It has been so long since the last time there is an update

But here it is
Unfortunately I do not have as much time as before
But I will try that the next update is not as late as this one.

Thanks to all the readers who have followed my story through time
see you.

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Chapter 12: Stick with You

Arguing with such a fool only proves that there're two of them...

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Life can be so satirical sometimes; being a whirlwind that plays with the emotions and the mind of its owner.

And perhaps, at this point, people should be aware, this is the wrong way to go, which may already be in a seriously situation where they have to try to straighten or ended up being dragged to the deepest and be drained as an empty body or filled with a lot of hostility towards oneself, or another person...

Hurt.

Eagerness.

Disappointment.

Anger.

It was what Aom felt, realizing that all this was happening to her, to her life, to her world

The perfect world she was trying to create for Tina and her. Like a huge castle on the moon where they could be happy, without anyone who could go up to disturb their peace.

But, she had focused so much on this dream that she hadn't realized her world was already crumbling around her, piece by piece

The life she was trying to cultivate was changing and the person she was trying so hard to maintain and care was being snatched from her hands

So fast, so painful...

She had the key of the happiness in her hands... And it slipped away without her being able to avoid it.

So, she had to deal with the consequences now, where it was like being in a room with a storm, dragging everything constantly

And with this she had forgotten how to smile, how to laugh, after all... How to do it when the reason for her happiness had left her to be with someone else?

So now she was here

With her body ached, with her mind spinning thousand thoughts, with her limbs become weak and heavy, feeling the emptiness surrounded her; trying to keep all this feelings to herself, to keeping inside as a dirty secret

But she can't, she couldn't

She has always been so simple, so emotional, and so stupid, that her feelings just spill over her, especially her body.

That even now, without looking at herself in a mirror, she was aware of what her face looked like right now

Fear.

Regret.

Confusion.

Rage.

As transparent as glass, and she hated it...

She hated being this way, she hated Tina for make her this way and she hated that Tavee girl for turning her world into this horrible nightmare.

But even so, she had practically pushed all hers behind the lifejacket which was her pride, to pretend that all that didn’t bother her, she had practically pushed all of hers after that salvation was her vanity to pretend that all this didn’t bother her, to pretend it wasn’t a big deal, so everything could be fine in her twisted surroundings.

But it was all a big lie that she can’t hold anymore.

She was on the edge, her heart was breaking into many parts. It was almost as devastated as the weather of that day…

"Such a horrible day is today"

That had been Aom's thought right there, lying on the bed in her bedroom

And it wasn’t just her dark thoughts about her, or the fact there was a strong storm outside.

"One of the worst storms of all time"

It was what they had said on the television newscast that morning

Apparently, nobody could leave their homes or a safe haven

"That would be suicide"

Were the exact words of the reporter

But as she had mentioned before, her thoughts, the storm and the fact of not going to work weren’t the reason she considered the day was horrible

Of course not

That was because of Tina.

It was her fault that now Aom was locked in her room, with her heart broken once more, hugging a pillow with total hatred and cursing her life

Murmuring the idiot that Tina was while she gently hiccupped

She had been so happy and excited that morning; after all, she had spent more time with Tina the last 24 hours than she had spent the past few months and it had been ruined.

It had all started when Tina wished her luck in her task to conquer her; the house phone rang. Tina had responded somewhat alarmed after looking at the number on the screen and Aom quite intrigued had looked at her rather closely, silently listening, trying to appease the curiosity.

And that, had been her first mistake that day

It wasn’t difficult for Aom to know who it was, the sweet tone of Tina, how soft her features had become once she had answered

And finally there was that voice…

That irritating voice she can’t forget from the first moment she heard it

So cheerful and cloying, it made her nauseous

Aom’s world suffered an implosion at the realization that Tina cared for another woman who wasn’t her; at the moment she had realized the existence of that Tavee was real her life had become so unstable and desolate, the moment after hearing Tina's words of concern for that girl and after she hangs up the call, Tina turned and without any finesse asked her for a job interview for her much-loved girlfriend

Such an idiot and shameless prince…

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“Oi, princess… You're still looking for a photographer for the photo shoot, right?” Tina said earnestly as she put the phone back in its place.

Aom raised an eyebrow confused by her sudden question, a little annoyed since Tina didn’t seem a bit regretful or embarrassed that this girl had called to their house, such a nerve she had! “What if it is so?” said sullenly

For a second Aom thought she saw doubt and fear in Tina as she lowered her head, but it faded as her face rise again, looking as haughty and acute as usual while she said those stupid words that still after a few hours, they still tormented her and made her blood boil once again “Can you consider Tavee for the job?”

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Consider her for the job?

“Stupid! Stupid! Stupid Tina!” Aom growled, hitting the pillow as more tears ran out of her eyes “Such an idiot” she murmured, her lip trembling as she tried to stop the sobs

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“Why?” Aom had instantly frowned as she spat out bitterly the question

And for the first time Tina looked ashamed of her actions “Princess…” Tina looked down with one hand behind her neck, rubbing it nervously

“Don't call me that and answer me! Why?!” Aom roared back

“It's Necessary” Tina murmured humbly

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Necessary?

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Aom almost rolled her eyes at how pathetic that sounded "Necessary?" She snorted "Don’t give me that crap Tina! What do you really want from me? Uh?” she crossed her arms "Make fun of me? Make me look more stupid than you've ever seen me?!" her hands fell back to her sides, she was shaking so badly she couldn't sit still, probably the rest of her body was shaking too "To rub it in my face? Answer me!" she was crying, big tears falling out of control, her heart pounding against her aching chest; she was hurt, angry

“Of course not!” Tina shouted back, with disgusted eyes, as if Aom was offending her in the worst way "I just need to know that she's okay! I need to be sure nothing bad is going to happen to her!"

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Does Tina need to know she was okay?

That nothing bad was going to happen to her?

Why?

It's not like she's going to die or disappear if Tina loses sight of her!

But, although it seems impossible, that wasn’t the reason she was so upset with Tina

She really hated that Tavee girl despite not meeting her in person.

But Aom hated more when Tina lied and hid things to her

And after Aom ignores her statement of practically harassing her precise girlfriend, both had been in a very tense silence

Tina had been the first to try to distract herself with something. The blood on her shirt was obvious enough to distract herself. After the crazy night both had, the negligence of their actions was now exposed, with Tina's sutures being sensitive and still fresh, the bandage hadn’t served to prevent them from bleeding again.

So, sitting on the bed and crossing her arms, Aom had watched as Tina with difficulty tried to bandage her torso again. But after a while of seeing her make several grimaces of pain, Aom had given up looking harsh and had run to help her, of course the silence between them wouldn’t last long, much less, the apparent truce…

 

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“Stop looking at it” Tina caught her attention

Aom raised an eyebrow at her, stunned by the rigidity of her voice, then heard her clear “This really makes me look less attractive so don’t look at it, you don’t have the right to see me anti-attractive” she pointed out with her usual jokes but without daring to look at her face

Aom's gentleness and good manners went away like a blast, still sensitive by their previous dispute. Nothing cost her to frown at Tina's apathy even in her own body

Why did Tina always have to make jokes even in the most serious of the situations? “Stupid! Why do you always have to answer in that way?” she reluctantly complained

Tina's smile didn’t shake a bit from her place, so firm, so brash but more playful of it had never been “Forgive my illiteracy, my lady, but… What did you expect my answer to be then?” Tina almost mocked, as if she had asked the most ignorant thing in the world, the dumbest

Which only intensified the wrath of Aom. Her eyebrows completely stuck in anger “How can you say that? Do you always have to make fun of me? I was worried, you big idiot!”

