Chapter 2:

"Who told you to get that drunk in the first place? It was your friend Sandra’s birthday, but in the end, she had to worry about how to get you all home. You made her take care of you and stress over you."

Aviannah gently massaged both her temples repeatedly while listening to her nanny, Vangie, scolding her.

"Alright, alright, Yaya. We were wrong about that. But everyone was just having too much fun, that’s why it happened," she replied with her eyes closed.

"Still, when you know you can’t handle it anymore, you should stop drinking," Yaya Vangie scolded her before placing a hot bowl of soup in front of her. "Here, this is good for hangovers."

"Thank you." Aviannah moved slowly to taste the soup that Vangie had prepared for her.

"Later, your daddy and Tita Cristy will be coming downstairs. Fix yourself up because they don’t know you came home drunk last night," Vangie reminded her.

"Good thing Mang Lito didn’t tell on me—"

"Lito didn’t even know you came home drunk last night," Vangie interrupted, making Aviannah pause.

"What? Then… does that mean Sandra was the one who brought me home?"

"No."

"Huh?" Her forehead creased in confusion. She was certain that Jamie couldn’t have taken her home because she didn’t have a car last night. Besides, she knew they both got drunk since they couldn’t stop taking shots. That’s when she thought of Alfred. She took a deep breath before speaking again. "Then it must have been Alfred who brought me home. Good thing he didn’t call my dad—"

"Not Alfred either," Vangie cut her off again.

Aviannah stared at her nanny in confusion before speaking once more. "If it wasn’t Mang Lito, Sandra, or Alfred… then who brought me home last night?"

"Your brother," Vangie answered straightforwardly, causing Aviannah to choke on her soup.

"Oh, my goodness! What’s wrong with you, child?" Vangie panicked as she quickly handed her a glass of water.

Aviannah immediately took the glass and drank from it.

"What did you say?!" she asked in shock after regaining her composure.

"Oh? Why are you so surprised? Didn’t your daddy and Tita Cristy tell you? That your brother arrived yesterday?"

"M-My brother?" she stammered, looking at her nanny.

"Yes. Your Kuya Andrei. He’s back. Your Kuya Andrei came home, and he was the one who picked you up last night from the resto-bar."

Aviannah instantly felt as if her heart had stopped beating for a moment upon hearing the news from her nanny. She couldn’t believe that after so many years, the person she never wanted to see again had returned.

"B-But… how did he end up picking me up last night?" she asked, still stuttering.

"Sandra called me last night. She told me to have Lito pick you up because you were drunk. And coincidentally, your brother was right in front of me at that moment. So, he found out."

"And then?"

"Then he said he’d go pick you up instead. He asked me for the address of the resto-bar that Sandra gave me."

She swallowed hard as she processed everything she had just learned from Vangie. Her headache worsened as she struggled to recall what had happened the night before. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t remember a single thing.

"So? You still can’t remember anything at all?" Vangie asked her again.

"I really don’t remember anything, Yaya—" She suddenly paused. "Wait, was he also the one who brought me to my room?"

"Yes, he was. I couldn’t carry you myself, you know. My knees aren’t as strong as they used to be."

Her lips parted slightly upon hearing more details about what had happened. In that instant, she wished the ground would swallow her whole out of sheer embarrassment. She was furious at herself—of all the times she could have gotten that drunk, why did it have to be last night?!

"But don’t worry anymore. Like I said, your daddy and Tita Cristy don’t know that you came home drunk last night. Your Kuya Andrei didn’t tell them—"

"Please, Yaya, stop calling him my brother," she quickly interrupted Vangie, irritation and frustration evident on her face. "He is not my kuya."

"What do you mean he’s not? He’s Tita Cristy’s son. Your daddy’s wife. That makes him your brother. He is your kuya—"

"Urgh!" She abruptly stood up and turned her back on Vangie.

"Look at this girl. So stubborn and spoiled. Where are you going? Finish your soup and eat your breakfast!"

She heard Vangie’s words but ignored them. Instead, she hurried to her room to hide. At any moment, Andrei might come out, and she didn’t want to run into him.

"Okay. I need to come up with a plan," she muttered to herself once inside her room. "I don’t remember anything from last night, which means I must have been asleep the whole time he picked me up and brought me home. Right. If that’s the case, then I probably didn’t say anything to him. Good. That’s exactly how it should be. I must not have said anything to him at all!" she reassured herself.

A moment later, she quickly decided to call her friend, Sandra.

“Hello, Avie? How are you? How are you feeling? You must have a hangover for sure—”

“Sandra! Tell me, what happened last night?” she interrupted her friend as soon as she answered the call.

