Chapter 68: Chapter 68

We stayed at the restaurant for just an hour. We just talked about other things about us and our plans and after that, we decided to go back to where our friends were.

Amethyst decided to go back to her office since she still had some things that needed to be done for the day. She was just on her break and she didn’t want to spoil our vacation here but she promised to visit us soon.

I don’t mind because after talking to her, the awkwardness around us slowly disappeared. I guess, I just really need to get to know her more.

“I learned something.” Castiel showed her phone in front of me. “That Amethyst girl was bullied in social media and her previous work. They branded her as a husband killer when she became a suspect in its disappearance.”

“Seriously?” Enver raised his eyebrows at us. “If you want to know anything about Amy, you can just ask me, Cas. She already told me everything about that.”

Castiel turned to my husband. “Please don’t look at it in the wrong way, En. I am not doing this to harm her or be curious about her. I…” She gazed at me as if waiting for my permission to say something and since I knew what she was trying to say, I gave a nod. She looked at Enver again. “I just know someone who has similar experiences like her and I think we can help her cope with her fear even just a little.”

I saw the confusion in Enver’s eyes. “What do you mean?”

I guess he might know everything that happened but he didn’t know what was going on in his friend’s mind.

I breathed deeply and turned to him. “Your friend is afraid of the crowd, En. It has something to do with the fact that she became a suspect in her husband’s case.”

He was even more confused. Maybe that woman didn’t mention that to him.

“You can’t blame her for not mentioning this to you,” I said. “This is a sensitive topic for her. And maybe she didn’t think that it is also necessary for you to know this since you never went to a crowded place when you were catching up. And because of that, you never witnessed the fear that filled her eyes whenever she was in the crowd.”

“Is that the reason why you went to her when she entered this restaurant?” he asked. “And you suggest the side restaurant where people don’t often go?”

I nodded.

“And that is also the reason why I started digging for some information about the possible reason why she had that fear,” Castiel added. “Not to mock her but to help her because we care. She is your friend and we were aware that it is not easy to have that kind of trauma in life.”

“Now, as you said earlier, we have some questions for you about her,” I said. “She used to have a large group of friends, before his husband disappeared, right?”

He nodded. “A lot of people like her because she is fun to be with. However, most of them treated her as friends because of her family’s influence. And some of them stick with her because of her husband who was known in the construction industry.”

“But they all left after the rumor about her started to circulate, right?”

He nodded again. “They assumed that she was really using him for money. They were convinced that she really killed him and made it look like she was the victim to gain sympathy from the others. There are also some rumors that she has another lover.”

“She got bashed because of all those rumors,” Ferry said while scrolling on her tablet. “People said hurtful words towards her. Some even wished for her to die and there were also threats to her, saying that they would slash her face if they saw her.” She looked at me. “And they mean it. She got mobbed when she was strolling in a mall. And I think you can imagine what happened there.”

I closed my eyes as flashes of the past started popping into my head after hearing those things. It has been a while since I last thought about it because I convinced myself that I was already okay. But I guess it is not entirely true.

“I am familiar with this case,” Ferry said and I opened my eyes. “Her family sought help from my family’s agency and placed a lot of bodyguards to avoid that kind of incident from happening again. I think she was admitted to the hospital for days after obtaining a lot of wounds and bruises.”

“Then, maybe that was the reason why her parents decided to bring her here,” Enver said. “It is not a tourist spot and her job here doesn't require interaction with other guests so it is safe for her. And her bodyguards can roam around to secure her safety.”

“Her case is still a hot topic,” Castiel said. “It has been three years since that happened and her name was already cleared by the authorities but the social media still insist she killed her husband. People kept sharing the article about her being listed as the prime suspect. As if someone has the intention of gathering a lot of people to hate her.”

“Just like what happened to you.”

My eyes widened when Ferry slipped. She was also shocked that she said that, right in front of Enver who doesn’t even have any idea about that.

We turned to Enver and he was also shocked by what he just heard.

“W-what?” He looked at me. “What does she say, Mi? What does it mean just like what happened to you?”

I couldn’t say anything and just avoided his eyes.

I mean, I don’t know how to explain it to him since I don’t really plan on telling him about this. I promised myself before that I would not dig into this issue since it has been a decade since it happened and I know that it will not help me if I try to remember that part of my past.

Ferry mouthed sorry to me.

Well, I can’t blame her for slipping about this. I know that she got carried away about the topic since they were the only ones who knew what happened to me before.

“Milan!” Enver’s voice suddenly rose but it didn’t bother me. This is not the right time to talk about this.

