Chapter 45: Chapter 45

ROYCE

I continuously massage my temple while pacing back and forth in my living room, waiting for the call to be picked up. Nelina wouldn't admit it, but I saw it in her eyes. She was terrified; her anxiety attacked again even though she did her best to hide it from me.

"Hello, Mr. Park." Finally, a well-modulated voice came from the other line.

"Yes, Jay, thanks for picking up. I know it's late, but I badly need your help," I said as I sat on the couch. Almost midnight when I took a glance at my wristwatch. It took two hours before I finally decided to call for professional help.

"I am sending you a detailed format that I need for a certain person. Please give me all the details when I come home from Manila. I'll be leaving tomorrow, so hopefully, after 2 days, you will have already finished the work."

I paused and sent a message to Jay.

"Please take a look at your inbox and let me know if two days would be enough."

A silence followed on my line and the other line. A moment passed, Jay cleared his throat.

"Mr. Park, consider this done. It won't take me two days to do this. Anything more you want to add?"

"Nothing Jay, that would be all for now. I will be the one to contact you when I get back from Manila."

I felt a little relieved when the call was cut. Knowing that I'll be having information to the man who might be a threat to my Nelly. I hover on the screen of my phone again to make another call. It's a little late, but someone like Marica could be up until past midnight for business stuff. The call was connected instantly.

"Hello, thanks for picking up. Am I disturbing you?"

"Ah, no, I was just heading to my room. What's up? It's late. How's your dinner with Nelly?" Marica paused; she gasped.

"Wait, did something bad happen?" Her voice had a trace of concern on the latter question.

"No, no, it's not that, well not that bad," I rubbed my nape, thinking of better ways to explain.

"What? Did something bad happen but not so bad? What is it? How's Nelly?" Her voice sounds agitated.

"Wait, let me explain. But you have to be calm. Nelly is fine, but I need your help." I started my voice slow and soft.

"Alright, tell me what's going on then. I'm all ears."

"You know Dennis Tan, right?"

"What? That bastard, he's still alive? Did he resurrect from hell or something? Tell me he hadn't hurt Nelly." Her voice was steady with conviction.

I can tell that Nelly didn't have a good time with Dennis as he insisted. Although Nelly had confirmed it already, I could still get a lot from Marica.

"No, Nelly wasn't hurt; I wouldn't allow that to happen. Unfortunately, he appeared in the restaurant where we had dinner. Yes, he wanted to talk to Nelly alone, but he failed." I paused, stood up, and headed to the balcony as I needed some air. It would probably help me think better in this awful situation.

"I need your help with Dennis since I don't know much about his past relationship with Nelina." I knew it was almost impossible for her to disclose it, yet trying is not bad.

"Did you talk about this with Nelly?"

"No, we haven't, Nelly was anxious, and I think she had another anxiety attack. I can tell. But instead of confronting her, I chose to give her comfort to make her feel safe and loved."

"Royce, thank you for doing these things for my best friend. However, I can't talk about Nelly's relationship with Dennis behind her back. I just can't. Only Nelina can discuss those things with you. Let's wait for some time since you have already made progress with your relationship with her."

Marica's voice was soft compared to her normal voice, exaggerated and sometimes furious. Nelly was lucky to have her; Marica is genuine; she truly cares about Nelly.

"No, please don't worry about that. I will personally talk about this with Nelly. That would be all; I'm sure you need all the sleep you can get tonight. I'll head to bed as well; we will be early to Manila tomorrow."

"Yeah, we need to get some sleep. Please take care of my best friend and her family."

"I'm doing my best; you don't have to say that."

As soon as the call was cut, I leaned against the balcony railings looking at the beautiful city lights from the top. As expected, Marica hadn't disclosed anything about how Dennis treated Nelly when they used to be together. I knew she wouldn't. I only need some hints which were evident in the way Marica reacted to the mention of Dennis.

As early as 8 the following morning, we were at my condo in Manila with Nelina, her parents. With them is a driver who will be helping Mrs. Cruz while staying in Manila for the whole duration of the therapy session and a nurse in charge of Mr. Arthur's medical needs.

Nelina's mom and I headed to the living room after fixing their things in their respective rooms while Nelina was in the kitchen.

"Royce, you've done too much for us."

Mrs. Cruz told me as she patted my shoulder. The corner of her lips turned up, a pleasant smile showed. She reminds me of my grandma.

"No, Mrs. Cruz, this is not a big deal. Take it as a friend's help. It so happens that I have a condo here in Manila which I am not using. Besides, I was the first to offer Nelly anything I could to make your stay here comfortable. So you only have to think about Sir Arthur's therapy."

"Well, how could I refuse? We need every help we can have," Mrs. Cruz said as she took a seat on the couch.

Mrs. Cruz patted the cushion, giving me a hint to sit beside her. I took the opportunity to have a good talk with her. What happened that night with Dennis crossed my mind again.

Should I ask her? I shifted to the kitchen, where Nelly was preparing breakfast. I grimaced at the thought of her getting angry at me. The last time I took something behind her back was when I asked her mom's permission to let her stay at our ancestral house. It should never happen again. It would be better to wait for her to open it up with me.

"How are things going between you and Nelly?" Mrs. Cruz casually asked when I was seated a few inches apart from her.

I was caught off guard to hear it from her. But why not? She is Nelina's mother. Maybe I wasn't expecting her to be clueless about our relationship. It sent warmth to my face, turning my thoughts to what had happened in Palawan. I cleared my throat, gathering the right words to say.

"We're in a better place now. Nelina is a woman who knows her worth. She has kept growing since the last time I met her. A few months have passed, and I've seen her defeating her demons. She is a strong woman."

"Yes, I can't believe how much my daughter has grown in two years. It wasn't easy, I know that, but she managed." Mrs. Cruz said softly as she gathered my hand and squeezed it a little.

"Thank you for taking care of my daughter. I always felt good about you being with Nelly, especially after mentioning your grandma. She was one of the nicest women I knew."

"Thank you, Ma'am. I adore her as well, lucky enough to have her and grandpa. They taught me everything I needed to learn to survive and be who I am today. I owe them so much-'' I was cut when Nelly called out my name.

"Royce, breakfast is ready," Nelina said, fixing the breakfast table across the living room and the kitchen. Each area was visible since my condo is an open floor plan.

"Mom, please take Ara and Harold here. It's a little bit late for breakfast," Nelly said as she glanced at her wristwatch.

"It's a quarter to 10 guys; let's eat. I'm starving." Nelly didn't wait for us as she took her seat and started using her kitchen utensils to pick up food.

"Guys, I'm not good at cooking. So, as you can see," Nelly said, hovering her hands on the table pointing at the food. "I got these from the nearest fast-food restaurant."

No one bothered to complain since the rest of us were as hungry as her. Nelly's mom took Mr. Arthur beside her, driver Harold and nurse Ara sat side by side. Nelly glanced up when I pulled the chair beside her; I responded with a wink. She rolled her eyes, her face blushed. Cute, as always.