The Accused (A Series #1)

Chapter Thirty-Two

For the past years, she lived her life as if she was not a product of her past and as if she have nothing to look back into.

She lived as if she just escaped an exit door of the wrong room, locked it up, and was safe to open the door that was just waiting at the end of the hallway, craving for her tight grip on the knob. And when she entered, she was never the same. She was never August, instead, she was Gaillaen.

As her eyes were locked to Calev's, she started to question if she was ever new at all, or that she would ever be? She thought she could escape... she could forget.

How could a mere presence of someone start a rain of dreams and prayers? She wanted to run away. She wanted it all to be a dream she wanted to wake up from, and forget the moment she opened her eyes.

For the past years, she never shut the idea of meeting him again down. She knew that there would come a day that the people she trapped at that door would find a way to go out and would knock on hers.

She told herself before that she would live her life preparing for that day but she guessed she failed. Preparing and getting ready was never a thing to the bridge they have to cross to meet each other.

And she proved that years ago.

Four years was not just two weeks nor five months. It was more than 1460 days. Sure, things have changed. Her life. Her people. Her dreams.

The more days that passed, the more she thought that their distance was stretching. The more it got to it, the more the idea of crossing paths with him became bleary. The more it became fuzzy, the more the feeling of abandoning it felt tempting. She thought she could escape... she could forget.

How could he crash what she built for herself? How could he hurt her like this just by looking at him?

The silence that was killing her was pushing her to run to him and demand answers. But before she could do so, she tried waking herself up. She was about to turn her back when an arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"You're here!"

She felt herself stiffened again. She felt blood rushed to her cheeks, feeling hot as if she was just caught of doing something illegal.

When he looked up at Finno, he was just innocently gazing at her.

"Hmm? Bakit ka—"

"Dada!" Aurine's voice interrupted him. That's when they both looked at her.

Her daughter was running toward them, still wearing that happy face she flaunted awhile while seeing her friend, which was basically Ellev, Calev's friend.

She never dared to look back at Calev again. She just could not.

"Dada! My fwends!"

When Aurine reached them, she immediately asked Finno to carry her which the man hastily obliged.

"Dada, look at them. Sila fwends ko! Yung many fwends ko! Pero Ate Ellev lang know ni Auwine. Others, di pa knows ni Auwine."

She saw how her daughter gestured her hands to the people in front of them. There were only five people left in the receiving area, basically Calev with his friends from college. Nawala na ang ibang naghihintay doon kanina.

And that gave way for her husband to see the people that their daughter was referring to. She could still feel someone was staring at her but she shrugged the discomfort away.

She could not be bothered this much as if she did him something that was unforgivable. As much as she remembered, napagbayaran na niya ito. Sobra pa nga. She left without a debt. But she was sure of one thing, she faced hell in paying it off, contrary to what an angel whispered to her.