Tina cocked her head as if for her it made no sense what Aom was saying “Why?” she had asked, as if everything was so strange to her

And Aom seemed shocked and indignant that even Tina dared to demand an explanation for her consternation, as if she needed a reason to worry about this idiot “Why?” she repeated incredulously, her eyes narrowing menacingly “Why?!” gritted her teeth “Oh! Now I need a reason?” she asked sarcastically

Tina lowered her gaze to her bare abdomen, her unconscious hand gently touched the newly and now clean bandaged, a lame excuse to try to cowardly avoid the glare of Aom on her. But her pride kept her from being silent for a long time, after all, Tina had always been an arrogant and egomaniacal debater, her eloquent her and untamed tongue could never sit still against anyone. And it was one of the most intelligent and un-moral, Aom was aware of it "I'm greedy, arrogant and a selfish bastard, and you been knowing about that since the first time you meet me" She started by saying, her gaze now settled on Aom's, her eyes had become so intense and so serious that Aom could barely follow it "You know I only mess things up with, that I have a really bad attitude, that I'm a burden, a huge up..." Aom was surprised by her bad language “So, Why are you expecting anything different from me right now?” she almost scoffed at her face, a burlesque smile that Aom wanted to disappear blows out of her face

But they both stayed in another silence

Tina shook her head, closing her eyes and taking a long breath, then turned to face her "I'm a very private person so you're not going to ask any more questions and I'm not going to say anything, okay? Let’s… let's stop trying to feel empathy for each other”

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Aom swore that something had stabbed her directly in the chest after Tina's brutal statement.

Was this person really the Tina she knew?

Was Tina this way and she had never noticed it before?

In the past, Tina was all clumsy and arrogant but always gentle, and now…

Now…

"You're being an insensitive bastard right now, you know that, right?"

Those words had come out with nothing she could do to stop it.

So hurt.

Full of every drop of her resentment.

So choppy because of the tears she was trying to stop with all the little strength she had left. So disappointed and at the same time, as if they were begging her to take back those she had said

But none of that came.

Her tears were still in her eyes and the words of apology she wanted to hear from Tina were still inside . But others much worse came out of Tina

"I don’t try to be rude, I'm being honest, and I really don’t understand why you're pretending to be worried about me"

And it had sounded so indignant for Aom's greatest discomfort

With this, things had just ended up going downhill, so fast and so hard that it hadn’t been a big surprise the huge chaos that had been unleashed upon them

Or maybe…

Aom bit her lip, palpable guilt began to seize her whole body.

Tina was the one who had tried to silence the situation, probably because she knew the way it would all end, but Aom had been stubborn, too stubborn

Yes, Tina had been the one who had said the most hurtful things, but maybe it was her fault

If she hadn’t tried so hard to make her talk, if she hadn’t pushed Tina too much…

Maybe Tina hadn't cracked…

 

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“Pretend? Do you think I'm pretending?” Aom spat at her bitterly.

Tina ran a hand over her face tiredly, knowing where this was going to take them. "Come on Aom, don't play the victim here, we're in this situation for the circumstances you created" Tina murmured a couple of things but she couldn’t understand them, until… "Why don’t you want to leave it that way? I just want to finish this headache and go home” that, she had definitely heard it

"What?" she started, squeezing both hands into fists from her place. Taking Tina out of her not so internal whispers, without hesitation answering those words that only managed to increase her anger even more

"I said I want to end this discussion here" She heard her take a breath again. "I'm tired, sore and irritable. Right now the last thing I need is to hear you say about how what I did or do is totally wrong in front of your eyes, so let's just wait for this storm to end so I can get out of here and we both pretend nobody said anything”

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Aom squeezed the pillow closer to her, trying to hide her face, praying over her so Tina wouldn’t hear her sore cry on the other side of the door

To keep her pain to herself

Not to give Tina more weapons to hurt her

So she wouldn’t see her vulnerable

So she wouldn’t know how much she needed her

Tina didn’t deserve it, apparently, didn’t need it either

She had someone else for that

Tina wasn’t hers anymore

Tina wasn’t the good and faithful person she thought she was.

Tina wasn’t a prince, she wasn’t charming, and she wasn’t a knight in shining armor

She was an insensitive monster

A heir without a heart

A soulless hunter

And yet, in this house, in their bed, Aom kept shedding tears for her, for this sad destiny that kept them apart. Silently murmured the phrase she had refused to reveal to Tina, those words she swore she would never tell her even if her life depended on it, because that would be like giving herself completely, offhandedly, to let Tina could finish tearing up what was left of her dead heart…

“I love you”.

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"Dad?" The little kid stood in front of the large entrance door while her butler took her shoulder firmly to keep her in the same place

The kid's father looked away from his wife who was entering to the luxurious car. Looking at his youngest child with an umbrella in his hand, the heavy rain splashing his shoes "Be a good master, this house is your responsibility from now on" he said firmly and loudly because of the noise of the heavy drops falling around him "We will see each other again… when you learn to be a good successor, until then, become strong, alone…” after those words he walked away without looking back again, with his wife and his eldest daughter

"Dad!" the kid shouted in alarm at being abandoned by her whole family. Although she had been informed in advance they would leave, even though her father had explained that she had to stay on her own just to be educated and improved

To be a proper heir who shouldn’t have any "Weak distraction" as they called the fact of forming affective bonds even with her own family. Even so, it wasn’t easy for a two-year-old to understand that she would be alone until she learned to be strong

As her father had called it

Don’t cry

Don’t play

Don’t laugh

Don’t show vulnerability

No weakness

No feelings

Just a Cold heart

Her tutors would be there to teach her everything from basic materials, good manners and self-defense

She was educated to be like a gentleman, intellectual and lacking in emotions since they only served to distract her from success in family business

That was the way her mother had put it on, with a stern look for her to respect and follow her orders. Something complicated to understand even for her who never had a lot affection in her barely two years

Her small face turned as her butler stepped and placed his large hand on her head to get her attention. "Hey Joseph… Will they come back soon?” she asked in anguish

The old butler distorted his face in a grimace of regret, and that was enough for her to understand that they wouldn’t

Tina heard him take a long breath. "Young master, your studies will begin from tomorrow at first hour…” he began saying, his hand slid out of her little head just to extend both arms in front of her "We will take a break, you will be allowed a hug, for today, I will let you cry until you run out of tears…” he said with determination

Tina looked at him surprised, expectant and excited.

She had never hugged anyone before

Immediately her eyes filled with tears, had felt so touched by the old butler actions, yet, another part of her felt like weeping for the sad, lonely life that awaited her the next day

She wrapped her arms around the man's neck, crying as hard as she had ever done

With that man who in these two years had been her guardian, mother and father.

For her on a day where the rain and he, had kept the secret of her sign of weakness

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Tina woke up startled, her breathing ragged and her white knuckles as she squeezed the chair where she sat, in the study of her house

One of her hands stiffly released the armrest of the leather chair to run with irritation on her face

Outraged, by falling asleep

Her dreams always used to be bad memories that tormented her at night, and she was a little accustomed to them coming to her

But this was certainly one of the worst of them

A demeaning memory about not being good enough for her parents to stay with her, to not see her until she entered their standards

It was the worst of humiliations.

