Nadia suddenly called her then, and that's when she heard what had happened to her friend. She could only sigh. Veron immediately rushed to her friend's house. Her sibling let her in right away.
Even though it was already late at night, she drove over because she wanted to be there for Mariely now.
"Where is Faith?" she asked as soon as she entered the house.
Nadia could only sigh. "She's sleeping," she calmly told her.
The door to Mariely's room wasn't locked; she slowly stepped inside and saw that she was indeed asleep.
Nadia simply nodded. Nathan was nowhere to be seen. It was nearing midnight, and Veron simply lay down beside her friend.
Mariely was softly whimpering; even though she was asleep, her wounded heart continued to cry. Veron lay beside her and hugged her tightly. She was already lying down and comforting her silently, showing that someone loved her.
Eventually, she also fell asleep, only to wake up when she noticed Mariely rising from bed. She quickly got up and looked at her.
"Faith," she softly called out.
Tears fell again from Mariely's eyes. "Veron," she whispered her name.
Veron quickly pulled her into a tight embrace.
She gathered her courage to admit that she had known for a while.
"Faith, listen to me. I'm partially to blame here. I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away that Frank was cheating on you." She was now on the verge of tears.
She blamed herself. If only she had told the truth earlier, maybe Mariely wouldn't be hurting so much now.
"I knew. I saw it on your phone. I understand why—you didn't tell me right away. It was for my sake," she said, even managing a faint smile.
"Look, Shaina and the others were the first to know. And to think I even saw Frank when we were at the mall. I'm sorry about that."
"Shaina knew?" she asked in surprise.
Veron nodded weakly. "I asked Shaina not to tell you. I begged the kids to let me be the one to say it," she paused.
"To think I told you I would tell you—and yet it was too late. I'm really the worst friend," she said, shaking her head.
"Don't say that." Mariely looked at her intently. "Don't say those words. I know you did your best to protect my feelings… and our relationship," she said as tears streamed down her face.
Veron could only nod. "Veron, didn't you tell me once that everything can be resolved through talking?" she asked.
Veron nodded wordlessly.
"I tried to fix our relationship. I just wanted to talk to him calmly, but—why? He refused. Zean turned me down," she told her.
"When I caught him with the women he was dating, they were all so beautiful. I even asked him about it, and he said I'm not his type." She gave a soft laugh. "If I were that pretty, maybe we'd have a chance at getting back together." Her tears fell as she laughed.
"What are you saying? He just doesn't know how to appreciate you; you're beautiful. Don't ever say that," Veron frowned and said firmly.
Mariely smiled at her, then suddenly hugged her tightly and cried. Veron hugged her back just as tightly.
"We need sleep. Tomorrow, let's get drunk so you can let all this pain out, Faith," she said, gently patting her.
******
Suddenly, Nathan woke up to the loud sound of the alarm clock; his head ached from the lack of sleep after his sister cried all night. Nadia was beside him, also asleep.
"Morning," she greeted him.
"Morning." He kissed Nadia. "Did you sleep at all?" he asked her.
"Not much. I just listened to the two of them talking in the room. I didn't go up immediately—I wanted to make sure both girls were asleep," she said with a sigh.
"Do you have work today?" he asked her.
"Yes, but I might just do half a day so I can finish the wedding preparations," she replied.
He hugged his soon-to-be wife around the waist in silence. He rested his head on Nadia's petite shoulder, not saying a word as she gently ruffled his hair.
"We need to go; you have work too," she reminded him.
"Yeah."
The two of them went downstairs. His mother had already prepared their breakfast.
"Mom, are the two of them still asleep?" he asked.
"Yes, both of them are still sound asleep, Nathan," his mother answered.
He simply nodded. "You two eat. I know you'll be busy again," she added.
He nodded again. He had no appetite. He was still overwhelmed by what had happened to his sister. He glanced at Mariely's bedroom door and sighed deeply.
Nadia didn't speak either and simply gave him a reassuring pat. After they ate, he drove Nadia to work.
"Nadia, I'll pick you up at noon," he told her.
