HIDING HIS DAUGHTER (UNDER EDITING)

CHAPTER 19

ANGELA'S POV

I didn't pay attention to Jaiden anymore-I just walked out of the girls' restroom, thank God no one noticed what was going on with me. My hands were still shaking a little, nang bigla kong naalala yung mga sinabi niya sa loob. Ngunit ayaw ko munang isipin yun, kailangan kong makita si James.

When I found him, he was grinning from ear to ear like he'd just seen the funniest thing in the world. At hindi nga ako nagkamali-alam na niya ang nangyari.

"I saw Kuya Jaiden enter the girls restroom," he said with that annoying smirk on his face. I felt my cheeks burn ng mabilis, so I looked away from him, pretending I didn't hear a thing.

"Baka may kapatid na agad si Althea! Just tell me when, at ako ulit ang ninong ha!" He kept teasing me nang hindi napapansin na sobrang namumula na ko. I finally had enough-kaya binatukan ko siya sa ulo.

"Tigilan mo na ako, James!" I snapped at him, but he just laughed even harder. Ngayon lang talaga siya nagiging ganito-parang hindi na siya yung James kong kilala.

"Can I have this dance with the first girl I ever loved?" He suddenly stopped laughing at inilahad na lang ang kamay niya sa harap ko. I couldn't help but smile nang makita ko yung seryosong mukha niya ngayon, so I took his hand.

I placed my hand on his shoulder, at siya naman ay inilagay ang kamay niya sa bewang ko. The music started playing-a slow waltz that made the whole room feel warm at peaceful. Ngunit hindi ko napigilan tanungin siya tungkol sa isang bagay na naguguluhan ako.

"James... who really is Jaiden?" I asked quietly. You could tell he was caught off guard nang marinig niya yung tanong ko-his eyes widened a little at he stiffened for a second.

"Tao... pwede ring hayop," he joked, trying to play it cool. But I knew he was hiding something from me. He's been acting different lately-like he's become the 2.0 version of Kuya Anthony, na lagi na lang nagbibiro at hindi diretso sa usapan.

"Umayos ka nga!" I said in an irritated tone. Ngayon na talaga ako magtatanong ng diretso-hindi ko na kaya ang mga biruan niya.

"Kuya Jaiden... he has a half-sister from his dad. Ako kasi, kapatid niya sa Mommy namin," he finally said seriously. My eyes went wide nang marinig ko yun.

"Parang ang gulo naman ng pamilya niyo!" I blurted out, at tumawa siya ulit-this time, a genuine laugh.

"Mommy and his dad... they didn't really love each other. It was an arranged marriage," James explained. I just nodded slowly, finally understanding why Jaiden was always so quiet at distant.

"But you know what? I really admire Kuya. When he was only 13 years old, he was already managing one of their family companies," he added. I gave him a small smile-hindi ko man aminin, pero humahanga din ako kay Jaiden. All this time, I thought he was just some rich guy who had everything easy.

"Nung pinanganak ako ni Mommy, hindi na siya masyadong naalagaan. At yung daddy ni Kuya... he already had another family by then. It was really hard for Kuya Jaiden back then," James continued. I felt tears well up in my eyes nang maalala ko yung sinabi niya sa akin noong isang araw.

"My parents have their own families now, and I'm on my own. It's okay, at least I have myself... at I have you. But I fear I might lose my mind if you were to disappear."

I didn't even realize I was crying hanggang sa tumigil na ang tugtog at huminto na kami sa pagsasayaw. I quickly wiped my tears with the back of my hand, ngunit napansin na niya yun.

"Wag kang umiyak, Angela. Kuya is looking at you," he whispered. I looked up at sure enough-Jaiden was staring right at us, his face unreadable as always. Ngunit may kaba sa dibdib ko nang makita ko yung titig niya.

"Tell me the truth, James... what's really going on between Jaiden at Catherine?" I asked in a low voice. He stopped smiling at looked away from me-alam kong may tinatago siya.

"I guess they're just friends?" He tried to smile again, pero I could tell he wasn't joking around this time.

"I need to know everything, James. I know you're hiding something from me," I said firmly. He sighed at finally looked back at me, his eyes serious now.

"I can't talk about it here. Let's discuss it in the car later," he said, at he glanced to my right-like he was checking if someone was listening.

Suddenly, I heard a loud bang-a gunshot. I felt a sharp pain shoot through my right arm.

"ANGELA!" I heard Jaiden and the others shout my name. Everything happened so fast-James grabbed my arm at pulled me away from the crowd, which was now panicking at running everywhere.

I didn't know where we were going-we were just running through dark hallways at empty corridors. My arm was throbbing in pain, at I could feel warm blood seeping through my dress.

"J-James..." I stuttered, my legs starting to give out. He squeezed my hand tightly at kept moving forward.

"Trust me, Angela. I won't let anything happen to you," he said firmly. I wanted to ask him what was going on, pero I didn't have the strength to speak anymore.

