Dedicated to lovexpurplexunicorn. I know how far you did to get to the current chaps quickly. Thanks for the support and continue inspiring.
Anyway here's the last and final twist of the story that has been kept all throughout the second book. I'm not sure if there's that one or two person out there who got this. If you know all of my works, you'll get to know that all of my books are tangled having cameo roles in each one of them. You'll see after reading this chap. Five or six chaps to go so let me hear you please. Thankie.
Ever After 82
"I'm gonna take this woman" hinatak ko ang payat nyang kamay before looking back at Uno. "I need the car keys, Uno. Akina"
"What?? Kotse ko na to remember? Wag mo nga akong gawan ng alibi para magamit--"
"I need the car keys damn it!!!"
His face turned serious as he looks at me straight into my eyes. I'm damn furious at hindi ako nagbibiro. There's something in me urging me to talk to this woman seriously. Hindi na ko papayag na bigyan nya ko ng mga mind games na sagot.
"What's happening to you, Red? At san mo dadalin si Dr. Carter??"
"Wala ka ng pakelam dun. Akina yung susi ano ba!"
"That's enough, Red. Let's use my car instead" napatingin kaming lahat sa kanya showing no signs of surprise. Her face looks so calm yet serious na bahagya pa kong nagulat. She no longer wears the same mysterious smile she had last week or even minutes ago.
"Dianne I'll go ahead"
"S-Sure. Ingat kayo" I nod at her. Tiningnan ko lang saglit si Uno na naguguluhan bago tumalikod pasunod kay blondie. Sumakay ako sa kotse nya. She drove in mere silence.
"San mo gustong mag-usap?"
"It doesn't matter"
"Okay. Sa bahay ko na lang. You're such an eye-catcher that it might ruin my calculated life being with you"
"What's that supposed to mean?!" pigil ang inis kong tanong.
"It's not an insult, Red. I have my own private lives too"
"Tsk. Whatever"
Hindi parin mawala wala ang inis ko sa kanya. Wala naman syang ginawang masama sakin but her attitude makes her unlikeable to me. Woman and their secrets. Tsk seriously that's plain absurd.
Twenty minutes passed at huminto kami sa isang malaking modern house. I never thought na mayaman pala sya. Her looks doesn't gave away that she's filthy rich. Madalas kasi yung sinusuot nya puro laidback lang either simple tee and pants or ripped jeans and paired with oversized polo like now with her usual cap as if hiding from something. Well wala naman akong pakelam sa private life nya. All that matters to me is our own lives. Don't tell me isa rin syang manipulator whatsoever? I'm gonna throw her to a creek if she tells me that.
"What are you doing here again??"
Napalingon ako sa kanya as her voice echoed inside her big spacious house. Nauna kasi sya sa loob ng bahay while I'm looking at the front porch and garden as I followed her. Pumasok ako discreetly and I saw an American guy dressed in black three piece suit.
"Why am I not supposed to be in here, Nine? You're my fiancée"
"Leave at this moment, John. I'm with someone"
As if on cue, napatingin naman sakin yung Amerikano na hindi nya pala napansin na nandito lang ako sa pinto.
"Who is he?"
"Red dela Vega" his face shows recognition. So kilala nya din ako? But I'm sure enough na hindi ko pa sya nakikita before. Lumapit ako sa kanilang dalawa.
"I see. So its you. I'm John Alex Smith by the way. Her fiancé" I caught her make face behind him. Nakipagshakehands naman ako sa kanya saka nya binalik ang tingin kay blondie.
"Fine. I'm leaving for now. But you can't escape from this stupid games of yours, Nine"
Stupid games? So hindi lang pala ako ang pinaglalaruan nya? Is this some sort of a hobby or what? I despise her even more. Umalis na yung John na tinawag nya. Wait. I heard a certain Alex from Starr once nung nagpplaying matchmaker pa si Shen to us. Sya ba ang kausap nya nun sa phone? What's with this couple??
"Dito tayo" natigil ang pag-iisip ko when I heard her speak. She motioned for me to go upstairs. Sumunod lang ako sa kanya hanggang sa dalhin nya ko sa may roofdeck. In a while may nagdala saming maid ng juice saka umalis na din.
"So you're playing a stupid game to your fiancé as well huh? Ibang klase ka pala talaga"
"That's none of your business to begin with"
"If you say so. Is that Alex?" I asked to make sure. "I heard Starr talking to a certain Alex on the phone one time. Sya ba yun?"
"Yeah. I asked him to check on her habang nasa Cuba ako doing some volunteer works"
"Bakit kailangan mong gawin yun? Ano namang pakelam mo kay Starr?"
"You know what? I can't help but wonder kung bakit ako ang kailangan mong tanungin ng mga bagay bagay about Sharly. Why don't you just go straight to her and ask?" it took me a moment before answering in a low voice.
"Dahil alam kong hindi nya naman sasabihin sakin lahat. She keeps on hiding fragments of her past from me. Up to now, kung gusto nya naman sabihin sakin to, dapat dati nya pa sinabi diba?"
"Then why do you still want to know?" I look down the roofdeck seeing the amazing landscape of their garden.
"Para malaman ko kung dapat ko pa ba syang ipaglaban"
She fell silently ill afterwards. I don't know how her mind thinks. She's one hell of a mystery to me.
"Akala ko pa naman, those things I said to you last week made you get to your feet and took her away from Lantis. I think I raised my expectations too high for you"
"Ipagpipilitan mo pa ba yang pagiging pacemaker mo?! Hindi laro ang buhay namin damn it!"
