[ITNOL #2] How Right It Is To Love You? (COMPLETED)

Chapter 46

#HRIITLYHowDidItHappen

A/N: Regine's POV ahead mga baklaaa. Sorry for the grammatical errors and misspelled words. Thank you, enjoy reading!

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Pumasok na ako ng Baristas. I picked the most secretive area but also one of the attractive seats of course para naman makita ako ni Ariel kung saan ako nakaupo. I suppose Ogie also made sure not to spill any information but I forced him to do so. Kung gagawan nalang pala nila to ng sikreto e hindi na sana sila nagpakita pa ng motibo. I assured him, whatever comes out into his mouth later, ay walang makakasakit sa kanya. Not even my husband. Not even anyone.

I chose to sat down on my favorite seat since then. Wala na naman akong choice dahil may nakaupo dun sana sa gusto kong lugar para makipagusap sa kanya. I dropped my bag in the floor, and patiently waited for Ariel. Truth be told, I am nervous also. Weird pero nararamdaman kong mas kilala pa ako ni Ariel kaysa mismo sa sarili ko. I am also excited to know the truth. I hope he doesn't sugarcoat and answer my unanswered questions since then. I hope he knows who my real mother is.

The bell tinged, hudyat na may pumasok ng coffee shop. It was already him. Inilibot niya ang mga mata niya and there, our eyes met. Ariel coolly took his steps forward till he arrived at the table where I sat down. Tahimik itong umupo ito sa harapan ko at binigyan niya ako ng ngisi. I kept my composition, I should not react on what his face is showing me now. He's being silly and it was frustrating to see.

"Glad you called me."

"Curiosity kills a cat."

"You're not a cat."

"Apparently. Much more wiser than a cat but became the most stupid person that all along believing everything's fine." I said through gritted teeth.

"Woah, easy. Bat ka nagagalit? We haven't started yet and you're already growling." he's absolutely teasing me. Argh!

I sighed in surrender. "I called you up because I want to know everything."

"Obviously." he rolled his eyeballs. Fuck, kung bigwasan ko kaya siya ano? "I'm actually in a rush pero I care for you so I'll give you 20 minutes of my time."

"Liar. Hindi ka busy." I gnarled at him.

"You did scribed my schedule?" he jested a laugh. "I'm just joking Reg. Okay. I'll answer your questions truthfully and straightforwardly."

"No room for jokes this time Ariel. No hidden figures anymore." pinadiliman ko siya ng mata. "Sabihin mo sa'kin ang buong katotohanan."

"Sa sobrang dami, hindi ko alam kung san ako magsisimula." nakangisi niyang sabi. "What should I tell you, huh?"

"What is Ogie hiding from me? Ano ang tinatago sa'kin ng asawa ko?" lakas-loob kong tanong.

"Minsan ba naisip mo na may mana ka pala galing sa pamilya mo?" he started off.

"If you're pertaining to that mom I lived for almost three-fourths of my life, hindi siya ang totoo kong ina. Just saying." I shrugged. "And that's also one factor why I begged you to come here dahil alam kong kilala mo kung sino ako at ang pagkatao ko more than myself."

"You're right. But I am not in the position to explain all of it." he said.

"At bakit?"

"Simple. Hindi ko iyan istorya. It's not my own life and I have no right to disrupt others." he pinpointed. May respeto rin pala ang taong to. "Ang kaya ko lang ibigay ay ang rason kung bakit sobrang reckless si Ogie na ayain kang pakasalan ka. Kung bakit sobrang dali lang sa kanya na ihalili ka bilang katuwang niya habang buhay."

"Then why? Why the hell is he so hysterical about it?"

"It's because of your money. They used you. His family used you." he said. "Kaya ko nga tinanong kanina na may nahawakan ka bang mana mula sa pamilya mo. Sa ngalan na kasal ka kay Ogie, he has a share on all those fortune you have. Aren't you wondering why he can't let you go? Because of that. Without you and your family's money, wala rin ang mga Alcasid sa kinatatayuan nila ngayon. He did everything just to make you stay. He falsfied annulment papers for your marriage to still be in tact. Mahal ka niya pero ginagamit ka lang ng pamilya niya, hanggang ngayon."

"I never k-knew..."

"Syempre, hindi mo malalaman dahil sobrang bulag ka sa pag-ibig mo sa asawa mo. You were too busy thinking of a way for him to accept you in his life, na little did you know, it was his defense mechanism preventing to fall for you and stick to the reason why he easily married you like that." mahaba nitong saad. "Maybe, maybe you took a handful of your fortune. Pero lahat ng yun, I bet, napunta sa med school mo even from your ATM cards and debit ones. After med school, you had to work hard to earn something and gladly you did, you even marked a name in the country. You worked 19 hours a day and rarely took offs. You strived hard enough to make Sarah and yourself well-fed. Pero I tell you, hindi mo na sana kinailangang gawin yun. Ginawa ka nilang paon. Pinahirapan ka nila ng husto. Pinagmukha ka nilang tanga."

Hindi ako makagalaw sa kinauupuan ko ngayon. I...can't absorb what he just said to me. Hindi ko alam na ganito pala ang ginagawa nila sa'kin sa likuran ko. I never knew they are using me without my consent. I never knew they're just making me a fool out of myself. I cried, jaw-dropped.

"You were so focused doing things in the name of love, forgetting to ask the question, how right it is to love a man like Herminio Jose Alcasid." he said deeply. "You tend to forgot the risks you might had took, you neglected the factors how did he easily proposed to you that way—and the answer to it is only one devastating emotion which is love. That's how powerful it is to you pero kay Ogie? This might hurt but..it meant nothing. Nothing but pure buisness. Kahit na sabihin pa nating natutunan ka na niyang mahalin, hindi mo dapat kalimutan ang unang rason kung bakit ka niya pinakasalan. That's the most hideous and painful part."

Those words stabbed me straight from the heart. Sobrang sakit sa puso na marinig sa kanya ang mga katagang iyon. Magagalit ba ako kay Ogie? Hindi ko alam ang dapat kong maramdaman sa mga oras na ito. At higit sa lahat, hindi ko alam kung ano ang ginawa kong mali sa mundong ito para linlangin ako ng mga tao sa paligid ko. Do I really deserve to be treated this way?

"A-ariel..." I cried rivers of tears flowing down to my cheeks. I had to pick up tissue from my bag and wipe these tears of mine away.

"Shhh." he held my hand. "It's not your fault. Ikaw ang biktima dito. Nagmahal ka lang, Regine. Pero sana maintindihan mo rin na minsan hindi sapat ang pagmamahal para punan ang pagkukulang na nararamdaman ng isang tao. You can't fill a person's every aspect of void in his life with love. Michelle...I don't know about her but he was his only love, his only life, and the woman she always wanted to marry and cherish all his eternity."

Then there's Michelle again.

Siguro, naging assuming lang ako.

"Ariel, I don't know how to handle this truth anymore...." I sobbed. "T-tulungan mo ako...hindi ko alam kung ano ang dapat kong gawin.."

"Depende sa'yo kung hahayaan mo lang ang sarili mong magpagamit o tutuldukan mo na ang kahibangan nilang lahat laban sa'yo." he uttered. "If another shot of divorce crossed your mind, then go for it. I'm definitely not joking around here."

"No...." I softly spoke. "I will settle this once and for all. I can't afford to break another marriage. Natuto na ako, at hindi kasagutan ang paghihiwalay sa problemang ito. It has to be faced and dealt, not to run away from it."

"You have to take me to Zambales, Rivera. Now."