Sweet Downfall (6 page)

He cupped her face in his palms. “Forgive me for saying this now, but I can’t let you live like this, baby. I can’t have you running away from your family and them hunting us down like fugitives. I’m sure they’re looking for us now.”

Tears pooled in her eyes. “Are you regretting what we did?”

“No! No, sweetheart, it’s not that. I will never regret what we did. Everything that we did together is here in my heart and will never be forgotten. But I want us to have a future together. A good future. You feel me, babe? I want us to get married properly, have kids and a home together. I want you to be able to be with me without sacrificing your relationship with your family. Do you understand me, angel?”

She gripped the front of his shirt, fear engulfing her. She’d expected all other forces to try to tear them apart, but not him. Not him! “But I already did! I chose you over my family! I don’t wanna go back! I wanna be with you!”

He hugged her. “I know. I know and I feel so blessed having you in my life. You were so brave to do that, to risk your entire future for me, for us. Your sacrifice will never be in vain because I will never leave you, angel, come hell or high water.”

She clung to him. “Promise?”

He put her hand on top of his heart. “I vow.”

She managed a wobbly smile. “I trust you, Jaq. Whatever you think is best, I will support you. I will follow you.”

“Thank you, baby. We will make things right. I’ll talk to your father. I need to do this, to earn his respect and trust. It will be hard, I know, but I will fight for us. Nobody can come between us. I’ll work so hard to win your family, I promise. One day soon, I know they will come to accept our relationship and everything will be alright.”

“You really think so?”

He wiped her tears away. “I know so. Your father is a good man, I feel it.”

She nodded. “Yes, he’s a good man.”

“Tomorrow, we’ll go back to Manila.”

He kissed her then as their lives took another turn. She was afraid for them both, of what awaited them in the future. But she will face anything, everything, as long as Jaq was by her side.

They spent their remaining hours in the rest house cuddling, talking and making slow love. Just like he promised, ever mindful of her well-being, he only kissed and petted her to a series of mind-blowing climaxes in the next hours. And he taught her how to do the same to him.

She was his most eager pupil.

“Ready?”

Angie nodded.

Jaq turned the ignition and his Patrol roared to life. It was a beautiful morning.

He decided for them to leave early. A reckoning was waiting for them in Manila. He had to make amends with her family and the sooner he started doing that, the better.

He had thought things over as he was editing their mini-movie. Angie’s beautiful face, her innocent smiles and carefree laughter had pricked his guilt, forcing him to really examine the reality of their situation.

He felt ashamed of his actions. He was older than her and he behaved like a selfish child concerned only of his self-gratification. The thought of losing her to Jordan had blinded him of all reason. The only thing that mattered to him was his loss. He didn’t think of what she would lose, of how she would feel when she turned away from her family and leave her comfort zone, just to be with him.

He cried when realization hit him.

A life in hiding was not the one he had envisioned for him and Angie. He wanted her to have a full life, to experience all the things that a young woman her age should experience within a normal environment. She hadn’t even finished college.

Reality slapped him hard in the face. How can he support her without a job? He needed to have a good job. Therefore, he needed to go back to Manila. He had to make something good for himself so that he can offer her a great future. That was the only way he can truly have her.

He gripped her hand tight. “It will be alright.”

She smiled at him encouragingly, her eyes full of innocent trust. “I know.”

And he drove off from there, his heart full of hope for a future they will soon live together.

The backhand slap across her face
made Angie stagger backward, nearly toppling over

“How could you do this to me, Angelina?!” Her father was shaking in rage. It was the first time he had laid a hand on her.

She was sobbing in fear and helplessness. A few meters away, her brothers and the police were ganging up on Jaq, viciously beating him while the soldiers watched with their guns ready. Jaq was like a criminal they’d apprehended and they were making sure he won’t escape.

She dropped to her knees before her father and grabbed his pants. “Dad, please, forgive me! Please, tell them to stop! They will kill Jaq! Please, Daddy, I beg you, make them stop! Please!!!”

“Shut up! That son of a bitch doesn’t deserve to live for what he did to you!”

She embraced her father’s legs. “No, Dad! I went with him willingly! He did not kidnap me! I love him! I love him! Please, Dad, please!!!”

Her father remained hard and cold.

Jaq was on his knees now, his face bleeding. They continued to kick him from all directions.

Rad pulled out a gun and aimed it at the back of Jaq’s head.

She screamed in terror. “No!!!
Kuya
Rad!!! No!!!”

Rad glanced at her, his face a mask of chilling ruthlessness. One slight move of his finger on the trigger and Jaq will be no more.

She looked up at her father, her tears blinding her, her strength completely deserting her. “Dad, if you kill him, I will die, too! I can’t live without him! I will kill myself! I swear! I will die…I will die…I will die…!”

The world seemed to turn over. She saw white, blinding light. Then darkness.

The door of the prison cell slammed shut with a loud bang.
The police officer walked away without a word.

Jaq dropped to his knees. They had dragged him in there when his legs had failed to support his weight from the nasty beating he took. He felt dazed, his nose and lips bleeding, his knuckles and arms severely bruised. The pain in his stomach, legs and back had given way to shock. He no longer felt any pain. He was numb all over.

Two men were in the cell. They gave him a slightly curious glance, seemingly used to seeing bleeding people. Zombies came to mind– lifeless eyes, dirty bodies and rotting souls.

He felt like floating and yet his whole body felt so heavy and he couldn’t even stand up. Crawling to a corner with the last ounce of his strength, he sat there on the cold, grimy, concrete floor and stared in space, dazed.

Everything came back.

