Pursuing My Nemesis

Forty Eight

Chapter 48

IT WAS SO funny to think how brave I was when I asked Aniel to take me to his brothers, but now that I was already standing outside of their huge mansion, I felt my once-eagle wings turning into those like what the chicks have.

"You ready?" Aniel asked while we're standing in front of the tall gate.

"No," I honestly said. Marahas tuloy na napatingin si Aniel sa akin. "What? I'm nervous, okay?"

He raised his brow at me. "You said you wanted to talk to them."

"I do!" I said. "Bakit? Bawal na ba'ng kabahan?"

Aniel sighed and faced me. His expression was serious again. "You don't have to do this, Nemesis."

"I know I don't. But I want to," I pointed out. "I'm so done hearing your stories about them bullying you just because you're not blood related to them. Their Mamá accepted you and saw you as her real son. Kung hindi nila kayang gawin 'yon, at least itigil man lang sana nila ang pam-bu-bully sa 'yo."

Aniel's face softened. "You want to talk to them... about me?"

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. "Of course! You're my reason why I wanted to go here. I want to tell them to just go back to where they belong and just leave you alone with me. Hindi yata nila naiintindihan na hindi ka na nag-iisa ngayon kahit wala na ang Mamá ninyo. I'm already here. I'm already with you."

"They understand that, Nemesis. That's the reason why they do those things: to blackmail me into hurting you so that you will hate me and leave me until I'm back to being alone again. And the only thing that's keeping me moving is my willingness to please them to gain their acceptance," Aniel said lowly.

I finally rolled my eyes now. "That's a real BS, you know."

Aniel's lips curved into a small smile. "I know."

I shook my head and stepped forward to hug Aniel. I felt his body getting stiff by my sudden physical touch with him. I patted his back to make him relax. Gumana naman iyon at saka ko naramdaman ang mga braso niya na maingat na pumulupot sa bewang ko.

"I missed you so much, love," he whispered and my heart ached. "I am so sorry for keeping all of these to you and hurting you."

"I understand why you did it, Aniel. And thank you for protecting me and clearing my mom's name," I said. "It's all fucked up, but at least everything is clear to me now."

Aniel's chest rose and he released a sigh of relief. I felt him kissing the top of my head, the usual thing he always do whenever he's near me. Saglit akong pumikit para damhin ang yakap niya. Na-miss ko siya. I can't wait to spend a lot of time with him again, exchanging sweet nothings and loud banters. But that could wait. We still have a lot of things to do.

And I wanted to start with his loving family. Note the sarcasm.

I pulled away from Aniel after a couple of minutes hugging him. Hinawakan ko ang kamay niya at tinignan siya sa kanyang mga mata. "Ready?"

A small chuckle escaped from his lips. "I should be the one asking you that."

I grinned. "I'm ready."

Aniel nodded. I felt him squeezing my hand. "Let's go, love."

***

Gregor Felan and Krisostomo Felan weren't even surprised when they saw us in the living room of the mansion. It was like they were already expecting us to visit. I snorted. Sa tagal ba naman namin ni Aniel sa harapan ng gate kanina, malamang nakita na kami ng isa sa mga kasambahay nila at sinabi sa kanila na nandito kami.