Of course she had to give some credit to her parents, after all, with her costly and crude education, they had achieved what they set in such a short time

At the age of five, she already looked like a serious businessman

And after her butler Joseph died a few months after her birthday number 5, her parents had decided she would need another guardian

Her sister Air wasn’t an option, she had gone to boarding school

Then her parents had adopted Zee, who in their words

"Someone of her age would be the perfect solution for her arrogance problems”

Of course, they hadn’t known that Zee hadn’t been her first friend

Oh no…

Mean…

Tina sighed at the memory

Sweet and Lovely Mean…

She had been the first

Tina had met her thanks to Joseph, her faithful butler, who offered mercy to her for half an hour a day. Taking her to a nearby park, where, along with Mean's guardian, they had presented them

 

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It had been a month since she lived without her parents, Joseph told her that he would introduce her to someone special, someone who would make her happy

Curious to the little girl who, as soon as she saw her, changed her disinterested expression to one of total enjoyment

And Tina was out of breath…

Not for her beauty, or for her pleasant fragrance, not even by her dress (which she thought was pretty on her)

She was shocked to see her eyes light up.

Seeing her show so many feelings without shame, for the overflowing happiness that seemed to provoke her, her…

Her… Only herself…

Who no one wanted to approach in fear

Who everyone considered a monster

Soon Mean took her hand, all her worries seemed distant

She felt more human…

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Over time her harshness and initial arrogant mistrust disappeared with the affection and sweet words that Mean gave her as if she were the most important thing to her, as if she were the only one in that utopian world Mean so much talked about

One in which Tina could smile at her, show her emotions, hug her, laugh with her, play with her...

Only with her

When they were alone, in their small and perfect world, far from the calculating world that their parents wanted them to be part of

But her happiness lasted only a short time, when Tina was 4, Mean had to move to the United States with her parents

After that, her heart had to harden again, until the day when Zee came to her house...

"If that girl is going to belong to me, I want you to direct her to my room, once she's inside, I don’t want anyone to be present when I come in to judge her”

Her arrogant order was obeyed by her parents who were already accustomed to her sullen personality

But for Tina, it wasn’t something to take lightly

She had spoken with brutal honesty

Zee belonged to her from the moment her parents signed the adoption papers, but… for a different reason than her parents

Because for her parents, Zee would be Joseph's replacement, a guardian, a butler, a bodyguard, an employee….

But for Tina, Zee belonged to her because she would be part of her family, just as Joseph had been

 

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When Tina had entered to the room, she had seen a small child, pretty skinny, maybe, too skinny. There, sitting in one of the luxurious wing chair of her room, looking so bleak and with a bitter grimace; her head was down, not daring to lift her, as if she feared all around

Tina looked at her for many more minutes than she would like to admit

Looking at that kid she looked at herself, and at the same time, she didn’t

She seemed as withdrawn as she had been, but unlike her, she seemed free to show her displeasure, her fear, her discomfort

Tina walked slowly, not wanting to frighten her. Placing one of her small hands over hers, which were squeezed together on her legs

Zee looked up, surprised, scared

But Tina just smiled softly, then, firmly pronounce the words that would unite them for life…

"I like you, so ... come on, play with me"

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Tina closed her eyes, trying to concentrate

Her mind wanders again in that peculiar word that tormented her for some time in her childhood

A monster…

It had been so long since she'd heard that…

So many years had passed, that Tina came to think… those words had only been a dark nightmare created by her head, a twisted illusion of a lonely kid

But to her dismay, it wasn’t

Everything was true…

 

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"Are you sure you're a kid?"

"Are you even human?"

"What the hell are you?"

"Do you know what it is to smile?"

"Monster!"

"Get away from me, monster!"

Of course, she remembered her strict tutor

 

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The tall, ungainly man took her shoulder firmly, a smile adorned his face, but nevertheless the frozen eyes didn’t show the equivalence of the gesture "I will take away from you that frail look of a child that you bear with you. I will train you to be perfect, you're not a Tina child and you'd better record that in your mind, the years will pass faster if you respect that”

"If to be exemplary competent to get rid of your useless emotions that deny you to think clearly is to become a monster… then… so be it"

"My god Tina, I did not turn you into anything, you already were”

"I only held back your dramatic explosions, that inhuman and brutal mind, it belongs to you"

"Stop blaming me for something that is your own nature, I'm just trying to hide it so the world will blind itself to it!"

"You're a monster on your own, that's all your fault!"

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He had been right

She always blames him for turning her that way, blaming her parents for paying for it, blaming her tutor for showing her to be that way

But the truth is, they just taught her how to hide what she was

Her own disgusting nature

And now… she had let it go…

She leaned both elbows on her desk, her hands hid her stricken face

Of all the people she could show that nasty part of her…

Aom was the only one who had pressed so hard to trigger this series of events

 

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Tina saw the pure anger in Aom's face once those words came out of her lips “How can you say that? Do you always have to make fun of me? I was worried, you big idiot!”

Tina cocked her head puzzled "Why?"

Indignation frames her whole body “Why?” she repeated in disbelief, challenging her to dare to repeat that “Why?!” Aom gritted her teeth “Oh! Now I need a reason?”

Tina tried to distract herself, her unconscious hand delicately touching the bandaged wound. But she didn’t keep shut “I'm greedy, arrogant and a selfish bastard, and you been knowing about that since the first time you meet me” She started saying, she raised her face, wanting to see the reaction in that shameless woman 'You know I only mess things up with, that I have a really bad attitude, that I'm a burden, a huge up..." saw the scandalized look on Aom, something that only increased her ego “So, Why are you expecting anything different from me right now?” she sneered

Tina felt the suffocation in that silence, the voice in her head that screamed to apologize, to try to return her own words, to forget everything and implore for the affection of Aom, even if it were small and shared

Although she had to beg as long as Aom was with her

But she didn’t, despite the way her chest was squeezed in her rib cage when she saw the hurt look of Aom

Shaking her head to ward off those pathetic thoughts and taking a long breath "I'm a very private person so you're not going to ask any more questions and I'm not going to say anything, okay? Let’s… let's stop trying to feel empathy for each other” closing her eyes, almost like a mantra, tried to convince herself more than Aom

"You're being an insensitive bastard right now, you know that, right?" And the look at those last words completely disconcerted Tina

The look on Aom was a strange mixture (for Tina) between the anger, the pain, the disappointment, the sadness, the rigidity of her body that made Tina feel as if she had committed the worst and the lowest of transgressions

Tina frowned, more dazed and upset than ever

But she was not upset with Aom, No…

She was angry with herself

Because despite her high intelligence and experience in all kinds of topics. Yet, she couldn’t understand why Aom was looking at her that way, with such eyes.

And yet she prepared to respond with all the patience she still had "I don’t try to be rude, I'm being honest, and I really don’t understand why you're pretending to be worried about me"

“Pretend? Do you think I'm pretending?” Aom asked annoyed

Was not she?

Tina thought to herself, her brain worked tirelessly, the gears in her head tried to integrate with Aom's words, but it was impossible

Because… If Aom wasn’t pretending… Then why was she interested in what happened to her?

