Book 2: 07

I turned my head sideways to look at Eric. He was also staring at them with a creased forehead.

"Jealous?" I smirked. Never once in five years did he make me feel he was jealous whenever I danced with his business colleagues. He even asked me for it to maintain good ties with his prospects or business partners.

"I am jealous on your behalf. How could Mr. Grey flirt with another woman in from of you?"

"Look, who's talking? Weren't you doing the same way back then?" I rolled my eyes in disdain. After all those pain he caused me, how could he judge another man? I may be hurting to see Sean and Calla happy together, but my trust in Sean prevailed. He had proved his love to me countless times, and he was a million times gentler than Eric.

"I was honest with you, Red. I never gave false assurances."

I chose to keep silent because I saw no good in bringing up the past with him. Sean was just displaying sportsmanship and maybe trying hard to put down the awkwardness between them. I watched them moved across the dancefloor, and I watched them swayed their bodies according to the beat. There had been times when their faces were an inch away from each other that I held my breath in discomfort.

"Red, for you to understand why I am hurting for you, is because Calla confessed something to me."

I gave him a short stare, and I saw hurt in his eyes. "What is it?"

"Promise me first that whatever happens, you will not tell Sean about this."

I felt my heart constricted because no matter how I tried to erase my doubts at Sean for keeping Calla somewhere, there was still a part of it that lingered.

"Alright."

"But I did not mind about it anymore because Calla and I are just friends. The truth is that she asked me to bring her as my date tonight. Because--"

"Because what?" I got impatient. He took so long to complete his statement, and I was already dying of curiosity.

"Because she knows there's this part where she could have the chance to dance with him. This is her way of telling you that she exists because she knows Sean is going to announce your wedding plans tonight. She may not be able to change Sean's decision, but hurting you could."

"Eric, if it's not yet clear to you yet, Sean and I got married in Hawaii."

"I know."

"You know? How?"

"Because Calla went after Sean in Hawaii."

"What?"

"While you were sleeping during the daytime and Sean is on his surfing lesson, she was enjoying with him."

"What are you talking about, Eric? Sean and I always went out together." I was already shaking in fear because what he said about that surfing lesson was true. That thought alone devastated me that I already wanted to cry.

"But you showed no interest in surfing, so that's where Calla got her chance."

I recalled the day when Sean suggested taking surfing lessons. I agreed at first but refused later. I just permitted him to do it alone. He even insisted that I should go with him because he would be by my side, learning with me. Sports were never in my bucket list of things I wanted to do, so, in the end, I didn't join Sean. And while he had his lessons, I was in the coffee shop or our room reading novels.

"And do you know that Calla was his coach?"

"That's craziness. Sean would never enroll if he knew she was the coach."

"Of course, but what kind of a coach would refuse a huge sum of money for an offer to be his proxy? Calla grew up in Sama Island, the surfing capital of the country, so that you would expect her as a surfing expert."

I spread out my arms and threw him an angry look. I had no reason to be mad at him, but he provoked me for spelling it out to me.

"Okay, what do you want to point out?"

"I don't believe you did not know about their sexual encounter. Calla is sure Sean is the father of the child. You have no idea how President Abella got mad when he learned about it that he drove her away from his life. The number of weeks of her pregnancy does not coincide with the last time they had sex. In that period, he had been away for months because he had trips outside the country."

The tears that I had tried to hold back, ran freely from my eyes. I was glad the lights were dimmed for Sean and Calla's dance because I would be damned if a reporter would catch me crying.

"I am hesitant to tell you about this, Red, but I also don't want you to get blinded. Hurting you while you were with me was bad enough, and I could not forgive myself for that. I just want to make it up to you in my little ways, to protect you from going through the process again. You never deserve any of our cruelties."

That night my eyes were opened to the truth that Eric was not wholly evil as I thought. He was just mean to me because he was hurting at that moment because of Calla, and moving on was difficult. Only at this moment had I seen the good side of him and his sincerity.

"What else can Calla gain? We are already married."

"Yes, but you are married in a country that allows divorce. She is a hundred percent sure she can lure him out of the marriage if she wins this fight. And she is doubling her effort before your wedding takes place. We don't have divorce here, and marriage annulment takes years."

"What will I do?" I was already sobbing hard. I glanced at Sean and Calla, and in my very eyes, I saw her rubbing her body at him. The people around may not have noticed it because Calla came in as Eric's date, and probably, they were also thinking that they were already getting serious. Some people also knew about their past, and the possibility of them getting back together was likely to happen.

I looked at Sean's expression, and it seemed he was enjoying. His smiles still glowed against the dim light, and his eyes were never leaving hers. I followed them through while they danced, but never even once did he remember to glance at me.

"Pretend that you do not know about them until you have enough proof. Don't let your jealousy control your decisions."

Author's notes:

My dearest motivators,

I am already happy to see silent readers, but I'd be happier if you let me hear out your thoughts. Thank you so much.