A WEEK later, as part of Meredith and Randall’s plan, the two were able to go on a date to the Manila Ocean Park. They need to prove to Don Warrick that they are dating, but first Don Warrick summons them to his mansion.

“Good morning, Granpa!” Randall greeted as he hugged his Abuelo.”
Meredith took his hand and placed it on her forehead as a sign of Filipino respect. “Good day, Sir!”
“Good morning!” Don Warrick greeted them back.
“First and foremost, I would like to introduce Atty. Edaño, my personal lawyer. I entrusted him to discuss with you our agreement.”
The lawyer handed them some papers. “This is the marriage settlement agreement. Please! Do have a look.”
The two of them exchanged glances and carefully read the contract, which Randall immediately signed. Meredith gave him a glance as she handed the contract to the lawyer. There is no turning back because they have already paid Mr. Hakim’s debt, so she no longer has the right to refuse.
“It says you promise to marry a week after Meredith turns eighteen,” he explained.
“Mer, is there anything about the contract that you don’t understand?” the attorney asked.
She looked at them and the section of the contract she was about to sign. What happens in the future is entirely up to her.
“Don’t worry, as I promised, no one will know, so it will only be a civil wedding,” Don Warrick informed them after she signed the contract.
“Thanks, Granpa!”
“And where are you headed?” the old man asked as they were about to leave.
“We’re going on a date,” he replied.
The old man smiled widely. “But before that, I’d like you two to shake hands in front of me.”
“For what?” he asked.
His grandfather smiled. “Because you two are now officially engaged since you don’t want others to know that you are engaged, just shake hands instead of me giving you a ring.
He was right. They were bound to each other when they signed the contract.
“Fiance,” Randall said and extended his hand in front of Meredith for a handshake.
Meredith looked at it and swallowed a little. She couldn’t believe she was engaged to one of her classmates.
“Ija?” The old man in the middle of them grabbed her attention.
She smiled at him and turned her attention back to Randall.
“F-fiancee.”
“WHERE do you want us to go first?" Randall asked Meredith after paying and handing them the map of the entire Ocean park.
"Let's just go here on the ground floor. At the Mermaid Pool," she said.
Until now, she still can’t believe that she has a fiance, that she will marry him three months from now. She has no idea what could happen. She will just think about what he always told her, and just go with the flow.
And it appears that she needed a distraction that day, so it was fortunate that they were going on a date.
And they delighted in watching the children, adults, men, and women swimming in mermaid tails. They also visited the Bird Show, which was located next to the mermaid pool.
They then went to the Fish Spa, which has small fish that eat the dead skin cells on their feet.
"Look, you’ve got all the little fish! When was the last time you went to a foot spa? You looked like a man by the thickness of your callus,” Randall chuckled.
“It only means one thing: your feet stink, so no fish will come near you!”
“Hey! My feet don’t stink even if I play basketball all night!”
“Because we are not rich like you! You are used to having someone serve you. Not like us, who have to work every day just to eat three times a day.
When I was in elementary school, I used to accompany my mother to sell bread throughout our barangay when I wasn’t in class. We were contented even if our meal back then consisted of sardines or dry food.”
When Randall heard her story, the mischievous smile on his lips vanished, replaced by awe; as he was then, he could get everything he wanted with a flick of his fingers.
When he doesn’t like the food that has been served to him previously, he will throw it away. He admits that when he was younger, he was spoiled and stubborn. When he doesn’t get what he wants, he throws a tantrum and refuses to speak to anyone.
“Wait, why are you staring at me like that? Is there something wrong with my face?”
He shook his head quickly. “I just realized that being poor is really difficult, but I can also say that being poor is fine because I see in them that even though they are struggling in life, their family is complete, working together to make life easier, and I also noticed that they are not prone to diseases.”
She encircled him with her arm. “The only way to live longer is to eat vegetables and fish.”
He smiled.
If you only knew how delicious Mom’s pinakbet is!”
“Pinakbet? What exactly is that?”
“A variety of vegetables with fish sauce seasoning.”
She laughed a little when she noticed he winced. “It doesn’t matter; I’ll let you try it at some point.”
Randall did nothing more than nod.
“Let’s go to the Stingray!" Meredith said then went straight to the second floor.
