Camille Syanna

Montano Wesley.

I gasped upon hearing that name for the second time from ZA. If that was Montano Wesley, then that man was the one who killed ZA's dad. I started getting goosebumps all over my arms. What was he doing here?

And how did my father know that man?

I turned to Dad and waited for answers. It took him a while before he returned the question to ZA.

"How did you know him?"

ZA had no business telling my dad who Montano Wesley was to him. Right then, I knew I had to protect ZA's secrets as if they were mine, so I stepped forward and asked Dad again. "No, Dad. How did you know Montano Wesley?"

God, I almost couldn't force myself to mention the name of the devil. Dad's face doubled the surprise I had in mine two minutes ago. It was as if he was terrified that I knew the guy.

"Y-you know him too?" The color left his face, and he stuttered.

Now I'm more concerned than surprised. Clearly, my father knew Montano Wesley, not in a chummy, comfortable way. His body language spoke the opposite. I nodded. "What's going on, Dad?"

"Hey," Mom called us from inside the house. "Kanina ko pa kayo inaantay na pumasok. Ano? Diyan na lang ba kayong tatlo?"

"Camilla!" Dad immediately panicked. He turned to where the BMW was parked a few minutes ago to make sure it was already gone, and then he ran toward Mom, pushing her back into the house. "He now knew where we live!"

"Who?" Mom asked, confused.

"Dad, what's happening?" I followed them inside, ganoon rin si ZA.

"M-Montano," Dad answered Mom's question and ignored mine.

Nakita ko kung paanong nawalan ng kulay ang mukha ni Mommy. Her concerned expression turned frightened. Umiling-iling ito. "No, no... no..."

"Darling," Dad was there to catch her as she was about to lose her balance. "Honey, I wouldn't let him near you. Not this time. I swear to God. I will protect you and Camille with my life. I swear to God."

Fear started to boil in me as I pieced everything together. I watched how Dad turned protective of Mom. And the fear in my mother's eyes. She wasn't just alarmed. She was horror-stricken, frantic like the mention of Montano's name relived a nightmare she had been trying to escape for so long.

"O-oh, Oh, my God..." I whispered with my rattling lips. A single tear ran over my cheek.

And only then did the two of them remember I was still here. They both panicked and turned their attention to me.

"H-he... h-he was..." I couldn't even construct what I needed to ask them.

Mom rushed to hug me tightly, trying to cushion my fall. "Oh, sweetie! I-I'm sorry,"

I didn't know what she was sorry for because none of these was her fault. If anything, she was the victim here and not me. I wrapped my arms around her, trying to return the comfort she was showering me. My mother is the most selfless woman I know. She didn't deserve everything that had happened to her. Everything that Montano Wesley did to her.

When they told me about Dad not being my biological father, they also told me who I really was—everything except for the name of the perpetrator. A man who had shown no sign of danger since she met him. Mom was already living a quiet married life when her long-time admirer violated her. It was a harmless adoration turned sick obsession, and when he saw a window of opportunity, he jumped into it and ruined her.

One Friday night, Mom was alone in their home in a highly gated community. Dad was out of the country, playing for the season. That was when he attacked Mom and took her against her will. He forced himself on her in the most cruel way one could ever imagine and then brutally left her to die of lacerations.

Mom told me she wanted to die, and I couldn't blame her. She didn't. She had to live and survive the nightmare he had left her. It must've been excruciating and torturous for her to recover. And to make it worse, it left her a souvenir—something to remind her of the most horrific night of her life.

Me.

She didn't lie when she told me she wasn't sure if she wanted to keep me. And again, I couldn't blame her. I represent the ruin of her muliebrity.

I respected her more when she didn't terminate her pregnancy and instead used me to recover from the pain. Mom never made me feel anything less than love. She was the best thing that had ever happened to me.

That was why I never dared ask who my father was. I never wanted to meet him. The least I felt for him was rage and a desire to see him die.

"We're living," Dad announced. "I couldn't risk him getting near any of the two of you. No, not again."

