Six

I actually saw Jackson’s picture. And in another picture below, a face. It's Miguel.

"They are one of the best known in the black underworld, black market, mafia, and gangsters" he continued.

I was swallowed. I didn’t expect that.

"And they had a big boss, and no one knew who that person was."

I looked at him. "Why are you doing this?" I asked softly.

"Why?" He smiled as if it was a joke I asked. "I told you to prove my father is innocent and I have no choice." He shrugged his shoulders. "Don't dig deeper into the second reason, I keep my promises."

He leaned back in his seat and looked at his phone.

And last, if you want to protect those who you love, don't approach them or talk to them. Mind you, Jackson and Miguel are finding you everywhere and they don't have mercy to spare one's life," the warning melody at the end said.

I nodded. Yet, I still don't trust this man.

"I need to get my laptop and DSLR,” I said as I remembered the important things for me.

"There's no laptop in your hotel room, only your DSLR," he said.

"You have my DSLR?"

He lowered the phone he was holding to his lap. "Yeah, only the DSLR."

"Where's that?"

"I'll bring it to you later. You need to act as my fiance. Maybe you're good at acting, right?" He turned to me, no expression on his face.

"You'll understand everything once you're there," he said and returned to his cellphone. He was replying to someone on his phone, with a serious face.

Am I good at acting? How could he say that?

The drive takes about half an hour. Our ride stopped inside a nice house. And many cars were parked in the enormous parking lot inside the premises. What's going on there? The sun was setting above us.

 

He took a white coat out of a bag. I didn’t notice. He handed me the coat. Only now did I feel the cold air land on my bare shoulders and over my chest. When I wore it, it was above my knees.

He took my hand and gently pulled me. We entered the closed door, which was opened by two men in suits. We walked quietly until we reached the crowded hall, sitting at white round tables. What's up?

They looked at us. We seem to be late. I saw a stage ahead. And a big tarpaulin with the words "Happy 78th birthday, Marcus El Devar, imprinted.

Am I on a grand birthday celebration?

We walked over to a table with two women seated, hearing the whispers of people around us. One of the words I could hear was, who was the woman with him?

When we reached the table, he pulled out the chair for me. I sat down.

"You are always late," the woman, who was about my age, said, shaking her head. She held in her hand a red wine and sipped it. The color of her hair was a shade of brown, but it was straight. Her eyes were golden brown, with red thin lips, and an oblong shape of her face. The nose had a piercing. She's wearing a dark blue sleeve dress with a high cut in front to showcase her cleavage.

The woman glanced at me. I looked at the old woman. Her hair was dark braided, she had eyes like the man beside me, and her skin color was white. Without a smile on her face, she looked at him.

"Don't expect me, Veron, that I'll be early for this kind of event," he told the woman.

"Son, you haven't introduced us to who is your companion," the elderly woman thought to me with a smile.

The man sat up and looked at me. "Vara Samonte, my fiance," he introduced my fake name.

I was nervous about what was happening. What if they find out that’s not true? Her mom looks nice, kind.

If my brother said he had a girlfriend and introduced her to me, with my mom? How would I react? Especially the part where it's your first time seeing the woman whom your brother wants to marry.

The only reactions were shocked and disbelief. That’s what I saw in the two women. His mom's hand was in her mouth and his sister stopped drinking her wine.

"Is this a joke, Zech?" said his sister and snickered? She glanced at me and then back at him.

"Seriously? Why would I prank you, sissy?" His face was serious towards his sister.

"Son, why now? How would dad react to this?" His mother's voice could not believe it and shook.

I saw the fading smile on his lips and looked in his father's direction, laughing happily at his companions. I just noticed now that they were the same shape as his father’s face, having a square jaw and a nose.

"You know, Mama, papa already knows about this. He's the one who demanded it of me." The tone of his annoyance at what was said could not be avoided.

I secretly looked around. The birthday party had not yet begun, and classical music echoed through the noise of the people.

Then I looked twice in the direction of where two men were sitting. Those two faces were in the envelope he gave me.

Why are they here? What is their connection to El Devar?

 

I closed the bedroom door. All over my face was shocked. My heart throbbed in rage. The door opened and he entered.

