Mister Villain

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

Gab was crying on the bed and Ruru felt his heart tighten at the sight of it first thing in the morning.

He instinctively reached out for her and held her as close to him as he possibly could.

"Hon, what's wrong?!?"

She shook her head and smiled through her tears. "Nothing is wrong, Hon. I'm just... I was..."

Ruru sat up to have a better look at his fiancée. "Kuha kitang water?"

Gab squeezed his hand. "No... there's no need. Hayaan mo lang akong huminga sandali."

He noticed she was holding on to her phone and saw it was open on the word app. "What did you just read?"

"Sinend ni Maine yung latest draft nya nung libro..."

"Ok. Bakit ka naiiyak?"

"It just..." the woman wiped at her eyes "I just got reminded of all that we went through and how grateful I am to have you. Alam mo yun? I – kase..."

His fiancée was choking up and Ruru watched emotions wash over her, allowing them to take her in because no matter how close they get, there are things that Gab would still have to take on by herself.

However, he could let her know that he would ALWAYS be there in the aftermath.

"I am grateful you gave me a chance too, wag mong kakalimutan yun..." he whispered to her.

Lalong bumuhos ang luha ni Gab and she took his hand, that she was squeezing, closer to her lips and kissed them. "I'm happy I asked Maine to write this. It reminded me how I almost lost my life, how I lost Enzo, how I had to watch Kuya's pain..."

Ruru took her face in his hands and wiped her tears.

One of the things that they've talked about before and something that Ruru knew could trigger this onslaught of tears – other than being touched by the memory of what she had been through was the guilt that Gab sometimes felt.

She took it in her head to think that a lot of the misfortune that happened to her beloved Kuya was her fault.

"I hope na kahit naaalala mo lahat nang ito e hindi mo naiisip na sisihin ang sarili mo..."

The way her eyes buckled was answer enough for Ruru.

"Hon..." he began "None of it is your fault."

When their relationship was starting, Gab opened up to him about feeling guilt over what had happened to her brother.

He could remember her words as clear as day. "Kung hindi ako nagkasakit, hindi kinailangan iwan ni Kuya si Louise. Kung hindi din dahil sa akin, hindi makakapasok sa buhay namin si Enzo. Hindi niya maaagaw yung nag-iisang babae na minahal ni Kuya nang ganun katindi... hindi... kasalanan ko lahat."

It had crushed his heart to know that more than the heartbreak she suffered over Enzo, what rankled and dug claws into her was the guilt of thinking she was a catalyst to all the hurt and misery that came into their lives.

Nung panahon na yun e lalong nag-apoy ang galit ni Ruru sa ex-boyfriend nito dahil ang pinakamamahal niyang babae sa mundo ay nahihirapan nang ganun katindi ang kalooban because he couldn't keep what's inside his pants to himself.

And RJ knew of his sister's feelings of guilt too but could not do anything about it.

Hence, he really pushed for them to be together.

The Faulkerson heir believed that someone from the outside, looking in, can help his sister get over it.

"I've never blamed her Bro" RJ told him back then "Ni hindi ko nga naisip yun kahit kelan."