“Mommy? Daddy?” Millie slowly gets up while scratching her eyes. I think she woke up because she heard her father’s voice. She was frowning while looking at us. “Is there something wrong?”

I forced myself to smile and shook my head. “No, baby. Everything is okay.”

“Really?” Suspicion filled her eyes.

I nodded. “Do you want to eat something?”

“Yup.” She got down on her chair and hugged me. “Can I choose what I will eat?”

I turned to Castiel. “Will you please accompany her to the table?”

“Oh, sure.” She immediately stood up and held Millie’s hand as soon as she let go of the hug. “I will take care of her, Mi. Ferry had already slipped her tongue so you can’t avoid talking about this forever. You should discuss this with your husband.”

I sighed. “I know.” I looked at Millie. “Tita Castiel will take care of you for a while, okay? Your dad and I will just go to our room to talk about something.”

Millie smiled and nodded. “Okay, Mommy.” She pulled Castiel towards the table where the food was served.

I stood up and looked at Enver. “Let’s go?” I offered my hand in front of him. “It is better to talk about this in private.”

He took my hand and pulled me outside the restaurant. I just signed at Ferry, telling her to take care of everything while we are gone. Until we finally reached the elevator.

When it opened, we saw Dashiel getting it off.

He was shocked to see us and tried to say anything but immediately stopped himself when he looked at Enver.

He frowned and looked at me as if asking what happened.

I just mouthed him ‘later’. I don’t have enough time to explain everything to him because Enver has already pulled me inside the elevator and pushed Dashiel outside.

Dashiel just nodded until the door of the elevator completely closed.

Well, I am not really nervous. I know that he will get mad because I didn’t tell him but I am sure he will understand my reason.

“Let’s start talking here.” He held my hand tight but it was not enough to hurt me. I think he was just making sure that I would not have a chance to run away in case I tried to avoid this topic.

“You can ask me anything.”

“Ferry said that it also happened to you,” he started. “The same thing that Amy experienced. When did that happen?”

“I was around fifteen years old,” I answered. “I haven’t met Castiel and Ferry at that time but I had a lot of friends back then. I am quite famous in our school because I always ace our exams and got placed at rank one all over our grade.”

He pulled me out of the elevator when it reached the designated floor where our suite was located. And he only let go of my hand after we entered our room.

“Then, what happened?”

I breathe deeply. “I had a lot of schoolmates who wanted to be close to me. I didn’t really mind so I always entertained them. I was always polite to everyone, men or women. Until we got to the point that some of them gave inappropriate meaning to how I treated them.”

He frowned. “What?”

“Most of them thought that I had romantic feelings for them,” I said. “To be honest, it has not really affected me since they kept it to themselves. I didn’t have any idea that they had that kind of interpretation of how I treated them. But they thought I was in a relationship with them but they never asked for anything. They only ask for some interaction with me, that’s all.”

“Then?”

“Until it finally reached me,” I added. “At first, I didn’t really mind it at all but it came to the point that someone spread rumors that I was in a relationship with them. It was chaotic because a lot of them think that way.”

I sat on the sofa and massaged my head. I felt a familiar pain in my head but it is normal because I often feel it whenever I try to remember what happened in my past.

Forcing myself to forget those things was the only choice I had before just to make myself sane. Ferry and Castiel supported me with this decision but avoided mentioning anything related to that incident.

And the result of that decision is this headache.

“Another rumor started to spread.” I breathe deeply. “It says that I am actually a slut who likes to be the center of attention and make those people fall in love with me. They insisted that I manipulate everyone so I could have slaves that will do everything I order without saying anything.”

“I-is that the reason why they bullied you?”

I shook my head. “I managed to dismiss those rumors.” As I dug into my memories, the headache that I was feeling started to get intense. But I needed to endure it so I could say everything to him. “The principal of our school gave me a chance to address the problem. They called everyone in the covered court and let me explain my side.”

Shit!

I closed my eyes and repeatedly breathed deeply to calm myself. “I explained my side and everyone accepted. But then…” Damn it!

“H-hey.” He sat beside me. “What is happening to you? Is there something wrong?”

I kept massaging my temple while subduing the pain. “Whenever I try to remember those things, my head hurts until I pass out,” I explained. “One of the reasons why I never told you any of this. It is too much for me to remember everything at once.”

“Shit!” He held my hand and made me look at him so I opened my eyes. “If it is too much, then stop saying anything. It is okay, Mi. I can deal with what you shared.”

“But…”

He shook his head. “It is okay, wifey. You don’t need to force yourself.”

I sighed and nodded. “O-okay.” I calmed my mind and slowly, the pain disappeared. “Thank you. I am fine now.”