Dad had never forgiven himself for what happened. He felt responsible for a crime committed by another person. Mom didn't want anyone to know about what happened. It never left the family. They continued living as a married couple, and it took years to rebuild their relationship. It took years for Dad to finally convince Mom she could still trust a man.

"W-Why... Why was he here?" Mom cried, embracing me tightly.

"I-I d-don't know, Mom..." I stammered. Only then had I realized that I, too, was crying. I turned to Dad and pulled him into our embrace. "Y-you're my dad. Y-you're my only father. You are not going to lose us, Dad."

And then I remembered ZA. He was at the corner, watching us. He didn't understand what was going on, but he didn't say anything. ZA just let us. I swallowed an imaginary lump down my throat as I thought of how he would react to the news of me being the child of the man he swore on his father's grave he'd kill.

But ZA needed to know. He had the right to decide, whatever his decision might be. I should accept it and not take it against him.

I just didn't know how to tell him when I was still trying to refuse it myself.

It took a while before Mom had finally calmed down. She was fidgety and twitchy. Dad had to take her upstairs and give her anxiety medications.

"Are you okay?" ZA asked carefully when we were finally left alone on the porch.

I faced him as I wiped the tears away from my cheeks. "I-I don't know,"

"What's going on?" He hesitated to go near me because he didn't know he was welcome.

I extended my arms to him, letting him know just how much I needed a hug from him at this very moment. He didn't let me wait for a second. ZA enveloped me in a comforting embrace.

"You're scaring me," he admitted. "What's happening, baby?"

"M-Montano," the taste of his name on my tongue was disgusting. "H-he did an unforgivable thing to my mom,"

I couldn't even use the exact words to tell him what he needed to know.

"I-It was horrendous," my arms tightened around his waist because there was a greater chance I could lose him tonight. "M-Montano is my biological father, ZA."

No, there was no other way I could tell him the truth with minimal pain. It wouldn't change the fact that I was the daughter of his enemy.

What an ugly plot twist to our love story that just started to blossom. Who would've thought this was our fate?

ZA didn't respond.

Or move.

He stilled for a little while, and I tensed when I felt his arms loosen around me as if he was letting me go.

My confession had him taken aback. I didn't stop him. He needed space. This was too much. I understand.

"Talk to me, please?" Even though I was scared, I still looked up at him. I couldn't read any emotions in his eyes. He was staring at me blankly. "I-I'm so sorry,"

ZA is the love of my life. I had never loved anyone as hard as I love him. He probably wouldn't believe me if I told him I shared his pain—the pain of the little kid who lost everything and had no power to fight from the beginning.

He shook his head and stared at me with a fixed expression.

I wanted to close the distance between us when he took another step back. My heart clenched as I felt like I was losing him. But I nailed myself on my stand because I understood what he must've been feeling right now. The last thing I wanted to do was invalidate ZA's right to react. It doesn't matter if he redirected his hate toward me. I could take it. For him, I would.

That was how much I cared for ZA.

"I-I didn't want this, too..." I cried and never stopped crying. "I would understand if you'd hate me, too. But please don't..."

I could lose ZA.

And every step he took farther away turned the could to would.

I ached for him. But I was hurting, too.

It wasn't a cheeseburger and fries treat to know that I was a daughter of a monster. A Theodore Bundy incarnate in an awful version. It felt like a knife to my chest, and a weight settled there.

My hopes of not losing ZA disintegrated when he finally turned his back on me, leaving without a word.

I was crumbling inside. I could hardly move.

He was gone...

ANNOUNCEMENT:

VLADISLAV - ZA's POV, which covers the first and second-generation timeline, is open for pre-order. We have limited slots left. Please message us on Facebook to order: https://web.facebook.com/frapwpstories or https://web.facebook.com/frxppauchino/

Title: Vladislav (ZA's POV) | Price: P550
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Book details: 6x9, perfect bind, 200 pages, cream paper, matte cover.

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