Chapter 79 - You and Javier Are The Same

Megan didn't know what she would feel at first as she looked at Javier during those moments.

Especially when he forcefully grabbed Ava's coat and hugged her back. She furrowed her brow. She felt a pang in her heart.

In an instant, a mix of emotions flooded her mind, and she couldn't determine which one to address first.

Anger, resentment, lack of self-confidence, embarrassment, revenge, and pain. Megan is drowning, and all she could do during those times was to wait for her body to sink into pain and sorrow.

After Javier wrapped Ava's coat around her, he left in anger. Megan could only watch as Javier knelt down and began picking up Ava's belongings from the floor.

Fuck this life. Megan knew exactly what Javier truly felt. She was trying to convince herself that Ava was the one Javier loved, but why did it need to be flaunted in front of her?

A few seconds later, Megan also left the scene in anger, leaving Javier and William behind.

After picking up Ava's few belongings, Javier stood up and faced William.

"Can you take this on your way to the office? I have an urgent matter to attend to," he said to William as if nothing had happened, then handed the pouch to him.

Javier left immediately. He found Megan in the hospital lobby. She was sitting there quietly, but Javier could hear the raging storm in her heart just by her expression.

"What are you doing here?" Megan asked him coldly as he approached her.

Javier genuinely smiled at Megan.

"To watch you."

Megan immediately burst into sarcastic laughter. What was he saying? Didn't he realize how irritating his expression was? Did he think everything was just a game for him?

"You are not going to be sick. You don't think about the danger or the consequences. You do anything you please. If you just stir things up everywhere—"

"Get lost!" Megan shouted at him sharply, causing Javier to grin even more.

"Nope."

Megan's eyes narrowed as she looked at Javier until he sat beside her. She couldn't understand his actions. Why was he here? Why did he follow Megan and not Ava? Why was he saying these things to her?

"In my opinion, you are in more danger than Marco. If I were the one who put him in that situation and who was involved in your father's death, I would want to put you down first."

"Do it then," Megan didn't express any emotion towards Javier, causing him to look at her. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"If you get rid of me, Ava will have no evidence to prove her guilty. She would have a very good life for generations to come. Go for it, Ava Choi's dog?" She threatened Javier, whose smile widened even more, which made Megan annoyed.

"Why are you smiling?"

Javier repeatedly nodded at her.

"That sounds like a very good idea. Killing you with my own hands," Javier stated.

Megan's blood boiled at Javier's words, feeling like he was just taunting her further. What did he really want to do?

"Ava is still suspicious of you and me anyway. She would not believe that it was over. If I killed you, it would solve everything. You weren't that dumb, Megan Hidalgo," Javier said seriously, then he glanced at her again.

Megan couldn't comprehend what to think at that moment. The pain in her heart, which she thought was minimal, suddenly grew deeper and more intense.

Megan couldn't even utter any words, so she violently stood up and was about to leave, but Javier immediately caught her wrist.

"Where are you going?"

Megan's hand shot out, forcefully removing Javier's grip, her expression a mixture of anger and pain.

"It doesn't concern you," she firmly muttered and was about to leave again, but Javier stopped her again by holding her wrist.

"Now it concerns me. You are my hostage," Javier shrugged and stood up, still holding onto her hand.

"What the hell—"

"Wherever you go, you should stay with me."

"Are you insane?" Megan shouted at Javier in disbelief. "I'm in no mood to play with you."

"Do I look like I'm playing?" Javier asked, his gaze piercing into Megan. His eyes were dark and intense, which puzzled Megan even more.

"You asked me to kill you." Javier halted and moved closer to her. "Then you should stay within my reach, so... Whenever I feel like it, I can kill you."

Megan's heart dropped like a heavy stone in her chest as she locked eyes with Javier. A surge of conflicting emotions overwhelmed her - anger, confusion, and a deep-seated pain she couldn't quite articulate.

Before her tears could betray her, she forcefully pulled away from his grip once again, her movements reflecting the turmoil within her. Each step away felt like a desperate attempt to distance herself from the tumultuous storm that Javier seemed to embody.

"Crazy bastard!" she hissed, ready to leave, but Javier intercepted her once more, bringing her back in front of him.

"I am not playing. The idea came from you. No matter where you go, stay right next to me."

Megan scoffed and muttered curses under her breath, but Javier seemed unfazed and continued.

"Except when you need to go to the bathroom," Javier beamed, as if struck by an idea. "Actually, no. Let's go to the bathroom together.”

Meanwhile, in her room, Ava couldn't shake off Javier's words from that night. His pleading for her to give up and leave all his wrongdoing behind echoed in her mind.

The promise he made to wait for her and stay by her side for life, as long as she wouldn't ask him to love her again, resonated deeply. Indeed, Javier could love someone selflessly, willing to sacrifice his own happiness as long as Megan was safe.

How could she let go of Javier? How could she release such a man?

Her thoughts were interrupted as the door to her room suddenly banged open. Shortly after, she saw William approaching her from the corner of her eye, quietly placing her purse by her side.

"Thank you," she uttered without enthusiasm.

