S. F. - 36

A/N: I'll be switching point of views for the first time in this chapter so please take note of the indicators. I love y'all. 💙💕

ladycrookshanks

***

Tay.

I smiled as I carefully wiped the sides of the plates and placed them on the dining table whilst hoping that New would like the food I prepared.

I was about to call them over when the bedroom door opened and out came New and Frank. 

"Dinner's ready. Let's eat," I smiled widely at them.

Frank rushed towards the table excitedly whilst New remained rooted in his place.

"New, come on," I called him out as it looked like he was lost in a trance whilst staring at me.

I smiled when he headed towards the table and sat down. I immediately followed suit and sat on the other side of Frank who was already munching on a chicken leg.

"Here, New. Have some of this," I was about to place some breaded pork chops on his plate but he slapped my hand away.

"I can manage."

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion as he looked at me with a blank expression on his face.

"Are you okay?" I asked as the sudden change in his behavior was starting to worry and confuse me all at the same time.

"Yeah, I'm just tired."

I tried to not be bothered by the way he was acting by helping Frank with his food, but I noticed that he was barely touching his food. He was just passively poking the meat with his fork.

I was about to ask him again when the front door buzzed. 

"Hi! Do you have food? I'm freaking starving! "Mild beamed at me the moment I opened the door. 

I scratched the back of my head as I watched her strut inside the house.

"O! M! G! Finally, in the flesh. By the way I'm Mild," Mild exclaimed as she sat down beside New. She had been whining about meeting New and she finally got her chance.

"Uh, hi. I'm New," New introduced himself as he gave her a timid smile.

"Of course, I knew you. Tay's been talking nonstop about you when we were still in New York."

"Huh?"

"Hi, mommy," Frank, whose mouth was already smudged with gravy, turned to Mild.

"Frank I told you, it's Aunt Mild. I'm not your mom for Christ's sake. Plate please."

I scowled as I went back to the kitchen to grab her some plate and utensils.

"But you shaid, mom asked you to look afther mhe because she might not be back shooner. When ish she coming bhack, mommy?"

All of us went silent as Frank asked the question innocently and I couldn't blame him. Mild made him believe that his mother was in another country and wouldn't be back any time soon.

"I'll explain when you get older, okay baby? Just finish your food so we can get home already."

"Okay, mommy."

"Aunt, aunt Mild, okay?"

I jolted when New stood all of a sudden.

"Uh, I think I should go. My mom wants to see me."

I slightly panicked as I was planning to convince him to spend the night at my place, that was why I insisted I "send" him home.

I immediately followed him and blocked his way. "Can you just stay over? Or if you really wanna go, I'll drive you home. It's already late."

"No need. I'll just grab a taxi."

"No, New. I will send you home."

"I said, I'll just grab a taxi. No need to bother."

I swallowed the lump in my throat as New shot me a dangerous glare. I noticed the firmness in his voice and I had no clue why he was acting that way. 

"A-are you sure?"

"Yeah, just fucking leave me alone. I can go home on my own."

"O-okay. Take care."

I watched his back as he headed towards the door. His actions were worrying me. What the hell just happened?  

"Is he gonna be okay?" Mild asked as I went back to the table. 

"Yeah. I guess so."

"It doesn't seem like he's okay, though. Did something happen?"

"I don't know. He seemed okay when we got here."

"Oh, by the way. I almost forgot. Here."

I raised an eyebrow as Mild got something from her pocket and handed it to me.

"Wait. Why do you have this?" I asked as I immediately grabbed the ring from her. 

"Duh, I saw it on your car's passenger seat this morning when you sent me to my appointment. I was gonna give it to you but the modeling agency called all of a sudden so it slipped my mind, remember? I was in a rush because I was already late, so I just dashed out of your car."

I clutched the ring tighter in my hand as I remembered how New searched for it under the rain. 

"By the way, isn't that your mom's engagement ring? The one you once told me about?"

"Y-yeah."

"Oh my gosh! Don't tell me you're gonna propose to him?"

"It's not like that."

I looked at the ring on the palm of my hand and smiled. It was just a simple band surrounded with tiny diamonds. My mother was not fond of ostentatious jewelry so my father proposed with a simple ring instead. I chuckled as I remembered how mom whined about my father getting the wrong size that the ring would slip off her finger every single time.

"Oh, come on. Stop the lies. Didn't you tell me that your mother wanted you to propose to the person you want to marry using that ring? You once p—"

"Mild. I just want him to keep this until he's sure of his feelings. I know he still hates me for what happened before and I could sense his hesitation, so I want him to keep this until he makes up his mind."

***

"Thanks for taking care of Frank," Mild smiled as I sent them home.

"No worries. Frank's already like my son anyway."

