Even after such a rough start, Siwon managed to turn it into a bittersweet encounter.

Before he left, he tenderly placed a blanket over me, and that somehow made it worse, the tears came flooding out of my eyes as I heard the door close behind him.

Ahhh,Siwon. Why does it have to be you?

And my memories came rushing in.

(~A year ago. Manila.~)

I have been working successfully as an events coordinator, running my own small company when I met Andy. He was the head of an up-an-coming IT firm, young, intelligent, handsome and rich. He appeared to be one of the gentlest people I’ve ever encountered.

We met at one of the events I organized, an engagement party for one of his friends. It was a whirlwind romance, within two weeks, I moved in to his townhouse at an exclusive village near his office. The first month was the happiest time of our lives, an advanced honeymoon, if you will.

Then reality set in.

One day, when I was left alone at the house, his mother, whom I have only heard about and seen in photos, came. She is someone famous in the social circles of Manila, a philantrophic socialite who can make or break a name. I was a nervous nobody.

Oh, she was nice enough. Apparently, Andy had already told her about me, and that we were moving in together, she just wanted to see how I was “adapting” to my new environment.

Mrs. Reyes: So, dear, what are your plans for the house in the province?

Me: (~Surprised, this was the first time I heard of such a thing~) Excuse me? House? Province?

Mrs.Reyes: Of course. Andy promised me you’ll be moving in soon. We need someone to stay there and handle the estate. I’m quite busy here, and you, of course, are the logical choice.

Me: But I have a job, a business to run here in Manila.

Mrs.Reyes: Oh, that tiny events thing of yours? We can easily dispose of that!

And that was just a hint of what was to come.

Pretty soon, Andy began to take up more and more of my time, forcing me to delegate and then eventually turn down jobs. Then, he would be questioning everything: the clothes I wear, the people I work with, the time I spent at work and even the time I spend with my friends. In short, he wanted it all to himself.

Whoever said that the idea of a man wanting to keep you all to himself is very romantic haven’t met Andy Reyes.

After a while, we would be having arguments every time I had to go to work, then, every time I had to go out, even for household errands, then eventually, we would argue about every waking moment I spent that was not devoted to him.

It was suffocating me, and I eventually balked.

That was when he hit me.

At first, it was a shout, followed by an open palm…immediately followed by an apology and a night out in town.

Then it was a shout, followed by a closed fist, followed by an apology.

Eventually, it included a kick...followed by a locked door.

It was by of luck that someone I met in passing at an event once, a virtual stranger whom I have exchanged recipes a few months before, recognized the signs when I ran into her just outside the house. I was of course inside the iron fence.

Diana, that kind stranger, became my strength and my light. She was the one who got me out of Andy’s clutches, threatened him with a lawsuit if he ever comes near me again, and eventually nursed me back to a functioning human being that I now am.

But there was one thing that even my best friend can never fix.

I will never belong to anybody ever again.

And Siwon now wants me to be his.