Chapter 9: His Side of the Story Mew's Point of View I tried to protect Gulf, but it was too late when I realized that what I was doing was not protection at all. Gulf was second year in university when I started to develop feelings for him. I was fourth year back then. Aron and I were still together. We were together for three years. But when I met Gulf, I realized that I did not really like Aron. I was walking past the auditorium of the university. Above the stage were 2nd year Business Administration students performing a stage play for their Arts class. A stage play version of Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman. A cute looking guy caught my attention. He was tall and fair. His face was angelic and his eyes were certainly mesmerizing. My attention was all on him as he recited his lines. It was Gulf. It was Gulf who was the main character of the play. I was so carried away with his emotions and acting. He was almost professional. And right at that moment, I knew that I have found the one. Gulf's display of his emotions was exceptional. I have never felt this moved before. That same afternoon, I broke up with Aron. "Mew, please don't do this," he begged. "I don't love you anymore, Aron. I'm sorry." I tried to leave but he hugged me from behind. "Please don't leave me. I love you so much," he cried. "I'm sorry." I removed his hand that was around me. "Is this because of someone else?" "No. This is only between you and me. My love for you is gone." "I don't believe you!" "If you won't believe me, then there's nothing I can do about it." And there, I left him devastated. The following day, I asked around about Gulf. Whether he has a boyfriend, what his social media accounts are, and what his phone number is. And on that same day, Aron also found out about my liking of Gulf. "You liar! You told me it wasn't because of someone else!" Aron confronted me when he asked me to meet him at the back of the auditorium. "Is that what you wanted us to talk about? Because if it is, I don't have time for this." I gave him a bored look. "So it's Gulf? Don't worry Mew because I will make sure that you won't have him. Remember this, Mew. I can kill if I want to," he threatened. But I did not believe him. It's too much. Why would he kill someone? He's overreacting. Because of that, I continued asking for information about Gulf and how I would hit on him. He already has a boyfriend, but it did not stop me with my want to have him. A friend also told me that Gulf once liked me. That is why I became more confident that I have a chance on this. "What are these rumors that you want to hit on Gulf?" Hal, Gulf's current boyfriend, angrily asked me as I was having lunch with my friends at the cafeteria. I stood up and faced him with a menacing face. "I like him. So I want to take my chances." His expression showed that it made him more angry. "You would ruin my relationship with him? Can't you see that we're happy together?" He clenched his fists as his face turned red because of anger. "If Gulf is happy with you, then you have nothing to worry about. I'm sure he wouldn't want someone else if he's happy with your relationship," I smirked. He wasn't able to control it anymore so he punched me. I could taste the blood on my lips. Everyone inside the cafeteria was now watching us. I punched him back but stronger. It made him fall to the concrete floor. I was about to leave the cafeteria when his fist landed on my face again. Until we were both exchanging punches. We only stopped when a professor arrived and told us to visit the dean's office. After that fight, Aron approached me to borrow my phone. I was preoccupied and extremely pissed off at Hal so I let him borrow it. The following morning, a bad news circulated around the university. I haven't started courting Gulf yet but his boyfriend Hal died in a car accident. I asked Aron if he had something to do with it especially when I found out that Gulf and Hal were supposedly in that car together. And he admitted to me that he did it. "I thought that they were together so I paid someone to ruin the brakes of Hal's car. Too bad I was wrong," he said seriously. "What the fuck?" I couldn't believe what I heard. "What? If it happened, we'd be happy together again. Gulf will be out of the picture so you will come back to me." An evil laugh escaped from his mouth. Is he fucking crazy? He murdered someone! He fucking murdered someone! And he intentionally planned to kill Gulf too! "You son of a bitch! You're crazy! I'm calling the police!" The thought of him plotting the accident and the fact that he originally planned to kill Gulf made me want to kill him. But I am not a violent person so I would rather let him rot in jail. "No you won't Mew." he said before winking at me. It made me even angrier. What is he talking about? Why the hell would I not? "And why, you motherfucker?" "Because you will be turning yourself in. Check your phone and check our message thread." I was confused by what he said. Why would I be turning myself in? I almost threw my phone away when I realized what he was talking about. Mew: If you really love me, help me win Gulf. Aron: How? Mew: Cut the brakes of Hal's car so he would be out of the picture. But make it seem like it's an accident. You'll know what to do. Make sure the police won't find out that it isn't an accident. Aron: Okay. But please come back to me. Mew: When I'm with Gulf, I'll still give you some of my time. Aron: Promise? Mew: Promise. Do well and you will be rewarded. It's just right for him after what he did to my face. That was the content of our conversation. But I never sent those texts! Then I remembered that he borrowed my phone yesterday! Holy shit! He had everything all planned! What the hell? It was hard evidence that could put me behind bars. I stole his phone from him and destroyed it, stomping on them with full might. That way, he won't have a copy of our conversation. He laughed so hard at what I did. "Do you think I'm stupid? Of course I have a back up of that conversation. I can still access it using my laptop." Shit! I did not think of that. But he's right. Messages can easily be backed up. Because of that, I had no choice. Aron's family was also influential and powerful. With the fear of going to jail and be blamed for Hal's death, I chose silence. I stayed away from Gulf thinking that Aron might kill him too. At first it wasn't easy. I had a hard time