Tina ran a hand through her hair, tired “Come on Aom, don't play the victim here, we're in this situation for the circumstances you created”

"I gave you all of me… What else do you want to get? You've taken everything I am, you little shameless princess” she spat in a low voice, not knowing if she wanted Aom to hear that

Luckily, or bad luck. She didn’t hear it

Then Tina got a little more voice "Why don’t you want to leave it that way? I just want to finish this headache and go home”

“What?” she challenged her to repeat it

Of course, Tina still wanted to keep the peace, she didn’t want to continue increasing the storm forming between them "I said I want to end this discussion here" she took some air, attempting to find a little more of patience "I'm tired, sore and irritable. Right now the last thing I need is to hear you say about how what I did or do is totally wrong in front of your eyes, so let's just wait for this storm to end so I can get out of here and we both pretend nobody said anything”

But then…

She heard Aom snort "Are we in a hurry to go back to your little cave of hypocrisies?"

Her voice so full of mordacity and contempt froze her heart for a few seconds

Tina straightened her posture despite the discomfort, she tried to intimidate a little more with her height "Come ... again?"

Aom crossed her arms “Don’t pretend you didn’t hear me” Yes, Tina had listened to her, but she refused to even think that Aom had said those words "You even said that you love me… I can’t believe that I came to think that those words were real"

Was Aom looking for a fight deliberately?

Was fair for her Aom should just throw her love away as easily as if it were a joke?

That she despised those feelings Tina had so painfully allowed to emerge only for her?

Tina felt her breathing grow heavier, with each of those thoughts

The blood in her body boiled in an agonizing way

She was fighting with herself so hard. She was practically biting her tongue to keep it going.

But it was an impossible thing to do

Everything has done, everything was ready

She wasn’t made to close , and apparently, Aom either

The conclusion came quickly. There were no feelings, no thoughts

Her brain and heart went into a numb state when the pure instinct of which she was owner took over in her body "What if it's that way?" She suddenly asked.

Aom stepped back, confused by the sudden words

Today is the day when Tina forgets all the good manners that have been taught and practiced through the years as if they were laws about her life. Today is the day Tina stops being the 'charming prince' with everything because she doesn’t have the moral authority anymore to survive without releasing some of the weight she had been keeping for herself. "What does it matter if I lied to you? Never has anything of what I said mattered to you, you have let my words be thrown away, you ignored everything I said and done, so… What's the difference now?" Today is the day where Tina says a million things she meant, with what seems to be millions of years. "I've never been the first or the only one in your thoughts or your decisions" Tina lets the words go as if they were a whip and she can practically see how they fall right at their exact point. Aom seems shocked by the unexpected accusation, taking a step back, but Tina follows her, refusing to let her escape.

She looks at the fear in Aom, with every inch she is cornered against the wall of the room, next to the fireplace

But then, she doesn’t care, because there is no clear thinking in her head, there hasn’t been any for a long time

That alarm that let her know when she was about to hurt her princess ... doesn’t exist anymore

“So, tell me… Miss President… Which of us is the hypocrite one?”

This was Tina's biggest mistake. To let Aom be the center of her universe

But she was about to redeem herself, even if that meant to breaking it piece by piece

"You broke my heart before” says Tina. The impetus and mockery have been consumed by her voice. And Aom almost feels her sadness, her suffering "Are you expecting that no matter what, it remain immune?" Tina can see compassion on Aom's face as those words came out of

“Tina…” Listening murmur, but… she doesn’t want her pity

Tina shakes her head several times "I still don’t get it" cuts her words "This is not about rejection, not that you like me that way” she tried to explain more to herself than to Aom

Aom was a little lost after her words, but even so, she felt insulted, Tina could see it in her eyes "You.... What are you waiting for me?"

"Isn’t the position of president enough? Do you need more money? The deeds of the house are in your name, also the cars, I gave you an unlimited credit card… Is not that enough for you?” Tina listed part of the wealth she had lavishly given to Aom

She looked at Aom, she was baffled "What?"

Tina swear that in her entire life she had never felt so out of place as right now

The words didn’t reach as she would like. This was wrong

Aom's behavior was wrong, there was no logic in her head to give an explanation for her acclaimed consternation about her "You, you shouldn’t be worried about me" Tina clarified with seriousness

Of course, that seemed to be a challenge for Aom. "And why not?" She folded her arms despite being cornered against the wall

"You have no reason to be." Aom only raised an eyebrow, hoping she would continue. "I have given you control of my family company, own my house, my car. I give you my fortune on a simple card, so... There is nothing else you can get from me" Tina explained calmly.

She didn’t notice the stunned face of Aom

"You don’t need any political favor, you don’t need any connection that I can offer, and you already have my financial capital… You don’t need to feign interest, so stop pretending, there's nothing…”

SLAP!

Her sentence was cut so strong and sharp as the slap Aom had just settle her on her cheek, now red

Her countenance and Aom's were resplendent with similar expressions. But with unequal motivations

The mixture between rage, disappointment, pain, stupor and bitterness

"Is that what you think of me? Do you think I'm such a shallow person? "Aom spat at her.

Tina snorted, recovering from her earlier impression "It's normal for me to think that way about people," she replied with obviousness.

"What about me?"

“Princess… What makes you think you've done something to make you special? "Tina mocked cruelly.

After all, Aom had only been the worst of all who approached her for profit

Then Tina felt a strong push, retreating a few steps with a grimace on her face, her hand instinctively covered her wounded ribs

Had Aom only pushed her aside?

Tina watched her walk briskly away from her, a logical thing to do if she was being accused for her daring behavior, but then…

Tina frowned, she didn’t quite understand why Aom seemed more the victim in this kind of situation when she was the one who was killing what was left of her heart and her sanity “Why are you crying?!" she demanded exasperatedly

Aom stopped in the middle of the hall, but she refused to turn to face her. "Because it's what normal people do, you stupid insensitive!"

“¡Of course not! I don’t do it, it's unnecessary, it doesn’t make sense that you cried!" Tina shouted back

"You don’t cry because you're a stupid arrogant, that's why!"

"Why?!" Tina asked again.

"Because we have feelings compared to you, you monster!" Followed by that, Aom went into their bedroom and closed the door

Tina reached the door two strides, striking her furiously as she turned the knob, unsuccessfully trying to open it "That doesn’t make sense!" her hand stopped knocking on the door again when she began to hear the sobs rumbling even through the door

Then she knows that was the end of her dispute even though she still feels she can throw a million more things at Aom in the face.

And she hates what she said

But she also knows she had to do it, for her poor tormented soul

She was tired of trying to be kind and gallant when she wasn’t

Well, not anymore.

In previous months, occasionally, Tina had managed to feel and express the irrefutable jealousy that is always caused by Aom, that deep pang of anger, to make matters worse, at the expense of the fact that, a more arrogant idiot than she was, was her own personal karma

Soranut Yupanun, the idiot who had boasted in her own face, rubbing her with arrogance the only thing she wanted most in the world and that she couldn’t have

Aom

.

 

Tina even now thought that nothing she had said had been out of place, her words had been unmistakable, she hadn’t lied in any of them

Even so ... she was in an internal battle

On one side, she regretted that they came out of . After all, it was Aom we were talking about, she didn’t want to hurt her

But on the other side. She was at her limit

Tina was frustrated, hurt, and angry

She felt that even with the slightest provocation could push her over the edge

Tina really can’t afford another disaster that refers to Aom. She is afraid she would not survive

She was only protecting herself, to refuse to be hurt again…

Even if that meant being the only one who hurt back

And she felt stupid

She didn’t know what was happening, what Aom was feeling

She didn’t know how to explain to Aom why she couldn’t be worried about her

Because she didn’t know the answer anymore… no…

The reason why her words had hesitated on her tongue was because it was pathetic to reveal it

After all…

How could she confess to Aom that no one had ever cared for her disinterestedly?

