Chapter 71 - She Fell First, He Fell Harder

[The night when Megan still chose Javier after everything she found out about him.]

"I... I love you, Megan. That was the first confession I ever heard. Thanks to you. This is the first time I'm glad to be alive and get up every morning," she said and sobbed again.

It was also the first time she cried in front of the man and the person she still loved dearly.

Javier slowly approached her as he held his stomach. When he met her, he gently stroked her cheek and gently wiped away her tears, so that she cried even more. He looked at Megan seriously while his eyes were dim. She stared closely at the man's face.

"My only wish now... is to see you every day and tell you I love you. To hear that you love me. To share the same dream. To have a child and grow old together. Is that possible?" she asked the man in tears even though her heart was full of fear at his possible answer.

They stared at each other for a long time. Megan waited patiently for Javier's answer but instead of answering her, the man hugged her tightly. Javier gently caressed her head down to her back.

At that moment, her heart calmed down. The feeling of cold was already enveloped by the heat of Javier's body. The feeling of anxiety and pain is slowly disappearing just because of that hug. That was more than she wanted to hear an answer.

While she was crying over the fear she felt earlier, Javier also gradually found out the answer to his questions about how he felt for Megan. That she loved him first, but he fell for her deeply.

And at that moment, as they hugged each other in the middle of the heavy rain, only then did Javier see Ava. She's standing far from them while staring at them. There was a pain in her eyes, but he ignored that and hugged Megan even tighter.

"That's why after thinking a million times, I decided I couldn't lose you... even if I lost everything I had."

Megan had always been beautiful in Javier's eyes. When he first saw her on the plane, he thought she was just a common woman, not wearing a fancy dress despite her status in life. He viewed the rich in the opposite way, that they didn't care about anything except their image and wealth. Megan was not like that.

That she could lose everything just to be with him. That she could sacrifice everything just for him. Like how he would sacrifice everything for Ava back then. Something that finally made clear Javier's feelings for the woman.

At first, he insisted on denying it to himself. He thought that he didn't deserve Megan's love because of his true purpose for the woman. He thought he shouldn't be the one to love the latter. He thought that all he wanted was revenge, but he just woke up one day, he also wanted to get the woman's love. He also wanted to retaliate no matter what happened.

Javier was able to fight his feelings for Megan but immediately gave up. He could not fight his heart. Especially whenever he remembered what she had told him. Especially whenever he remembers her sobbing in front of him.

At that time, he decided as well. Like Megan, he has made up his mind.

After he saw Ava outside while hugging Megan, he quickly entered the latter into his house. Her eyes were still swollen as he watched her. He didn't know how he would feel because of how he looked. He had many bruises and wounds. He still had a black eye in his left eye due to the beating of him by Ava's goons.

Did she know what happened to him? That was why she went here?

After getting dressed, Javier immediately went out to buy food. He even saw a paper bag that Ava had left on the side there earlier. He was sure it was for him. He ignored that and walked away.

In just a few minutes, he was back home. He knocked on his door to call Megan but she did not answer. When he opened the door, the sleeping Megan on the floor was exposed to him. She was already dressed and seemed to be sound asleep. He just smiled because of what he saw. He could feel the lightness of his heart as he watched the woman.

After he made his bed, he gently lowered Megan there. He stroked her forehead to see if she was still sick. He just sighed when he felt she was still hot. Then he stared for a while before he adjusted the woman's blanket.

He tiredly sat next to her. His eyes caught a picture and note next to the picture frames on the side table. He stood up again to pick it up. That was a picture of the island in a province where they used to live. When he looked at the note, he smiled when he read what was written there.

'I was bored and opened your desk drawer and found this. Let's take a trip here if the weather is nice tomorrow. Our first trip just by ourselves.

- Megan.'

He looked at the woman who was still sound asleep for a moment and then turned to the picture again. He remembered that photo. Ava gave it to him for them to go to after his exam at that time. But they haven't been to that yet.

Javier returned the picture to the side table and turned back to Megan. She was smiling while asleep. She seems like a good dreamer. He gently arranged the hair that was blocking the woman's face, so that he could see her beautiful face better.

Eventually, he could no longer control himself. He slowly approached Megan and gently kissed the latter on her cheek and forehead. In the few years of the silence of his heart, only now did he feel its resurrection again. And it was because of this woman. Because of Megan.

Megan, I know you already know all about me and my revenge plan. But even if you don’t know everything yet, I hope you will forgive me when the time comes. Because of you, I have learned again to love truly and without fear.

