Disclaimer: The author's imagination and passion are the only sources of inspiration for this novel, which is a work of dedication. Parallels between these pages and the past or present may be apparent to some readers, but they are completely coincidental. You are free to interpret this art anyway you see fit, and it is meant for your enjoyment.
A sea of crystal chandeliers, champagne flutes, and the pungent, sly smell of Manila's old money filled the Grand Ballroom of the Shangri-La at the Fort. Every powerful person in the nation, from political dynasties to real estate tycoons, was crammed into the space, their gazes flitting to the vacant head table. The "special announcement" that Don Victorino Tan had leaked had succeeded in creating the kind of excitement that typically precedes a royal wedding or corporate merger.
Elizien Mallari felt as though she was going to leap out of a plane without a parachute, yet she was safe inside the armored SUV.
She lowered her gaze to her dress. With each breath she drew, hundreds of tiny Swarovski crystals glistened on the midnight-blue silk, creating a work of art. It clung to her like a second skin of starlight, and it didn't just fit. Her neck was naked but for a single teardrop diamond that Zayrius had secured around her throat ten minutes ago with a silent, focused intentness. Her hair was gathered up in an elegant hairstyle.
"You're breathing too fast," Zayrius Tan remarked.
Wearing a custom-made black tuxedo, he sat next to her, appearing dangerously sophisticated. The bow tie and white shirt were flawless, but the gloomy expression on his face remained the same. He appeared more like a man preparing for a duel than a celebration.
Elizien murmured, "I'm an auditor, Zayrius," as she groped for the door handle with a shaking palm. "I'm used to being the person in the corner that no one notices. I'm not used to being... the special announcement."
Reaching out, Zayrius covered her hand with his big, warm one. His thumb traced the line of her knuckles as he gave her a gentle squeeze. "Look at me, Elizien."
She pivoted. His Chinito eyes were no longer flinty in the car's dark light. These were dark, deep depths of absolute certainty.
"My father believes he is putting us in a cage tonight," Zayrius uttered in a deep, authoritative growl. "He thinks he's forcing me back into the boardroom by using you as leverage. But he forgot that I'm a pilot. I don't follow the ground rules. Stay close to me. Don't look at the cameras. Just look at me."
"And if I trip?"
Simply, "Then I'll catch you," he said. "I've never lost a precious cargo yet, remember?"
An attendant in white gloves opened the door. They were immediately struck by the flashbulbs, which produced a dazzling, pulsating strobe light that made everything white.
When Zayrius emerged first, the closest group of photographers was instantly silenced. He extended his hand back into the vehicle. The audience let out a collective gasp as Elizien accepted it.
The reticent heir who had been hidden in the clouds for five years, the "Dragon" of the Tan family, wasn't only there to attend the banquet. The woman he was escorting was not an heiress, not a socialite, and most definitely not the bride his father had planned for him.
The whispers trailed them like a wake as they passed through the lobby.
"Is that the girl from the audit firm?"
"Look at the diamond... that's a Tan family heirloom."
"She looks like she walked out of a dream."
Zayrius didn't drop his pace. With a confident gait, he escorted her into the ballroom. Don Victorino Tan stood on a somewhat elevated dais at the far end, in the middle of a conversation with the Spanish Ambassador. His drink of scotch stopped halfway to his lips as he spotted them.
The tune changed. The orchestra entered a leisurely, sweeping waltz as they sensed the shift in the room's gravity.
As they arrived at the middle of the floor, Zayrius said under his breath, "Smile, Elizien," and wrapped his arm around her waist for protection. "The 'Special Announcement' is about to blow up in my father's face."
Zayrius interrupted Victorino before he could get to the microphone to announce the "strategic partnership"—a polite term for Zayrius's forced engagement to the daughter of a shipping tycoon. He didn't hold off till someone introduced him. He stopped inches from his father and escorted Elizien directly to the head table.
"Good evening, Dad," Zayrius replied in a voice that was barely audible over the other tables. "I believe you wanted to tell the world about the future of the Tan Holdings."
Victorino clenched his jaw. "Zayrius, don't be a fool. Step aside and let's do this properly."
"Oh, we're doing this properly," Zayrius retorted. He glanced straight at the throng, turning his back on his father. He lifted Elizien's hand, the polished silver of the table glinting in the starlight from her attire.
"For years, people have asked why I chose to fly instead of sit in a chair," Zayrius stated, raising his voice to the level of a man who owned the sky. "They said I was looking for an escape. But they were wrong. I was looking for a perspective. And from forty thousand feet, you learn to see what's real and what's just noise."
For the first time that evening, he turned to face Elizien and grinned, a genuine, stunning smile that caused the socialites in the front row to audibly swoon.
"This is Elizien Mallari," Zayrius declared. "She isn't a merger. She isn't a strategic partner. She is the woman who grounded the pilot. My father wanted to announce a commitment tonight... and I'm happy to oblige. I'm committing my life to her. And if the board has a problem with that, they can find a new heir."
There was complete stillness after that. Then the controversy surfaced.
A large broadsheet reporter thrust a microphone in front of him. "Captain Tan! Are you saying you're resigning for her, an Accountant?"
Zayrius angrily retorted, "I'm saying the Tan Group is lucky to have her," as soon as the "Dragon" was challenged. "And if any of you publish a single lie about her, you'll find out exactly how much of the media I've bought in the last hour."
Victorino appeared to be on the verge of a stroke. "Zayrius! You cannot do this!"
Saying, "I just did, Dad," Zayrius leaned closer. "Check your email. I've just transferred my personal shares into a trust in her name. You can't fire her. Technically, as of three minutes ago, she's your biggest shareholder."
Elizien's mind whirled. Largest shareholder? Her mouth was open as she gazed at Zayrius. "Zayrius, what did you do?"
Zayrius paid no attention to his father's yelling, the flashing lights, or the disorder in the room. Unaware that they were the top story on all of the nation's news websites, he leaned in and pressed his forehead against hers.
"I told you, Accountant," he said in a low voice. "I've never lost a precious cargo. And I'm not about to start now."
Elizien experienced a peculiar, rising sensation of calm despite the most costly scandal in Manila's history. As Aling Rosa had foreseen, lightning had struck the Tower. The ancient world was disintegrating. She knew she wasn't falling, though, as Zayrius dragged her into a dance while disregarding the cameras and the gasps.
She was in the air.