sleeping at night because it felt like Hal's ghost was haunting me with my decision to be silent. I could fight for his justice. But then I remembered our fist fight in the cafeteria. The police would see it as a motive for murder. I had no choice. I can either go to jail for something I did not do or just be silent and be back together with this crazy Aron. I cannot believe that I had a three-year romantic relationship with him and only found out that he's a psychopath just now! I was not expecting that trying to court Gulf would be the reason for someone's death. Gulf was devastated. I found out that he missed school for a couple of weeks because of mourning. I was haunted by my conscience. But I could not do anything. One year passed since Hal's death and I found out that Gulf's family's company was in the brink of bankruptcy. This time, I had to take my chances. I convinced my mom and dad so hard to have a partnership with the Gibsons to save their company. It was the least i can do for Gulf. I can see how he lived an extravagant life and I can't allow him to suddenly live a simple life when I can do something. He was used to being rich. He would have a hard time living simply. After Aron blackmailed me, I did not meet him that often. But sometimes we would because of his threats. Never once did I agree to have sex with him. And because he's crazy, he was fine with it as long as I spend time with him. I liked Gulf so much. I have never wanted someone this much before. And because I was good in business, I was able to convince my parents. The next problem was to convince Aron. I was really desperate to the point that I even thought of just killing him if he did not agree to what I wanted. I almost couldn't believe myself when he agreed to it. Aron was indeed crazy. He's really crazy. According to him, he wanted challenge so he agreed. But he gave me many conditions. I can't tell Gulf the real thing about Hal's death. I should always side with him about anything and choose him over Gulf everytime. I should always agree to what he wants. And many more. At that time, I thought it was good enough. That it was a good bargain. I told myself that it would be fine as long as I could be with Gulf and I could save their company. At that time, I thought I was doing the right thing. It was too late when I realized that I was only hurting him. I was selfish. I am a piece of shit. I never thought that I could hurt Gulf with what I was doing. But because of my selfishness, I let myself be a slave to Aron without realizing that I was slowly breaking Gulf. I was wrong. I wasn't protecting him. I was hurting him. Days before our wedding, my interaction with Gulf was minimal. We never had deep conversations. And because the wedding was sudden, we did not have much time to know each other well. The day we arrived at Maldives, I woke up inside the yacht without Gulf beside me. It was our first time. I was worried and at the same time afraid because of his absence. When I opened my phone, I then found out what could've caused him to leave me. Aron. Aron hacked into my phone. I never sent him that text. I was worried sick about Gulf that I had everyone search for him in the entire island. I thought that he left and went to a far off place. Good thing I found him by the beach. It was a relief. He even treated me well after that. When Gulf saw me washing my hands inside the comfort room after Aron left, Aron and I only talked. Nothing else happened. I told him that I wanted him gone from the island but he did not want to leave. I chose not to tell Gulf about it. I was again wrong. I should've explained to him especially that he knew that Aron and I were exes because he might get the wrong idea. When Gulf almost drowned, it got me so nervous. I thought I'd lose him for good. It was a relief that he did not die, because the pain would've killed me too. And when he told me that he loves me while we were showering together, God knows how much I wanted to tell him the same thing. I love him so much. I loved him ever since. But I was a coward. I was ashamed of myself that I couldn't be true to him. How I can never be truly honest with him. How I kept his ex-boyfriend's death a secret. And how I am still a slave to Aron. When Gulf and Aron had a fist fight on the other island, I was so angry at Gulf. I was so angry because I did not want him getting into Aron's nerves and making him angry. I knew what Aron was capable of. He killed someone once, he is not afraid to do it again. It was too late when I realized everything. I failed to realize how Gulf was really feeling deep inside. My selfishness only led him to fleeing for the second time. It hurt so bad. It crushed my heart into pieces when I saw him leaving the island with his Spanish friend. I was devastated. I almost lost the will to live. I found out that it was all Aron's plan. He only had to do some things, and Gulf would stay away from me on his own. You are so stupid, Mew! I loved Gulf so much that even if three years had passed, I never forgot about him. I let Gulf be for the mean time because I knew to myself that I couldn't be completely honest with him yet. It would have meant nothing if I can't tell him the truth. I had to remove Aron from the picture. That is why in the three years that he wasn't around, I worked so hard. I worked so hard to bring Aron's family and businesses down. I did everything for them to lose their companies. I worked so hard to earn money and bought their stocks and shares. After owning almost all of their shares, I closed their companies. Now their family has no more influence and power. He won't be a hindrance to us anymore. I even went to the cloud storage company where his files were saved and had them deleted. I had to pay millions. But for Gulf, I did it all. I became one of the richest businessman in the country. Only one thing was missing - my husband. And now that everything is fixed, I can be truly honest with him. All I have to do is follow him in Spain and explain to him everything. "I have long forgotten about you, Mew. We have nothing to talk about. Everything about us ended three years ago." In that moment, I realized how painful it all was. I felt the pain I made him feel before. It really was excruciating. I almost could not bare it. I almost could not breathe. The elevator door closed and I was left there, blankly staring at my own reflection. I did not know what to do.