An hour before show time and I'd be entering a new milestone in my life. Scarlet was very busy styling my hair while Jane, my sister's personal make-up artist, was busy dabbing her brushes on to my face. Hope, on the other hand, was busy talking about a guy she just met the other day – very typical of her. This was my birthday party, yet it's more than that. This was also going to be our engagement party. Mark had planned all of this and didn't even ask for my opinion. I think this was one of those publicity acts people with power pull off to attract more people of the same status. My father invited a lot of guests, including the biggest politicians in the city. Of course, my uncle was invited too but I wasn't sure if he'd come. There was always that 'for security reasons' thing among political leaders, especially those who have a lot to lose. My uncle is not on the exemption list. That's what you get when you take the throne in cold blood.

I could hear the jazz music below. I hated that. I never liked such kind of music. It was Mark's favorite, though. Scarlet and Jane were almost done making me look human-like when we heard a knock at my door. It was mother. She came in and looked at me with sparkling eyes, complimenting me on my looks and my outfit and how it suited me well. Then, she told everyone to leave us alone for a while. They all went out; including Hope who promised that the guy she met was really hot. Mother walked towards me slowly. Her expression was like that of a small kid who was about to ask a really big favor.

"What is it, Mom?" I was aware I sound irritated. The truth is I am. After dad announced my pre-arranged wedding with Mark, mom never said a thing. I felt betrayed that time, until now.

"It's your sister." Her voice came out softly as if preparing me for a heavy blow.

My eyes widened. "Did something happen to Margaret?" She was on her way to the airport for her flight back to Ireland earlier this afternoon.

"She's fine, dear. She just wanted me to give you something." She went to me and wrapped something around my neck. It was a beautiful necklace with a heart shaped pendant that encased a glowing turquoise stone. It was very beautiful, but it made my heart ache.

I felt the glowing pendant in my hand. "Is this –"

"Yes, my dear. It's the one Oliver gave you." She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "He gave it to your sister the day you said you broke up with him. He told her to give you this when you're in your darkest moment." She looked at me with eyes of helplessness. "I'm sorry, dear. This is the only thing I can do." She broke down in tears.

My mother, along with my sister, had always opposed my father and my uncle regarding my pre-conceived wedding. But, in this world, women don't have a voice. I'm not sure why my mother and my sister thought that giving me this necklace from my past will help me in my helpless situation. But, it's working. I felt my tears falling down. Oh, Oliver.

Mother hugged me tightly. I needed that.

Before I knew it, I was now slowly walking down the spiral staircase as the piano and violin played a beautiful rendition of A Thousand Years by Christina Perri. In every step I took, I prayed for him to come for me and take me away. But I knew it was futile. And so, instead, I prayed that he wouldn't come and just let me move on and that I'll get used to this. I was confused. This confusion broke his heart, and now it's crushing mine too.

A few more steps now and I would be in Mark's arms forever. I tried to take comfort from that. After all, there's no turning back. I directed my gaze to the crowd below. It was like looking at a sea of eyes, all staring at me. But, among those eyes, there was one pair that made all the others insignificant. My eyes got stuck with the very same set of hazel brown eyes that captivated me five years ago. Those eyes who only knew nothing else than to love me was looking at me the same way it did before. He's here! I felt my heart melt with joy. But why could he still look at me like that after what I did to him? What's his plan? Why is he here? Somehow, he looked... different. I couldn't tell why but he doesn't look the same. I felt the sudden surge of happiness left me and it was instantly filled with utter longing and despair.

He's too late now.

I tried my best not to approach the group he was with nor even take a glance at their table. I did my best to appear busy attending to our special guests. But, Hope called me out. I took a deep breath and went to them wearing the most accommodating face I could muster. Oliver was accompanied by a shorter and good looking man, with a stylish undercut hair, the kind of man that Hope really likes.

"Liz! These are the guys I told you about! This is Ryan." Hope pointed with her hands to the shorter guy next to Oliver. But my gaze couldn't leave Oliver's eyes. Somehow I was overwhelmed with anger. For what, I really don't know. Well, maybe because he no longer gave the effort to come back to me after all those years? Or that, after all those years, he came back looking at me like nothing happened? I really couldn't tell.

