Liam’s P.O.V.

With rushing steps, I headed straight towards the elevator and this made me want to transfer my office from the twenty-second to the second floor. I was already on my way to the executive parking area when my cellular phone beeped, signaling that I had received a message.

As expected, Lorenz texted me the address of that club. It was The Base Lounge Nightclub, but it was still an hour drive away from here. Why wouldn’t Diane just go home if she didn’t want to talk to me? I dismissed my thoughts since I had to double my time. I had to understand if she was hurting now. I immediately climbed inside my car and quickly drove it out of the parking lot.

I guessed this had been my longest drive ever. In an instant, I ran out of patience because I almost flew my car by how I pressed into the accelerator. The adrenaline rush was eating my heart now, and that was why I was able to reach the club for only thirty minutes instead of one hour. In case the CCTV cameras caught me with my over-speeding, Janno would be the one to be in-charge.

When I arrived at the parking lot of the said nightclub, I was in so much haste that I wasn’t even able to properly park my car. I didn’t care anymore, even though some random drivers would intentionally scratch it because it was indeed blocking the way. My steps were in a hurry to go to the entrance because my number one goal here was to find Diane.

But when I went inside, my eyes immediately narrowed, making me furrow my forehead. My temper sparked, and rage pulsed through my veins because I didn’t like the scene that appeared right in front of me.

Fuck, damn it!

Diane was doing pole dancing, and she was fucking surrounded by those partying men! They were about fifteen. My girlfriend was twirling over the pole, and she was sliding downwards while arching her soft body.

As a result, those men definitely looked like they were competing against each other about who would catch her first. What I loathed the most was her healthy breasts were almost popping out of her sleeveless shirt, making me want to raise hell at these four corners.

While some men couldn’t catch her the way they wanted, they were just crazily waving their hands in the air, shouting and cheering, as if they were already satisfied by what my girlfriend was doing. Diane did not seem to feel those assholes’ touch on her neck, shoulders, breasts, chest, waist, thighs, and legs. For that, I balled my fist in an instant while readying myself to attack them.

With clenched jaws, I sprinted towards the location of the pole. It was only a matter of seconds when I did a spinning flying kick, and all at once, three faces kissed the floor. Some people rushed to get out so they could avoid the commotion.

The other men irately faced me, but I was too quick to dodge them. I ended up twisting their arms as well as their fingers and knuckles. All I could see was dark as my mind surrendered to violence.

Lorenz had helped me pull and punch some men who were still ogling at Diane. I went ahead while knocking on those who were touching my girlfriend, one by one. I maintained my stance since the others angrily fought back. But it was too bad for them, how I dealt with wrath today was completely vital.

One guy succumbed to his oblivion when I jabbed him straight to the nose before I did a cross-punch, while the others collapsed with their bloody faces after letting them taste my revenged uppercut. Lorenz tried to stop me when I unstoppably punched and beaten someone into a pulp—the one who was scrumptiously holding the breasts of Diane.

Rage flowed through me like lava until it grew inside my stomach. It was like I let it all out like a dragon flaming everyone. My eyes were scorching with the desire of killing these bastards, burning them here until they entirely turned into useless ash.

When I had the chance to look at Diane, her hair was so messy, and was about to close her eyes out of extreme intoxication. My fury was suddenly replaced with concern. I worried about her when I realized that she already off-balanced herself on the pole, and her body would fall on the dancing floor anytime soon.

In my attempt to catch her body, I ignored the person who successfully punched me. It was only once, and he just hit me over the shoulder because Lorenz took care of him. Diane lost her consciousness, but I was fast enough to catch her before she fell.

The security guards had finally arrived to break the commotion, even though they were quite long to stop everything. Lorenz and I got out of the club safely as I carried Diane’s body. The police came afterwards, and they asked me what I preferred to happen.

Honestly, I wanted to sue those men for taking advantage of my girlfriend, but I would just let this one pass. I didn’t want to see their faces anymore and might just take legal action against the owner of this high-class nightclub. My lawyer would take care of that.

“I’m sorry, bro! I tried my best to stop her, but your girlfriend didn’t stop herself from drinking and getting drunk. I told her that we could just go back to EGC, so she could talk to you and clear things up, but nothing happened. She just nurtured her stubbornness,” Lorenz exclaimed.

He was holding Diane’s white blouse and carefully placed it on her chest. He also did me a favor of placing Diane’s bag in my car’s backseat.

It was a good thing that Lorenz was ready to protect Diane here. I couldn’t imagine what would happen if my girlfriend went here alone and drowned herself with alcohol completely. I just nodded and thanked him for what he did.

“It’s okay, bro. Thanks for accompanying her and for letting me know her whereabouts. I will be the one to take care of her.” I pressed my lips into a thin smile.

“It’s nothing, bro! She’s my best friend after all. So, I think I’ll be out here first? I still have a dinner date with my mother. Good luck, bro! I hope that the two of you can get along soon so that you can finally fix your problem together,” Lorenz said before he patted me on my shoulder.

