Cardinal County

16: The Evil Sister

He was silent at first as an unrecognizable emotion passed his face again. "Yeah, we all grew up in Manhattan," he finally responded.

"She's really pretty," she absentmindedly commented. She guessed it was in the blood; Jordynn is really pretty too but in a fierce kind of way. Jess, on the other hand, has an angelic face. Though when she remembered her glaring earlier, her eyes were really scary.

"I guess she is," Judah shrugged, "but her face is kind of generic for me."

Her mouth parted, "you're just saying that because you're used to seeing her but for sure if you didn't grow up with her, you'll think differently."

He chuckled teasingly, "no need to be jealous, babydoll," he muttered before leaving a chaste kiss on her lips. "I can't get enough of you," he grunted as he showered kisses all over her face.

"Hey!" she laughingly complained, "we need to go back inside, everyone's waiting."

"So you're not going to deny being jealous?"

Lian froze as she gazed at the face she missed dearly. "I mean, I haven't seen you in a while and suddenly there's an unfamiliar girl beside you. I admit I thought of the possibility that she might be the reason you stopped showing yourself, but I just ignored it and—"

"Baby," he sighed, "you've been thinking about these all along?" She nodded, causing him to smile—that rare smile of his that makes him look like a cute bunny. "To answer your questions earlier; yes, you have the right to anything that concerns me, even getting jealous of someone who I never and will never feel something for other than platonic love."

"Okay," she breathlessly uttered because her heart just started beating in overdrive.

They stared at each other for minutes, content with the silence surrounding them as they read each other's eyes. As usual, she can't identify what he was currently thinking nor feeling, but what she's certain about was the secrets hiding beyond those warm pools of brown.

She wondered what those secrets are about. She wondered if she ever crossed his mind the days they were apart. She wondered who Judah Kohen really is beyond the cool and tough exterior of his; the real him that she had not yet encountered. She wondered when will she see his bunny smile again, because it was really something worth to be embarrassed by him for.

She wondered if he likes her as much as she does. She never knew she was capable of feeling this way towards someone who she only met more than a week ago, but who is she to judge? No one should ever invalidate anyone's love based on time. Besides, it's different for everyone.

Out of the blue, the unknown tune from her 4AM curse played inside her mind just like the past few days. It would always play randomly in her head; either when she's walking to school, listening to one of her professors, eating lunch with her friends, taking a shower... it just won't leave her.

"What song is that?," Judah softly asked all of a sudden making her eyes widen. She didn't know she started humming it.

"I don't really know, it would just start playing in my head and now I'm getting used to it," she replied. His hand gently stroked her cheek, making her lean towards the familiar touch. She closed her eyes and started humming again. "I call it Four O'clock because I'd always wake up at dawn with it in my mind," she whispered as she opened her eyes.

Only to find his eyes glazed with suppressed tears. For the first time she recognized an emotion in his eyes and it was deep longing. She chose to ignore her curiosity and did the first thing she thought of to console him—engulfing him in a tight hug before kissing his cheek.

"It's okay," she muttered.

Even though she didn't know what it's all about, like she said to the President; she still believes in him. She knew everything will be fine in the end. She might not be a fan of clichés but she sure has faith in happy endings; they both will get theirs someday.

They were silent again when the faint sound of Judah's ring tone filled the air. He brought the phone out his pocket and smirked, before showing Lian who's calling. Jeremiah's name flashed on his screen, making her chuckle.

"The idiot will probably brag about his date," he shook his head. "You should go inside first. I'll be there in a few minutes."

She nodded, "okay. I'll go." Those were her last words before walking back inside.

Date?, her mind echoed. Was it just a coincidence that her best friend has a date tonight too? She remembered Jeremiah asking her about Rylie—or 'spitfire,' as he called her that time. Wait, don't tell me it's—

"You better leave Judah alone."

Lian turned towards the direction of the voice with her hand clutching her racing heart. Where did she even come from?!

"Jess," she stuttered as the older girl looked at her intensely and started taking a few strides towards her, arms crossed. Where's the angelic face she initially saw?

"You know your brother hates him but you still won't leave him be. What a good sister you are," Jessica spat causing her to take a step back. How does she know her brother? "You'll just break him again, are you really that selfish, Wang?"

Break him again?

"I don't understand..." she drawled questioningly as she started rubbing her temple.

"Just stop be—why do you have that ring!?" In no time, she found the girl holding her wrist tightly and angrily looking at the ring on her finger. "You wench! Give it back to him now!"

She tried prying her hand off his hold because her grip started to hurt, but the latter won't let it go. "I can't, I'm sorry! I don't know why you're doing this but—"

"When will you leave him alone huh? All you do is cause him pain and wreck him until he fucking lose himself! Are you this selfish? Why can't you—"

"Jessica!" Her wrist was suddenly released as Ysmael aggressively pulled Jess' arm away. "What the fuck are you doing!?"

"I'm just doing what you and Jordynn failed to do! Why are you all being stupid? Why can't you see that this girl would just ruin Judah again?!"

"Enough! That's enough!" Ysmael shouted, shutting the girl up. He turned to Lian with an exasperated sigh, "Lian, you can go now. Just forget about everything she said, I'm sorry for this."

She glanced between the two and nodded with slight hesitation, before resuming her walk back where their parents are. But something made her steps falter once again;

"How dare you!" Jess exclaimed, "she did it once and she will do it again, I'm telling you Yael!"

She instantly stopped in her tracks when she's completely concealed by the wall dividing the foyer and the hallway towards the dining area. She knew it was disrespectful to eavesdrop but she can't help it, after everything Jessica told her, it's impossible to forget everything.

"Just stop Jess! What are you doing? This is good for Judah, Lian makes him happy. Why can't you be happy for him too?"

"No!" The girl immediately disagreed, "she'll just make everything worse than ever. There's someone who can make him happy other than that bitch and—"

"Tell me, who's that someone, then? Is it you? You can't let the guy be happy with someone else because you still love him, right? You never stopped loving himm, right?"

"What are you saying? You're accusing me now?!"

"I'm just a fucking rebound, am I right? After all these years, your unrequited love never left. I'm your damn boyfriend Jessica! Not him!"