To tell her that if anything she had learned in her younger years was that all those who stayed by her side had wanted to make a profit from her, and after getting what they were looking for, they had disappeared without caring anything else

Many sought her for money, her fame, the connections of her family, her attractiveness, for being unattainable when she still had a relationship with Mean

Even Mean, she mainly saw her as a challenge, then, she supposed, she felt sorry for her pathetic existence, then she got tired and left her

And with that, her heart ended up poisoned with resentment and distrust toward all those who weren’t Zee… even her own parents who, in her opinion, were practically two strangers

Her eyes wandered without interest in the lonely place her studio was, it had been some time ago since she had stayed so long in this house

She could tell, no one came in here. Everything looked the same as she had left it last time. Nothing had moved even a curious centimeter out of place…

Tina's eyebrows squeezed strangely as she noticed something unusual

A letter…

Yes, a letter about one of her folders

She stretched her long arm to take it.

There were only two words written on her, two annoying words that fired her anger

Soranut Yupanun

He had been in her house, had entered with Aom alone, had surely entered with all his presumption, and had dared to touch her things, to ridicule her even more with this letter

Well…

She took the outline of the envelope between her fingers and opened it

.

This is the first and last letter you will see of me, Tina Jittaleela

It's late already to make you pay for everything you've done to me, everything you did to them

You are rich, happy, respected, and you have found another more innocent woman on whom you can trample over. While I, sunk in unhappiness, I will leave alone, without having anything or anyone with which I can take refuge

It is not necessary to repeat here how much I hate you, you are already aware of it

I would have wanted to kill you that night I found you alone outside of your car, but I couldn’t, and it wasn’t because of you but Aom

However there is something that I never told you before and I believe, it will be my only redemption to you

I have spent the last few months with Aom, many hours a day, during most days of the week

And as you could witness, I boast of it on a large scale, too exaggerated, I must add

Yeah, that was my way to take compensation from what you did to me, Aom and Mean

Mean, better known as my formal wife; the person you never knew to value, you hid her from the whole world, excluded her inside a bubble while you went out freely to rub on her face other women, she was just your whim

Me, whom you have probably categorized as an idiot; to whom you stole the love of not one, but two women, my wife Mean... and my first love, Aom. They both preferred you, before and now

Aom, the biggest victim in this eternal fight, to whom you have been beating with false and crude accusations, putting to the same level as you, when her only crime was to think first of you before her

Yes. She has never been unfaithful to you, not even with the thought

The reason we spent so much time together wasn’t because me, but for my wife Mean, she asked it to Aom

To be our intermediary in our divorce, the procedures, and our meetings

I admit I try a thousand ways for her to reconsider leaving you. I threaten her, begged her, blackmail her, I even showed her some pictures of you with your girlfriend Tavee, but she refused to come back to me

No matter what, she assured me that she would stay by your side, even if she had to share you

She said the only reason she spent so much time with me was to give a closure to what was between us, so there was no past that stood between you and her

In Aom's words, she wanted to give everything to her stupid and arrogant prince without leaving anything behind. So she had nothing that would cause her doubts any more.

I don’t care if you believe me or not, I’m telling you this for Aom. But if you do…

Yes, now you can be sure, you're a bastard

You treated Aom so despicably, without her deserving it.

And also, since Mean is no longer my wife, you should have a little more precautions with her because surely she will not let you go so easily, not caring Aom is in the middle since she thinks Aom doesn’t deserve you

You were stupid enough not to have spoken clearly to Aom about your relationship with Mean, and damn it! I will not open my mouth either, because it’s not something that concerns me, because I hope when she finds out about all your lies, all your deceptions, be in the worst possible way

But, I'm going to ruin a little more that thought with something new for you

The truth, Aom was never in love with me, in fact, she never like me that way despite my always exposed feelings for her

She liked someone else, but our parents made the arrangement to commit us, Aom, as the good daughter she is, she promised to have a good relationship with me even before we got married, something that never happened because my parents changed their minds and my marriage commitment turned around Mean

But I'm not saying this to make you feel sorry for me, I'm warning you

My last altruistic favor towards you

Aom's childhood love is looking for her, with your engagement being the news on most of the channels on television, I'm sure he will not take too long to find her

Good luck, I really hope, Aom will open her yes, because you're a monster

You don’t deserve her

Soranut Yupanun

.

Tina nearly fainted as she read that, her heart wrung but refused to believe it was true

Her mind had been paralyzed, obstructed

Of course it was a lie, Aom always disregarded importance to her words, her actions, always preferred that idiot man, she threw in her face her relationship with him when she revealed the existence of Tavee

Tina couldn’t understand the letter, yeah; but she still had that illusion, that hopeful doubt about whether Aom really wanted to stay by her side, no matter the reason, no matter how much Aom would benefit from it, Tina couldn’t avoid the hint of happiness accumulating in her after that possibility

After the dream of having Aom once again in her arms

On the other hand, if it was true, that possibility drifted further and further with her actions, with Mean and the Tavee affair over her

Then, to her mind came the cynical request she had recently made just a few moments ago

“Can you consider Tavee for the job?”

She felt miserable

She kept in a drawer of her desk the letter and decided to go out and find Aom for some answers, even if that meant dying in the attempt

Of course, she was still shut-in in the room they shared, the door was locked but Tina didn’t flinch, taking the key out of her pants, she just came in, not caring knock first

Aom was in a fetal position, lying on the bed and hugging one of the pillows. Her hair covered a large part of her face, but still she could see the trail of the tears had made on her cheeks, even on part of the pillow

She knew Aom wasn’t asleep when she lay down on the other side of the bed, Aom's body immediately stiffened, although both were on the same side, Aom refused to look up to face her

Aom just watched her do it without comment, after all, she didn’t have the strength to continue fighting with Tina, and she was mentally drained

“Aom…” She’s surprised when Tina starts to softly call her name “Aom…”She doesn’t look at her but when she sees the insistence and innocence of her calling, she finally decides to lift her tired eyes. Just to witness her penetrating and serious expression

Tina reached out her hand, covering her forehead and part of her hair with it, gently caressing her, something that only managed to bring more tears to Aom, trembling as she tried to stop her sobs, feeling too sensitive with that demonstration of affection “Stop, please…” Aom pleaded, her hand taking Tina's, trying to push her away, but unable to do so

"Princess, you have a fever” she said in a worried voice, her hand slid to her right cheek, cupping her as her thumb wiped away her tears "You're shaking" her hand withdrew and Aom immediately regretted that, her hand instinctively fastened on Tina's wrist to keep her from going even further "Don’t worry honey, I'll be back soon” Tina assured her

And Aom wanted to discuss that, but she had no strength anymore, her eyes felt heavy, her head ached, and yet, more tears dimmed as she watched Tina leave the room.

.

.

.

 

When Aom woke up a few hours later, she was surprised to feel better, her fever had greatly diminished, her head didn’t hurt anymore, she still felt her body weak, but it was a very good improvement to how she felt before. Her surprise grew even more, as she turned her head to the right side of the bed and found Tina, sitting on a chair next to the bed, sleeping

Her clothes were disheveled, the sleeves of her shirt were rolled up, her tie was untied, one of her hands held her ribs, Aom supposed, protecting her wound from the uncomfortable position she was in, while the other hand had a cloth on it

Had Tina been taking care of her all this time?

