A hand suddenly closed around her wrist.
Grasya spun around, heart leaping. "Señorito?"
For one wild second, hope flared. Maybe he had changed his mind. Maybe he had called off the engagement. Maybe he remembered the promises he made and wanted to keep them.
But one look at his face killed that spark. His expression stayed cold. His lips pressed into a tight line. He looked like he had forced himself to come after her.
Severen sighed. "What are you doing here?"
"I came because-"
He cut her off. "To ruin my engagement party? What do you want, Grasya? To force yourself on me? Wake up. I don't like you anymore. We can't go back to how things were."
*We can't go back.* The words sank deep.
She lowered her head, throat burning with unshed tears. Should she laugh? Cry? Beg? Or just accept it?
Was everything they once had truly gone?
Even as pain clawed at her, she lifted her gaze to his. "Sev... do you really not want me anymore?" Her voice broke, but she held his eyes, willing him to see the truth. To feel how deeply she still loved him.
He stayed silent, but something in his hard expression softened.
She reached for his hand and squeezed it gently. Her fingers trembled, yet she tried to warm his with her own. "Don't you love me anymore? Did you pour everything you felt into her? Is there nothing left for me?"
Still no answer.
Did his silence mean he was having doubts about Riva? That he wasn't completely sure?
Hope surged again. The longing she had carried for so long overwhelmed her. She rose on her toes, pressed her body against his, and wrapped her arms tightly around him. Sobs shook her as she buried her face in his shoulder. "Sev! I missed you so much. I've been waiting for you to come back to Santa Catalina."
"Grasya..." His voice softened, barely a whisper.
Maybe he still loved her.
"Can't you love me again? Can't you stop giving your heart to someone else? Come back to me, Sev. You promised you'd come back for me, remember? We loved each other once. We can have that again. Because I still love you-so much." Her words came out in soft, broken cries, heavy with every ounce of emotion she had left.
"Severen!"
They both startled at the sharp voice. Riva stood there, eyes wide, hand covering her mouth in shock.
"Riva!" Severen pulled back, panicked.
"Are you kidding me? You're cheating on me?" Disgust dripped from every word.
*Cheating.* The word echoed in Grasya's mind. How had she become the other woman? She had been his girlfriend long before he left Santa Catalina. Why did he make her feel like her own mother-the one who had destroyed another family?
"No, this isn't what it looks like! I can explain!" Severen rushed out.
"How do you explain what I just saw? You were hugging her! I can't believe you'd do this to me, Severen. Especially right after we got officially engaged." Riva turned on her heel and stormed off.
"Riva-"
He tried to go after her, but Grasya grabbed his arm. He whirled around, irritation flashing across his face. "Let me go, Grasya."
"But-"
He exhaled sharply and pulled a card from his pocket. "Here."
"W-what is-"
His hand shot out, gripping her face hard. His fingers dug into her cheeks, forcing her to look at him. "There's fifty thousand pesos on this card. Take it. Just stay quiet. Don't make a scene here. And stay the hell out of my head and my life."
A scene? As if she was the type to cause trouble. "I don't want your money," she whispered.
"Fine. Whatever." He shoved the card back into his pocket and tried to yank his arm free, but she held on.
"I said let me go!" Rage exploded across his face. He shoved her hard.
Grasya stumbled and fell. He didn't even glance back to check if she was hurt. He simply didn't care anymore.
He glared down at her. "If I lose my fiancée because of you, I'll never forgive you! Don't ever show your face to me again!"
His shout didn't just hit her ears-it shattered what remained of her heart. His cold, cutting voice sliced deeper than any blade.
"Just accept it, Grasya. I don't love you anymore. And I never will."
Her lips had gone numb. She could only watch as he rushed after the woman he planned to marry. Her eyes traced his familiar back-the same back she had ridden on so many times as a child. Bitter pain flooded her chest. No matter how much it hurt to admit, she knew the truth: the happy days with her Severen were gone forever.
Grasya didn't know where she was going. Her feet kept moving down the long road with no destination in mind. She tripped several times, knees hitting the ground hard, skin scraping raw. But she felt no physical pain. The agony tearing through her heart drowned everything else.
She had once believed she was lucky-that the boy she loved loved her back.
How wrong she had been.
The person she loved most was the one who would bring her the deepest heartbreak.
Rice paddies stretched beside the road. The familiar sight of the embankments made her chest tighten again.
A bitter smile touched her lips. "So this is how it feels to love and get hurt. This is how heavy failure is." Exhaustion dragged at every limb. The world started to spin. Moments later, darkness claimed her.
The next few days blurred together. She drifted in and out of consciousness, catching glimpses of her father pacing the room, his face etched with deep worry. He looked like he had aged years overnight.
She wanted to speak to him, to ask if he was okay, but weakness pulled her back under every time.
When she finally woke properly, the room was quiet. Sunlight streamed through the open window. She shielded her eyes and sat up, throat painfully dry. "Tay?" she called hoarsely.
No answer.
"Tay?"
Silence.
Panic gripped her. "Tay, I'm awake now," she said louder, hoping he would hear.
When Gabriel still didn't respond, she slid out of bed. The moment her feet touched the floor, her knees buckled. She grabbed the headboard to steady herself.
The door creaked open.
"Tay-"
But it wasn't her father. It was their neighbor, Manang Rosa. She had taken over the small eatery in the market after her relative passed away-the same place where Grasya and Severen used to eat their favorite stir-fried noodles together.
Just the memory sent another stab through her chest.
"Manang Rosa, what are you doing here? Where's my father?" she asked.
The older woman's face filled with a mix of sorrow and fear. Grasya's heart raced. Bad news was coming.
"Manang Rosa... is there something you need to tell me?" Her voice shook.
The woman guided her back to sit on the edge of the bed. "You've been in bed for three days, Grasya."
"Three days?"
"Yes. High fever. You were delirious. Your father kept trying to get you to eat soup and drink water whenever you woke up for a few minutes."
She remembered almost nothing. Her gaze swept the room. "Where is he now? Where's Tay?"
Manang Rosa hesitated, clearly weighing her words.
"Manang Rosa, please. Just tell me."
The older woman cleared her throat. "Your father tried to take you to the hospital, but the Morenzos made sure you weren't accepted anywhere local. He was devastated. Still, he begged his former employers for money to buy your medicine."
Before she could finish, Grasya already knew how the story ended. Ice spread through her veins. Her father had humbled himself and begged them-despite having no job and no savings. "What did they do to him?"
"They turned him away."
Her shoulders slumped. "They showed him no mercy. He was always so good to them." Her hands clenched tightly.
"It's not just that, Grasya."
She looked up sharply. "What else?"
"I don't know how true this is, but... people are saying your father has been arrested."
Grasya shot to her feet, eyes wide. "Arrested? Why?"
"I don't know the full story. I only heard he's being held."
"Take me to him, Manang Rosa. Let's go to the police station." She tried to stand again, but the woman gently held her shoulder.
"He's not at the police station."
"Then where is he?"
"Villa Serpentis."
Grasya's knees nearly gave out. Villa Serpentis sat on the remote edge of Santa Catalina. The property had been abandoned for years until a mysterious man bought it, surrounding the vast estate with high, impenetrable concrete walls. No one could see inside.
Rumors said a ruthless mafia boss owned it now. A brutal man who showed no mercy. Someone to fear and avoid at all costs.
"Is it true the owner of Villa Serpentis is cruel, Manang Rosa?"
"They say he was. But the owner has changed. It's not the same person anymore."
"Changed?"
"Yes, but..."
"But?"
"He's still a de Crassus."