Randall immediately stood up and assisted her in leaving the fish spa. Aside from that, he also insisted on wiping her feet and putting on her shoes. She felt like she was Cinderella, wearing a glass shoes with the help of her prince charming.
When they arrived at the second floor, the 25-meter glass observation tunnel opened up to them where they could clearly see a group of different types and colorful fish. Little did she know that he was simply taking some picture of her.
For him, her lovely smile is contagious. He was grateful for the opportunity to spend time with her and get to know her better.
The last place they went was to see the sea lion and dolphin show, where they had a great view. They were also given the opportunity to touch them, but what they didn’t expect was to get wet when the two dolphins suddenly spewed water.
That's why they were forced to go to the souvenir shop to change their clothes. In the end, it turns out that they were wearing couple shirts because of the same print on their clothes.
“Did you enjoy it?” Randall asked her after they got into the car.
“So much!” she answered when she noticed him reaching for something in the backseat.
“Here, put this on. You might catch a cold,” he said as he handed her his black hoodie, which she quickly put on.
“T-thank you!”
“CAN we go to the Mall for a while?” Meredith begged Randall halfway through their destination.
“Sure! Are you going to buy something?”
“Yeah! Today is Mom’s birthday.”
He looked at her in astonishment. “Why didn’t you tell me right away that it was your mother’s birthday? I should have rescheduled our plans sooner.”
“It’s all right. Mom also said I could accompany you so she could invite you to her birthday. And she knows we have a meeting with Don Warrick.”
He nodded. “We really need to get her something.”
After half an hour they bought a gift for her mother. She only bought clothes, whereas Randall bought her flowers and a box of chocolates.
“Come inside; you arrived just in time; I just finished cooking,” her mother said as they entered the house.
Randall handed her his gift right away.
“Happy birthday, Aunt Editha!”
Mrs. Ebelte took it. “Oh! Thank you very much, Randall."
"Happy birthday, Mom! I love you!" Meredith said as she handed over her gift.
“Thank you very much, Mer!” They hugged each other after that."
When her mother’s homemade cake was brought out, everyone sang happy birthday and waited for her wish.
“Let’s eat!” she said after blowing out the candle.
Why don’t you invite your grandfather so I can get to know him as well?”
“All right!” he said as he dialed his grandfather’s number.
“Are they on their way?" Mrs. Ebelte asked after Randall had hung up the phone.
“He wanted to go, but he doesn’t feel well. He said he was only sending you a gift.”
“He has no need to do that!”
Mrs. Ebelte refused.
But she did nothing else when Don Warrick’s gifts arrived quickly.
MEREDITH noticed the right side of Randall’s temple while they were eating.
“Was that a scar?” Meredith wondered.
“Yes! Grandpa said it was inborn,” he said, holding it.
"Really? Did you know that I have a scar on my temple too?” She informed him.
“Really?!” He exclaimed in disbelief.
“Yes! But in my left temple.” Then she showed him her scar and got amazed too.
After that, Meredith stood up to get another juice for them to drink while her mother continued to tell a story.
“You know what, elders have a saying about scars?”
Randall obviously got interested. “Really? What do the elders say about scars.”
“They say that it’s the symbol of how they died in their past life—” Mrs. Ebelte’s words cut short when they heard a loud breaking of glass
“Meredith!”
"Editha!"
Meredith’s mother and Randall screamed as the glass pitcher slipped from Meredith's grasp due to what her mother said, along with a loud gunshot she didn’t know why it suddenly popped into her mind.
She sat on the floor, hands over her ears, unable to stop sobbing. Randall hugged her quickly because she appeared scared as well.
“Mer, it’s okay. Shhh... Everything is fine,” he reassured her.
Mrs. Ebelte handed him a glass of water to assist Meredith in drinking it.
Meredith has no idea why she heard two people shoot themselves with loud gunshots.
When Randall asked, “Mer? Are you okay?” she nodded and regained her composure.
Mrs. Ebelte assisted her in sitting in the chair. “What happened, Mer?”
“N-nothing, Mom. I just got dizzy out of nowhere,” she lied.
“Are you sure?” Randall asked.
“Hmm. I'm alright.”
She didn’t want to ruin her mother’s birthday, so she avoided discussing the true cause of her phobia.