Chapter 1
Luthor Moretti
He expertly rode his horse, Wind Walker, his back completely straight while one hand tightly gripped the reins. The buttons of his black polo shirt were undone, revealing his well-built physique, especially whenever a strong gust of wind blew. His masculine shirt couldn’t even hide the strong muscles that ran along each side of his torso.
Luthor rode the horse as if he were a radiant knight and Windwalker were his warhorse. Dust billowed upward along the horse’s path, scattering like enemies fleeing at the sight of a valiant warrior.
Juliana “Julie” Cañete gasped softly as she sat inside her father’s silver owner-type jeep, quietly watching Luthor race against his childhood friend, Calliope. Their vehicle was parked outside the market while her Papa bought something inside. She knew Luthor and Calliope were heading to the market as well.
Calliope was incredibly beautiful and very kind. She was her classmate at Santa Catalina College. They were freshmen in college, taking an education course. From Tanjay, her entire family had permanently moved there when her papa secured a good job at a bank in Santa Catalina. Calliope was her very first friend at SCC, and now she considered her a best friend. That was why it was so disheartening that the first and only man to make her heart beat faster was Calliope’s childhood friend. It was also no secret to anyone that Luthor loved Calliope.
The very moment her eyes first landed on Luthor’s face, her heartbeat became erratic. Luthor was two years older than her and Calliope, and he was already in his third year of college.
Luthor was tall. Almond-brown hair. Brown eyes. He was half-Filipino, half-Italian.
His father, Señor Giuseppe, owned vast tracts of land in Santa Catalina. Their family was prominent, and there wasn’t a single resident who didn’t recognize the Moretti surname. Luthor also had a brother. His paternal half-brother, Nazariel. From what she knew, the brothers weren’t close to each other.
She had seen Nazariel in a picture before. He looked 80% like Luthor. Both were well-built and tall. But she preferred Luthor. Maybe because Luthor was always polite, gentle, and friendly. She saw how he took care of Calliope, and she couldn’t help but envy the attention he poured out for his childhood friend. Nazariel, on the other hand—based on how people described him—rarely smiled. They said he looked grumpy and always wore a serious expression.
“Julie!” Calliope called out to her, which made her jump slightly. She waved at them and stepped out of the vehicle. Luthor and Calliope tied their horses to a nearby tree and cheerfully approached her. “What are you doing here? Who are you with?”
“With Papa. He’s inside the market, just buying a few things. How about you guys?”
“Just over there at Aling Mameng’s. Thor here suddenly craved some Bihon Guisado.”
Thor was what she sometimes called Luthor. She was the only one who called the young man by that nickname. Luthor, in turn, affectionately called her Callie.
“Right, Thor? You’re the one who really wanted to eat Bihon Guisado?” Calliope nudged Luthor.
Julie couldn’t stop herself from looking up at him. He was taller than her, so she needed to look up to see his face. She couldn’t find a single flaw in the young man’s features. To her, he was a true warrior with a praiseworthy posture and an incredibly gentle face.
Luthor had a prominent, slender nose that was perfectly shaped from its bridge down to the very tip. Its beautiful contour suited the color of his eyes and his naturally reddish lips perfectly.
Luthor was the kind of man who was well aware of his excellent physique but never used it to collect and play with women. In fact, he had never been involved in dating rumors. He was only ever linked to Calliope. And he never denied his feelings for his childhood friend.
“You should try Aling Mameng’s Bihon Guisado too, Julie,” Luthor said.
She secretly felt a wave of dismay. She wasn’t fond of Bihon Guisado. Nevertheless, she forced her voice to sound cheerful. “Sure, but maybe next time Papa and I come here. We still have a lot of places to go to after this, so I can’t right now.”
“That’s a shame.” Luthor smiled faintly and looked back at Calliope.
Julie secretly sighed. She had lost count of how many hundreds of times she had wished she was Calliope instead. But she couldn’t be greedy, could she? She couldn’t take what wasn’t hers to begin with. So, the only thing she could do was whisper the desires of her broken heart to the wind.
Julie tossed and turned in her bed. No matter what she did, sleep wouldn’t visit her, simply because she had once again seen the young man who made her heart race in her chest.
Luthor... He was older than her. Popular. Wealthy. And his heart was loyal to Calliope.
He was so hard to reach, but why did her heart refuse to give up? She sat up and rubbed her face with her palms. A moment later, she quietly observed the moonlight streaming through the open capiz window. Along with it came a flood of memories from the day she first laid eyes on the young man...
The silver owner-type jeep was parked right in front of the tall gates of Santa Catalina College, and the young Juliana stepped out. She tightened her grip on the strap of the bag slung over her slender shoulder and let out a deep breath. It was her first day at that school and her first year in college too. She knew no one and had no friends yet.
“Juliana, my child,” her father called, making her look back. “Don’t be shy about making friends with your classmates, okay?” Her father was an adorable man. Short, stout, like a teapot, but with a huge heart. Her father was also cheerful and always smiling. She didn’t inherit that from him. She was tall and slender. She gave a small smile and nodded gently at her father, Rodante, before finally walking inside SCC.
It was still early, so there were only a few students around, and the weather wasn’t looking good either. While walking, she couldn’t help but look up at the heavy, darkening clouds in the sky. Because of that, she failed to see the square iron grates serving as the cover for the drainage. The heel of her left shoe fell into a hole between the metal bars. She tried wiggling her shoe and pulling it upward, but she couldn’t get it out of the grate.
She looked around, the color starting to drain from her face. And to make matters worse, the rain began to fall! She didn’t know what to do anymore. Should she just leave her shoe there or—
Her train of thought was abruptly cut off when her slender body was suddenly lifted, and a pair of strong arms scooped her up.
Her eyes first darted to her left-behind shoe before shifting to the face of the stranger who had carried her.
When she beheld the stranger’s face, she momentarily forgot how to breathe. The face of the man carrying her was incredibly gentle. He was wearing the uniform of SCC, so he must be a student, too. He was so handsome with finely chiseled features. A strong and sharp jawline. The nose looked like it was carefully shaped by a chisel, giving it a sharp tip and a high bridge. His lips had more color than a fresh cherry. Smooth skin. And the man was very tall.
“Are you okay, Miss?” Electricity crept down her spine upon hearing his deep, very masculine voice.
The man stared into her eyes, and she felt as though she were drowning in their color.
“Miss?”
She blinked rapidly. “H-huh?”
“Are you okay?” “Huh? O-oh, yes!” Her cheeks flushed red, and she looked away. She felt like she was making a complete fool of herself in front of him.
The young man set her down on the side, under a roofed area, so she wouldn’t get wet from the rain. Then, he went back for her shoe—completely disregarding the fact that he was getting rained on—and retrieved it.
“Here’s your shoe.” “T-thank you.” She admitted to herself that she was feeling completely giddy.
She was about to reach for the shoe, but he beat her to it; he crouched down and slipped the shoe onto her foot himself. To say that her spine had been electrocuted when his skin touched hers would be an understatement.
He straightened up and smiled at her. He shouldn’t have done that. He shouldn’t have smiled at her. Because it made her heart pound even harder in her chest. She looked up at him and met his eyes. She wanted to ask what his name was, but she was too shy.
She discreetly clutched her chest. It was her first time feeling this way for a man. “Uhm, well... uhh...” She was still gathering the courage to ask for his name, but...
“Alright, I’ll go ahead. Enjoy your day!” He quickly bid her farewell and didn’t even look back at her. But her heart never returned to its normal rhythm.
She looked down at her shoe again and smiled sweetly. For a brief magical moment there, she felt like she was Cinderella.