"Uh, yes. And, uh, Liz, this is Sam," Hope said pointing to Oliver. Sam? What? Did he really change his name? Did he really think that I wouldn't recognize him after all those years? I saw him bow like a knight. But, right now, he is not my knight. Where were you when I needed you the most? I know I made a mistake. But, I thought you said you would love me no matter what? I thought. I could feel my tears flooding up my tear ducts, threatening to flow any minute now. But, I couldn't afford to show my weakness now, not in front of this crowd, and certainly, not in front of him.

"Liz?" I heard hope whisper.

If he could pretend, well, I couldn't. "Sam, huh? What's your game?" I told him. I didn't care anymore how I looked. I was having a hard time fighting back the tears.

"I-I'm sorry. W-what do you mean?" He answered with the most innocent looking face. How could he do this to me? He is torturing me like crazy. Is this his way of getting back at me?

"Why are you here?" I asked again, trying to maintain my composure.

"Uh, Liz, I, uh, I invited them here." Hope said in a low voice. I tried to listen to Hope's explanation but I couldn't hold it anymore. I felt like bursting.

"Why are you still here?" I insisted again. But, I could hear my voice shaking. This is not good. "Why did you follow me here?" But my question was answered with a guiltless look on his face.

"F-follow y - I'm sorry, Miss, but I think we're not on the same page. You must've mistaken me for someone else." His last sentence triggered me. How could he say that looking straight to my eyes? And, 'miss'? What is wrong with him?

"Oh, for Pete's sake, what are you doing here, Oli?!" I finally lost control of myself. "After all I did to you, why are you still here?" Tears kept falling down and I couldn't stop them. The shorter guy was saying something. Liza was also whispering things to me. But I couldn't hear them both. It was as if everything was drowned out and only Oliver's answer mattered now.

"Oli? Miss, I really think you got the wrong person here." ...the wrong person here... the wrong person here... the wrong person... His last words echoed in my mind. What is happening? Why is he playing dumb? Was I wrong all along? Was he the wrong person after all? Was I just too consumed by grief and longing to see him that I actually saw him in a different person? I couldn't say a word but the tears kept flowing down. Now that I got a closer look at him, he indeed looked different. I felt ashamed of what I did. I could feel everyone staring at me now. I felt lost. The only thing I could do was to bury my face in my palms.

There was some commotion surrounding me. But I didn't care. I got drowned in thoughts of Oliver and this man, Sam. Is this his revenge? Or is this karma? Whatever this is, it's killing me, tearing me apart piece by piece. I looked up and saw Mark choking this guy Sam. I called out to stop them. But, knowing Mark, he would never calm down with my words.

I let them be. I was busy making sense of what is happening. I heard a splash of water and saw Mark soaked in the pool. I walked slowly towards them in a trance. Then, Oliver, or Sam, turned around, our face only inches now. I tried to find the words to say. I can see that in this guy's eyes, there was confusion too. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe this wasn't Oliver. But deep down, I knew this guy is Oliver. I trust my woman's instinct this time. And so, I told him: "Are you happy now? You finally did it. Please get away from my life now." I said it softly. If this was why he's here, then I wished he'd just leave me alone and let me die in my misery.

They walked away.

I never thought I would see him coming back to my life and then just leave again. I drove him out of my life... again. I'm getting confused with myself. I always push out the person who loves me and welcome the one who treats me like some property. When I keep acting like this, I guess that's all I really am - a mere property.

I shut myself in my room the rest of the night, drowning myself in tears, recalling the last time I saw Oliver leave this room.

"Oliver, it's over." My words came out like a whisper. "Please stop this."

"Are you sure about this now?" His voice was calm. Indeed he had heard this many times.

I handed him the necklace he gave me. "I don't deserve you." I looked at him straight in the eye. He stared back with the utmost sincerity. Then, he held my hand.

"You don't get to say that." He let go of my hand and held the necklace instead." But, I've told you that many times... I'm tired now, Liz." His voice truly mirrored his weary heart. I don't know why but I never expected him to say that. I was surprised and was hurt more than I expected to be.

"An unfed love can die too, you know." He rose up from my bed, clutching the necklace in his hand. "I love you. Perhaps I'll never be able to love any other woman like I loved you. I gave my all, you know that." He slowly walked towards my door. "But, yeah, I guess you're right. I guess I do deserve someone better."

