02

Chapter 02

Four days after Phinea's funeral, Kiel and the others decided to visit their friend and found out he was at Phinea's apartment.

"Good morning, Mrs. Difabio," Kiel greeted. The lady welcomed Victor's friends and let them in.

"How's Victor?" Kiel asked her once they were in the living room. Robin scanned the apartment, noting how simple it was—so unassuming that you wouldn’t think someone lived there.

"Do you need help cleaning up Phinea's things? I don’t think Victor's in the right state to help you," Kiel offered. The woman placed her hand on her forehead, saying that in this situation, that wasn’t her main concern.

"Victor goes wild when I try to clean this apartment or take down Phinea's pictures. I’m worried about him, hindi ko siya maiwan dito at sandali umuwi," she said. Kiel and Robin paused when they heard a bottle crash.

"Victor?"

Agad na tumungo ang babae sa room ni Victor and Kiel and Robin followed her, nakita nila sa loob ng room si Victor.

He was currently drowning his sorrows in alcohol and cigarettes. Bottles were strewn across the floor along with some of his belongings.

"Come on, stop this," his mother said as she approached him, trying to take the drink from him pero inilayo ni Victor ang bote at bahagya itinulak ang ina palayo.

"Stay away from me! Mom! Just leave me alone!"

Kiel and Robin never expected Phinea's death to hit Victor this hard. At first, they thought he was just feeling guilty and that after a few days he would be okay, but—

"Mom, ano gagawin ko? Hindi ko maintindihan, why this is happening to me. I just won the best actor award, Mom! I’m in the middle of my career, and I have so many drama offers—not just in the Philippines but abroad too!" Victor shouted, gripping his mother at yakap siya nito.

"Why can’t I be happy? Why can’t I get Phinea out of my head? Is it my fault this happened to her?" Victor's voice trembled at tinanong ang ina kung ano ang gagawin niya.

"Mom, please answer me. What should I do?" he sobbed, gradually lying down on the carpet.

"Victor," his mother whispered, tears streaming down her face as she held her son's head while sitting on the floor.

Victor clutched the necklace where his wedding ring, identical sa singsing na suot ni Phinea.

"When you and Dad forced me to marry one of the Lawson's daughter, I wasn’t happy. I loved acting so much and I wasn’t ready to settle down. I didn’t feel ready to take on any responsibilities or start a family."

"I love you and Dad, and sabi mo para naman iyon sa akin. I trusted you and you gave me Phinea. She was like a dandelion—delicate, soft, and gentle. Like the fragile seeds of a dandelion, she seemed vulnerable, easily blown by the winds. I hated her for that. She was so fragile and easily scared. I didn’t know how to approach her and because of my career, I had to keep her hidden. She hated attention and people. What am I supposed to do? Hindi ko maintindihan bakit siya ang binigay niyo sa akin."

Tears streamed down Victor's face as he looked at their wedding picture on the floor, the frame shattered.

"Bring Phinea back to me—give me one more chance to keep her."

When Victor closed his eyes, he found himself alone in his room and suddenly his mother and friends were gone.

Time seemed to stop and a strange light emanated from Victor's ring.

—

"Victor! Gumising ka na!"

Victor opened his eyes at nakita niya ang sarili niya na nakahiga sa sahig.

"Why did you sleep on the floor? Do you want to get sick on your wedding day? Remember, even if you die, I won’t allow you na i-cancel ang wedding!"

Victor paused and looked up, confused about what his mother was saying.

"What wedding?"

He rubbed his eyes dahil napansin niya na parang bumata ang ina niya.

He looked at her again, but before he could process what was happening, his mother pulled him out of the room.

There were many people in the living room, including Kiel. His mother instructed the staff to get Kiel ready.

"Mom! What’s going on? Who’s getting married? I told you wala ako balak magpakasal ulit. Si Phinea lang ang asawa ko!"

Tears welled up in Victor's eyes as he glared at his mother. Everyone in the living room stopped when they heard him say that.

After a moment, his mother and Kiel burst out laughing.

"You’re already proclaiming Phinea as your wife, hindi pa nga kayo kasal," Kiel said, putting his arm around Victor and laughing. Slowly, everything began to sink in for Victor, dahil sa napansin niya na familiar sa kaniya ang hotel at mga outfit ng mga kaibigan niya pati ang mom niya. Isang beses niya lang nakita ang outfit na iyon at nakita niya iyon sa mismong kasal nila ni Phinea.

Suddenly, Victor's knees felt weak, and he almost fell if Kiel hadn’t caught him.

"What’s happening to you, Victor?" Kiel asked, sitting him down on the sofa.

Victor didn’t know how to explain it; all he knew was that he found himself in a room surrounded by makeup artists, dressed in a white wedding suit.

"Mom," Victor called while looking in the mirror, where he could see his mother’s reflection as the hairstylist worked on his hair.

"Again, the wedding is happening, Victor. No matter what you say, matutuloy ang kasal," his mother, Carol Difabio, said as she opened a magazine while sitting on the sofa.

"Mom, that’s not what I was going to say. I was just going to ask how old I am and if it’s true that I’m marrying Phinea Lawson."

The woman paused and looked at Victor. Their eyes met and she asked him what was happening with him.

"You’ve been acting weird since this morning."

Grooms and brides are not allowed to see each other while the wedding is being processed, so they were doing everything to keep Victor from leaving the room and going to Phinea. His mother couldn’t understand what her son was thinking or why he was acting so strangely.

"You’re 21 now, and yes, you are marrying Phinea Lawson."

Victor's heart raced when he heard that, and a smile spread across his face when it was confirmed.

As he was being prepared, Victor prayed that this wasn’t just a dream.

"Phinea," he whispered. When he was finally ready, maya't maya ang tingin niya sa wall clock.

