14. Not Too Late
Not Too Late
My phone buzzes while I'm still crying, and my mind just keeps replaying the worst moment of my life.
Don’t.
And it’s Ruel jerking away from me.
Again and again and again.
My brain just doesn’t want me to forget how he’s rejected me, and that’s why the moment my phone buzzes, I’m more than ready for a distraction—
“Hello?”
And that goes to show what an idiot I still am.
I thought I had it bad with my heartbreak, but fifteen minutes later, I realize I should have known.
Be careful with what you wish for.
Because the voice on the other end of the call was Sadie.
Or you might just get it.
They tell me Patrick’s in trouble, and even though I have no idea if it’s true or not, we both know I have no power to call their bluff.
So I go where they tell me to, which is just a few blocks away from the club, and that’s where Sadie and her friends show me about the jewelry they’ve planted in Patrick’s locker.
“You can tell the police that we planted it,” Sadie says sweetly, “but if you do, then that might still warrant a call to the FBI. I don’t think you want that, do you?”
The sound of police sirens in the distance prevents me from answering.
Sadie beams. “Oh, right on time!”
She’s called the police? I thought she didn’t want trouble?
“You disappointed me so much earlier,” Sadie says with a pout, “when you didn’t tell me about your meeting with Ruel. But maybe this time, you’ll do the right thing.”
The police car slows down in front of us, and I find myself shielding my gaze from their headlights.
“You’re going to confess about stealing my bracelet,” Sadie whispers, “and planting it in Patrick’s locker. That keeps everyone safe—”
Two police officers step out of the car.
“Everyone lives happily ever after—”
And they start walking my way.
“Except you, of course.”
They come to a stop when they reach us. “Ladies.”
They tip their caps to us, and when Sadie and her friends preen and greet them like they’re tonight’s dinner guests, I feel it happening again.
My head is spinning and hurting at the same time; I’m once again an extra in a daytime soap, but I’m also the only one without a script.
“We received a report about a certain individual named Karyna Francisco wanting to make an admission to committing theft.”
Sadie looks at me in shock, and for one moment, I can’t help but think how unfair it is. Not only is she tall and beautiful and supposedly smart, too, but now I realize she’s also insanely good at acting—
“You stole something?”
It’s just too bad her acting is about to land me behind bars.
“Are you Karyna Francisco, miss?”
I can feel my eyes start to sting as I force myself to nod.
“May we know if you were the one who made a call?”
I know what I’m supposed to say, but all I can do is stare.
My whole life, I was taught to not say a word, to just go with the flow and not cause any trouble.
“Did you steal anything?”
I find myself taking a step back at the question, but the moment I do, they have their guns pointed at me in the next moment. They already think I’m a suspect who’s about to escape.
“Please raise your hands, ma’am.”
I can’t believe this is happening.
“Ma’am?”
I think they’re about to cuff me. I think I’m about to faint. I think…I think…
“Stop.”
I think I’ve already lost consciousness.
Because that voice…
It has to mean I’m already dreaming.
And when I see Ruel once again showing up from nowhere, walking toward me like he’s Gong Yoo in Goblin, and he’s recreating that very famous scene about the actor coming to the heroine’s rescue—
Yup.
I have to be dreaming for sure, with the way my brain is now thinking all of these crazy stupid things—
“R-Ruel?”
But then I hear Sadie say his name, and the sound snaps me back to reality.
He’s real then?
Or is this some kind of mass hallucination—
Ruel is standing right in front of me now.
And my knees…
They just give out.
But I don’t fall.
It’s one of the few good things about my life, I think.
There’s always someone reliable around when I lose my balance—literally or figuratively.
And the moment I find myself up in Ruel’s arms—
I think that’s when it all hit us at the same time.
Sadie turning white…
The police stepping back…
And then there’s me as I find myself touching his cheek with a shaking hand—
“R-Ruel.”
His name is all I can say for some reason.
“Are you alright?” he asks fiercely.
I nod.
And that’s it.
He turns his direction to the others in an instant, and Sadie…
I didn’t think she could look any whiter, but somehow, she makes it happen, while the police—
“M-Mr. Caristia.”
They know who Ruel is?
“W-We’re sorry.” The officers are actually stuttering. “We didn’t realize—”
“What seems to be the trouble here?”
The police officers visibly start sweating. “It seems there’s a misunderstanding—”
“They just came out of nowhere,” Sadie cries out at the same time. “They had me so scared—”
“Enough.”
Ruel hasn’t even raised his voice, but the three of them flinch like he’s just struck them with a whip.
