When the Ink Dries (Zodiac Predators Series #3)

Chapter 3

Nobody will understand how that level of wealth requires hypocrisy and big baggage that I need to shoulder until I die.

If you hate the hypocrisy so much, then what the fuck are you doing right now?

I chuckled at my own duplicity.

"Mr. Lee?"

I halted.

And smiled. "Good Morning, Officer Cabrera."

"May mga tanong lang kami na kailangan mong sagutin," she cutted the chase and open the passenger sit for me. "Will you go with me?" 

I looked back at the church, "What an odd place to pick me up."

She didn't answer that. I shrugged at her lack of reaction and accepted the invitation. 

On our way, I propped my knuckle under my chin, focusing on the passing streets outside the vehicle. 

"How's your father, Officer Cabrera?" I said with a sedate voice.

I heard her grip on the wheel tighten. I could also feel her tired, sharp dark brown eyes aiming at me from the rearview. 

I mentally shrugged. I just thought that small talks were safe.

"Good," she answered, trying to do her best to stay cool. "How about your manuscript? Did the publishing company you applied for accept it?"

If only this woman didn't hold my heart in her hand when I was 23, she would have been good as dead. 

"Sadly no, should I write another story?" I said. "How's a pitiful widow who thinks she can save the world by blaming an innocent for the death of her husband sound? You think it they will accept that?"

Her eyes squinted.

"Asshole."

I smiled and didn't utter any reply to stir her more.

I remember the white handkerchief she lend me for my 23rd birthday, the way she wrapped it on my bleeding knuckle seemed like asking for a promise, her smile was small, but managed to radiate my soul by its pureness. 

I silently pulled Shaina Diaz in my arms, I waited for her to return the warmth but the moment never came. Despite her sympathy, some relationships cannot be developed as long as there's no empathy.

And then, SPO1 Aseph Cabrera came into the picture. A man with a familiar shade of passion in his gloomy black eyes. It was just so perfect, the way he snatched Shaina and effectively branded her as his.

Aseph had my respect for winning Shaina's love. 

But at what did it cost him?

"Baba."

I blinked in surprise when Shaina opened the door for me.

"Nakakaintindi ka naman ng tagalog, hindi ba?" there's a hint of bitterness in her voice. "Oh baka naman kailangan pa kitang iposas?"

"I am here because you have questions that I need to answer," I said while removing myself from the vehicle. "You must treat me as a POI, Officer Cabrera. Not a suspect."

I made my way through the station with Shaina in my back.

This wasn't the 27-year-old Shaina who explored the surface of my world and the one who bathed her whole body with the scent of lavender as she refused to explore another aroma. That girl had died along with her husband and was replaced by someone new, someone who wore strong wool perfume, someone who prefers a thick harness on her torso, and someone who loves to protect the innocents from predators.