"Were you spying on us?" I asked in disbelief.
"I should have noticed the way you behave when I bring her up in every conversation we have. I should have known that this might happen if you got close to her," he said with such authority in his voice.
"I love her," I said bravely, but what I received was a big slap in the face.
"Nonsense!" He yelled at me. "You have to finish what we started, and you have to let go of the feelings. I already told you that your feelings will just get in the way of our revenge, and look at what's happening."
"I don't want her to get hurt if our plan succeeds," I said as I lowered my head.
"We pulled her into this mess, and you know we can't avoid that thing you wanted to do," he explained.
I know for a fact that, at some point, I will hurt her. This is not going to be an easy fight. I'm fighting for my mom's justice, yet I'm also fighting for the woman I love the most. I don't have to pick one, but my state right now is pushing me to decide.
"I want results in a few days," he said like a threat. "If nothing happens, I'll go do it by myself."
He walked away to enter the mansion, and I rushed to get into my car again, but then I saw Shaina waiting for me beside my car again. I'm wondering what she's been up to lately.
"How are you?" I greeted her.
"I want to help you," she said, and she just instantly stole the keys from my hand to open my car and get inside.
I was left with nothing to do with it, so I dropped her off first at my place near the university as we reached the city again.
"You can stay here for a while," I said, but before I dropped her off, she offered me a flash drive, which at first I found suspicious, but then she explained what was inside.
"It's the files of your mom, from the scene of the incident up to her autopsy report. I looked for it while you were in the Maldives when I heard from my father that her family already knew that you were a werewolf from the beginning. I shouldn't have said this, but your father's getting weak these past few days while you're away, which is the reason why he's pushing you to do all of this now."
I can now get it.
I tapped Shaina's shoulder and said my "thank you" before I got back to the penthouse. As soon as I got out, I asked the servants who was with her right now, and they told me that she was with her brother and two female friends. I went inside the elevator, and as the elevator door closed, I punched the wall really hard to the point that it created a loud thud. I felt so frustrated, and so when I got inside the house, I just ignored their company and chose to be alone.
I submerged my body in the bathtub and thought for some time. I don't know how long I've been in that state, but all I could think about was how to solve all of this without losing her. This is a pain in the ass.
The next day, I moved up all of the things I needed for reading and investigating all of her reports from what Shaina got on the flash drive. I printed all the documents and even the pictures I collected from following her family around. I also let out my diary, in which I write all of the things I don't want to say out loud.
But things got worse when she already noticed how distant I was from her, unlike what we have in the Maldives. I know, and I can sense that she tried everything to talk to me, but I just can't talk to her face-to-face when, in reality, I'm trying to break his family. She confronted me once, and I don't like how it ended.
She told me that she loves me, and God knows how much I tried to stop myself from saying it back to her. Instead, I closed the door of my room, and I even felt like my tears were about to fall. If that happened, that would be the first time I'd cry after what happened to my mother.
For days, I've been staying up so late trying to connect the dots about what happened. Just then, one day, an urgent call from Shaina got me, and I immediately got out of the house. She told me that she had found something so bad that I had to see it.
I arrived at my own place, and she was already standing outside the building waiting for me. When she saw me, she walked toward me.
"What's happening?" I asked while we were walking up to my apartment.
"Remember Theo?"
I stopped for a moment when she asked that. I told her before what happened between that man and me, but how come he's involved with this matter?
"What about him?" I asked her, and we stopped at the lobby of the building.
"Remember his tattoo? Your mom got it too. Did you already see the tattoo on her body? The one on the lower part of her body? It's a sign. It's a sign connected to people from the north, the one who's trying to reach you and Adi," she explained, but I can't seem to process what she said earlier.
My mom is part of the group.
I can't believe it.
"I get it now; do you remember before, when we were still young and she kept on telling us that she tried to escape something that was holding her back? Maybe that's what she meant by it," Shaina continued to explain what she thinks about it.
On the other hand, I remained silent. I tried to recall every single moment I had with my mom and how she worked so hard to take care of us. I suddenly felt heavy baggage in my heart.
Hold on.
If she's part of it while Adi is still young, there might be a possibility that she's one of the people who just let those people touch and harass Adi.
I sighed for a moment and stayed there, seated, for hours while I tried to understand what was going on. I called my father, and he answered immediately. He's about to say something, but I spoke first.
"I'm done with this plan," I said with finality and ended the call right away. I turned off my phone just so he could not call me this time.
"Are you sure you're done now?" Shaina asked once more.
"Well, I already know what happened in the past. I can finally now live in the present," I said as I rested my head on the sofa still here in the lobby.
"You think you can handle it?" She asked.
"She's my present now," I said with finality in my voice.
We stayed in the lobby for another hour until it was already dark outside. I asked Shaina if she could come over to my penthouse to help me burn all of the things in my room, and she agreed.
But as we got inside the penthouse, I saw how Adi stood far from me while she was beside the board where pictures of her and her family were attached. I tried to explain, but she wouldn't let me, and all she did was burst her anger out at me. It only got worse when I tried to get Shaina away from her, as I sensed that the serum inside her body was already leaking. Adi accused me of something that I hadn't even thought of before.
The only woman I love so dearly is just her.
She wouldn't listen, and as I told her that I already knew everything about it, she left me instantly and didn't even let me finish what I was about to say.
I tried to call her, but her line was busy, so I just quickly got down to the lobby with Shaina, and while I was waiting for the driver to get another car, I received a call from Luke.
"Do you know where she is right now?" Luke immediately asked right after I answered the call. I can hear that he's on the road, maybe on his way to look for her sister.
"She's not answering my calls," I said in a worried voice.
"Goddamn!" I heard Luke from the other line curse over and over again, followed by a sudden loud thud. Just then, he suddenly hung up. I tried to call him again, but he's not answering anymore.
Minutes passed, and a call from an unknown caller ID came in. I answered it, and the voice of a man welcomed me.
"This is City Police Officer Galman. I just want to report that there's been an accident on the national highway along Key Road, and your car has been smashed. I was hoping this is not a stolen car from you, sir."
My other car appeared in front of me, and I instantly got in after the report. I ended the call by telling them that I'd be on my way. My hands suddenly felt like they were shaking, and I don't like this feeling. Shaina is just looking at me and trying to say something to comfort me, but it doesn't work for me at all.
I don't know what to do if I lose her.
I don't want to lose her like my mom did.
We arrived shortly on the highway, as we could easily notice it. The road is already full of people coming out of their cars. I tried to get into the police officer that called me earlier as much as possible. When they recognized me from afar, they gave way and asked me.
"Does this plate number belong to you, sir?" He asked. I saw the plate number of the car, and I immediately nodded.
"That's mine," I said shortly.
"Apparently, there was an accident."
"What about the woman?" I interrupted his explanation. I don't want all of it; I just want to know where she is because I can't seem to notice any ambulances around.
"Woman, sir? There's no one inside the car when we get here."
I looked at him, and I think I just heard the most ridiculous thing today.
"Are you sure about that?" Shaina asked this time.
"100% sure, ma'am. No one's inside the car," the policeman said again before he excused himself.
I remained silent.
I think I've lost her already.
She's gone now.