Those words pierced through me like a javelin. I felt afraid now. I didn't want him to go, now. He was getting serious. He opened the door. Oh, please don't leave. But I couldn't say that. It's too late for that.

Then, he turned around and looked at me straight in the eye. "But, I promised you, didn't I? I will always love you no matter what." He smiled. My heart smiled. But then...

"But for now... it's goodbye." He left, leaving behind an open door and a hanging heart of mine.

I could only stare at the ceiling, still wearing my white dress. I watched the memory play in my mind, over and over again. My mascara-stained tears wouldn't stop flowing. I was getting tired from all the crying and all this suffering. Had I been wiser back then, I wouldn't have to suffer such fate. Oliver, the guy who only knew nothing than to love me truly, was the only guy who could love me like that.

And I let him go away.

***

I woke up upon hearing a loud knock at my door. I forgot I locked it last night. But, I was too tired, too drained, and too depressed to even lift a finger. The dress I wore last night still clung on to my emotionally drained body. I heard my mother yelling frantically from behind my door. At first I couldn't make out what she was talking about. Then, I heard her mention Oliver's name. For some reasons, I felt really scared. My instinct is telling me that something bad has happened. I opened the door, not even caring to change my outfit first. I followed her down the stairs; my feet barely touched the floor. It's as if I was floating. I felt like dreaming. We went straight to the living room. My nephew was already there but he was not watching his morning cartoon shows. He was watching the local news.

Thank you, Mary. I am here, live, in the Barangay Del Carmen, Iligan City, where a horrific scene surprised a woman as she went to visit her son in this small apartment you can see behind me. At around 5:00 am, the couple arrived at the scene from their hometown in Makati City to surprise their son for his birthday. But, as they went inside, they saw their son's roommate lying in his bedroom covered in blood and mud. The victim had one gunshot wound on his left flank and another one on the right and a broken right leg. A deformed face and bruises all over the body suggests that he was brutally tortured or mugged, according to the investigators. The victim was identified as Sam Castro, a news writer of Pinoy News Central. As of today, the police are still searching for the couple's son, and the victim's roommate, Ryan Mejares, a photographer of the same news company. Until he is found, he remains a prime suspect. His parents...

The news reporter went on with some more details of the scene but I was no longer listening. The news flashed a picture of this guy, Sam, from his reporter's ID. He is not Oliver, I told myself. But somehow, I couldn't shake away the feeling that I could be wrong. My feet were getting fidgety, itching to go somewhere that can ease my unexplainable anxiety. Without thinking, I went straight to bedroom, took off my dress and changed to something casual and comfortable. I took the car keys and went out through the main door, ignoring my dad who just got home from god-knows-where.

As soon as I was on the main road to the city, I forgot that I didn't finish watching the news and now I don't know where to go. I wasn't even sure why I was driving in the first place. My mind wasn't working right. Like a freezing computer, it went blank. It's like my body was running on auto-pilot. Everything seemed to wobble, blur, and fade in and out, voices echoing in my mind, Oliver's voice, the reporter's voice, my heart beat... I felt like I was high but was sinking down. I couldn't make any sense of what was happening. The moment felt so surreal. He's not Oliver. He's not Oliver. He's not Oliver. The words became a mantra, as I drove through the early morning rush hour. Why am I even thinking of these things? Of course, he is Oliver! But, I hope I'm wrong.

This isn't what they call the benefit of a doubt. At this point, this has become the insanity of uncertainty.

After driving around town for almost two hours, I arrived at the crime scene. As to how I managed to subconsciously get here, I don't know. The place was nearly deserted. I wouldn't have recognized the place if it weren't for the police line tapes secured around the perimeter of a small 3-door apartment building. There were neither onlookers around the area nor any police officers for that matter. They must have finished the investigation and took the body. The body. That thought froze my feet with fear that I might be losing or have already lost Oliver... for the last time.

I breathe in deeply and gathered every ounce of courage I could, and stepped beyond the line tapes and went inside the apartment.

***

What will happen next? What did Melissa see in the apartment? Is Melissa really losing Oliver for the last time? 

Hey guys! Thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate it that you followed the story up to this point. If you liked the story, please consider clicking the vote button. Otherwise, please message me about my faults and some plot holes you find. I welcome that ^_^ Feel free to leave a comment too. Do you really think Sam is Oliver?

HAVE A GOOD DAY READERS! ^_^