"Have you booked the flights?" I asked without turning my head towards Flavio's direction. 

The moment we arrived at his condo after he fetched me at the lobby of Chaos's unit, I didn't waste time and hastily walked towards my room.

"I did. Last day."

Ngunit agad din akong napahinto at sa huli ay hinarap si Flavio. Marahas akong napabuntong hininga at napagpasyahang sabihin ang kaninang mga narinig. "Someone sent me a recording. Rieselle told them your name. They'll surely find you," I stated while thinking of an alternative plan for him. But I can't think of any but to hide as well. 

Mabagal ang hakbang na lumapit siya sa akin habang ang dalawang kamay ay nasa bulsa. "What do you expect? That she'll shut her mouth about everyone here?"

I'm not expecting that, of course. O siguro, nawala lang din sa isip ko ang bagay na iyon. "Will you come with me? Or you... have other plans?" I raised a brow.

Ilang segundo ng katahimikan ang namayani sa pagitan naming dalawa bago siya nakasagot. "I'll come with you. Let's hide together."

I firmly nodded my head while biting the insides of my cheeks. 

"How about Tito Nathaniel?" 

Mariin akong umiling. "Dad's out of this. Ayaw kong madamay pa siya."

His scrutinizing eyes stayed at me before he nodded his head. "Emil and his other men will stay with him while we're away."

"Alright. Book several flights with you too, same flights with mine. Let's fix everything, just like what I've planned. But this time, you're with me..." I trailed off remembering if I forgot to tell him something about my plan. 

Nang matantong walang nakalimutan ay muli ko siyang hinarap. He's now typing on his phone, or maybe dialing someone's number. 

Marahan akong napabuntong-hininga. "I'm sorry," I genuinely whispered.

He languidly cocked his head as he eyed me and licked his lower lip. Sandali siyang nawalan ng imik at para bang sinisigurado kung tama ang narinig niya. 

I gave him an apologetic smile. "Hindi na dapat kita dinamay. I shouldn't have asked you to help me."

"I helped you. Willingly, Marcia," he muttered when he realized I'm serious.

I shook my head. "You should be out of this."

He heaved a deep sigh and tilted his head, pilit hinuhuli ang aking mga mata. "Marsh, come on. I wanted this. Whatever I did, it was because of my own will. Kung ayaw ko, hindi mo ako mapapasunod. Even if you're my boss's daughter, I won't obey you."

"You'll lose your freedom because of me."

He held my shoulders as he intently eyed me. "Don't ever blame yourself. I'm not even blaming you." He paused a bit. 

Tumuwid siya sa pagkakatayo habang kumunot ang noo. His eyes turned into slits. "Come on! What happened to the Marcia I know?" 

We stared at each other. At habang tumatagal, unti-unting sumisilay ang ngisi sa aming mga labi, like we're talking about something humorous without words. In the end, we ended up chuckling while I'm rolling my eyes. 

Akmang tatalikuran ko siya nang may maalala. "I need to do one last thing before leaving." I even lazily raised my palm as a gesture.

"And that is?"

The corner of my lips rose for a grin. "Ruin Timothea and Abacus." 

This is the time that I'm waiting for. Before, I planned to ditch Chaos as Rieselle in their wedding and ruin the Zaldivars with the evidence I have at the same time. But some things changed.

His eyes narrowed once again. "I thought that changed already?" 

At sinong may sabi sa kanya? I can't remember telling him anything. "It didn't. Maybe if they can bring my mother back, I'll forgive them."

He cackled. "No one can do that, Marsh. Tita's been resting for quite a while now." 

I smirked. "Exactly! It is impossible. So no one can make me change my mind," sambit ko bago siya tuluyang tinalikuran. 

Dumiretso ako sa aking silid at naramdaman ko ang pagsunod sa akin ni Flavio kaya't hindi ko na isinara ang pinto matapos kong makapasok. 

I ignored him as I directly went on my drawers. Hinila ko ang nasa pinakababang drawer at tumambad sa aking ang nag-iisang brown envelope na laman noon. The envelope stretched more than usual because of the pile of papers and flash drives inside.

I snatched it out of the drawer as I walked towards my bed and hastily sat on it. Doon ko tinanggal ang string na nakapulupot sa envelope upang tuluyang mabuksan iyon. Flavio sat in front of me while the envelope is in between us. 

