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chapter 5

Author: Elouvien Hart
last update Huling Na-update: 2025-07-07 18:53:15

KAEL’S POV

I watched her walk away.

Bitbit ang mga papel na buong buhay niyang binura ng isang lihim.

V.E.V.

Vivienne Elira Virel.

I should’ve told her.

But how do you explain a truth that’s older than both of you?

A promise made between two people you tried so hard to forget?

I stood there in silence, pretending I didn’t care but in my head there's many questions running.

But the moment the door closed behind her...

I did.

Wala akong dalang payong.

Of course not. How could I have expected a storm?

Pero kahit pa basang-basa na ako, I kept walking na tila walang patutunguhan sa sobrang manhid ng aking nararamdaman.

One step away from Kael.

One step closer to the unknown.

Then I heard footsteps behind me.

“Elira, wait.”

I stopped. Slowly, I turned.

Kael.

Basang-basa rin. No umbrella. No suit. Just the truth in his eyes for the first time.

“Bakit? Gusto mo akong pigilan pero hindi mo naman ako kayang panindigan?”

“You don’t understand,” he said. His voice wasn’t cold anymore. It was... breaking.

“Then make me understand.”

Kael’s jaw tightened. His eyes—no longer stone, but storm.

He walked closer. Each step, heavy. Hesitant. Hurting.

“Your mother saved my life.”

I was 12. My father was ruthless. Cold. Controlling.

One night, he found out I was sneaking off to avoid his arranged meetings. He snapped.

Vivienne — your mom — worked as our lawyer. But that night, she didn’t act like one. She acted like a mother.

She pulled me out of that mansion. Took me in. Gave me a new name. A new school. A new chance.

She hid me for six months until he calmed down. Until I was strong enough to come back.

I owed her my freedom. My identity. My first chance to choose.

“I couldn’t protect her back then,” Kael said, stepping closer, voice low. “So I swore if anything ever happened to her, I’d protect you.”

“You think marrying me out of guilt is protection?”

“No.” He hesitated. Then his voice dropped. “But falling in love with you… that’s what scares me.”

I looked at him. Shocked. Shivering. Shaking.

“Kael…”

He moved even closer. Close enough that our breaths met between raindrops.

“I didn’t expect you, Elira. I never wanted to care. But I do. I already do.”

My heart stuttered. Alam kung it's genuine, its came from he's heart But my walls were higher now I don't want to feel hurt anymore so as long as I can i will set my wall so high so that no one can hurt me not this time but in the future also.

“So what now?” I whispered. “We kiss in the rain like we’re not both broken?”

He gave a small, painful smile.

“No,” he said. “We stay in the storm... until we’re strong enough to walk out of it together.”

hindi ko alam kung masasaktan ako o matutuwa sa sinabi niya.

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