William remained silent, seemingly about to leave, prompting Ava to voice her thoughts.

"About Marco… does it have anything to do with you?" she asked him directly.

She waited for William to respond, but he didn't, which made her laugh. Silence means yes. She didn't need to wonder anymore.

She glanced at him, but he avoided her gaze.

“There isn’t anything you can’t do now, is there?” she asked again, but William kept looking in another direction.

Ava sighed and looked away from him, laughing to herself.

“That’s right. It’s always the first time that’s hard. After that, you’ll lose all your sense of judgment and emotions.”

“I’m going to the police alone,” William stated causing Ava to look at him sharply.

“The primary reason for the president’s death was that we didn’t take him to the emergency room immediately. When you were trying to call the hospital, I stopped you. You were resisting till the end, but… I threatened and stopped you from going to the hospital,” William explained to her, seemingly implying what reason he might provide to the police when they ask him.

“The recorded conversation is not that different from this.”

“William!”

“I’m going alone,” William firmly declared and looked at her.

“You stay here.”

Ava stared at William for a long time. She knew what William was capable of, so why would she trust him? Moreover, in all the years they had been together, not once, not even a little, had she loved him.

Because, as she always did, she only used him to gain the wealth and power of the Hidalgos.

Ava averted her gaze from William and smirked.

“If you do that, do you think I’d be touched?” she asked directly.

She had learned from Javier. She didn't want it to happen again.

“Who are you to take responsibility for my wrongdoing? It wasn’t because of your threat, but because of my free will. I left him to die,” Ava admitted, but it seemed William didn't believe her.

Ava heaved a deep sigh. “Honestly, at that time… deep in my mind, I was wishing that he would disappear. If he didn’t die, it would have been Lance and me who were going to die. You just happened to show up, and you got your hands dirty instead. Fortunately.”

“Ma’am Ava.”

Ava sarcastically laughed and shook her head.

“Stop acting up,” she firmly threatened William and stood up to face him. “Who are you to say that it was all your fault? Why are you apologizing? It was all me who did that. Why are you saying it’s your fault?!”

William’s expression hardened even more as he stared at Ava. He didn’t know why she was acting like this. All he knew was that he wanted to save her from going to jail because he loved her so much.

“Ma’am Ava, calm down—”

“Do you think you are better than me? Do you think you are that much better than me?! Why are you trying to be responsible for my own life? Why are you making me small and pathetic?!” Ava's anger erupted into a furious shout directed at William, almost to the point of wanting to harm him, but it seemed William was indifferent to her words.

Her voice quivered with rage as she unleashed her fury upon him, her words laced with venom and frustration. Despite her intense emotion, William remained unmoved, his demeanor unaffected by her outburst.

Frustration gnawed at her as she realized that her anger was falling on deaf ears, adding fuel to the fire of her indignation. Ava's fists clenched tightly, her whole body trembling with suppressed rage, as she struggled to contain the tempest of emotions raging within her.

The intensity of her wrath burned bright in her eyes, reflecting the depth of her fury, but William remained stoic, seemingly unaffected by her wrath. It was as if her anger was nothing but a fleeting breeze to him, further stoking the flames of Ava's ire.

“Did you see Javier?”

Ava ignored it and laughed sarcastically once again. It seemed like she was losing herself, unsure of what to do next.

“Bad guys. Mean guys. Cruel guys. You are the same. You and Javier are the same,” she finally said and turned back on him.

Ava knew the real reason behind her anger. The truth was that Javier was willing to sacrifice so much for Megan, while for her, he wasn't.

She felt that Javier's love for her was different from what he felt for Megan. She believed it was true love between them, while hers was just puppy love filled with guilt.

This realization infuriated Ava even more because now she felt she had no right to complain anymore.

Ava made a mistake in letting Javier take responsibility for her sin before, and now she was living the consequences. She wanted to go back to that night. To a time before it was too late.

She knew that Javier couldn’t give her anything more this time, but she’d always be thankful for what he had given her. She’d take the memories and lessons with her for a lifetime.

She just wished she could take Javier, too.

But she knew she couldn’t anymore. Javier wasn’t hers anymore.

Ava realized that she could not unlove Javier no matter what she did. If she could just turn back time, rewind, if she could make it undone, she swears that she would.

She would make it up to him.

***

Megan stared at herself in the mirror, still puzzled by Javier's earlier actions. She was currently brushing her teeth in the bathroom of one of the hospital suites where Marco was staying, knowing that Javier might be waiting for her outside.

She couldn't tell if he was joking or what. She couldn't read his mind, just like before. Just like always.

After she finished rinsing, she stepped out.

And her suspicion was confirmed. She found Javier by the side of the bathroom, leaning against the wall as if he had been waiting for her for some time. When he looked up at her, she returned his gaze with a sharp look before walking past him.

Javier's smirk was quickly followed by him trailing after Megan. When she stopped for a few seconds, Javier stopped as well, then resumed walking when Megan did. After a while, Megan walked on again. Javier sighed and headed straight to the room where Marco was.

“This man is really weird and arrogant. I can’t take him,” she whispered to herself.