Because of you, I wanted to sacrifice again and give all the love I had long forgotten. I didn’t expect it but thanks. Thank you for coming into my life. You don't even know but you saved me from my troubled world. You saved me from my painful past.

Now, I have no other desire but to be with you every day… for life. Nothing is more important to me, just you. I was also willing to give up everything… even the revenge I had planned which was why we met. I love you. I love you more than you ever know.

***

[Hours before the accident.]

Javier did not expect that he would not be able to see Megan there but he still seemed to hope. He went straight to his room and there he saw Jamilah's folded dress that he had put on the woman. His bed is also neat. His suspicion only grew that Megan might have overheard Ava's conversation.

His eyes caught the picture of that island in Batangas on his side table. He took it and stared at it for a moment. Couldn't she have come here already? When he looked at the back of the photo, he lost hope when he saw what was written there.

Ava Choi loved Javier Salvatorre

He wanted to find out where Megan could possibly have gone, but he didn’t know why he seemed to feel afraid to face it now. He feels he has done something wrong. He felt like he couldn't see it crying again. He was tired of sitting outside the house.

Later, his cell phone rang with a text message. He immediately looked at it when it became clear that Megan was texting. That picture message was the island they were supposed to go to. His suspicion was correct.

Even though he was scared, Javier hurried to go to Megan immediately. He almost flew his car there because he felt that something might be wrong with her. In a few moments, he reached his destination. He immediately saw Megan's back when he got down. She was sitting on the white sand of the island while looking into the distance. He stared at her for a while before finally approaching. He sat quietly next to her.

Javier was willing to die for Megan over and over again. That he was hoping to meet her again in the afterlife so he could love her fully and freely...

As for Javier, he couldn't even look at Megan in the distance. This was the second time she had walked away from him and this time, she would never really come back. The only thing he feels right now is pain and remorse. The feeling of love for Megan was something only he knew. Nobody deserved his love that was tainted with lies. Nobody deserved his love that was vengeance.

But Megan was more willing to embrace Javier's love if only the man could do the same.

Javier was also willing to die for her more than she ever knew. When he saw the woman move into the lane where he was, his tears welled up. Tears of remorse. Tears of pain. He knew that Megan wanted to kill him and he just accepted it. He just smiled as he waited for the latter's car to crash into his car with no one else thinking but the woman. Her eyes were full of anger and hatred as she stared at him at those times.

***

[AVA'S PAST.]

6 years ago . . .

After class, Javier took me to our house. I wanted to be with him for a long time but I knew he was also tired from his whole day class, so I just let him rest first. When I got home, I was exposed to the noise coming from the kitchen. I immediately went there to see what was going on and I saw my older brother Aaron and Papa fighting.

“What’s going on here?” I asked which made them both stop.

Aaron quickly turned to me and approached me. I was shocked when he violently grabbed my arm so I winced.

“Didn’t I order you to leave to Papa the money I asked for from you? Why didn’t you do it?” he asked me firmly.

"I-It’s hurt, brother," I told him, but instead of letting go of me, he tightened his grip on me. I could already feel his nails digging in there.

“I really need the money! Why didn’t you leave it earlier?!”

"I-I just forgot because I went somewhere for a while…" I replied tremblingly and tried to remove his grip on me but he was so strong that I could not let go.

I tried to ask Papa for help by looking at him but he didn't seem to care what he saw so I was even more hurt. What else could I expect?

“And where did you go? Do you put your flirtation first before your family? You're really that useless!” Aaron shouted to me and violently released me and then left.

I bit my lower lip when I felt severe pain in my arm. But I feel more pain in my heart because of what Papa said.

“Did Javier already ask you to marry him? That poor useless man? What would you benefit from him once you get married? Fucking stupid," he said coldly to me before he left.

I could feel the shattering of my heart during those times. I faintly headed to my room. As soon as I got in there, I finally fell to the floor and there cried silently. I don’t know why they’re like this to me. Even though they repeatedly hurt me, I couldn’t complain because I felt like they were punishing me for something I didn’t even understand.

“So, what did your father tell you about Javier’s proposal?" Sam asked me again as she peered into my table.

I ignored her and continued what I was doing. I simply glanced outside our room again, expecting to see Javier. When I looked at Sam, she was already beside me and looking at my arm.

"What happened there?" she asked me a serious question in a threatening tone.

I quickly adjusted my dress and forced the sleeve of the blouse I was wearing to cover my arm. I averted my eyes from Sam and stapled the papers scattered there.