Chapter 69 - Self Destruction

[The night wherein Megan was on her way to the bar where Javier works.]

Meanwhile, Javier stared blankly at the woman in front of him. Her hair was disheveled, and her eyes were pale, she seemed drunk. She had been staring at him before and seemed to have no intention of speaking, so he just stared at Ava. He has no plans to talk to her anymore.

What is this woman doing here?

"What's the liquor van Gogh drank often and ended up cutting his ear off? Ah... Absinthe. Give me a glass of that." Ava commanded him as if all is well with them.

He ignored what she said. He kept staring at Ava, wondering what else she needed from him now. When Ava noticed he wasn't moving she smirked and looked around the bar.

"I rented the whole bar. We'll be the only ones here tonight," she told him and looked at him again. "A glass of Absinthe, please."

Javier lazily averted his eyes from Ava and began to brew her order of wine while still silent. He knew what Ava was doing. He knew she was doing everything to attract him again so that he would be weak again.

That way, she would stop him from taking revenge. Something that would never happen again because he was done with that kind of life.

"You look great no matter what you do. It's no wonder why Megan wavered."

He ignored that and focused on what was being done. This woman knows what he is doing with Megan. But he wouldn't let it break just like that.

"Stop playing with her and leave her alone. She's a poor soul. She gets stepped on enough by me. You don't have to help. She pretends to be really strong, but she's no match for me. How can a person who has a lot to lose beat someone who has nothing to lose?" Ava spoke proudly to him.

Javier's ears remained open to what he heard. The confidence he heard now from Ava was huge and seemed overwhelming in her head. Ava had always been like this but not in this thing.

When he finished making her drink, he withdrew the shot glass in front of her as if he still didn't care what Ava had said.

"I don't care if you waste money," he said coldly and looked sharply at the woman. "But take your drunken talk home."

Ava looked up at him and smiled. "I meant that I would come back to you. I haven't gotten over you either."

Javier's eyes narrowed as he looked at Ava. Now he knew how little the woman had looked down on him ever since; that she thought it would easily turn him around because he still loved her to this day.

You're fucking wrong, Ava. Very, very wrong.

Later, he heard the ringing of his cell phone. He quickly opened the text message from Yvo.

Yvo: Megan is going to the bar. If you're with other women, take care of them in 10 minutes

Javier smiled when he read that and looked at Ava again, thinking how great the timing was tonight. He didn't hesitate to call Megan's number immediately, and only a few rings were answered immediately.

"Hi... Javier..."

Javier smiled when he heard Megan's voice. He put his cell phone on the bar counter and turned on its loudspeaker, so Ava could hear it.

"You're coming over here?" he asked Megan softly while looking at Ava who was already frowning in fear.

"Yes, I should be there soon."

"Good. I really miss you," he said again, still looking at Ava who almost let go of the glass she held.

"I got kicked out," his now-girlfriend complained to him, so he smiled especially.

Still not looking away from Ava who was now trembling. She seems scared and angry at what she hears.

"I thought you would. I cleaned my room. You can live with me in my room," he said. Ava's face wrinkled even more.

"I'm hungry."

"What do you want to eat? If it's something I can cook, I'll make it for you," he answered.

For no apparent reason, Javier likes what is happening and hears from Megan, especially in front of Ava. He kept his gaze on the latter especially when he saw her trembling hands resting on the bar counter. Javier put his two hands on it and sneered at Ava even more.

"Rice, steak... ice cream ..." Megan uttered.

Javier simply nodded. "I like your appetite. I'll make it at the speed of light. Just get over here quickly..."

"I love you..."

Javier was stunned to hear that. He saw Ava avoid looking at him. He didn't know why he felt sad when he heard that from Megan.

That she loved him. Why?

"I love you, Javier..." Megan uttered again.

Javier smirked even more and ignored what he was feeling earlier. He didn't look away from Ava who was starting to cry.

"Me too... I love you, Megan," he answered softly to the woman, and in a few moments that call was over.

Ava kept looking at him as if she was fainting. If before, her aura was full of confidence, now it seemed that pain and anger enveloped her whole being as she looked at him.

Javier came out to the counter to face Ava who was still silent while sitting in a highchair.

"My girlfriend is coming over. We're closed for the day," he lazily told the woman and passed by behind her.

But before he could get away, Ava quickly grabbed his arm immediately, so he was stunned. He looked at her hand holding him.

"How far are you going to go?" Ava asked him firmly, so he looked at her.

"Her feelings seem sincere. She doesn't know anything. Stop using her—"

"Do my feelings seem insincere?" He interrupted what the woman was going to say who was obviously surprised by what he said.

"I'm an ordinary man. She's from a rich family. She's young, smart, and pretty. Do you think my feelings are insincere?" He said and violently withdrew his hand from her.

"You should go. I'm sure you know the way out," he said lazily and walked again but Ava immediately blocked in front of him.

He looked at her who looked desperate now, so he raised an eyebrow.

"She should be here soon. I'm sure you don't want to run into her."

"It would put you in a bind, too. Should we just self-destruct each other? Huh, Javier?" Ava boldly told him.

Javier's jaw tightened. Before he could react, she quickly approached him and kissed him to his surprise. It was only a moment, but he felt his feelings only get heavier.

When Ava faced him, she smirked.

"This would be the best way. If that's what Megan saw when she walked in, she'll know right away what the situation is and how she was used. I don't want to bother explaining. Let's go with that pose. Let's self-destruct each other," Ava challenged him which made him even angrier.

He wiped his lip hard and shuddered to look at Ava.

