MARCUS accompany Odette to the hotel where she’s currently staying. She would be going back to London since she left a lot of commitments there just to help them. She only went back to the Philippines to settle everything she should’ve settled before and to release all the guilt and regrets bottled up within her for so many years. She and Bren had converse for almost two hours at his home. It was a conversation full of tears, asking for forgiveness and forgiving. In that conversation, everything was made clear. The pains of the past were dug up but it was somehow became a way to free the hearts which were chained with regrets and sadness.
“I owe you, Mr. Olivarez.” They were on the hotel lounge and having coffee. “I owe you my freedom today,” she smiled.
“I only made you talk to each other.”
“It wasn’t an ordinary conversation, though. We had ruined the image of a deceased person to her brother,” she sadly said and she was talking about her conversation with Caine Araullo which happened prior to her conversation with Bren. “You think he will stop chasing after Bren after what I did?”
“I hope so. I don’t want Bren to undergo more sufferings in the hands of that man. I understand where he’s coming from but he must also understand that I have someone to protect. I won’t act like nothing happened,” his serious response.
“That’s so nice of you. I’m currently dating someone right now but Bren will always be special to me. I loved Cindy but that love reduced to friendship and she wasn’t able to accept that. When she found out that I am starting to fall for his childhood friend, she made Bren her boyfriend so that I won’t have the chance and of course, Bren was in love with her,” she shook her head as if remembering the past. “I prayed a lot of times that Bren would love me but it didn’t happen. I tried to hate him by not talking to him and to make him feel that I detest his relationship to Cindy but he tried to befriend me. I fell for him more.”
“You still like him, then.”
“He’s the first and last man I love,” she said. “I’m dating a girl, by the way.”
“There’s no need to emphasize.”
Odetted laughed. “By the way, though his underweight, Bren still looks handsome. I hope he will regain his good health as soon as possible. He’s now even aware how many ladies had a crush on him but couldn’t make a move because of Cindy. The moniker ‘Lover’ fits him. He was indeed Cindy’s faithful lover.”
“For those who don’t know the real story, he’s the cheating lover,” he’s dismayed.
After Cindy died, rumors spread that the reason of Cindy’s suicide was because she wasn’t able to accept that Bren had another girl. The incident on the night of the JS Prom was brought back and that was the reason Odette’s parents forbade her to return to the Philippines in fear that she would be dragged in the scandal. Furthermore, the final entry in Cindy’s journal had the words ‘I’m setting you free.’ Whether the words were for Odette or for Bren, they would never know but for Cindy’s family, it was like a farewell message that when she died, she’s setting free whoever she’s pertaining to. For Cindy’s family, it was Bren so they blamed him for her death.
Nobody defend Bren, even his so-called parents. He was also blamed by his parents because when Cindy died, the friendship of the two families was torn apart and the merger of their business which was supposed to happen after the two’s marriage was cancelled. On Bren’s part, he kept his peace because he didn’t want to ruin the reputation of his beloved woman even if he had to accept all the blames.
The guy was really a martyr and Marcus couldn’t do anything about it. On the other hand, he liked him and became his friend because of that quality.
“He’s giving me headaches,” he complained and Odette chuckled. He sighed. “Miss Madrigal, contrary to what you said earlier, I’m the one who owes you. You helped me in freeing Bren. Thank you.”
“I’ll say the same to you.”
After few minutes, he bade goodbye and Odette hugged him tight before they separated that evening.
He drove his way back to his house and went directly to the room where Bren’s staying. It was still early yet Bren was sleeping already as what his doctor advised. He needed a lot of rest because of the stress he went through. Marcus smiled when he noticed that Bren had a smile on his face while sleeping.
“You deserve the peace,” he whispered as he fixed the blanket. Then he noticed the paper on the bedside table. It wasn’t black anymore since it already had a drawing of somehow a man with red and silver hair and was riding a thing that looked like a big peanut. Marcus pouted. “You’re hopeless in arts, Brendan,” he whispered in complain then smiled when he noticed the word at the bottom of his ugly but meaningful drawing. The word was ‘HERO’.
“Dammit, Bren,” he cussed but something was tickling his stupid heart that it made him happy yet bitter. “Don’t make me fall for you even more,” he whispered. “If you keep on doing this, I’m afraid I’ll end up being selfish. That someday, I’ll do stupid things I might regret eventually. It’s so scary I might burn myself in hell.”
Didn’t Bren even realize that in all those incidents, he was actually the true hero?