Of course, her appearance indicated it had been so

Her eyes scanned a little more than the clothes. Aom frowned, displeased with what she saw

It had been a long time since she last saw Tina, but, she couldn’t forget the way she looked before, too different from now, a change that wasn’t good, not good at all

The first thing Aom noticed was her thinness, she was always thin, but now, the bones in her body were framed almost as if there were only skin on them. Tina’s eyes had large dark bags underneath them, her always arrogant expression seemed more tired than anything else, and her skin was so pale

"What happened to you, stupid prince?” Aom murmured softly, not wanting to wake Tina, she didn’t know when it had been the last time Tina had slept. Maybe, that detestable woman Tina was constantly stand up for, was causing her to end this way

Suddenly Tina's breathing began to accelerate, catching Aom's attention “Tina?” Aom called her doubtfully, Tina's hands closed tightly on the armrest of the chair and Aom found her sweating so hard.

Aom stood with difficulty, more worried about Tina than anything else. She had never seen her like this "Tina!" she called her more frightened when she saw her start trembling, maybe, she had infected her and now Tina was sick too. Aom’s hand squeezed her wrist, trying to get her attention

And she did it

But as soon as Tina opened her eyes, Aom's fear shot up as she was pulled from the other arm and thrown to the floor violently, with Tina on top of her, the hand that Tina had overwhelmed was in the upper part of her head, held tightly by Tina's, harder than she could bear. "Damn!" She heard her swear, her eyes were closed so sternly

"Tina!" Aom called her dazed.

As soon as Tina opened, her eyes were unsettle seeing Aom under her, she looked so scared "Aom…”

"You... you're hurting me" murmur with a grin.

Hearing those words, she turned away from her, falling backwards, ignoring the pain the sudden movement caused. Her eyes went to Aom's hand that was rubbing her own wrist, there was a large purple mark around it, soon she looked away, unable to continue witness it "Sorry, I didn’t really want to do it"

"I know" Aom replied quietly.

Tina shook her head, standing up from the floor "You shouldn’t have come near me, you shouldn’t have tried to wake me up"

"And why not?" Aom stood up too. "It’s because I can’t be worried about you? It’s because I don’t have the right to do it? Answer me stupid!"

"It's because I don’t want to hurt you!" Tina turned, her hand reached out and pointed at her injured wrist "I already did it, so don’t go near again when you see me sleeping somewhere, I could do something worse than that!”

"Why? I've slept with you before and you've never done anything like that” she said calmly, but the anguish was palpable in her voice "Why was this time different? Is it because you no longer want me to be around you anymore?”

To Tina's mind came the idea of lying to her, saying yes! That she no longer wanted her near her anymore. But that was only her pride screaming behind her head, because for her arrogant self, the cruel truth was humiliating “No… On the contrary, it’s because when you aren’t sleeping next to me, my mind is always full of loathsome nightmares, it's impossible for me to sleep quietly when you're not with me, so when I try to do it on my own, it always ends that way” she explained "I even beat Zee sometime she tries to wake me up, I don’t want to hurt you again"

Aom noticed how Tina's eyes looked guiltily at her wounded wrist, so she immediately hid both hands behind her back "Forget it, it's not like you did it on purpose, it was just an accident" Aom tried to reassure her "Don’t you dare use this excuse to get away from me" With every sweet word that Aom recited, Tina felt worse than when she overflowed insults at her and flattery to that guy, those soft words were most lachily embedded in her empty heart

“She likes to make people happy she cares about, regardless of sacrifice herself, do you think that's right?”

“She cannot even fight for the things she loves, what belongs to her by right”

Some of the words Aom's father told her some time ago came to her mind, torturing her

To let her know what a miserable person she was

As a horrible bastard who had no forgiveness for her atrocious acts

The irritable voice of Aom's ex-boyfriend rumbled in her head, rolling around, glorifying her stupidity

Aom, the biggest victim in this eternal fight, to whom you have been beating with false and crude accusations, putting to the same level as you, when her only crime was to think first of you before her

In Aom's words, she wanted to give everything to her stupid and arrogant prince without leaving anything behind. So she had nothing that would cause her doubts any more.

Yes, now you can be sure, you're a bastard

You treated Aom so despicably, without her deserving it.

Good luck, I really hope, Aom will open her yes, because you're a monster

You don’t deserve her

She really did not deserve her

She wasn’t good enough for Aom

She didn’t even have the freedom to fight for her anymore

There was someone else who needed her, her time, her affection…

Tavee

Even so…

“But I also believe that if we do not fight for the things we most want, then we wouldn’t value it so much and so well… Also, if you do not fight for the person you love most, then it means you really don’t love her enough because you were able live despite not have her by your side"

Here hands unconsciously sought out Aom's, bringing them in front of them, taking them in hers. Tina brought Aom’s palms to her lips, kissing them gently. When she looked up, she saw that Aom's eyes were wide and her lips slightly apart, she had surprised her. Gesture that only shook even more her inside, the guilt was what most plunged into her. "So disgusting have I been?" She laughed without humor, separating slightly again from Aom but not letting her go yet "Where was the charm that I had to dedicate especially to my beloved princess?" she asked with grief

“Tina?” Aom looked at her warily, tempering her words, not knowing what to answer to those strange questions Tina was asking. She didn’t know what was going on in Tina's mind, but she was really worrying about her strange behavior, such a crooked attitude

“Aom…” she called back, taking a step forward and making Aom stepped back without thinking.

Then Tina pulled Aom towards her, taking a few steps back until they both ended up in bed again. "Tina!" Aom screamed exalted after the sudden movement, but Tina didn’t care, satisfied with the final result. She, sitting on the bed with Aom in her comfortable lap

"Don’t do it" Tina murmured as she held onto Aom, who had begun to squirm in her place "Stay like this, please, stay with me even if it’s only for a moment” Tina tried to keep her quiet, and made it work, because after those words, Aom finally stopped moving

One of Aom's hands stayed reloaded on Tina's shoulder, uncomfortably causing her eyes to get stuck in Tina's intense gaze toward her. "Why?" She asked quietly.

"I want you to look at me, it's been some time since you last looked at me, only me” it was Tina's answer

Aom rolled her eyes, snorting irritably. "Arrogant much, isn’t it?"

"No" Tina shook her head "A humble observation of something you haven’t done and you should have done"

Aom narrowed her eyes, with every word Tina said, more confused than before

Tina knew that stare well, she knew what it meant, what she wanted from her: Aom was confused, demanding clear answers, she hated not knowing what was going on. Something that both had in common

However, what Tina hated most was talking about herself, expressing her emotions, opening herself to someone

Tina lifted her hand and pressed one of her fingers on Aom's forehead "If you continue like this, you will have very young wrinkles" she made fun of her frown

Of course Aom knew her too well to know that this was an absurd attempt to avoid a conversation. "I want to know the reasons why you've been pushing me out of your life before, and now," she snorted "Now I have succeeded in being worthy of your attention so suddenly" replied sarcastically

Tina was not surprised by that demand, but still "No, I don’t want to answer that" she said simply

Aom wasn’t dismissed with her answer, she was waiting for her in fact. Then, still holding her gaze with Tina's, she tried to free herself from Tina's arms, but only making Tina compress her grip even more, but Aom didn’t stop moving

"Aom," Tina scolded her, frowning.

