The agreement was supposed to be simple: No strings. No feelings. No late-night texts that didn't involve a GPS coordinate. But as the weeks bled into months, the "arrangement" between the Tenorio Enforcer and the "Normal" girl became the worst-kept secret in the family.
Matt started bringing Cheska to the "inner circle" hangouts—places that didn't exist on Google Maps. Private rooftop lounges in Poblacion, hidden underground speakeasies, and the velvet-walled VIP rooms of the Blue Marlin.
One Friday night, the air thick with the smell of expensive cigars and high-stakes tension, Stephen Tenorio finally deigned to acknowledge her. He stood by the bar, swirling a glass of neat bourbon, looking at Cheska like she was a stock he was deciding whether to buy or short-sell.
"So, this is the 'Normal' one Matthew is obsessed with?" Stephen asked, his voice like velvet over gravel.
"She's not an 'asset,' Steph. She's Cheska," Joie snapped from across the table, her hand resting protectively near Alliana's.
"We're just friends," Cheska clarified, leaning back and taking a defiant, long sip of her martini. She felt Matt's hand move, his fingers splaying possessively across the small of her back, a gesture that screamed anything but friendship.
"Sure," Timothy snickered, not looking up from his encrypted tablet. "Friends who share the same bed five nights a week. Very platonic. Very casual."
The dynamic was a chaotic, high-tension dance. Cheska was the only person in the world who dared to talk back to Matthew. When Matt tried to order a steak for her without asking, she'd look the waiter in the eye and order the spiciest seafood on the menu just to watch Matt's jaw twitch in annoyance.
Later, during a bathroom break, Joie caught Cheska by the sinks. "You're corrupting him," Joie whispered, a rare, genuine smile ghosting across her face. "He's actually acting like a human being. He's listening to you. It's terrifying, but... thank you."
"Don't thank me yet, Joie," Cheska winked, though her heart was hammering. "I'm just here for the perks. And the sex. Mostly the sex."
But as she walked back out and saw Matt watching the door, his eyes softening only when they landed on her, she knew the "perks" were becoming a secondary concern.