Chapter 4: Discovery

Mag-isang nakaupo si Alaric sa kaniyang opisina, ang isang kamay ay nakapatong sa gilid ng kanyang mesa, at ang isa naman ay marahang tumatapik sa baso ng whiskey. Hours of meetings had ended, but his mind was still racing. For months, he had been waiting for this moment. For answers. For the truth that everyone else buried under lies.

Then his phone buzzed.

A single notification lit on the screen.

[Final Report – Rooftop Incident, Case Closed]

Umigting ang kaniyang panga. Mabagal niyang kinuha ang phone, in-unlock ang file na ipinangako ng private investigator niya. His gaze scanned the words. And then

He froze.

Last seen with the victim: AMARIZ SOLENE VALENTE.

Parang bala na tumama diretso sa dibdib niya ang pangalan. Para siyang mawawalan ng balanse.

“Amariz…” bulong niya

His face turned cold, pero kasabay noon ay nag-aapoy na galit sa kaibuturan niya.

Her.

The girl who had walked into his company like she belonged. The girl who hide her past behind a sweet smiles and her sharp eyes. The girl now sitting under his command, his new employee.

The same girl who killed Thalina.

Kumirot ang dibdib niya. as images rushed into his mind. Thalina’s laughter under the chandeliers of that gala. Her hand slipping into his, soft and warm. Her scream, God, that scream, echoing in the cold night.

Sinasabi ng lahat na aksidente iyon. Na nalasing, o nadapa. May mga bulung-bulungan ng selos, ng away. Pero hindi iyon kailanman tumugma. Hindi ganoon si Thalina, maingat siya, She would never have slipped.

At ngayon, hawak niya ang katotohanan.

Someone had tried to bury it, to twist it, to cover Amariz in innocence. But he had unearthed it. Piece by piece, connection by connection, until this final report sealed it.

Humilig si Alaric sa leather chair niya, nanginginig ang mga kamao habang hawak ang telepono.

“Amariz Solene,” bulong niya, malamig at nakamamatay. “You bitch!”

His lips curved into a smile, but it wasn’t one of amusement. It was sharp, cruel, filled with a grief sharpened into vengeance.

Tumayo siya, at naglakad papunta sa malalaking bintana. The city glittered below, traffic weaving like veins of fire through the darkness. Manila looked alive, unaware to the storm now raging inside its tallest tower.

She’s here. Under my nose. Walking these halls.

Naalala niya ang unang araw na pumasok si Amariz sa kanyang opisina. She carried herself with that strange mix of fear and defiance, She had smiled, small and hesitant. Introduced herself as if she were nothing more than the daughter of a maid.

And yet, there was something in her eyes that night. Something he couldn’t place. Not guilt. Not innocence. Something else.

His fists clenched.

Ang babaeng minahal niya, ang babae na pinangakoan niyang poprotektahan, ngayo’y nasa ilalim ng lupa habang si Amariz ay malayang humihinga.

How dare you, Amariz… How dare you step into my world as if you had not stolen her from me.

Muling tiningnan ni Alaric ang report. Mga witness statement.

A witness trembling confession:

"She was there… I saw her… she touched the victim before she fell…"

And Amariz’s voice, caught faintly in the background of a video, panicked, and broken. “I didn’t mean—”

His hand tightened around the phone

There it was. A proof enough.

He could end her now. One call, and she would be ruined. Her lies exposed, her name dragged through headlines until she had nowhere left to run.

But Alaric Ravenhart wasn’t a man of quick endings. No. That would be too merciful.

Predators didn’t pounce at once. They waited. They stalked. They toyed with their prey, watching the fear grow in their eyes.

He wanted her close. Gusto niyang makita ang bawat ngiti nito na mabahiran ng takot at pait, gusto niyang makita sa mala anghel nitong hitsura ang sakit, kung paano mawalan. Gusto niyang maramdaman ni Amariz ang presensya niya, na parang lubid na dahan-dahang sumasakal sa leeg niya.

He wanted her to break.

Dahan-dahan niyang ibinaba ang telepono, at binuksan ang drawer ng mesa. Nandoon ang isang velvet box. He opened it, revealing the diamond ring that had once been Thalina’s. It glittered coldly under the office lights, mocking him.

“Thalina,” bulong niya, his voice cracking just enough to betray the ache in his chest. “Hindi ako titigil hanggat Hinde ko nakukuha ang hustisya para sa’yo.”

His eyes darkened, his grief hardening once more.

“And Amariz… she’ll deliver it with her own hand”

Mariin niyang isinara ang kahon at ibinalik sa drawer. Tumayo siya, at naglakad ng dahan-dahan sa opisina, bawat yabag umuugong sa marmol na sahig.

Tomorrow, he would see her again. Sitting across from him in a meetings, pretending to be ordinary, pretending to be innocent.

And he would smile. He would test her. Push her. Hahayaang niyang mabasag ang maskara nito hanggang lumabas ang totoo nitong pagkato.

“She thinks she’s safe,” bulong niya habang iniikot ang natitirang whiskey sa baso. “Pero mali ka, Amariz. You walked straight into my hands.”

He raised the glass in a mock toast toward the empty room, the city sprawling behind him like a battlefield waiting to be claimed.

“To lies,” he whispered, drinking it down in one burning swallow. “And to the day I crush yours.”

At habang kumikislap ang mga ilaw sa ibaba, ngumiti si Alaric, isang ngiting malamig, mabangis, at walang awa.

The game had begun.