"Are you fucking kidding?" Javier firmly said and violently pushed Ava against the wall then rushed with a kiss.

A painful kiss. A violent kiss full of anger. He could feel Ava's struggle, but he held her tightly to her neck and face. While in that position, he took out his phone, then took a picture of the current position without the woman knowing.

After that, Ava pushed him so hard that she was almost out of breath because of what he did. She looked at him angrily.

"What are you doing? What do you think you're doing?" Ava shouted at him.

He just grinned and wiped his lip again.

"You were a lawyer at one time. It doesn't seem like you know what self-destruct means," he told the woman with a laugh and showed the photo of the two of them kissing.

"This is how you self-destruct."

Ava's eyes widened when she saw that, so she immediately tried to grab Javier's phone, but the latter also quickly avoided her.

"Are you fucking crazy?" Ava shouted angrily at him, but he didn't seem to care about the woman.

"You should play this game when the cards are similar. You should know the rules properly. Don't be a fool and play a hand you should fold," he said coldly to the woman and approached her more.

"You still have a lot to lose. How can you beat someone who has nothing more to lose? Our attitudes in life are different," he whispered and turned back on her.

But Ava remained stubborn when he heard her speak again.

"Did you say you'd come to get me?"

He quickly looked at her again. She was already smiling so he was shaken.

"Did you say you'd bring me down? You can't get me just by raising your status. Like you said, there's no limit. You might have to drop to the bottom of an endless pit. It could be worse than the gutters."

"Maybe," Javier uttered.

"Will you still come? You'll still come. Fine, let's see where this goes. I have no intention of coming down, and you have no intention of stopping. What can we do, but go all the way? Let's go all the way and see," Ava threatened him.

They stared at each other for a while before Ava finally left. Javier even noticed her limping gait until she disappeared from his sight.

Javier stared blankly into space as he remembered what Ava had said earlier. His mind still couldn't process it. That was the first kiss the two of them and Ava shared, but it didn't turn out well.

Their first kiss full of love was replaced by anger and hatred. The first kiss symbolized how much he loved the woman, but became violent and painful.

But he had no regrets for what he did. It was very clear to him now what the woman thought of him, that she just wanted him to be submissive to her. That she would rather hurt other people than herself.

And he didn't care about that anymore. Even before he began to plan this revenge, he already knew all the consequences. He knew he would be harmed, but the question was, what else could he lose?

Everything Ava said was true. How else could she defeat the person who had already lost in the beginning?

After a while, he looked up at Yvo. He just arrived and looked straight at him.

"Is the bar closed today?" he immediately asked and approached him.

Javier ignored that.

"What was Ava doing here? Did she come to see you? She looked so sexy," he asked again.

Again, Javier ignored that. He remained staring into space and worried about the woman's face. He felt like he was slowly forgetting her clear face because of what he had seen before. She looks very tired.

"Javier!"

Javier seemed surprised when Yvo snapped in front of him, so he looked at him quickly.

"Huh?"

"What does Ava want after all this time? Does she want to start over? Is she going to divorce him and come back to you? Are you crazy?" There was no restraint to question him, so he looked at him sharply.

"You're getting ahead of yourself again." He frowned at him.

Only then did he notice that he was not with Megan.

"Why are you alone? Didn't she come with you?" He asked in surprise. Yvo laughed sarcastically.

"You should have asked that sooner. Who? Girlfriend 171?" This teasing question made him shake his head.

"Didn't she come with you?" He asked again, seemingly still extending his patience.

"She did, but something came up. She took off in the cab we came in," he replied to him and glanced at the cell phone.

Javier frowned. "What came up?"

"I don't know. Anyway, this is good. You know I broke up with Yelena, right? Let's drink. Comfort me, my best friend."

Javier just looked at him, annoyed, and just shook his head, wondering what came up...

***

[The day before Megan finds out about the graduation picture of Javier and Ava.]

After Javier took Megan to the bus stations, he hurried home to rest. When he arrived at their house, he was exposed to shattered vegetation and scattered along the path. There he saw Jamilah who seemed to be treating Yvo because he had many wounds on his face.

"What happened?" He asked in shock at the two who immediately turned to him.

"Javier, Ava's brother beat him up like this—"

Jamilah couldn't continue what she was going to say when she was stopped by Yvo, so he looked at his best friend who has now a cotton in his nose.

"It's nothing. I bumped into—"

"No, you didn't!" Jamilah cut Yvo off.

He looked back and forth between the two. His sister looked at him in a rage.

"Why is he looking for Ava here? We haven't seen Ava for a long time!" Jamilah ranted to him.

Anger immediately welled up in Javier's heart when he learned who she was referring to.

That animal was still alive!

He thought he was dead because it had been a long time since he had seen him. Aaron was also not likely to die immediately because of the type of work he did.

"Aaron was here?" he asked the two who seemed still stunned to answer.

Jamilah didn't answer because Yvo was preventing her from speaking. Javier's jaw tightened in anger and he grabbed his sister by the arm, obviously surprised at what he had done.

"Tell me what happened," he said emphatically to Jamilah.

"Ava's brother just got out of prison. He broke everything and hit Marco because we didn't know where she was," she told him tearfully. Marco suddenly stood up and held him in his arms.

"Forget it, Adan. Just forget it, okay?" Marco threatened him because he knew what he would do to that guy once he saw him. "He had a murderous look in his eyes. It looked like he would kill Amelia if he found her. Just stay out of it. If he comes here again, I'll deal with it."

"He searched your room for her number. He took your phone," Annalise said to him, so he immediately looked at her in rage. He felt he could kill that man right now.