“I’ll drop by the station later. But in the meantime, I’d appreciate if you’d place Ms. Amparo under your custody—”
“Ruel!”
“She’s my former fiancée—”
I look at him in shock. W-What?
“And there may be a witness or two to testify as to her intentions to cause trouble to my wife—”
And now it’s Sadie’s who’s losing her mind—
“Y-You have to be lying! She can’t be your wife! You’re supposed to be in love with me!”
Ruel doesn’t even spare a glance at her direction as he walks away, and I don’t know why, but it’s only when I see his limousine parked behind the police car, and there’s dear Chadwick already smiling at me as he opens the door for us—
That’s what has me crying.
Even with Sadie still screeching behind us, and the sound of the police car with its siren blaring as they drive away—
The moment we’re inside his car, Ruel is clasping my cheeks, his fierce gaze roaming over me like he’s ready to go to war for even the slightest nick—
Oh!
I notice his gaze narrowing, and then his fingers, which I also notice are shaking…
It’s only when I feel him reaching for the gold chain that I realize what’s caught his attention.
“You were wearing it all this time?” he asks hoarsely.
My wedding ring.
He’s seen it.
“I only take it off when I go for a swim,” I admit in a wobbly voice.
He exhales upon hearing this, and I’m dismayed at the possibility that I might have made him feel bad. “It’s okay,” I say quickly. “I don’t mind—” My voice fades when I see him taking something out of his pocket.
“I bought this on my last trip to Paris.”
W-Wasn’t that months ago?
“I wanted our marriage to be real.”
Doesn’t this mean I wasn’t imagining it? That I was right to think there really was something between us?
“But it took a long time for me to find the courage to ask you. When I finally did…”
The way he stops speaking makes it painfully easy for me to fill in the blanks.
Oh no.
I look at him helplessly. “It was the same night I asked for a divorce. W-Wasn’t it?”
I’m already crying before he can even answer, and I just find myself crying even harder as he pulls me into his lap.
“I’m sorry,” he says rawly. “I’m sorry for everything.”
“It’s n-not your fault—”
“You came to me for help,” he grits out, “but I didn’t even let you speak because I was out of my mind with jealousy—”
“Y-You’re not alone. I was j-jealous, too. And hurt.” I have to force myself to admit this because I didn’t want there to be any lies between us. Not ever again. “When I saw you and Sadie kissing—”
Ruel stiffens. “I’ve never kissed her—”
His denial just makes me feel worse. “Please, Ruel. There’s no need to lie—”
“But she did try to kiss me.”
Oh.
“If you had stuck around long enough, you would have seen me getting rid of her. And after that, Adriano made sure that she was properly informed…of the consequences if she were to make such an attempt again.”
OH.
Okay.
I don’t care if this makes me an idiot, but I just know every word he says is true. And yet—
Why isn’t he kissing me still?
Isn’t this already the part where we can kiss and make up and live happily ever after?
“He likes you, Karyna,” Ruel says tightly.
Oh. My. Goodness.
I realize this is me being stupid again because I finally realize…
“You’re jealous,” I whisper in shock.
“Are you telling me I have no reason to?” Ruel’s tone is taut. “I’ve seen how relaxed you are with him. How he makes you—”
I did it.
It’s the right time anyway, and there’s no rule that it always has to be the guy to make the first move, I just went ahead and did it.
I kissed Ruel while he’s still speaking, and—
Oh!
The box falls to the floor, my back hits the seat, and as our clothes seem to melt away like they always do whenever Ruel takes over—
I hope…
My mind is capable of one last thought as I start to lose myself in the heat of his touch, which I never thought I’d ever feel again.
I just hope Chadwick won’t mind if we make him wait a bit outside the car.
* * *
Sadie had everything rehearsed when the door opened again.
This was what she had been waiting for her entire life.
A chance to undo her youthful mistake and be with Ruel again.
It was why she had been so patient all this time, spending an entire fortune just to have detectives give her a clue about Ruel’s next whereabouts.
It was how she had ended up moving to Connecticut and signing up for membership at Harbour Locke. She had known this was her only chance, and although she had made so many mistakes along the way—
I’m still his first love, she reminded herself, and no one can take that away from me, least of all that little nobody—
“Is she in here?”
Sadie didn’t even get a chance to scream…while everyone at the police station looked the other way as she was carried out of the precinct, blindfolded, gagged, and her hands shackled behind her back.
Since she hadn’t thought twice about having an innocent woman locked up for a crime she didn’t commit, arrangements had been made for her to appreciate the error of her ways…in time.
But not too soon, of course.
Lessons had to leave their mark before they could bear fruit.