Angie’s screams as her brothers dragged her away still echoed in his head. He couldn’t do anything. He was held down by three burly military men. There was a battalion of them waiting for him at the checkpoint.

Manolo Yulo came at him and punched him hard in the face several times. Soon, it was the twins’ turn to beat him to pulp. They were mad. Very, very mad.

But he took all of it. Like a man.

He deserved it anyway. He would probably do the same if some asshole took his sister away. Never mind that the asshole loved his sister like nothing else.

“What did you do, kid?”

He slowly glanced at his cell mate, one of the two guys who shared his latest digs, or was it the other way around? He would be sharing this cramped, stinky, flea-infested iron cage with whoever these criminals were. For how long, he didn’t know.

He hadn’t called anybody yet. They threw him in there without even reading him his rights. He should call a lawyer. But nobody was offering him any phone. All his important belongings were left in his truck and he didn’t know what happened to it. He was loaded in a military jeep and taken directly to this place. He didn’t even know where this place was.

“Kidnapping...maybe,” he replied, wincing. The feeling on his face was slowly coming back.

“Did you hit some big time motherfucker, kid?”

He nodded.

“Tsk, that’s gonna be life,” said the other prisoner.

No shit. He digested that possibility.

Reclusion Perpetua
for abducting Angie. He was sure Manolo Yulo can make that happen. He had expected the man to beat him to within an inch of his life, his sons to do the same. But to put him in the slammer, this, he never expected.

So much for winning the old man’s trust.

Angie woke up disoriented in a strange room.

“Angie? You’re awake!”

She turned to her right, her head fuzzy. “Sherry...?”

Her sister was at her side. “Oh, Ange! I was so afraid you won’t wake up! It’s been four hours!”

“Whe…where am I?”

“You’re in a hospital. You fainted.”

Her recent memories came back in a rush. She sat up abruptly on the bed. “Jaq! Sher, where’s Jaq?!”

Sherry looked perplexed. “Jaq? I haven’t seen him, Ange.”

“Where’s Daddy?
Kuya
Rad and
Kuya
Ram? Where are they?!”

“Dad went with Mom to talk to your doctor. The twins, I don’t know. Haven’t seen them since I got here with Mom.”

Angie felt helpless. She tried to slide down from the bed but Sherry stopped her. “You can’t. You’re on IV.”

“I need to go, Sher. I need to see Jaq!”

“But you can’t leave the hospital yet, Ange. Why don’t you just call him so he can visit you here? I’m sure he’d come running when he finds out what happened to you. We were so worried, Ange! We were all freaking out!”

Her sister’s barrage of words made her head pound painfully. “Where’s my LV shoulder bag? I was holding it before I lost consciousness.”

Sherry stood up and opened a cabinet. She came back with her bag. “Here, Dad gave it to me.”

She took the bag and squeezed the bottom part of it. She inwardly sighed in relief. “Sher, you take care of this, okay? Promise me no one will hold it but you. Bring it home and put it inside my cabinet. Hide it well.”

“Okay. You must rest now, Ange. You’ve been through a terrible thing. Thank God you were ransomed by Dad sooner. I was so worried. I was praying so hard.”

“Ransom?”

“Your kidnappers got away. The authorities are still looking for them.”

Now, she was confused. What was going on? What was Sherry talking about?

She needed to talk to her father. She had to find out what they did to Jaq. She felt short of breath just thinking of the possibilities. “Sher, call Dad, please.”

“Okay, I’ll go get him. Just lie down for now. Don’t get off the bed, okay?”

When Sherry left, she inspected her bag. Everything was still there, all her personal belongings. She called Jaq on her cellphone. He couldn’t be reached. It meant her brothers probably still had him somewhere. Oh God! She felt like fainting all over again in fear for Jaq’s well-being.

The hospital door opened and her parents came in with Sherry.

“Sweetie!” Her mother immediately enveloped her in a tight hug. “Are you alright, baby?”

She just nodded and sought her father’s eyes.

Manolo was looking at her grimly. “Marcella, I want to talk to our daughter alone.”

Despite the puzzlement in her eyes, Marcella obeyed without a word.

Sherry went out with their mother.

Angie was left in the room with her father who was eying her now with grave disappointment.

“D-dad, where is Jaq? Is he okay?”

Her father remained silent.

“Dad, please, tell me. Is he…is he...?”

“He’s alive.”

She closed her eyes tightly in relief.

“I will tell you something and you’d better listen carefully, Angelina.”

She nodded repeatedly.

“That bastard will pay for what he did to you.”

“But Dad, he didn’t do anything–”

“No one abducts my daughter, insults me and jeopardizes my business deal and gets away with it!”

Fear ripped through her again. Her tears welled up. “Dad, please, he did not force me to go with him. I willingly went with him. It’s the truth!”

“And how could you do that?! How could you betray me like that, Angelina?!”

Guilt merged with her fear, making her shake from inside out and she couldn’t stop babbling. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Dad. Jaq and I realized it was wrong. That’s why we were coming back! He was going to bring me back home. Dad, please forgive us. Please, give him a chance. Jaq is a good man. He loves me very much and I love him! If you will only open your heart and give him a chance, he really is a good person. Daddy, please,–”

“Shut up! Enough!”

She bowed her head but she couldn’t stop crying.

Her father sat on the chair beside her bed and wearily massaged his forehead. “I cannot believe you would do this, Angelina. You nearly killed your mother and I with worry.”

Her father’s tormented voice cut through her. Guilt overrode her fear. “Dad...I’m so sorry. Please, what can I do? What can I do to make it up to you? I will do anything, Dad. Please, forgive me.”