"Answer me, or I'll go, one way or another" Aom warned "Ah!" Aom shrieked in surprise. Her legs had been taken with precision and her body had been thrown abruptly on the bed

Almost as if it were slow motion, Aom watched closely as Tina lifted her haughty demeanor for a very slow seconds only to descend like a predator, on her, her long arms on either side of her head, hovering over her "My dear princess, the truth you're looking for is a little too pathetic, are you sure you want to hear it?"

Tina's face a few inches from her own made it difficult to process the words in her head. But the answer was simple for her "I want the truth, don’t you dare to lie or hide anything" Aom sentenced

Tina growled displeased, a part of her wanting to argue with Aom that she wasn’t obliged to answer anything, but she swallowed her words because she wanted to clarify everything at once "You may ask, I will not answer anything else that isn’t part of what you want to know about me" Tina clarified, burying her face against Aom's neck, breathing in the intoxicating scent and struggling to maintain control over her movements. She forced herself to do nothing more than the position in which they were

Aom snorted, not so comfortable with it but something was better than nothing. But a part of her felt this was some kind of trap. "If the answer does not satisfy me, I'll ask again until it do it" Aom muttered against her ear.

Tina trembled slightly, her thoughts wandering a little more erse than they should at the intimacy of the gesture, which Aom didn’t seem to notice. "All right"

Aom smiled, satisfied she had made Tina agree so submissively, even if it was only for once. Then the warmth of Tina's body suddenly separated from her; heard her complaining as she lay on the other side of the bed, her hand resting on her side, Aom watched her eyes tighten. "Tina, are you okay?" she approached to help her "Do you want me to bring some medicine?"

"No, I'm fine." Tina gasped. "I think I only abuse a little too much of the amount of movement I could do" she laughed more relaxed

Aom was relieved, but she was still alert to the painful grin that still lingered on Tina's face. The first question suddenly came to her mind "How did that happen to you?"

Tina's good humor vanished once her words came out of . "Do you really want to know?"

"I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t"

Tina opened , but nothing came out. Of course she would hesitate, maybe Aom would think she was lying. "You will not believe me even if I tell you, then you'll yell at me and say long annoying speeches about why my words aren’t true" she confessed.

Aom was indignant that she thought that about her "Of course not, I will not do that!"

Tina raised an eyebrow "Are you sure?"

"Yes"

"You will not make my words less no matter what my answer would be?

"No, I will not"

"You swear it?"

Aom gave her an annoyed look. "I swear it" she assured her anyway.

Tina looked calmer after that. However, her face hardened as she began to speak. "Remember that time I left the house for the first time?"

Aom frowned after that bad memory "Yes, I do"

"When I left the house, I drove the car a few miles away, until I found a place that I considered suitable to be comfortable for me”

Aom's heart contracted, remembering that day had been the day she met her beloved girlfriend Tavee. She didn’t need to be a genius to know how comfortable Tina had been that night. "If you're going to tell me about the way you and that girl were ..." Aom couldn’t even finish those words without feeling sick

"No," Tina cut her off.

"No?" Aom raised an eyebrow.

“I didn’t meet Tavee that day, and not in the way you think"

“Then how…” Aom looked more confused than annoyed

“Just one question” Tina cut her

“Fine” Aom reluctantly agreed

Tina took a deep breath, continuing her story "I stopped the car in a dark place, benefiting from the fact the place was practically desert. I was very angry, maybe I exalted myself too much so I decided to get out of the car" Tina explained

Aom tried to keep quiet, but after learning that, she wanted to scream a thousand more questions

"Talk to an old lady a few minutes, after she left..."

Tina seemed hesitant to continue "So what?" Aom became impatient.

"Some men surrounded me, I don’t remember how many, I just couldn’t leave. They had some unfinished business with me”

"Do you know why they did it? Do you know who was involved at doing that to you?" The right questions, at the wrong time. Tina cursed the fact Aom was a very clever businesswoman

“Yes”

Tina stared at her, her face expressionless. She was tempted to lie to her, to give a little more turns to her question. To ask Aom, if she was sure she would believe her, but abstained, all this was bugging her too quickly "Mean husband, you so perfect boyfriend” she answered ruthlessly, and Tina leaned back to see her face bewildered. Aom was confused, she realized. Probably didn’t know what to think, what to say.

Is this a joke? Because if it is, it is very bad joke”

Of course Aom would say something like that "Do you think I'm joking right now?" She grunted

“Then why…”

"I say it because it is that way, you must mature at once Aom, and there is no one who is free of some kind of guilt” Tina Snorted "He harassed me from our house, he knew we would end up fighting, that I would leave the house, he followed me all the way I drove to that place, he and his thugs beat me up. I had some broken ribs, bruises, two cuts on the head that needed sutures, Do you really think I'm making this up?" she was exasperated "I went out to dinner with your parents with a bandaged head!"

The cruel reality hit Aom in the same way that memory of the dinner with her parents

Aom snorted, irritated by the arrogance of Tina "We'll see…” here the healthiest decision was to let everything just happen like it's supposed to happen, terrifyingly unexpected and wrong but in a natural way "And by the way… Why did you bring those things in your head?” she pointed to her forehead and nape where could also see another gauze pad

Tina had expected that question but that didn’t stop her body to react, tightening like a well-concealed rock "Yesterday I fell down the stairs, nothing serious but I have to wear this for a while” she said with a shrug "I hope that your parents do not mind this, because at least it’s coupled with my white shirt” using her usual taunts as she waited for Aom to stop the issue. It seemed the trick had worked because she muttered a slight "stupid"

"You said you fell down the stairs" Aom tried to replicate

Tina smiled "Yes, about that, it's called lying." she taunted

"Why? Aom snapped annoyed "Why did you lie to me?"

Tina looked into her eyes bravely. "Would you really have believed me?"

"I am believing you now, what would have been the difference at this time to at before?"

"You don’t believe me, you still hesitating." She settled down a bit more in the bed, trying to put the pillows in a more comfortable position. "Moreover, the difference between before and now is that you anger towards me has diminished, if I had told you before, you wouldn’t even have taken the time to listen to it" The eyes of Aom looked away from the accusers of Tina, unable to contradict it, after all, at that time she was beyond angry; If Tina had come close, she would probably have tried to hit her. However, something made no sense about that

"How is it that after all this time has not yet healed that wound?"

Tina's smile left "I'm bad to take care of so it has opened a couple of times, you don’t have to give it importance, and one day will have to close it"

Aom looks at her earnestly too. "Right, you said I shouldn’t be worried about you, should I?"

"I didn’t say you didn’t have to, I said you didn’t have any reason to be" Tina rectified

Aom rolled her eyes "Of course, because we all need a reason to be worried about someone"

A lump formed in at the way Aom made sound her most firmest belief, she made it sound as if she had said the worst of the aberrations

"Don’t you need it?" Tina asked confused.

And Aom almost challenge to her to repeat those outrageous words since she feels humiliated that Tina sounded as if she were a conventional woman who needed a reason to show concern for her; but she stopped when she saw the innocent expression on Tina's face.

Tina took some air to try to explain herself. Because she wanted Aom to understand, she wanted to explain so Aom could answer her question clearly. Tina needed to know the reason behind Aom's concern, was killing her not knowing it "The people I've met need them. Why don’t you do it? I really thought a lot about these hours that elapsed after you yelled at me for not understanding, but no matter what I thought... I don’t understand. I have nothing to offer for you to stay interested in keeping me close. Before you, my servants only came to me because it was their job, the friends of my parents wanted my inheritance, the businessmen wanted my connection with other tycoons or they wanted to take advantage of my fame, the men looked to me for the women who followed me, the women sought and money from me, my parents… they wanted an heir from me, so, I want to know what your motivation is, what do you expect from me?”