"Tay. I really wish you luck with New. I'm sorry for the trouble I gave you. If I didn't ask for you help, you would have been together by now."

"Stop blaming yourself for that, okay? I mean, I'm glad to be of help. You don't have to be guilty about it. We've been friends for years. Of course, I'll be more than willing to help you."

"I, uh. I also wanted to say sorry for what happened before. I know it's been years but I still wanna apologize. I didn't mean to hurt you in any way."

"Just forget about it. It's been years. We were still young back then."

"Thanks, Tay, for everything."

"Anytime, Mild."

***

New.

I slowly pushed the door open, trying to not make any possible sound as it was already late and I didn't want to wake my mother up.

Instead of going back to my unit, I decided to go home to our family house. I hadn't seen my mom for some time so I also wanted to check on her.

"So, you still remember you have a mother."

I stopped on my tracks as I heard my mom's voice in the dark. I switched the lights on and saw her drinking in the living room.

"Mom. That's enough. Since when did you become alcoholic," I tried grabbing the bottle of beer from her but she just slapped my hand.

"Ever since your father left us."

The lump in my throat made it difficult to swallow as my mom mentioned my father. It had almost been a year since he died but the memory was still fresh.

I held my mom's arms as I kneeled in front of her.

"Mom. It's been a year. Can we just move on and leave everything behind us?"

I flinched when she scoffed and pried my hands off her arms.

"Move on?"

"Mom, I know it's my fault that dad died and I've been living every single day repenting for the sin that I made, but can you please, save yourself? I can't bear seeing you like this. I can't lose you, too."

I grabbed her into a hug when she burst into tears all of a sudden. For the first time since my dad died, she finally showed me her vulnerable side.

I didn't even saw her cry during my dad's funeral. But right at that moment, it seemed that she was ready to pour out all the tears she had been hiding from me.

"I killed your father, New. I killed him. It was my fault, not yours."

"What do you mean, mom? It's all my fault. If I didn't end up at the police station that night, you wouldn't have gotten into an accident. It's my fault, mom. It's all my fault."

She didn't say anything for a moment and just stared at me.

"I found out that he was cheating on me that night."

I stilled as I heard my mother's sudden revelation. I had always looked up to my father and hearing such thing seemed ridiculous.

"I saw a woman calling her while we were on our way to fetch you. I tried asking about her but he said she was just a business partner. But I doubted him. I know all our partners and never had I heard her name. So I immediately grabbed his phone and saw that the woman texted him that she wanted money in exchange for the sex they had the last time they met. I-I got mad. I was furious. Of course, who wouldn't??"

She heaved a deep sigh as she reached out her hands and held mine.

"I started hitting him as I told him to stop the car so I could get off. But he didn't so I grabbed the steering wheel and the most unexpected thing happened. We didn't notice the truck that was running towards us. I'm so sorry, New. If I had just controlled myself back then, your father wouldn't have died. I'm sorry, son. I'm so sorry."

To say that I was flabbergasted with what she said was an understatement. It was beyond that.

"So, you mean, d-dad had an affair?" I asked to make sure that I heard the right thing.

"I'm so sorry, New. I know all this time you've been blaming yourself for what happened when it's actually my fault. I was conflicted with hatred and guilt towards your father that I ended up putting the blame on you instead when it was actually me who caused his death."

I bit my lips to stop myself from crying for I felt guilty as well. I didn't even know she was going through something more than what I thought. 

"Who is she? Have you found her?"

"She's a random woman your father met in one of our local business trips. She apparently followed us intentionally so she could seduce your father and your father obviously took the bait. I-I actually confronted her already. She promised not to bother us anymore. I wanted to sue her at first, but I figured the least I could give your father is peace, so I decided not to push through with the lawsuit."

"I'm so sorry for not knowing anything about your pain, mom."

"No, son. I should be the one apologizing. My impulsive actions caused your father's death."

"It's nobody's fault, mom. Nobody wanted that to happen. Please stop blaming yourself. We still have each other," I assured her as I wrapped my arms around her, hoping my warmth was enough to make her feel secure.

***

I placed a soft kiss on my mom's forehead after tucking her into bed. I smiled as she grabbed my hand tighter as if she didn't want me to go.

"Son, can you not go? Can you stay here even just for tonight?" she muttered with her eyes half closed as her eyes were puffy from all the crying she did earlier.

"Don't worry, mom. I'll be right here for you. I won't go anywhere."

***

"Thanks, mom," I beamed as she placed a glass of milk in front of me. It had been so long since she cooked for me and no words could explain how elated I was to share a meal with her after such a long time. 

"You're welcome, son. Go eat. By the way I heard the company's doing well," she commented as she sat across me. "I'm so happy for you, son. By the way, send my gratitude to Tay. If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be able to save the company."

