Chapter 24

Freshia Ava’s POV

As we promised on the phone, that evening I went to a restaurant that Martin had ordered. At first, he intended to pick me up, but I refused because I didn't want him to know where I live now. My trust in him has not been completely restored. But I have prepared my heart to meet him. At least I have to know the truth.

It was 19.15 when I entered the restaurant and found Martin's figure waiting for me at one of the tables. He immediately waved his hand at me when he realized my presence there. I smiled and walked towards him.

“Hi, Martin. Have you been waiting long?” I said when I got near him. Then I pulled the chair in front of him and sat on the chair.

Martin shook his head and smiled. "No, I just got here too." He then handed the menu book in front of me for me to choose from. After that, we ordered two food and two drinks from the waiter there.

“Freshia, how are you?” His words started our conversation that night.

“As you can see, I'm good. How about you?"

"Very good. Coming home here and meeting the people I miss is the best thing for me. It feels like I'm recovering again.”

"Are you having problems there?"

Martin was silent for a moment and soon smiled again. “Everyone has problems, and that's normal, right?”

After that our food arrived and we immediately enjoyed it in silence. For some reason now I feel like there is a long distance between us.

"Freshia, are you happy when I'm not here?" He said shortly after we finished the food served on our respective plates.

I stared at him for a moment then turned my gaze downwards. “A year is enough time for me to adapt to your absence. Besides, a lot happened during that year, Martin. One of them is that I lost my grandmother as the only member of my family. There is no sadness more painful than when I lose it.”

Martin looked surprised. “I'm sorry, Freshia. Sometimes allow me to go see him as my last respect.” His words sounded full of sadness. "To be honest, it's not much different from you there. I've experienced a lot of hard things. However, I never forgot you at all. You are my home, Freshia, and I came back here for that.”

I looked into his blue eyes and didn't find a single lie there. That sentence sounded sincere. But I tried to brush it off to return to my consciousness. I have to clarify the truth. “Martin, may I ask you something?”

"Please."

“To be honest, I have doubts about you, Martin. During our meeting at the campus library yesterday, you suddenly asked about the wounds that I got from the attack that night. As if you really know what happened regarding the attack and how I was before. Then you said that you found out about the bad news that happened to me from the receptionist on duty. However, I have investigated everything and what I found was nothing. In the apartment CCTV footage, I didn't see you coming to my apartment. So, how can you ask the receptionist if you've never been there?”

Martin looked surprised when he heard my words. “Freshia, please believe me, there is something I am doing and it is to protect you. Believe me, it never even crossed my mind to do anything bad to you."

"Then try to explain the truth so that I believe you, Martin.”

Martin was silent for a moment and seemed to close his eyes, before he finally said, "There is someone who is trying to harm you, Freshia. That day, I actually came to your apartment to check on you."

"That means you know what happened to me that night?"

Martin was silent.

“Martin, I don't understand. But, this makes me even more convinced that you were involved in what happened that night. Why did you have to come early in the morning to check on me if you didn't know what happened to me beforehand?"

“Freshia, please listen to my explanation first. I can't tell you everything now. But please believe me. Later, when the time is right, I will tell you everything. I promise. One thing you should know, Freshia. That I would never hurt the person most precious to me. From the beginning, I have liked you, Freshia. So, how could I hurt the person I love most?”

I was surprised by Martin's statement at that time. I'm not stupid enough to not realize his feelings for me before. But I didn't expect that until now he still had those feelings and expressed them to me. But my mind is currently too confused to accept it. Because his words couldn't make me trust him again. Besides, now I don't have any feelings for him because someone has filled the void in my heart when he was gone.

“Now I don't know what to do with you, Martin. My mind is still confused. But one thing is certain, don't like me anymore because now there is someone who has succeeded in filling the void in my heart." I said that was the last sentence at our meeting that night. Because after that I left, leaving him alone, still pensive in his place.

***

Martin Moore's POV

My mind is confused. I couldn't believe what I had just heard from Freshia that he already had someone else in her heart. I kept guessing who the person who managed to win her heart would be. Indeed, everything cannot be separated from my fault for leaving her for a year without hearing from her.

But I can't choose because I have to do all of that. And when I went back to see her, I found Eros around his apartment unit. Makes me think, am I too far gone to know Freshia's current situation?

At the same time, I thought back to the incident that night where my plane had just landed and I went to Freshia's apartment to surprise her about my sudden return, after I found out the information about where she lived from Amara. I know it's very late but I hope she's still not asleep and at least I can see the face I miss so much for a moment.

That night it was ten o'clock in the evening when I had just entered the apartment lobby and a security guard who was standing guard near the main door told me that the elevator was out of order so I had to use the emergency stairs.

When I set foot on the fifth floor where the Freshia unit was located, I was surprised to find Eros there, standing in front of an apartment unit which, after I looked again, was a Freshia apartment unit. I saw him standing with two men. Not long after, Eros was seen leaving there using the elevator. Huh, isn't the elevator broken? Does that mean the security guard lied to me? Then, why was Eros there? What was he actually planning? Many questions were popping into my head at that time.

I continued to wait and observe from a distance what the two men who were still in front of the Freshia apartment unit were doing. At two in the morning, I saw the incident happen, where two men brutally broke down the door of the Freshia apartment unit. But before I could do anything, suddenly my consciousness disappeared. I felt someone hit the back of my neck from behind.

Then when I woke up, it was already morning and I found myself still on the emergency stairs of the apartment. My mind immediately remembered what happened last night. I immediately rushed to Freshia's apartment unit and rang the bell.

But after I pressed the button many times, I still couldn't get the door to open. Then I immediately went down to the lobby to ask what happened to Freshia last night. After that, I found a receptionist who had changed about what happened at unit 501. The female officer immediately told me everything.

So what happens now? Freshia actually doubted me and accused me of being involved in that incident. Instantly my anger rose. I no longer accepted it and decided to go to meet Eros.

The next morning I actually came to the man's office. I'm sick of staying silent with all this after previously he threatened me using my mother. He said that if I interfered in this matter, the life of my mother, who was undergoing treatment abroad, would be threatened. But now I can't stand it any longer.

I opened the door to his study roughly. He was standing next to the window in his study at that time. He turned around when he noticed my arrival. I immediately walked towards him and without warning grabbed his shirt collar and cornered him towards the window. "You are crazy! What have you actually done? You deleted the CCTV footage in that apartment, right?” I said accompanied by passionate anger.

He seemed to be smiling at me. "So what?" He said casually.

"What do you mean by making me look like the mastermind behind what happened that night? I'm really fed up with you! I will tell Freshia everything you have done, Eros!”

He laughed loudly then threw my hand away from his neck. "Go ahead. You don't have any proof and realize that Freshia doesn't believe you anymore, Martin!"

"What exactly are you planning, Eros? Why did you have to put Freshia in such danger? What's wrong with you?"

His face changed instantly. That face. The face he always shows when he is at the peak of his emotions. "I warned you not to interfere in my business, Martin. You know that I don't like it when someone disturbs what's mine." He said in a low voice.

I was so shocked when I heard his statement just now. Instantly my whole body shivered. I think at first Freshia wronged him so he wanted to harm her. But I was wrong because it turned out that this wild animal liked that woman.