He couldn’t wait to see Phinea.

There was a knock at the door and Victor immediately stood up. He was the first to approach the door that the lady knocked on. He saw excitement in Victor that was a stark contrast to his reaction when he found out last month that he was marrying Phinea.

"Are we leaving already?" Victor asked when he saw his father raise an eyebrow. Nauna siya lumabas at sinundan siya ng parents niya.

"Victor won’t do anything weird, right?" Kiel asked, nudging Robin, who just grimaced.

"Don’t worry; I didn’t see any deadly weapon in his hands when he left the room."

Jack Lewis, standing behind Victor's friends, just shook his head and told them to stop.

Later, in the room where Phinea Lawson was. After the staff finished preparing her, they left the room.

Behind her stood Peregrine Lawson, Phinea's twin sister. Peregrine laughed and asked Phinea why she was looking down.

"Don’t you want to see your ugly face in the mirror?" Peregrine teased, placing a hand on Phinea's shoulder.

"Green-eyed monster," Peregrine whispered, and Phinea shut her eyes tightly. Phinea begged her to stop, almost in tears.

"Remember who you are, Phinea. Just because you were chosen by the Difabios to be their son’s wife doesn’t mean you’re above everyone else. Remember, kasal lang kayo sa papel and I’m the one Victor wants."

Peregrine was Victor's ex-girlfriend and they had been broken up for almost three years. Why? Peregrine broke up with him because she wanted to pursue her career and left Victor. After a few months of being single, Victor entered showbiz and Peregrine never expected him to rise to fame so quickly due to his natural talent for acting and his charm.

Then, after two years, the Difabio couple returned from abroad and met with their parents to arrange Victor’s marriage to one of the twins. She was introduced to the Difabios first but when they saw Phinea, instead of choosing Peregrine for Victor, they wanted Phinea to marry him.

She also learned that the reason the Difabios weren’t well-known in the Philippines and had no company there was that Victor was an Australian citizen and when she met him, he was just vacationing in the Philippines.

Because she was an actress and her image was important, she broke up with Victor and started dating another famous actor.

There was a knock at the door, and Peregrine moved away from Phinea’s seat. Staff entered with Phinea's parents.

"Get up, Phinea; the wedding is about to start," her mother ordered. Phinea trembled as she stood up, looking down as she approached her parents.

"Fix yourself up. There are a lot of guests, and I don’t want to be embarrassed in front of the Difabios," her mother whispered after squeezing Phinea's arm.

Phinea was terrified. As they exited the hotel, a gentle breeze brushed against her cheek. She slightly lifted her face and was greeted by a stunning view.

The music began, and Phinea saw many people. Everyone was looking at her at nabato si Phinea sa kinatatayuan dahil sa kaba.

"Phinea," her mother called out firmly when Phinea stopped walking.

Phinea gripped her wedding dress tightly filled with fear.

"Phinea!"

She froze when someone shouted into the microphone. Her gaze was locked on the man standing at the altar, smiling and waving at her.

"Nakikita mo ako? Just look at me. I’m way better-looking than all those people staring at you."

The guests laughed, and Victor's parents could only shake their heads dahil sa kalokohan ng anak nila, but deep down, they appreciated Victor’s effort. It was clear Phinea was nervous and that was due to the guests’ piercing stares at the woman who was about to marry the heir of the Difabio family and a rising star in the entertainment industry.

"Come here."

Victor reached out his hand, looking directly at Phinea. Unbeknownst to Phinea, when Victor lifted his hand, her feet moved on their own toward him.

Victor didn’t take his eyes off her and soon Phinea realized na nasa harapan na siya ni Victor.

When the couple placed Phinea's hand in Victor's, he returned the microphone to the priest and expressed his gratitude.

"Just relax; maya-maya matatapos na din tayo and then we can eat," Victor whispered, holding Phinea's hand as she looked up at him her eyes fixed on his.

The priest cleared his throat to regain the couple's attention. They looked at him, and he cheerfully announced that they could continue the wedding.

Victor couldn’t believe this was happening again, and Phinea was once more by his side at the altar.

When he saw Phinea walking in, he almost jumped off from the altar to hug her.

He looked at Phinea, who was now looking down, nervously picking at her nails.

He raised his hand in front of Phinea. The girl paused and glanced at Victor.

"Hold my hand if you’re scared."

Phinea didn’t take his hand not because she wasn’t scared, but because she was shy.

"How about you just hold my hand? Nilalamig ako tapos natatakot din ako," Victor joked. Even though she was hesitant, Phinea slowly lifted both her hands and took Victor's hand. Victor struggled to suppress a laugh at her cute gesture.

The priest cleared his throat and asked Victor if he wanted to continue the ceremony.

"Or do you want to go straight to the honeymoon?"

Phinea's ears turned red and she gripped Victor’s hand tightly.

During the ceremony, no one would believe that it was just an arranged marriage and that the bride and groom had only known each other for less than a month.

"What did you say to Victor?" asked the old Difabio to his wife. She replied that she hadn’t said anything to Victor.

When Victor acted, it was as if he wasn’t the same Victor who just a day ago was vehemently opposed to marrying Phinea.

When the priest said to kiss the bride, the two faced each other. Victor lifted Phinea's veil. Fear was etched on her face as she shut her eyes tightly.

"Hey, look at me."

Slowly, Phinea opened her eyes. They locked gazes—Victor smiled slightly and told her she looked beautiful.

Victor leaned in and kissed her on the lips.

At that altar, Victor was beginning to make the changes that would shape their future together.

Peregrine's expression darkened when she saw that scene, watching Victor kiss Phinea, leaving her momentarily stunned.

"Nice to meet you, Phinea Lawson-Difabio."