Forbidden Relationship (Forbidden Series #3) (Completed)

Chapter 37

"Ate..."

When I called out to Ate Grapes, she turned to me before shaking her head. She also put down her phone before approaching me in my bed.

"Nagtanong-tanong na si Zade sa dating kaklase ni Yhael kung may nakakita rito pero wala," aniya. "Hindi ko rin ma-contact ang cellphone niya."

I covered my face as tears streamed down my cheeks again. Ate Grapes wrapped her arms around me and gently stroked my hair.

Yhael had been missing for two days. No one knew where he was.

His relatives had been coming back and forth to our house, asking questions, pleading for answers. Mommy kept threatening them, but they didn't seem to care anymore.

I hadn't slept properly since he disappeared. The constant worry clawed at my chest.

I knew I had a fever—I could feel it in my pounding head and aching body—but I refused to rest. I'd deal with it later.

Not until we found Yhael.

Ayoko mang isipin pero bumabalik kasi sa akin na baka may kinalaman si Mommy at Daddy sa pagkawala ni Yhael.

Pero ayokong maniwala. Hindi naman siguro nila magagawang saktan si Yhael. Tinigilan ko na siya e.

Over the next few days of Yhael's absence, I felt myself getting weaker. The fever didn't go away—it only worsened. Ate Grapes noticed, of course. She kept asking if I was okay.

But I just shook my head every time. "I'm really okay," I whispered once, forcing a smile.

But I wasn't.

I wasn't okay at all.

Because it’s not about me—it's Yhael I'm worried about.

We don't know where he is. We don't know if he's eaten anything. We don't know if he's safe.

And not knowing… hurts more than anything else.

Yhael loves his parents. Hindi niya magagawang hindi kausapin sila Tita at Tito. Ako lang dapat ang hindi niya kinakausap.

Because I hurt him.

"Yhael, where are you?" I whispered, clutching the back of my senior high ID, where his picture smiled faintly through the dim light.

"Please… let us know you're okay. Even if not to me—at least to your parents. They're worried. I'm worried."

My voice cracked. "Please come home. Even if you don't come to me, just… let me know you're safe. That's all I need. I'll be okay. I’ll get better." But I wasn’t sure if that last part was true.

Midnight passed, and yet there I was—curled up in bed, crying and talking to the picture of the man I love.

"Come home, please." That's what I kept whispering—over and over—until exhaustion finally lulled me to sleep, tears still dampening my pillow.

***

"Green Aphle..."

"Walang hiya kayo! Pinatay niyo ang mga magulang ko!"

"Hinding-hindi magkaka-ayos ang pamilya natin. Walang Poniente ang makakapag-asawa ng Pueblo! Pinatay niyo ang anak ko!"

"Sinabi ko sa'yo, poprotektahan ko si Aphle dahil mahal mo siya."

"Kasalanan mo 'to! Kung hindi ka lang sana minahal ni Yhael, buhay pa sana siya!"

"H-Hindi siya patay, 'di ba?"