and my mother has a terrible fight last night. I will tell you everything after we see each other. See you soon! I miss you!'

John re-read the message twice. So, it's not just a small fight, it's an epic family fight that resulted in Catherine's wedding gown being destroyed in the middle of the fight.

If Catherine's Mother will insist on filing r-ape against him, it won't work since Catherine won't do it. The case won't exist if the victim will not file the r-ape case herself especially that she was already an adult old enough to decide for herself, on that area he has no worries. He was confident that the love they have for each other was stronger than her mother's demands for justice.

He runs his fingers through hair. This problem regarding Catherine's mother is getting annoying, but since it's her mother he needs to have a huge amount of patience and respect to deal with them. As soon as he and Catherine will finally tie the knot, nothing can come between them. He just need to be more understanding and have patience during these difficult times.

He plans to drop by in the wedding gown boutique later before they will proceed to Cavite City to buy another gown since no time to create another one. The wedding gown boutique sells many beautiful and elegant ready-made gown designs that he can choose from. He wants to surprise Catherine with a new wedding gown when they see each other later.

He would also drop by at the flower shop to buy her a bouquet of red and pink roses and some chocolates to uplift her mood. He smiled fondly at her pretty face that starts to float in his mind. He missed her lovely Catherine so much! He can't wait to see her again!

He texted her... 'I miss you! I love you so much!'

He finished all his works in the office at 2:00 PM in the afternoon. He called Ramon to prepare the car so that they can drop by at the flower shop then at the wedding gown boutique.

Thirty minutes later they were already driving smoothly in the road towards the area where he will buy the flower and the gown.

It's convenient for him because the wedding gown store and the flower shop were just a few meters apart. He drops by at the wedding gown boutique first and instructed Ramon to buy pink and red roses in the flower shop as well a box of chocolate. While he will browse the wedding gown himself.

In the store, he peruses several gowns on display, not able to find something to his liking, the store attendant brought him to the second floor were more classy and elegant gowns were being displayed. He chose a white princess cut gown that had a similar design to the one he had previously given to Catherine, only this one is a bit more lengthy, the hem of the gown was dropping near the ankle of the mannequin. But nevertheless, it still has the same intricate lacy detailing just like the previous one.

John was already imagining that Catherine was wearing it, her beauty would shine the brightest on their wedding day.

He was smiling to himself feeling satisfied that he found the one! Without further ado, he bought the wedding gown right away.