The Lawyer's Dangerous Lover (Ongoing)

8th

The first time the idea crossed my mind that Jade might be part of a syndicate—or worse, a spy from another organization—I didn't dwell on it much. I told myself it didn't matter. Why should I care? But later that night, when I was trying to fall asleep, that nagging thought refused to leave me. I couldn't shake it, and I have no idea how long I stayed awake, turning it over in my mind. Could Jade really be working for Jacob?

Even back then, I had my suspicions. He always seemed to be covering for his brother. They were close, always helping each other out, and that alone was enough to plant seeds of doubt in my head. But what really fueled my anger was remembering what Jade had done to me. I could still feel the burning resentment, the way it flared up whenever I thought about how he deliberately threw the case so that I would get convicted—to cover up Jacob's crimes. He was never fighting for me. Not really. I wasn't naive enough to believe that. He's Jacob's brother, after all. What more could I have expected from him?

Still, I had let myself get close to him. Half of this is my fault. I even told myself not to expect anything from him. But the truth is, deep down, I was hoping he'd prove me wrong. Hoping he'd choose the right path. Once upon a time, I admired him. I looked up to him. Spoke highly of him, even. But, like everyone else in my life, he ended up disappointing me.

I didn't know how I slept that night, habang ang lalaking dahilan ng galit ko ay nakahiga sa kama na katapat ko lang.

I slept fitfully that night, tossing and turning as my thoughts kept circling back to Jade. Long before dawn, I woke up, the room still draped in darkness, shadows lingering like the unresolved mess in my head. Restlessness crept through me, pushing me to shake off the uneasy sleep, so I headed to the bathroom for a shower. The cold water hit my face in sharp, brisk splashes, jolting me awake and momentarily numbing the tangled emotions that had plagued me throughout the night.

But no matter how hard I tried, the confusion lingered. Even after I stepped out of the shower, my mind remained a whirlwind of unresolved emotions, thoughts of Jade spinning uncontrollably. I felt trapped in my own head, unable to find clarity.

Standing in front of the mirror, I toweled my hair dry, the cool air brushing my bare skin. Dressed only in a bra and cycling shorts, I stared blankly at my reflection, lost in thought, hoping the quiet would bring some answers. But then, a flicker of awareness told me I wasn't alone.

I turned slightly, and there she was—a woman standing next to me, focused on squeezing toothpaste onto her toothbrush. Her actions were routine, almost mechanical, but there was a tension in the air that neither of us acknowledged. Though her eyes were trained on her task, I could feel her gaze flickering toward me now and then, like she was waiting for me to say something, or perhaps she was simply observing, silently taking in the scene as I stood there, vulnerable and wrapped in my own confusion.

I shifted awkwardly, suddenly self-conscious under her scrutiny. I wondered if she was judging me, or if she was simply surprised to find me in such an intimate setting. The silence stretched between us, thick with an unvoiced curiosity, and I fought the urge to look away, challenging myself to hold her gaze.

"I like your tattoo," kumunot ang noo ko. I have three tattoos, kaya hindi ko alam kung alin ang tinutukoy niya. I looked at my reflection to see where she was looking, and it was on my upper right thigh. Sinilip ko iyon, to see my pisces zodiac sign tattooed on that part, medyo natakpan noon ang stretch mark ko sa bandang iyon. After looking at that part, ay nagangat ako ng tingin sa babaeng seryoso lamang ding nakatingin na sa mukha ko. Noon ko lang napansin na marami siyang hikaw sa tenga at mukha, she has on her brows, nose, and lips.

"I had a lot of tattoos. . ." I said this shortly and took off my gray tank top. I noticed that she nodded in response, and I didn't pay any more attention to that. I stared a little in the mirror, looking at my body, only to see my snake tattoo. The head was placed in between my breasts, while the tail ended on the left lower back of my body. That was my third tattoo. My fourth was placed on my back—behind my shoulder—and it was three black butterflies flying. The fifth was the knot behind my ear, and the first was the tattoo I got inside the jail. . . semi-colon tattoo on my wrist, near the scar I created. And of course, it was the zodiac sign of Pisces that became the second; I got that when I joined the Red Society Organization's Twelve Zodiacs. We all actually have zodiac sign tattoos that we use as our code names.