Isa-isa kong nilabas ang mga dokumentong naroon upang muling titigan. I stared at the evidences of what the Zaldivars did to my family's company that led to my mother's death.

May sampung flashdrive sa loob ng envelope. This is the soft copy of all the evidences that I have. Kung gaano kadumi maglaro ang mga Zaldivar at kung gaano sila kawalang puso.

While some are the financial statements of our company before Abacus Zaldivar invested. Makikita roon ang pinansyal na katayuan ng aming kompanya at nasa isang krisis man, masasabing malaki ang potensyal na makabangon ang kompanya. 

But the Zaldivars bribed our investors to sell their stocks to them. And after collecting our company's stocks, they pulled it out. Dahilan kung bakit bumagsak ang kompanya. 

Naroon din ang katunayang dating katunggali ng isa sa mga kompanya ng Zaldivar ang kompanya ng aking pamilya.

Kasama rin sa loob ng flashdrive ang kuha sa CCTV sa conference room ng aming kompanya kung saan nagtalo si Mommy at ang dalawang Zaldivar.

There are lots of evidences proving what they did to my family's company. That must be enough to ruin their reputation. 

Lastly, I included a rumor about Chaos's missing sister. I wrote everything about what Chaos told me. Though I pointed out that Abacus and Timothea Zaldivar are hiding her. 

I have no proof in that one. But exposing it would make everyone dig deeper.

"Anong gagawin mo?"

"I'll give these to the media, to those who's eager to climb on the top. 'Yung hindi mababayaran."

Napapantastikuhang sumilay ang ngisi sa mga labi ni Flavio. Marahan siyang umiling nang unti-unting nakuha ang naiisip ko. "The small ones, you mean."

I smirked. 

I thought those evidences were enough to ruin the Zaldivars. I was confident that they will lose their fucking reputation the moment everything went out on public. 

But four months after everything was exposed, my confidence vanished together with my only hope.

Four fucking months and everything went back to normal for that fucking family. Like they didn't do anything wrong at all. 

Their stocks plummeted for the first two months that the evidences were out on public. Akala ko, iyon na ang hinihintay kong pagbagsak ng mga Zaldivar. Lalo na at hindi nila maitatanggi ang mga ebidensyang nakalap laban kay Timothea at Abacus. 

Ngunit nagsimula ring makabawi ang mga kompanya nila sa pangatlong buwan. And now they're back and firm again. Like nothing fucking happened. 

Napahilot ako sa aking sentido nang matantong wala ng epekto ang mga ebidensyang nailabas ko. "Fuck," I cursed. 

Iyon ang balitang bumungad sa akin bago pa kami makaalis ng Negros.

This is where we stayed for one month. Sa unang buwan ay sa Cebu kami nanatili ni Flavio, habang sa pangalawa at pangatlo ay sa Pangasinan. That's our plan to lure whoever's finding us. Ngunit sa ngayon, kung may naghahanap man, tingin ko ay inaakala pa rin nilang sa ibang bansa kami nagtungo ni Flavio. 

They're still finding us on the flights that Flavio booked using Chaos's card. And later on, they'll realized I booked a flight somewhere in Europe under a different card. 

At iyon ang tutuonan nila ng pansin. Because they'll find out that someone took that flight. They'll surely follow their track. Aakalain nilang ako iyon kasama si Flavio. But the truth is, I asked Flavio to send someone that can take the flight.

Hahalughugin nila ang buong Europa at wala silang makikita. Because we never went out of the Philippines in the first place. 

And I planned to stay and settle down somewhere near Manila too. Sa malapit na lugar kaya't hindi nila aakalain na doon kami namamalagi. Bulacan is the perfect place. Plus that is the hometown of the Zaldivars. They have several properties in that province but if I'm right, none of them is actually staying in Bulacan.

Everything will go according to my plans as long as the Zaldivars, Serranos or whoever that will try to find us will keep everything away from the public. 

"Your father's calling." Flavio handed me his phone with a new sim card in it. 

Sa loob ng apat na buwan, hindi ko sinubukang buksan ang aking telepono. I can't risk it. 

Walang balitang lumabas tungkol sa amin ni Flavio, kung pinaghahahanap ba kami ng mga pulis o ng mga Zaldivar at Serrano ngunit sa tingin ko, hindi gugustuhin ng mga Zaldivar na lumabas iyon sa publiko at mas gugustuhin tahimik na resolbahin ang kaso. Lalo na dahil naloko sila.