“Huh? Oh… well…”

“You know who picked me up last night, right?”

“Y-Yeah… it’s him, Avie.”

She took a deep breath. “So, it’s true. Yaya Vangie was telling the truth.”

“Well, I was really shocked last night. If I had known he arrived yesterday, I wouldn’t have called Yaya Vangie to have you picked up. I would have asked Alfred to take you home instead. I’m sorry, Avie—”

“No, no, no, it’s okay. I mean… it’s not your fault that he was the one who picked me up and took me home.”

She heard Sandra take a deep breath from the other end of the line before speaking again. “So, how are you now?”

“My head hurts, and the worst part is… I don’t remember anything from the moment I passed out at the resto-bar last night.”

“Really? Not even… what you said to him? You don’t remember that either?” Sandra asked hesitantly, which immediately made Avie panic.

“What?! Wait! What did I say to him?!”

“Uhm…”

“Come on, Sandra! Tell me! What did I say to him?! What happened last night when he picked me up?!”

And at that moment, Sandra told her everything that had happened the night Andrei came to pick her up.

“You? What are you doing here?” Alfred asked Andrei in a deep voice as the latter stopped in front of him.

Andrei lowered his gaze to the sleeping Aviannah, who was still slumped over the table.

“I’m here to pick up my sister,” he answered seriously.

“A-Andrei! When did you arrive?” Sandra suddenly asked.

“Just earlier,” Andrei replied simply before taking a step toward Aviannah. But he immediately stopped when Alfred blocked his way.

“Wait. I’ll be the one to take her home.”

“What? Why do you need to take her home when I’m already here to pick her up—”

“You know why,” Alfred interrupted him firmly.

“What?”

“You know she doesn’t want to see you.”

Silence filled the air at that moment. It was only broken when Aviannah slowly stirred and sat up from where she had been slumped over the table.

“Avie! Are you alright?” Sandra hurried to her side.

“I need to go home now,” Aviannah murmured, her eyes still closed.

“Yes, we will go home now. Let’s go,” Sandra said as she gently helped Aviannah stand up.

Alfred immediately stepped forward to help Sandra, while Andrei remained silent, simply watching Aviannah.

But before they could take a step, Andrei blocked their way.

“You’re coming with me,” Andrei said seriously to Aviannah, even though her eyes were closed and she was barely conscious due to extreme intoxication.

“I said that I will be the one to take her home—”

“I already said that my sister is coming with me,” Andrei cut Alfred off.

Alfred scoffed at Andrei’s words. “Your sister, huh.”

“Yes. She’s my sister, anyway. Do you have a problem with that?” Andrei retorted arrogantly.

In the end, Alfred could no longer argue and allowed Andrei to take Aviannah.

Aviannah slowly opened her eyes when Andrei touched her. Meanwhile, Sandra bit her lower lip nervously, fearing what kind of scene her drunken friend might cause once she realized she was face-to-face with the man she never wanted to see again.

“Oh, wait!” Aviannah suddenly said, staring at Andrei. “Why do you look familiar?”

“Really?” Andrei asked seriously.

“Yes. You look like… someone I know.”

“And what’s his name?”

“I don’t say bad words,” the intoxicated Aviannah replied. She had no idea that she was already talking to the very man she swore she never wanted to see again.

“So, my name is just a bad word to you now,” Andrei said in disappointment.

“Do you hate him? The one who looks like me?” he asked Aviannah.

“Yeah. I hate him. I really, really, really hate him. And I don’t want to see his face anymore,” Aviannah replied firmly before completely losing consciousness due to extreme dizziness and intoxication.

“And yeah, that’s it. That’s the whole story. After you passed out again, he carried you to his car,” Sandra told Aviannah after recounting everything that happened the previous night when Andrei picked her up.

Aviannah tightly shut her eyes and placed a hand on her forehead.

“Hello? Avie? Are you still there?” Sandra asked from the other end of the line.

“Yeah, I’m still here. I just can’t believe I actually said those things last night,” Aviannah replied softly.

“I was so nervous when you spoke to him last night. But I couldn’t stop you anymore.”

“It’s okay, Sandra.” Aviannah took a deep breath before continuing, “I think it’s actually better that I said those things.”

“Huh?”

“Well, isn’t it true? It’s true that I hate him, and… it’s also true that I never want to see him again.”

“So, what are you going to do now… since he’s back?”

“I’ll leave,” Aviannah answered straightforwardly.

“What? You’re leaving?”

“Yes, I am. If he’s staying here… then I’ll be the one to leave. Because I’m serious—I never want to see him again. Ever.”