She nodded. "Drive safely. I love you."
"I love you too." He kissed her on the lips. Afterward, Nadia got out of the car. She waved at him before entering the hospital. He then drove off to the office.
His mind was still drifting. Nathan, focus, he told himself. Time flew quickly, and just like they had agreed, he picked Nadia up from work.
They processed paperwork so they could focus better on their jobs and prepare for their wedding, especially as the date approached.
It was already dark when they were heading home.
"Hon, shall we eat first?" She invited him.
"Sure, let's just bring food home—especially for my heartbroken sister," he said, shaking his head.
He was about to get out of the car when he noticed someone. His brows furrowed instantly. A surge of anger coursed through him at the sight of Frank's face.
"That bastard!" he thought.
"Hon, no," Nadia shook her head at him.
"Just a moment. I just want to talk," he said.
"Hon." She tried to stop him.
"Don't worry, I'll just talk to him." He immediately got out of the car.
He saw that Frank was smoking and hadn't gotten into his car yet. Nathan tried to control his emotions; he couldn't afford to lose it here.
"Hey." He caught his attention.
Frank turned to him, not saying anything, just staring.
"So? How are you?" Nathan gave him a thin smile.
"How am I?" Frank smirked. "Just say what you came here to say, Nathan."
Nathan's blood was boiling; his fists were shaking, but he held himself back.
"What excuse are you going to give me this time, Frank?" he asked.
"Excuse me?" Frank chuckled lightly. "As usual, she's just my plaything. Good thing she still remembers our little relationship back in high school," he said.
Nathan clenched his fists, his body trembling from the rage at Frank's attitude.
"Why, my sister, Frank? I gave you a chance, and you wasted it. Are you really that happy hurting her over and over again?" He tried to control the tremble in his voice.
Frank laughed again. "Damn, your sister is really dumb. Look, this is the second time it happened, and she still didn't learn. Oops—you were the one who told her to give me another chance, weren't you? But nothing came of it."
"Your sister's really into me, huh? But I'm not the guy for her," he added.
Everything happened so fast—Nathan's fist landed on Frank's face. He even heard Nadia scream.
"Karma will get you, Frank! What did my sister ever do to you? All she did was love a man like you! Don't blame her for that! You lucky bastard—you're lucky to be loved the way my sister loves!" He grabbed Frank by the shirt as Frank reeled from the punch.
Frank's lip was bleeding from Nathan's blow.
"Nathan, Nathan, stop. Stop," Nadia said, trying to pull him away. He let go immediately.
He was about to head back to the car when Frank spoke again, pushing Nathan's rage even further.
"She's very dumb, loving a person genuinely. Well, you're right—I'm a lucky bastard. But she's only my plaything. No man would take her seriously. Just look at your sister's face. Nope." Frank sneered.
Nathan was about to throw another punch when a voice from behind shouted—
"Brother Nathan!" Mariely's voice.
He had Frank by the collar.
"Brother, please stop." She was crying again in front of him.
He pushed Frank roughly to the ground, who wiped the blood from his mouth.
"Faith." Veron called as she followed Mariely.
"He deserved it. I just don't want you to get hurt," Nathan said softly.
"Brother, you know I love him, right?" she asked him.
"Ely, stop this! Don't you realize he's just playing with you? Huh? How many times has he hurt you, El?" His voice cracked, trembling with anger.
"I know that! I know!" she shouted. "It hurts me too—seeing you hurt Zean like that."
Nathan looked at Frank with dagger-like eyes. "You bastard. You're not getting away with this." He walked away.
"Veron, please, take care of my sister," he said.
Veron only nodded. He quickly went to the car, with Nadia quietly following.
He pounded the steering wheel repeatedly.
"Damn this! Damn this!" he kept repeating with every punch.
"Gill, Gill, j–just calm down, please, please, calm down," Nadia said, hugging him tightly.
"Why? Why can't I protect my sister from that bastard of a man?" he asked her in a trembling voice.
She didn't reply, only held him tightly while softly crying. Through the window, he could still see Veron tending to Frank's wounds.
"Bastard," he muttered.