The Unmasking II
Damien staggered backward, as though her words had stabbed him deeper than any wound.
And he stared at Eva in utter shock. Then he turned back and walked away, his legs faltering and shaking profusely like he was going to fall. He didn't even know how he made it to his car. The engine roared to life, and in seconds, the car sped away into the night, carrying with it the shattered remains of his trust.
Earlier, he had almost rushed in when he saw Eva step into that booth. But then Victor's voice cut through the air, calling her Ana.
That single name rooted him to the spot. Something about it wrapped itself around his chest, squeezing, dragging up half-buried suspicions. He sensed there was a missing piece tied around that name and Eva, but he could have imagined anything, anything at all, perhaps Ana was Eva's sister. Perhaps Eva merely knew Ana. Maybe just a coincidence. That was a safe explanation, wasn't it?
He had imagined that possibility when he saw Ana's picture in Eva's mother's bedroom, but he could never have imagined that Eva was Ana! He couldn't even think of the possibility. What? Eva? Was Ana? How come?
The thought was unthinkable.
His brain scrambled, clawing for logic, yet every possibility twisted into the same maddening conclusion. He felt like he was losing his mind. The realization ripped through him: The thought that he had been dancing around the same woman all his life and he didn't even know it.
It was Ana, his own secret crush in his youth, then it was still her as Tyler, his reckless, unforgettable lover, and now she was Eva his wife?
It was always her. Always.
His body shook violently, as though rejecting the very truth his mind was trying to process. He barked at the driver to stop, flung open the door, and slid into the driver's seat himself. His hands gripped the wheel too tightly as he sped away, faster, faster, as though distance could save him from this unbearable revelation.
But it followed him, merciless.
The thought that Eva had deceived him all along poisoned every memory. She had been a fraud. A liar. A thief of his heart. Now, the scattered pieces of his life began snapping together with cruel clarity. Clara looked familiar because she was Ana's mother, he had met her twelve years ago in Chicago. And now that he thought about it, Ana did had a younger brother back then, but he was a small boy who was called Tony, though he had an unruly hair, that did look like a Bob, perhaps the reason why he was being called Bob.
And when he thought of all the energy that was drained from him due to that code, his stomach twisted as fresh rage boiled in him. Should he talk about the glory associated to that code, or his father's life, his trust, his love, his finances, all the money channeled into finding her, yet it all amounted to nothing, unknown to him that she was right under his nose all along.
Perhaps the reason why she avoided him when he recently took over this branch. The reason why he sensed she didn't seem afraid of him. The reason why she had kissed him when she was half-conscious at the hotel in Mexico. The reason why he had always felt the love she had confessed she had for him, seemed to be deep rooted. The tattoo that unsettles him, it was the very same one on Ana's lap, the same Tyler had. Ana hates drugs and so does Eva. Also the fact that Tyler was a virgin and Eva too. Now, it all made sense.
He couldn't believe he'd been that blind. Looking back, the signs were there. The way her voice sometimes slipped, it carried the same warmth, the same softness as Tyler's. He had even tried to dig a little once, testing the edges of that strange familiarity. But Eric had laughed it off, saying he was just obsessed with Tyler, that Eva was nothing like her.
And maybe Eric was right, or maybe Damien just wanted to believe it. Because deep down, his gut had been screaming. He'd felt it. But that couldn't change the fact that, Eva had played her game, wore her mask so well_so perfectly_that he let himself drop it. He silenced his own instincts.
Now, realizing his gut had been right all along, it stung like hell. A mix of betrayal and self-mockery burned in his chest. How could he not see her? How could he not know?
It was Ana all along!
The wheel trembled beneath his grip as his emotions warred inside him, disbelief, a fleeting surge of joy, a wild sense of liberation, but drowned under heavier tides of disappointment, fury, betrayal. Anger bit the deepest.
He pressed harder on the accelerator, the road blurring beneath him, hours slipping past. His chest rose and fell violently, his vision stung. He almost broke, almost allowed the tears to fall, but pride and rage strangled them back.
All he knew was this truth:
She had been his salvation and his curse, his love and his ruin, all together.
Eva.
Eva's chest caved in the moment she saw Damien standing in that doorway. A jolt ripped through her like lightning, her mother's words echoing back with cruel clarity
Ana, tell him yourself before he finds out behind you. Remember, every day is for the thief, but one day is for the owner.
She knew that day had finally come... the day she reckoned with all the mistakes she had made in the past.
The day she gets to die.
Death itself did not frighten her, she had long made peace with it. What she feared, with every trembling beat of her heart, was losing Damien.
Losing that rare, precious love she once believed she could guard, shelter, protect. with all her strength. Yet, in the end, it was far too fragile, so delicate that every mistake she made cut through it like glass being shattered.
She had tried to chase after him, but his long strides devoured the distance, carrying him into the car before she could even reach him. The engine roared to life, the car sped off, and desperation seized her chest like claws. She stumbled into the street, screaming his name, running until her knees buckled and she collapsed onto the cold ground, gasping, watching the shrinking silhouette of the car vanish.
Still, she refused to surrender. With raw determination, she scrambled to her feet, flagged a cab, and rushed to his office, his haunts, every corner of the city. Nothing. The hollow fear in her chest grew heavier until her weary legs carried her to her mother's house.
Eva collapsed at Clara's feet. Her mother's face was etched with fear, and deep worry.
"Ana... what do we do now? Should we run away again?" her mother asked, voice trembling.
"No, Mom," Eva whispered, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. Her red-rimmed eyes stared blankly into space. "I'm done running."