"Tsss. He also benefited from what happened to the company. I still can't believe he had the guts to buy the company from us."

"Actually, son. There's something that you need to know."

***

I hastily punched in the code of Tay's unit. I didn't even give a fuck if he sued me for trespassing. I just wanted to speak to him as soon as possible.

"Tay! Let's fucking talk!" I called him out as soon as I opened the door but no one answered. 

I went to his bedroom and saw that he was still sleeping. Huh, seriously? He really had the audacity to sleep soundly after what he did? 

I trudged towards his bed and grabbed the pillow that fell on the floor. Using all the frustration and hatred that I had for him, I got on the bed and covered his face with the pillow, not even giving a shit if he died that instant. 

I pushed the pillow harder when he started grunting and wriggling underneath me. I was not thinking properly anymore. My mind was already clouded with so much emotions.

I yelped when he suddenly grabbed my arms and flipped our position, thus pinning me on the bed.

"What the fuck! New??" he exclaimed in surprise as he hovered above me. 

"Yes, it's me you bastard!" I tried squirming my way out of his grasp but he just pinned me harder on the bed. The only thing that separated us was the pillow that I used earlier.

"I'm not letting you go unless you calm down. Let's talk this out."

"No! Let me go you jerk! I hate you, you fucking liar!"

"Please, calm down, New. Please."

I avoided his gaze as tears were already welling in my eyes. I had so many questions to ask him, but no words came out of my mouth.

I gulped as he removed the pillow between us and hugged me. 

"Can we talk properly now?" he asked as he tightened his arms around me. 

***

"Why didn't you tell me about the company," I started the moment he sat across me in the living room. 

"I, New...I'm sorry. I just wanted to help you."

"Huh, really? You wanted to help me? So that's why you bought the company, oh, sorry my bad, you pretended to buy the company?"

"New, I know you're not gonna accept my help so I thought of another way. I can't just watch you suffer, New."

"You've already seen me suffer when you fucking left, Tay."

"Wait, I thought we're done with that. New, please don't make this an issue between us. I don't mind if you won't pay the money you owe from my family but that was not the case with the bank. That was why I did such thing to save you."

"I don't need you to save me! I can stand on my own. I don't fucking need you, you liar!" I raged as I grabbed the pillow beside me and threw it towards him.

"Wait, New. Is this still about the company? You've been acting weird since last night. What's the problem?"

"The problem is you. Seriously, Tay? How many lies have you made since we met again, huh? Do you really have to lie every single time?? Are you even telling the truth when you said you wanna be with me? Because right now, I don't know if I should believe the words that come out of your mouth."

"Wait, where is that coming from? Of course, I want to be with you, New. You just don't know how much I wanted to be with you."

"Then stop lying to me!"

"I'm sorry about the company, New. I just did that for you. I wanted to help you save it because I know how much it means to you."

I didn't say a word and just stared at him. I bit the insides of my cheeks but it was not enough to stop the tears that were welling in my eyes. 

"Are you sure you're not hiding anything else from me, Tay?"

"I swear, New. I would never lie to you."

I scoffed as he blatantly lied right on my face. 

"Fuck you, Tay," I muttered as I stood and headed towards the door but he was quick to block my way.

"New, you just can't leave like this. Tell me. What's wrong."

"Get out of my way, you jerk," I pushed him out of my way but he grabbed my arm and dragged me towards him.

"Wait, let's talk this out."

"Okay fine! You want to talk about this?? Then tell me! Tell me about Frank's mother."

I chortled as he froze on the spot.

"See. You can't even answer. Just what the fuck, Tay."

"Sh-she's a close friend of mine, okay? I told you Frank's not mine."

I shook my head as I started laughing hysterically.

"See? Do you think you can fool me forever, Tay??"

"What do you mean?"

"Ma vie."

"Wh-what?"

I hastily fished the polaroid photo from my pocket and threw it at him.

"Huh. She's Aom, right? Your first love."

"Wait, New. It's not what you think."

"Then fucking tell me! Stop lying to me, Tay! I don't want to spend each day doubting everything you say to me. I want the truth from you. I need the truth from you. I want to trust you again, Tay.

So please.... please, stop lying to me. I'm begging you," my voice wavered as the tears that I'd been trying to hold started flowing down my cheeks.

***

A/N:

Uhh, I know this chapter's a little bit on the angsty side, but I just want to greet everyone a Happy Valentine's Day! 💙💕🌹

Always remember that you don't need a lover to celebrate this day. You can always spend this special occasion with your family and friends.

I love y'all, guys. I promise to hone my writing skills so I could offer you better stories. Always know that I appreciate your efforts of reading, voting, and commenting on my stories. I hope you won't get tired of me. You all inspire me. 💙💕

xoxo,

ladycrookshanks