Chapter 46: Goodbye For Good

LUCIAN went to the café with the intent of confessing his sins and fix their relationship, but he ends up letting her go. The level of deceit and toxicity of their relationship is not worth saving. He realizes that while talking to her that they boarded a separate ship which sailed to a different destination.

Their conversation ended when Lucian stood up and called everything quits, stating she could keep everything he gave her; clothes, jewelry, bag and the car. She was still in shock from hearing him, all her plans were to live a comfortable life as Mrs. Caldwell disappeared before her eyes.

Her strategy of leaving him wanting for more whenever they are together no longer works. Seeing that he’s about to leave, she yells at him and calls him a cheater, a user and that caught everyone’s attention in the café, but her tactics did not work. He continued walking away from her and when she did not stop berating him.

He stared at her and said, "I’m not a saint and neither are you. I know about him, Adam, that's his name, is it?" He sighed deeply and held the bridge of his nose, "I ended everything. I want to make things right..." The sorrow in his face was visible, and he saw Sieve’s face flashing in his mind while saying that. "I was willing to start over. I was about to forget knowing about him, but the way you speak to me, the way you behave yourself, you act like you’re blameless."

He took out the printed photos in his pocket from John and from the investigator he hired before going out with Sieve and handed them to her. She angrily took the photos, as she stared at the different images, her face paled and her hands started shaking.

The photographs show her with the man in the same café they are in, which can be easily explained as they didn't do anything other than holding hands and stare at each other romantically. But as she turns to look at the other photos, they are more damaging. It shows her lap dancing and kissing the same man in a nightclub while wearing a provocative outfit.

"You... you hired someone to follow me?" She asks with a trembling voice. "How dare you do this to me? You're invading my privacy, have you lost your mind?" She yells, her eyes reddened in rage and embarrassment.

"He is just a friend. He's even gay for Christ's sake. For the record, this is all your fault. If you give me enough attention, this won't happen. I won't go to that bar and act like that." She added, trying her best to gaslight him and put the blame on him, but he did not fall for it.

He shook his head in dismay, disgust and annoyance.

Everyone saw the photographs and heard her reasoning. From feeling sorry for her, the crowd started mumbling and giving her strange looks.

Some even say:

"She's yelling he’s a cheater, but she’s the one with intimate photos with another man."

"What a scandalous woman."

"What a toxic relationship they had."

She was ashamed, stunned by the turn of events and could no longer speak. Lucian took this as his cue to leave her, the café and all of their memories behind. He walked away and never looked back.

*

Later, Lucian treats John at Boost Club, a well-known pub in the city, where he opens up to his friend about what happened earlier and what he feels for the last 30 days.

He starts by telling him that he broke up with Malena. Which surprised John, but he admitted that he was happy to know that while chugging his beer.

Lucian explains that he was expecting to be devastated after losing her but, on the contrary, he felt relieved and delighted. He added that she'd been calling him non-stop after the incident earlier, but he blocked her number and didn't want to speak to her anymore.

After he handed the photos in front of her, she yelled and explained Adam was just a friend and nothing more, but he didn't want to listen to her and could now see what kind of person she was. Then she starts blaming him for cheating and calls him a failure of a man.

His parents are right, she's not the right person for him, and he is not for her. He’s not even sure if, in the 5 years they have been together, she actually sees him as a person or just a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Lucian drinks 3 shots of Vodka before speaking again. Soon he shared what happened the day after he and Sieve parted ways.

"I felt like I lost a limb and a big chunk of me just vanished with her that day." He says as he stares at the vodka bottle in front of him, reminiscing about how they first met.

John did not speak and only listened to his friend as he continued to share what he felt.

He continued speaking about Sieve with enthusiasm.

"She’s this weird creature that lets me be myself. If I hadn’t met her, I might still be stuck with the person that I think was the one. She’s a breath of fresh air, just by thinking about her removes my stress and worries."

He suddenly smiled when he remembered something:

"She burps and eats like a man, and she doesn't give a damn what she looks like. Man! She even puts in effort for me. She gave me a scarf with my zodiac sign embroidered on it. She helped me dry my hair after I took a shower. She set up a romantic room with rose petals on the floor and a candlelight dinner. She asks me to dance with her while it's raining."

John can sense the mixed emotions Lucian emanates while talking about Sieve. From enthusiasm to joy to sorrow and regret.

"She’s really something, isn’t she? How I wish I had met her," he says.

"You did meet her." He replies while glancing at John.