When we reached the parking lot, he quickly opened the door of his car at helped me get in. He jumped into the driver's seat at grabbed a roll of gauze from the glove compartment. He started wrapping it around my arm to stop the bleeding-nang maramdaman ko yung pressure, I closed my eyes at bit my lip to keep from screaming.

Then we heard more gunshots-loud ones, na parang malapit lang.

"Are those Kuya's people?" I asked weakly. James started the car at looked at me through the rearview mirror.

"They can handle themselves. Don't worry about them," he said, at he even managed to grin a little. His words made me feel a little better-kung sinabi niya yun, siguradong kaya nila.

"W-what about J-Jaiden?" I asked, my voice shaking. I couldn't help but worry about him-even after everything that happened earlier.

"He can handle himself even more. He's Rank 1, after all," James said casually. I looked at him like he'd just grown a second head-hindi ako makapaniwala sa narinig ko.

"A-Ano? Jaiden is Rank 1?" I asked again, making sure I heard him right. He raised an eyebrow at glanced at me.

"You didn't know?" he asked back. I shook my head slowly, at started telling him everything I remembered.

"Someone called me a while ago... they said I'm the weakness of Rank 1 at Rank 2. Nung nasa cubicle ako kanina, I heard people talking outside-they were looking for me," I explained. James's face darkened at he clenched his jaw tightly.

"F*ck," he cursed, running his hand through his hair at hitting the steering wheel hard. The sound made me jump a little.

I tried to reach for my phone to check if my daughter had called-pero hindi ko makita yun sa bulsa ko. My heart started racing-baka tumawag siya at hindi ako makasagot.

"J-James... have you seen my p-phone?" I stuttered, panic in my voice. He looked at me at shook his head.

"No, I didn't. Is it not with you?" he asked, concern in his eyes.

"I-I can't find it... what if my baby called me?" I whispered, bowing my head. Just then, we heard another gunshot-at this time, it hit the back of James's car. He immediately stepped on the gas at we sped away, pero we could hear more cars chasing us.

"They will go through me first before they get you," James said firmly, his eyes focused on the road. I managed to smile a little-alam kong hindi niya ako pababayaan.

The cars behind us kept shooting at us, pero James was a really good driver-he swerved through traffic at avoided every bullet they fired. We were moving so fast, nang biglang inabutan niya ako ng isang baril.

"Can you handle this?" he asked. I nodded at took it from him-noon pa naman ako marunong gamitin ito, pero hindi ko akalain na kailangan ko pa itong gamitin ngayon.

I cocked the gun at looked out the back window. I aimed carefully at the tires of the car chasing us at pulled the trigger three times. I saw one of their tires burst at the car swerved off the road.

"Damn, you're so cool!" James said, grinning again. I just nodded-hindi ako sanay sa ganitong eksena, pero kailangan kong lumaban para sa sarili ko at sa anak ko.

Then four more cars appeared out of nowhere-at they were all shooting at us. James pushed the car to go even faster, weaving through other vehicles at making sharp turns to lose them.

"Where are you?" I heard Jaiden's cold voice through James's phone-he must have called him while I was busy shooting. James kept his eyes on the road at spoke into the phone.

"I'll send you our location. A lot of them are following us-I'm driving, may tama ng bala si Angela," he said quickly. There was a moment of silence on the other end at then we heard Jaiden shout.

"I will kill you, James, if anything happens to her!" His voice was full of anger at worry. I felt my heart skip a beat-hindi ko alam na maaaring magalit siya ng ganito para sa akin. Ang bilis at ang gulo ng mga pangyayari.

"Chill bro, we're still alive," James said calmly, pero I could tell he was taking this seriously now.

"We're on our way-we'll be there in 5 minutes," Jaiden said in a serious tone at hung up the phone.

James glanced at me at his face suddenly became worried.

"Sh*t, Angela... you're pale as a ghost," he said. I tried to smile at tell him I was okay, pero I could feel my body getting weaker at weaker.

I kept shooting at the cars behind us-pero suddenly, I heard a click. I checked the gun at realized there were no more bullets left.

"Wala ng bala," I said quietly. James cursed again at stepped on the gas even harder. Just when I thought we were done for, a whole fleet of cars appeared out of nowhere-at they started shooting at our pursuers.

"They're here," James said, relief in his voice. Jaiden's men were taking down every single car chasing us-at then I saw Jaiden's car pull up next to us. He was driving fast, at I could see Catherine sitting beside him.

I tried to stay awake at keep my eyes open, pero the pain in my arm was too much-at my head was spinning. When James finally stopped the car, I pushed myself to get out at walk toward Jaiden. Every step felt like I was walking on needles-nang bigla akong nakaramdam ng sobrang sakit sa ulo at nandidilim na ang paningin ko.

I saw Jaiden get out of his car at run toward me-his face was full of fear at concern. Before I could even say anything, everything went black-pero I could feel his arms wrap around me at catch me before I hit the ground.