Goodbye Lullaby (COMPLETED)

Chapter 39

Oh, the dawn won't stop weighing a tonne
I've done some things that I shouldn't have done
But I haven't stopped loving you once
-
The Ultracheese by Arctic Monkeys

***

The person I suspected to be the unknown texter was Zoey, Eros' obsessed blockmate in college.

Wala na akong ibang maisip dahil siya lang naman 'yung pinag-awayan namin nang malala bukod kay Shierra. She really liked Eros back then. Lahat na ng pagpapapansin, ginawa niya pero hindi umubra. Eros was madly inlove with me. Lahat ng pinagselosan ko, lahat ng ayaw ko, iniwasan niya. The last I remembered of Zoey was when Eros dropped the subject they were in together and I'd been provoking her by eyeing her everytime our paths cross after that.

I was petty, alright? But she could still be inlove with Eros even after that! Magkakasama kami sa iisang university at sa buong panahon na 'yon, kami pa ni Eros kaya hindi siya nagkaroon ng pag-asa. Hanggang sa naglabasan ang sandamakmak na chismis buwan buwan tungkol sa pagpapakasal namin at do'n na naputol ang pasensya niya. She went and installed her device, then proceeded to threaten me with what she caught.

Siguradong sigurado ako nang sabihin iyon kay Mr. Estrella, the private investigator I hired. We tracked everything, starting from the timeline I gave him until present. Hindi ko alam ang mararamdaman ko dahil sa buong prosesong iyon, lumalabas na tila inosente si Zoey.

Ang tanging kasuspe-suspetya lang ay buong college years niya, wala siyang boyfriend then suddenly she's got one. Very recent, and yet they're already engaged! Well, hindi naman kahusga husga ang mga gano'ng pangyayari, pero sa mata ng nag-iimbestiga, bakit sobrang biglaan? When she had a boyfriend, that's also the time I stopped receiving threats. When she got engaged, that's also the time I started having this whole chaos investigated.

But then, Zoey turned out to be innocent in the end. Napag-alaman naming matagal na niyang manliligaw ang fiancé niya at ngayon nga'y magkakababy na pala! Bukod do'n ay wala ring matrace na record si Mr. Estrella kung lumapit ba si Zoey kay Eros pagkatapos ng breakup namin.

That ended Mr. Estrella's service for me, but I didn't stop.

Ang tanging pinanghahawakan ko ay yung lugar kung saan nakuha ang video. Alam kong dapat iyon ang pinaimbestigahan ko pero sinunod ko ang tingin ko'y mabilis na paraan. Sigurado kasi talaga ako sa suspetya kong si Zoey ang may pakana kaya siya agad ang pinaimbestigahan ko. Turns out, I was wrong.

But then if I did have Mr. Estrella investigate at Dekada, Miss Gatch will know. Nakokonsensya na nga ako ngayong may isa nang nakakaalam, paano pa kaya kung nadagdagan? I know Eros also deserves to know, but I can't tell him. Mas pipiliin kong solusyunan ito mag-isa kaysa idamay pa siya.

I have a goal in mind when I went to Dekada one day. 

I know the place where the video was filmed. Ang tanging iisipin ko na lang ay kung kailan pa nandon ang camera at kung kailan ito kinuha. The phone numbers weren't much of a help, too, because all of it are dead ends. Talagang sinigurado ng texter na hindi siya matetrace.

I have observed the CCTVs around the floor of the studios. Pasimple ko pang ginawa 'yon dahil bihira na lang akong makita sa kompanya kaya nakakapagtaka para sa iba kapag nandon ako.

There's one at the corner of the hall, and another that was much closer to After Euphoria's studio. As I was walking towards the security department, my mind was also running. If I ask for a chance to view the clips from 2 years ago, or maybe a copy, mas mapapadali ang imbestigasyon.

But it was prohibited.

"Pasensya na, Ma'am, bawal talaga humingi ng kopya..." sabi ng lalaki ro'n.

I sighed and looked at him pleadingly. "Can I view the clips then? Iyon na lang po, please? I just need to know if dito ko ba nawala yung singsing ko. It's an heirloom. It's the only thing I got from my mom... please? Can I?"