Aside from the crisis that the Zaldivars instantly resolved, wala na akong narinig tungkol sa kanila. I don't have any idea too on what happened to the rumor I made about Chaos's sister. 

I snorted and shut my eyes upon remembering the other news that I heard about the Zaldivars.

About Chaos and Rieselle's wedding. They're spotted in a fine dining restaurant with the organizers. The news says the couple is finalizing their wedding.

Noon pang unang buwan iyon at nasa Cebu kami ni Flavio. So they're probably married by now. 

Mapait akong napangiti nang maramdaman ang pagsikip ng aking dibdib.

I shouldn't think about that. I shouldn't care. But a fucking part of me is hoping that something happened and the wedding didn't pushed through. 

I am that evil. Selfish.

Though that's impossible. They must be married already. At kung hindi man, ano naman ang magagawa ko?

I mean, I can't entertain what I'm feeling! I can list down the reasons why and it can probably occupy a full page of paper.

Unang-una na roon ay mahal ni Chaos si Rieselle. Doon pa lang, wala na 'kong laban. 

Iyon ang una't huling balita na narinig ko tungkol kay Chaos mula nang nagtago kami ni Flavio. I blocked every news about him. Kahit si Flavio, hindi na rin nagbanggit ng kahit anong tungkol kay Chaos. 

"Dad?" I called as I placed Flavio's phone near my ear. 

Ilang segundo pa ang lumipas bago ko narinig ang sagot niya. "I told you, those evidences weren't enough. You know what's the best way to get even?"

I gently massaged the bridge of my nose while stretching my neck by tilting my head.

"Manage our company and make it on top. On top that our company will compete with Zaldivar's Real Estate again. That's how you can get even with them." A note of firmness crept in his voice.

Marahan akong nagpakawala ng hangin mula sa aking bibig. It will take me long, probably years. Yes, I experienced handling a company, the company of the Serranos but I know just the basics. I handled a boutique too but that's different. So if I really decided to manage our company, I need a lot of time for that.

"Matuto ka sa naging resulta ng ginawa ko noon kung bakit bumagsak ang kompanya. Make sure to be wise in every decision you'll make."

"Pag-iisipan ko," I answered about him asking me to handle the company. 

"I will surely be glad if you will." Why can I imagine him grinning?

Matagal na niya iyong gusto, na pamahalaan ko ang kompanya ng pamilya. But I really have no interest in the company. Kung hindi lang dahil sa mga Zaldivar, I won't even considered it.

My father's words kept replaying in my mind even until we arrived in Bulacan. 

"Marcia." Flavio nudged my elbow, it made me aware that my mind's floating somewhere.

"Huh?" Wala sa sariling tanong ko. He tilted his head in front, dahilan kung bakit napabaling din ako sa direksyong iyon. 

"Ikaw ba 'yung nakausap ni Nanay sa telepono? 'Yung Marcia Quijano?" The woman near my age asked. She dresses like a common probinsyana but her features looks a bit foreign.

I nodded a bit. "Yes, that's me." 

Palakaibigan itong ngumiti. "Ako si Winella, anak ako ng nakausap mo sa telepono. Halika't ipakikita ko sa inyo ang apartment na tutuluyan niyo."

She leads the way towards the apartment where we're planning to stay while discussing again the payments that we need to settle.

Inilibot ko ang tingin sa kabuuan ng apartment. This is not as huge as Flavio's condo but just enough for the two of us. Kumpleto ang mga kagamitan at maayos naman. Sa sala ay may mahabang upuan na gawa sa kahoy. Isa lang ang kwarto ngunit dalawa ang kama. 

"You sure you wanna stay here with me?" I suddenly asked the moment the daughter of the landlady left.

Ibinaba ni Flavio ang mga gamit na dala namin sa kahoy na upuan bago ako sinagot. "It's been four months, Marcia. Iyan pa rin ang tanong mo sa 'kin?"

I lifted my shoulder for a half shrug. "Just making sure that you want this. Maybe you have other plans for yourself, tell me." 

"I'm sure with this, Marcia."

Oh, well. His choice. I lifted my shoulder for a half shug before turning my back on him. 

__________