Boulevard to Polaris (Virago Series #1)

yet lingers forever

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
yet lingers forever
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

If I'm not Aster Ray Madrigal, who am I?

I couldn't bear to sleep. Tulala lang ako sa kisame ng kwarto ni Gazer kahit na halos kitang-kita mula rito ang maliit na kamay ng relo na nakaturo sa tres. Ramdam ko na rin ang ginaw ng aircon pero ni hindi ko man lang ginalaw ang katawan para kumutan at maging kumportable. Ni hindi ko kayang gumalaw kahit ilang oras na ang nagdaan simula 'nung kwinento ni Gazer ang lahat ng nalalaman niya. 

I just didn't get to contain everything about the truth behind our families that Gazer thought I already know. Neither did I manage not to feel betrayed upon seeing the contents of the folder that Gazer gave. 

The folder contains a copy of Autumn's renewed birth certificate - that she's a Denuevo, the photos of proof that Avara Tolliedo, Lucas Madrigal, Isaiah Vuerrero, and Kiko Denuevo were once best of friends before everything, and a USB containing a copy of an erased footage inside my condo four years ago.

The footage showed us that the one who took my business framework four years ago is not Gazer. 

It was Whisker, the damned cat who appeared out of nowhere inside my condo. 

Sa kasamaang palad, ni hindi ko nalaman na may technical issue raw 'nung araw na 'yun at deleted din ang ibang footages sa building ng halos isang buwan. I thought it was purposedly deleted, even Maeve thought of that dahil kahit anong hanap niya ay hindi niya 'yun makita.

Nasa video na 'yun naaliw ang pusa sa clip ng folder kaya kinagat niya 'yun at dinala sa kung saang hindi na siya nahagip ng kamera. It was by then that Gazer mentioned how kleptomaniac Whisker is sa apat na taong inaalagaan niya ito.

Dahil doon ay nagkahinala ako na ang nagnakaw ng framework ko apat na taon na ang nakararaan ay nasa kumpanya ko mismo at kung sino ang unang nagpaalam atsaka nagsinungaling sa'kin na si Gazer ang kumuha nu'n ang siyang may sala. Nasa likod ang lahat dahil siya lang naman pala nakakaalam na naiwala ko ang folder, pinaniwala niya pa akong si Gazer ang kumuha nu'n.

It was Farrah, the manager of the most crucial department of my company before. She worked for someone else while working in mine, for money maybe? I don't know and if I knew, I'll bury all they thrived for.

Doon ko rin napagkonekta lahat ng nangyari. Ang pagtakbo ni Gazer palabas sa condo noong kinompronta ko siya ay dahilan lang na akala niya ay itinuloy ng ama niya ang plano nitong pabagsakin ako. Sinugod niya ang ama pagkatapos nu'n pero hindi na siya nakabalik dahil hindi niya ako kayang harapin. Hindi rin totoo na siya ang nagsumbong ng pagnanakaw at gawa-gawa lang 'yun ng tatay niya 'nung nasa interrogation room na kami.  Hindi lang siya nakapagsalita dahil hindi niya kinayang makita na ama niya mismo ang gumawa sa'kin nito at mas lalong panandalian siyang nilamon ng ganid.

So, in that four years that we were apart, he also thrived to get in this state of life and give me the luxury sa oras na maipatumba niya ang ama. 

The rest? It's history. 

A tear fell from my eye. Sobra-sobra na 'ata 'to at kung wala si Gazer sa tabi ko ay baka nabasag na ko nang buo-buo. 

I'm lucky that he stayed like what he promised, but I don't know if I can handle seeing him like that after knowing his innocence.

He did nothing. He got tangled up and thrived to change, even though he once thought that it was too late. I suppose I should condemn that.

Palaisipan man paanong sinabi 'to sakanya lahat ni Mister Denuevo ay hindi ko rin alam ano ang binabalik nila.