Feint (Royal Society #3) COMPLETED

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

Unleashed Feelings

I calmly placed the phone on the table and leaned back in my chair. "What do you think you will gain from these, Carrine?" 

She smiled. That smile scared me so bad but I had to put on a calm and collected facade. "A lot, Amara."

"First, I could ruin the royalties, your family particularly. You should have trained Elise more, don't you think? Otherwise, she won't make this kind of mistake," she said. "Second, I could ruin... you."

My breathing hitched. "I did nothing wrong to you, Carrine. In fact, I was so nice to you that I treated you like my own sibling!" She flinched when I mentioned the word sibling. Is she feeling guilty? Is that it? But isn't it too soon? She came prepared for this interaction. Hindi siya agad bibigay sa ganoon lang.

And I was right.

She laughed. Literally in my face. Like I said a joke to her. 

"A sibling? Amara, you really are so naive," she said. Her smile then disappeared. "Alam mo ang ginawa mo? You are like some gem around the stones. Mas pinapakita mo lang sa main kung anong wala kami."

"You get to decide where you want to study, we don't. You get the chance for an easy way out, while we struggle. You treat everyone nicely because you have the means and showed us what we lack. That's what you did, Amara. You treated us like trash and make us envious of what you have."

Her eyes... it was full of anger and misery. "Bakit pinili ba namin ang ganitong buhay? Nagkaroon ba kami ng choice kung kaninong pamilya kami mapupunta? Hindi! We are also human beings, breathing, and living, but never, never in our life, we were treated like one."

"Then you entered the school and acted like superior to every one of us. You want to know bakit ni isa walang nagtangkang kalabanin ka? Because we are afraid of the power that you hold. Paano? Nasa baba kami ng mga dugong-bughaw tulad mo. Nasa baba at tinatapak-tapakan."

"We have been always pushed around, disregarded, and forgotten - just because we don't have any wealth or power, to begin with. And you say feel our pain? Our miseries? You can hear our cries? That's pure bullshit!"

"Because you will never know, unless you live like one."

I was stupified. Hindi ko alam kung ano ang dapat sabihin. Hindi ko alam kung meron bang mga salita ang pwede kong sabihin sa kaniya. Hindi ko alam kung may magagawa pa ako para mabawasan man lang galit niya sa akin.

Because I didn't know. 

She was right. I studied there without even thinking about the effects of my actions. Because in my mind, I just want to study there. I have other choices but I chose there for no reason at all. But little did I know, I was causing misery. My presence planted the hatred. My mere existence there is suffocating for them.

"Now, you're crying," Carrine said. "What happened to the confident and strong-willed Amara Luelle Nastia? Ah, right. She never existed in the first place. Because it was just a shield, protecting a fragile little girl."

I stood up from my seat to defend myself. "That's not true!"

A mocking smile appeared on her lips as she stood up as well. "Really? Prove it then. That you are confident. Prove me wrong, Amara."

"You can't right? Dahil totoo. The picture says it all. The great Elizabeth Serene Sierra is not really in love with the Crown Prince, rather with his brother-in-law. What will you do now, Amara? The clan that you wanted to protect so hard will go down to drain."

I clenched my fist as I put on a stoic face. "No, you're wrong, Carrine. Ate Hena will continue her reign and it will be followed by Zachary's descendants. I will make sure of it and not even you can ruin it."

She sat down and crossed her legs. "Go," she urged. "Try denying it... to the Upper Clan."

Nanlaki agad ang mata ko at nanghihinang napaupo. "U-upper Clan?"

"Why? Do you really think I would just let those pictures in my phone? What I took risks capturing those for nothing? That will be a stupid move... but I am not stupid, Amara. I know how to play a game and I know how to make my target go weak."

I thought I am playing the game well. I thought I was winning. I thought I was nearing success. Turns out, my enemy has the greatest card that I can't conquer. To actually believe that I am smart and calculative... what a shame.

Nakatingin lang ako kay Carrine, wondering where was my friend go. I really like to believe that she didn't mean all of these. That she is just forced, or even threatened. I am willing to go to that length but I am just avoiding the truth. 

The Carrine back in Midaestas is long gone. No, she doesn't exist in the first place. Because she was just feinting her innocence, trying to keep the lid of her darkest hatred towards me. 

"Why are you targeting me?" Mahinahon kong tanong. 

She shrugged. "You are an easy target. You trust people easily and you let your feelings take over once they got inside your life. Like now. I thought I would have a hard time getting to know you but just a little tears and back story, I have you wrapped around my fingers."

"But I work hard too, you know. Pretending to be an innocent little girl who needs your saving. Trying to act nice and fragile all the time. Being a diligent and bullied student. I guess I am a good actress, don't you think? My Mother would be so proud of me."

I smiled mockingly. "You think they will be proud of you? Of what you've become? You becoming a liar and manipulator? Sinong magulang ang matutuwa doon? I don't think you are making them proud, Carrine."

"You don't know anything about them!" She shouted.

"Because I don't need to, Carrine. It's common sense. No parent would ever be happy seeing their daughter living in hate."

Her eyes filled with tears. I wanted to pity her but she has to know that even if she succeeds in ruining me, she won't be happy. Because I treated her like my own and even when we are not blood-related, all I wished for her was to live happily. Life is difficult, I know that. There are different levels of struggles and hardships in life and I may not know what they were facing but even you lost the light in your life and you are swallowed by darkness, you shouldn't let it live inside you.

After I said that, she stood up from her seat and went towards the door. Just when she was about to open it, it opened. I saw Ate Hena's eyes widened when she saw Carrine. Did she know? About the issue? 

"Finally... Carmina's daughter, I found you."

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