I just nodded at him again while motioning that he could now leave us. Lorenz stepped away and went to where his car was exactly parked.

After kissing Diane on her forehead, I carefully placed her in the front seat. I made sure that nothing would hit her head, and she was comfortably seated before I securely fastened her seatbelt. After that, I turned around, sat in the driver’s seat and started driving away from that place.

Diane would surely freak out if she would wake up with me after our argument, and she might get mad at me even more. That was why I decided to just go to Nana Lydia first.

She was our former housemaid, who almost raised Leandro and me. She would still come to the mansion to clean and cook for us. I knew that Kyla had a lot of clothes there, and I was sure that those would also fit Diane. Kyla was the only child of Nana Lydia, whom I considered a real sibling while growing up.

While driving quietly, I just couldn’t help myself from glancing at the woman I loved. Diane’s appearance now was not that far from the way she looked before—the first time I saw her lying in the living room of my condo about four years ago.

Although I searched for her, never did it occur in my mind that fate would still make a way for us to meet again. And not only that, she even became my girlfriend.

But the agony was like a switchblade that walloped my heart, and the thought literally made me sad. God knew how much I loved this woman. God knew how much I had to endure the pain every time I wasn’t able to tell her the truth about us.

God knew how much I suffered a heartache, most especially when I learned that I raped her on the night of her birthday—and that was even her eighteenth birthday. There were times that I wanted to tell her the truth but as soon as I opened my mouth to mention it, I would only feel scared—prompting my tongue to regress.

Over the days that turned to be months, I ended up hurting myself even more… knowing that I hurt the woman I loved the most. I was hurting Diane by simply lying to her every single day that we were together.

Diane mattered so much to me, and I could do even the impossible thing for her. But right now, I didn’t know what to do anymore. I knew that my decision was selfish and all wrong, but I was indeed afraid of losing her. I could afford to lose everything—money, wealth, and power—but not her.

Soon after, I felt how Diane moved on her seat before she hugged the blouse that was on top of her chest. I guessed she was half-awake. She looked at me while her eyes were drooping with batting long lashes.

“Lo—Lorenz? W-Where are we going?” She then clumsily smiled, which caused me to chuckle.

Alright, I have a drunk girlfriend here! Didn’t she even notice her handsome boyfriend? Tsk!

That was when I decided to just ride with Diane’s drunken state. They said that there was a high tendency for a person to express their true feelings when they were drunk. Let’s try to prove it with Diane.

“Diane, hang on… I will take you to Liam. You are very drunk. I already stopped you earlier, right? Why would you even drink when you can’t even take care of yourself?” I responded. For now, I disguised myself as Lorenz.

Diane was silenced for a long time before she spoke again. But I was indeed surprised when just a few minutes later, she was already sniffing, and it was too late for me to notice that she was already crying.

“Y-You know what, bestie? I—I loved Liam. I really loved him—to the point that I couldn’t imagine living my life without him. I wouldn’t be so hurt like this if—if I didn’t love him, right? D-Do you understand what I’m feeling? It hurts here—and I’m not over—reacting!” Diane hiccupped frequently as she even pointed her chest.

“But now I realized, you—you are right, best friend! I should think straight and calm my—my mind. I never thought that I—I would be jealous over that floured rice cake! What was her name again? Sisa—belle?” Then, Diane chuckled like a child.

“Well, that Sisabelle? She will never get my place in Liam’s heart. Do you hear me, Lo—Lorenz? Never, because I won’t ever allow her! That’s why I will say sorry to my Liam-babe first thing in the morning tomorrow. That’s a promise—oh, I miss him already!” She sobbed again before she closed her eyes.

Although Diane was weeping out loud while being drunk, and I could smell how she reeked of alcohol, she was still as gorgeous as ever, and what she confessed still made my lips smile with pleasure. Most especially, when she told me that she couldn’t imagine living her life without me? That alone made my heart jump ecstatically.

My smile transitioned to a giggle when I remembered how she called Isabelle a floured rice cake. It made me think how Diane used to eat a lot and that made me shake my head in glee. She also called her Sisabelle. All I could remember was Sisa* in Noli Me Tangere.

Diane was so cute, but I stopped looking at her and just focused my attention back on the road. I wouldn’t be able to control myself from kissing her if I would only stare at her.

Don’t worry, Diane… you don’t have any idea how much I love you and how much I’m willing to risk just to be with you. You haven’t apologized yet, but I have already forgiven you.

I love you so much, Diane… and I can’t imagine living my life without you too. I hope that your feelings for me won’t ever change the moment you learned the truth.

_________________________

Sisa* is the deranged mother of Basilio and Crispin in Jose P. Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere.

Unable to stand up to her abusive husband, and later the Guardia Civil, Sisa went from one traumatic event to another, causing her to eventually lose her sanity due to the mental burden. This insanity manifested in her wandering around San Diego, calling out her children’s names, and singing songs out of nowhere.

[Source: Google]