Then Aom understands, Tina is not kidding, Tina is not teasing her, Tina really does not understand her concern, Tina really… she's sounding so… depressing with the way people approached her

With the way she looks at herself despite look and sound so arrogant

She was wrong, Tina wasn’t referring with hatred towards women but in herself as someone who wasn’t worth spending time. As someone who wasn’t enough to stay in a selfless way

"Why can’t someone not to have a why? Our family is the first to show us the disinterested love, your parents and your sister should have told you that” Aom tried to make her come into reason with a soft voice

"What if they didn’t?" Tina replied back.

"What?" Aom narrowed her eyes.

Tina looked away, ashamed of her lonely childhood and her now lonely adulthood. She shrugged. "My family is in disrepair, I suppose. For them I was something to mold refined, I could not be a daughter for them"

Aom rolled her eyes. "For God! You can’t wait for me to believe that. I know your parents, they are nice, kind, and they’re always worried about you. You really have no idea what it’s to grow up with cruel parents who don’t like their children!” The voice of Aom began to acquire an accusatory tone

"You're right I don’t even know what it’s to have cruel parents because I hadn’t seen mine since I was two years old until I was of legal age and it was only to tell them that I would go to my own apartment because I no longer tolerated the suffocating prison they made me call home, to tell them that despite having paid to be trained as a pathetic marionette for so many years I wouldn’t take care of their precious company” Tina snapped back.

Aom blinked in amazement at that revelation.

"Your father confessed to me before you also had a rigorous childhood full of tutors. The big difference is you could support yourself in people who cared about you, I… I was on my own, in a mansion full of employees who refused to even look me in the eye until Zee arrived when I turned 5, and even so, I was restricted the time to see her, two hours a day"

“Why…”

"Why?" Tina scoffed. "My parents abandoned me at such a young age because I was a shame as an heir. An emotional child isn’t good enough to run business, I was weak, insufficient, a child with feelings that at my parents words, was only useful as a distraction. Emotions don’t have to achieve anything in business, they are a waste of time and money”

Tina was surprised when the cascade of uncontrolled words stopped momentarily and the room became clear around the silence again. She had done nothing to stop Aom from meddling in her head. All the images of her childhood and part of her adulthood had struck so hard in her mind, leaving her completely incapable of being able to shut it up. She had forgotten where she was, who she was, and when she had to keep quiet, all she could think of was letting it go, even if it was only a tiny part of her.

With the way Aom spoke of the love she was supposed to get from her parents, made her feel inferior, idiot, not even good enough for them, as if it was something she logically had to get but for her own stupidity, she didn’t

So pathetic, that unconditional love and concern, she couldn’t get it

The question of why they humiliated her. She never reach the standards, would she?

What other people had that made them deserving it and what she apparently lacked?

She didn’t deserve it?

Well, the hell with them!

To hell with that love! She grunted, uncomfortable. She didn’t need it, she told to herself.

Aom's voice feels trapped in as she hears Tina talking like that, as if all her tears she refused to spill had stuck so hard with the intention of suffocating her to death, and she was almost certain if she tried to form a phrase, would only result in a disaster.

Tina sighed, turning a little, so she could stand in front of Aom, lying down and carefully taking her side to avoid hurting herself even more "I can’t make you happy anymore Aom" she stated "I can’t take care of you, my time is limited . I can offer you a house, but probably the only one who lives in it is you. Don’t forget my bad temper, my arrogance, my abnormal pride, you probably end up hurting constantly” Tina lowered her head, avoiding Aom's eyes, her breathing stopped a little at the words that came out again, reminding her the worst of her crimes against that innocent princess "I have Tavee, I can’t leave her" she warned, waiting for Aom to explode, to shout at her, to insult her, to break her engagement. Once she spoke and chose, even with all the pain crushing her heart, Tina would step aside so Aom would find happiness, even if it were without her

Aom closed her eyes tightly, inhaling deeply, she had been surprised Tina had been so docile to talk about her past and according to Zee, Tina wasn’t an easy person to lower her head against someone else, not only because of her arrogance but her intelligent and calculating self which prevented her from being wrong. However, here she was, talking about everything, with the truth, without doubt, clearly. A miserable truth that only compressed her heart, especially when she heard the name of that woman who had totally eclipsed Tina's love for her. She was forced to break her silence "I don’t care if you keep seeing that woman, I don’t care about your temperament or your arrogance, I can take responsibility for what my future holds with you” said sincerely. "I already have my own opinion of you, I don’t need you to encourage me to leave you, our marriage still stands, and it will not make any difference for me to change my mind." Aom stretched her arm, taking Tina's cheek in her hand, making her look at her. "I will not let you walk away from me, because with lots hearts in you, even I can’t strike you out anymore”

Tina closed her eyes, leaning on her touch, she had waited so long to hear her say that, maybe it wasn’t a declaration of love, but even so, she was pleased with her words "I know, I'm too handsome for you wouldn’t have fallen for me” She tried to joke and laugh at the same time, but her attempt to dispel tension fell flat. Her right hand moved away from her side to go to her pants, looking into the pocket that small box that had always been with her for some months

"What are you doing?" Aom backed up a little so she could look at her better. Then a small box of red velvet showed in Tina's hand. "What ...?" She gasped as soon as Tina opened the box

Inside, there was a very expensive diamond ring, Tina smiled at the illusion on Aom's face. "You know, if you hadn’t agreed to be my fake girlfriend before… I would surely never have put my eyes on you a second time, I would never have fallen in love with you” In saying that, Aom didn’t know if those words were good or bad "But I'm happy, because despite the way I was before, despite the way I found you, even though you came so unpunished and surprisingly to my life, from the first moment you accepted me, I moved all the clocks of my body and my life to your possibility, because I wanted you to be the only one, and this ring” Tina put it in front of Aom. "This ring is irrefutable proof that I still think you are the only one for me, so…” Tina took Aom's left hand in her own. "Aom, please, grant me the honor of making you my wife” She brought Aom's hand to her lips, kissing her gently.

Aom's breathing was cut off after that request, but there was still some doubt "What about that Tavee girl"

But Tina would never let her escape again. Placing Aom's hand to place it on the back of her neck, she moved closer until her forehead was stuck with Aom's, their faces a few inches from the other. "What about her? You said before it didn’t matter, so there's no need to mention her right now, here's just you and me, princess” she murmured against her lips. "So, what is your answer?"

Aom closed her eyes. "Yes," she replied softly. Her fingers closed between Tina's hairs, pulling her to finally finish the distance between them

What else could she answer?

She was at Tina's mercy, she had always been

It was too much, everything in Tina was too much for her. Her mind couldn’t resist, her body trembling even with anticipation. Her heart and her feelings seethed to have Tina close to her. They longed for Tina's love with so much selfishness

Aom nearly leapt from her skin as Tina groaned in . Her arms slide around her waist, bringing her closer to her to deepen the kiss, her tongue finding hers, entwined around her, Aom imitated her movements more easily than before, knowing how to fit in with Tina. Her body arched towards Tina, pressing against her warm body, every brush of her hands sending chills through her skin

And Aom knew that she had reached the point of no return, she wouldn’t take her words back, because even if Tina hurt her anyway, it was worth it to spend even a second more with her

.

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