Clara gasped softly. "If you stay, Ana, he will kill you. He could do anything to you. And what about us, me, your brother? Why don't we just disappear again? Please, my daughter."
"I said I won't run!" Eva's voice cracked, but there was fire in her tone. "I hated hurting him like this, but Mom, I can't run anymore. I want him to be free. I want him to find himself again... even if the price is me."
"Don't talk like that!" Clara cried. "I've told you not to sacrifice your life this way. Look, I'll go to him, I'll beg if I must. Ana, you've fought alone long enough. I'm fine now. Let me help you."
"No, Mom!" Eva snapped, her tears falling fast. "This is my burden. Don't you dare get involved. Everything I did, I did for you and Bob. So please... make my efforts mean something. Stay alive. Stay safe."
Clara's voice broke. "What about you, Ana?"
Eva forced a weak smile. "I'll be fine. I promise. I've never let you down before, have I? Just keep you and Bob safe. Don't worry about me."
That evening, Eva rushed to the office only to discover Damien hadn't shown up. Panic gnawed at her. She called Gina, but she hadn't seen him either. Heart pounding, Eva went to his house.
She waited outside the gate for two long hours, the night air chilling her skin. The moment Damien's car finally pulled in, relief washed over her, at least he was alive. She followed him in, unable to stop herself.
Damien stepped out of the car disheveled, his eyes bloodshot and his face hardened. He brushed past her without a word. Eva reached for his hand, but he flung hers away as if her touch burned him. He stormed straight into the house.
From the corner of her eye, Eva saw his mother standing at the stairs, shock frozen on her face. Shame twisted in Eva's chest, she knew that woman would wear her pain like proof of being right all along. But Eva couldn't dwell on it; Damien was all that mattered.
She followed him into his bedroom, her own eyes swollen from endless crying. "Damien, please... just listen to me. I can explain." Her voice wavered, soft but desperate.
He turned and looked at her with a terrifying calm. Then, without warning, he seized her and threw her onto the bed with a heavy thud, then he climbed over her. His hands yanked at her trousers, pulling them down, his eyes scanning her thighs like a man hunting for something.
And there it was.
The spot where her birthmark used to be. The skin was smoother, paler, almost polished, like a scar disguised as perfection. Laser removal. She had erased it.
Damien froze, breath sharp. The truth struck him like a knife. She had gone that far...
That far??
"Oh, wow," he breathed bitterly. His lips twisted into a laugh, low, hollow, terrifying. "You are good. Almost too good." He laughed.
His gaze dragged up to her face, every flawless feature now an insult. He could see it, the subtle changes, the perfection too sculpted to be natural. Plastic surgery. All of it... just to hide from him. Only to hide from him?
His laugh deepened, broken and sharp, not humor but a cruel sound of disbelief. Then he stood up from her and avoided her like she was a curse. Rage crackled in his eyes. He tore the tie from his neck and flung it across the room, his chest heaving, his face a storm of anger and betrayal.
Eva scrambled up from the bed, her knees weak, her hands trembling as she rushed to him, her voice breaking with desperation.
"Damien... Damien, please just hear me out, I can totally explain! I swear, I never meant for it to happen, I didn't! I'm sorry... I'm so sorry!" she sobbed, clinging to the last shred of hope that her words could reach him. But deep down, she knew, there was no explanation in the world strong enough to justify the ruin she had caused.
Damien turned to her, his eyes blazing, his voice like a blade slicing through steel.
"Explain? Eva... or should I say Tyler? Or is it Ana? Which one are you, huh? How many masks do you wear before you finally rip my heart out? You appeared before me three times, and every time you left me shattered!"
He stepped closer, each stride heavy with fury. For a split second, Eva flinched back, terrified he might strike her.
"In Singapore," he seethed, his voice trembling with rage, "I begged you to tell me what was wrong. I asked again and again, but you kept playing me like a fool. And do you know what the worst part is?" His voice cracked, a storm behind his chest. "I lost my father because of you!"
The words slammed into Eva like thunder striking the ground. Her breath froze, her lips parted, but no sound came. Her mind reeled back to that day, when she thought it was just a code, just a desperate theft to keep her family alive. She never meant for it to cost someone else's life. Much less his father, that man... that kind, handsome man who had smiled warmly at her, whose gentle presence had felt almost fatherly.
Dead? Because of her?
Eva's chest caved in on itself. The guilt was unbearable, suffocating. She felt herself shatter, piece by piece, as if all the versions of "Eva" she had ever been were collapsing into dust. He lost his father?Because of me? He would never forgive me. Her eyes dulled at that realization, and suddenly, that bright light that once burned with love and hope snuffed out.
And then, the door creaked.
Eleanor, who had been eavesdropping outside, stumbled in. Her face was pale with horror, her hands trembling as she gripped the doorframe.
"Tell me it isn't true, Damien!" she cried, her voice raw. "This... this is the woman who killed my husband? The same Tyler we've been looking endlessly for?!"
Her knees buckled, and she collapsed to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. It was as if an old wound had been torn open, bleeding fresh agony into her soul. She pointed a trembling finger at Eva, her voice breaking. "You! You murdered him! You destroyed my family!"
Her cries filled the room, drowning out everything else.
Damien's chest heaved as he grabbed his car keys with a clenched fist. Without another word, he stormed out, the slam of the door echoing like a final verdict.
Eva sank back onto the bed, hollow, her lips sealed. She had no voice left. So she didn't say a word.
She couldn't.