Napabuntong hininga sya. Her serious face, para bang ibang tao ang kaharap ko right now. Hindi pa rin ako masanay-sanay that this is how she really is especially when she's talking to Alex. She's so deadly I might say. Shen can be sneaky but her? She's dangerous kung gugustuhin nya.
"I guess there's no other way but to tell you the truth. Sabi mo nga, Sharly doesn't want to tell you. Hindi ko naman talaga business ang buhay nyo. Whether magkatuluyan kayo o hindi wala naman akong pakelam dun diba? I have my own issues too para intindihin pa kayo. But seeing you so hopeless like this, the way you got so furious just to be able to talk to me, siguro nga kailangan ako sa buhay nyo. Sharly and her stubborn nature, seriously she's complicated but I really like her a lot"
"Tell me everything I need to know"
"First of all, my name is Nine Carter"
"I'm not asking for your name"
"Mukhang hindi mo napagtuunan ng pansin ang sinabi ni Dr. Ramirez kanina"
"What about that?" she's right. Hindi ko talaga binigyang pansin yun as I was utterly surprised to see her again.
"I'm Dr. Nine Carter. A professional surgeon"
"W-What?"
"John or as you prefer to call him Alex, isa rin syang surgeon like me. Madalas akong out of the country and I've been hiding to remote places here doing volunteer works for a medical mission"
"What's that gotta do with our lives?"
"Don't you still get it, Red? I'm not just a mere friend to Sharly. She's one of my patients"
"W-What? Patient??"
"I met her for the first time three years ago sa Australia. I was based in one of the hospitals there conducting a research. I was the doctor in charge of her when she got into a road accident"
"That's...when she bumped my car as I tried to commit suicide"
Halos bulong lang na lumabas sa bibig ko yun. Hindi sya agad nakaimik dahil dun. Nakatingin lang sya sakin tapos napabuntong hininga. Tumayo sya saka naglean sa veranda. Hindi ko tuloy makita ang mukha nya.
"Ganun pala. She didn't told me that. Hanggang sa huli pala, ikaw parin ang iniisip nya doesn't want to blame you for anything"
"W-What do you mean by that?"
"Nasabi nya sakin that she got into a major car accident a year bago ko sya nakilala sa Australia. But that car accident nang banggain nya ang kotse mo, hindi nya sinabi sakin yun. She just put it that she's careless and hit another car by the cliff"
Humarap sya sakin with an unreadable expression. And that look scares the hell out of me.
"But that accident in Australia was the reason why she needs an operation. I'm the one who performed a surgery to her bago ako pumunta ng Cuba six months ago"
"A-Ano bang sinasabi mo jan? She's perfectly fine. Sinabi nya sakin na okay naman sya. Bakit kailangan ng operation??"
"Sharly suffered from heart damage. It started when she had the first car accident. But the second one was fatal, damaging her heart slowly...and I'm the one who performed a heart transplant to her in France months ago"
"H-Heart...transplant?"
I'm out of breath as I asked her. She nods at me pero para akong nakadrugs hearing the shaking truth. It doesn't sink in or maybe I'm just scared to take it all in.
"She asked for me specifically. Hinanap nya pa ko cause I hid myself for the past years. Pero hindi lang yun ang rason nya. Back in Australia, sinabi ko na sa kanya yun to undergo an operation as soon as possible because her heart won't carry on for too long kahit pa slowly its damaging her heart. But she didn't want to do it that time alam mo ba yun? Kahit pa ikamatay nya, ayaw nyang magpaheart transplant...because of you"
"Dahil...sakin..."
I don't know how to digest everything she said. Her damaged heart, the heart transplant, her reasons not to replace it was because of me. How can she hide everything from me??
"Alam mo ba ang sabi nya sakin nun?" I faced her but her expression seems unreadable.
"Nine, if I'm about to undergo the operation, gusto ko ikaw ang surgeon ko. Hahanapin kita. Pero for now, pwede bang hayaan mo munang mahalin ko pa sya? Ayoko muna kasing makalimutan na sa kanya parin tumitibok tong puso ko"
Fck. It hurts every piece of me. Akala ko basta lang sya na fall out of love. Yun pala, her heart bears all the pain para patuloy akong mahalin. Bakit laging ikaw na lang ang dapat magdesisyon para sating dalawa? Don't I have the right to know??
"Willing syang igive up ang buhay nya rather than replacing her own heart. Kasi natatakot sya na kapag nagundergo sya ng operation, hindi ka na makilala ng bago nyang puso. But deep inside her, alam nyang one day bibigay din ang puso nya. So she chose not to came back to you kasi alam nyang masasaktan ka if that happens"
"But it still happened. Nagcollapse sya one day. Wala naman na syang choice dahil tatlong araw na pala syang nasa ICU before Shen got to reached me thru email. Its a good thing I'm in France performing a surgery for another person. I don't know how she coped up dahil nasa Cuba na ko nun at mahirap ang communication sa lugar na pinuntahan ko so I asked John to look after her. Kakabalik ko lang from Cuba last week nung nakita mo kami ni Sharly sa coffee shop"
"Sinabi nya sakin na kaya mas pinili nyang wag ng bumalik sayo kasi alam nyang darating ang oras na tulad nito na hindi na titibok ang puso nya para sayo. Sorry kung wala na kong magagawa pa. I'm just a surgeon. Hindi ko hawak ang mangyayari right after a patient left the operating room"
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Below are the only chaps you need to read in Seven and Nine if you're not interested.
Chapter 26 yung letter ni Shan/Nine kay Starr months ago.
Chapter 43 yung conversation ni Starr at Nine sa coffee shop. If you want to know kung anong napag-usapan nila, check that out dun. Hindi ko na ipopost yun dito.