Chapter 2

“Are you going to school already?” Vanessa asked her husband who just came down from their room.

He was on the stairs, heading to the kitchen. He had already taken a bath, dressed up, and even put on his shoes. So early. She hadn’t even showered yet because she chose to cook their breakfast first. Before looking away, she checked out his uniform. He was still handsome, like the Gian she admires before.

She brought out the food she cooked and placed them on the table. She gave a sweet smile when Gian finally came down and looked at what she was doing. It was only six in the morning. She had woken up exactly at five to prepare their breakfast.

At least in this way, she could make up for everything. At least like this, maybe she could get back the old Gian.

She wanted to see his sweet smile again—the smile that made her fall, the smile that became the trap she could never escape.

“I’ll eat at school.”

Her mouth literally fell open at what he said. At school? What about the food she cooked? Did that mean she would be eating alone?

Panicking, she ran to him. “It’s still early, just eat here. Don’t waste what I prepared,” she pleaded, but Gian didn’t listen.

He grabbed his things and rushed out, leaving her in the kitchen. She looked at the food. No! She couldn’t let this happen. She wouldn’t allow him to just walk away.

She ran after him and grabbed his arm. “Come on, Gian, just eat a—”

He pulled his arm away from her grip. Gian isn’t the same man I knew anymore, she whispered to herself.

But there was no one else to blame. It was her fault. She chose what she wanted without thinking if someone else would get hurt.

“What part of what I said don’t you understand? Are you really that stupid, Vanessa? Stop forcing things I don’t want! Do you understand?” he shouted straight to her face. His eyes were dark, full of anger... and hate.

She let out a sob.

“And one more thing—don’t cry in front of me, Van,” he added coldly.

“I just wanted—”

“I don’t care about what you want! Do you think your breakfast will lessen the anger I feel for you? No! It won’t!” He slammed the door shut as he left.

She held her face as the tears she had been holding back finally fell. She only wanted their marriage to work. She only wanted to fix things. If she could undo her mistake, she would.

It wasn’t easy seeing the old Gian she loved turn into this. It wasn’t easy living with someone who hated your presence from the very beginning. It wasn’t easy—it was painful.

Only her sobs echoed in the big house. What kind of bad luck had fallen on her life?

She wiped her tears with her hands. Even though they kept falling, she didn’t let them win. This wasn’t the time to be weak. This isn’t the Vanessa I used to be, she told herself.

She wiped her tears again, let out a loud sigh, and smiled.

“You think I’m going to give up, Gian? Well, you’re wrong. I’m just getting started,” she said with a little laugh.

She went back to the table and looked at the food she had prepared. Sadness hit her again. What would happen to all of this? Her effort was wasted.

“I cooked so much and that stupid gay Gian didn’t even eat.” She sat on the chair and stared at the food sadly.

“Gian Saldivar, so manly but owned by a gay heart,” she whispered to herself with a chuckle.

“Can I even finish all of you?” she asked the food on the table. She grabbed a fork and stabbed a hotdog, staring at it. “You know, if only you were Gian’s hotdog, I’d definitely eat you.” She laughed at herself for talking to a hotdog.

“Dios mio, what am I even saying? At think, I’m going crazy.” She burst out laughing. “Damn you, Gian!” she shouted.

VANESSA packed up all the leftover food into two lunch boxes. Her face was gloomy but she refused to let it ruin her day. Stress was bad for beauty.

After packing everything, she sat again. Such a waste. She really worked hard to cook these. She had never even fried hotdogs before, and now she fried fish too. She rolled her eyes. Gian made her so mad she wanted to bite his neck.

Gian was lucky. He was the first man she ever cooked for, and he had the nerve to reject her? Acting hard-to-get? Acting like he was so handsome?

She couldn’t help but laugh at the thought. Actually, it wasn’t hard-to-get. Gian was really mad at her. Who wouldn’t be? She took away his freedom.

“Fine, it’s all my fault. Damn it!”

After beating herself up, she finally stood up and went to the room Gian lent her. She changed into her departmental shirt. Good thing she had brought it, or else she wouldn’t be allowed inside the campus. Their guards were stricter than the chancellor. And since it was Friday, departmental shirt was required.

She paired it with black jeans and black rubber shoes. She looked at the mirror before leaving the maid’s quarter.

“Damn Gian, he even made me a maid. But it’s okay, I still love that monkey,” she chuckled. “Love really makes you do crazy things.”

She grabbed her shoulder bag and left the house. After closing their gate, she let out a smile. This was her first day as Vanessa Alvarez-Saldivar. She should only face good vibes.

It was a three-minute walk to the tricycle terminal. My husband owns a car, yet here I am commuting. So irritating!

She sat in the tricycle with a huff and placed her bag beside her.

“Let’s go, Manong,” she told the driver.

“Sorry, Ma’am, we still need three more passengers,” the driver replied. Her eyes widened in shock. Three more? She looked around and her jaw dropped.

“Seriously? It’s already so cramped!” she complained, making the other passengers laugh.

“Ate, first time riding this? You should’ve just taken a taxi,” a kid teased, making everyone laugh harder.

She just rolled her eyes and stayed quiet. The kid was right anyway. How was she supposed to know this was how tricycles worked?

She was in the front seat, stuck in the middle. On her left was a lady, and on her right was a male student from her university. He looked like a fourth year too.

“Kuya, can you move a little? I’m getting squished here,” she asked. But the guy only glanced at her. “Kuya—”

“You know what, I’m about to fall, Miss. Why don’t we just switch places?” the guy said loudly so everyone could hear. So rude! And not even handsome.

“Stop this tricycle!” she snapped.

“HOW are things with you and Sir Gian, Van?” her cousin Mae asked while they were in the Computer Lab, working on their research proposal. Second semester had started, which meant hell for graduating students—thesis!

She stopped typing and turned to her cousin who clearly wanted to gossip about her love life. She secretly smiled at the thought. Love life? Gian almost wanted to kill her out of annoyance.

“Hey, I’m asking you! And why are you smiling? You know, I should actually be mad at you,” Mae said dramatically. She raised her brows. Her cousin was at it again. Mae was always like this—she knew every gossip in the university.

“And why is that?” she asked, curious. She should be the one being emo, not Mae.

“Because we agreed I’d be your bridesmaid, remember? But what happened? I didn’t even get an invitation! I just found out you were already married. Where’s the justice in that, huh? You tricked me! When I get married, you’ll be the one washing dishes!”

Now Mae was being dramatic. She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“About that, I’m sorry. There were no bridesmaids or whatever at my wedding. It was just civil. Don’t worry, if I get married again, I’ll make you the flower girl,” she joked so Mae would stop. It was dangerous to tell her cousin too much—she might publish it in the school paper.

Because Mae—Shiella Mae Alvarez—was the Editor-in-Chief of their university’s Student Publication. That explained her being so nosy. She knew almost everyone on campus, especially the ones good at writing.

It’s true what they say: never tell your secrets to gossipers, especially writers. Why? Because they might turn it into a story and expose you. Dead meat!

She heard Mae sigh. She turned to her again. “That was deep. What’s wrong?” She thought the drama was over, but Mae had a part two.

“I got scammed,” Mae said, closing her notebook and putting it away.

“You? Scammed? Wow, that’s a miracle,” she teased, laughing. “Are you done?” she asked as Mae stood up.

“I’ll finish this later, promise. By the way, are you really sure about our research topic? How about the title, is it okay? What if Sir rejects it?”

“Then I’ll reject him,” she said, laughing.

“Crazy!” Mae fixed her wrinkled shirt, grabbed her bag, and rushed off. “I’ll go ahead. Adios!”

She just shook her head. She really couldn’t understand her cousin sometimes. Still, she smiled.

“If I’m hard-headed, Mae is crazy,” she whispered, facing the computer again.

“At least Mae isn’t a drama queen in tricycles. Unlike you. Not even that pretty, yet so full of attitude,” a voice said beside her. A man’s voice.

She turned—and saw him. The guy from the tricycle. Her blood boiled. She grabbed her notebook and hit him on the head.

“You! You’ve been annoying me since earlier! You don’t know why I acted that way. Anyone would’ve done the same. Do you know why? Because your armpits stink, that’s why! Ugh!” she snapped, glaring at him. She wanted to scratch his face out of anger.

The guy sniffed his armpit.

She rolled her eyes, hiding her laughter. His armpit didn’t really smell. She just couldn’t think of any better excuse after he called her dramatic.

She moved the mouse to log out of her account, grabbed her things, and stood up. But before she could walk away, the guy grabbed her arm.

“My armpits don’t stink!”