I faced him as he stopped in front of me. "Why didn't you tell me they were expecting us to get married? I agreed to the fake fiancee, but I can't handle a fake marriage!" My nose was flaring.

His face grimaced because of the strength of my voice. We just went home to his hotel room.

I remember what happened while I was with his family. His father asked when our wedding was. I get a cough in no time as I drink water. He just acted cool, like it was not that big. The whole fake thing. And I almost fainted when her father said they'd be expecting us next month to get married. What's the rush? What's up? He agreed without my consent. If I hadn’t just faced his family, I might have hit him with the torturing stiletto in his face.

He brushed his hair in frustration. "I have no choice. Maybe another one. I'll help you, so you must help me with this."

Suddenly, I was told that he had no choice. This was what he meant.

"Is this saying you have no choice? I hope you told me." I got a headache. "Gosh! It's not happening. Don't you know I have a boyfriend? What will he do when he finds out? It will ruin our relationship," I said as I remembered Kyle.

"I know you have a relationship with a guy named Kyle. You are not faking everything with your name but with a fake name, and your love will not know about this," he explained.

He took something out of his pocket. A red box. My breath stopped. He took a diamond ring inside and placed it in my hand.

"I know everything about the black underground, and I could help you with it. The two guys you saw at the birthday fete for my granddad are one of the investors in our company. And I know them more than you think. You want justice, you need factual evidence and proof. You could trust me with that. We had a win-win situation here. Isn't it nice? " He flashed a smile at me.

I reconsidered what he said.

"And the fake marriage will last for three months. We could have a divorce after that and you could have justice for your friends," he continued.

I took a deep breath. I’m not in the mood to deal with him right now. I'm so tired and worn out. I sat on the bed and took off the stiletto and threw it somewhere. My feet were red. The red toenails make me sick. I don't wear red because I hate red. Why don't I wear anything red? Because I always remember what happened to my friends in that color. I wore red at that time when they were murdered and died.

"I could leave you then. Just think about my proposal. Sure, you have no choice left." He shot me one last look before marching away.

The softly closed door brought me back to myself, to the present.

He's right, I have no choice. I stared at the closed door. I don't trust him. But I need his help because he knows better.

It's just 3 months into a fake marriage. I took a deep breath. Tomorrow I will think about that, not today. I'm sleepy. I'll be acting as the famous nonexistent Vara Samonte.

****

I quietly walked out of the airport, and we arrived in Manila. Speaking of us, of course, the whole fake thing. I was with a man wearing a dark green tee-shirt, which fit the curve of his body, black jeans, and Converse. He was wearing a black hat and black shades.

I remember the man in the van when I was on my way to the resort. I never expected that guy to turn out to be him. Co-incident? I don't believe that word. I was next to him. I noticed some women staring at him. I already know why he gets anyone’s attention because of his get-up and because of his appeal to them.

We got into the Toyota Vios that stopped in front of us. I got on and he followed. When the driver saw that we were all set up, he drove the car away from the place.

"I'll take the laptop and some stuff to my aunt's house," I cracked in silence. He leaned his head and closed his eyes on the seat.

"Hmm..." he only replied without even opening his eyes.

In this view, he had a symmetrically perfect face. I averted my gaze from his face. Even in those shades and a cap, he could slay it. It was unfair that there was someone who looked like a god in appearance, a perfect face, a perfect body. A perfect life, I guess?

I leaned back in my seat and looked at the young man. My family will think that I got work abroad. That’s what I told them when I called using a disposable phone. Well, they're hysterical when they know it. They want me to come back and stop doing fake work abroad. It was this guy beside me who had the idea of telling them.

I pressed my lips together. We are going to my fake pad where I live. And my fake work as a freelance graphic designer who has already had commission work with the biggest companies nationally and internationally. And my fake history life, where at the age of six, I lost my parents due to an accident, and my grandmother took care of me until I graduated, and last year, my grandmother died of old age. I have no family. What a sad fake life for Vara Samonte, and an idiot who'll fall in love with this guy.

That's his idea again. I hissed.

The car stopped in front of a building. The man came down next to me. The sunshine caressed me with its warmth. We walked straight inside until we reached my pad, on the third floor of the five-story building.

He opened it and I was stunned by how nice it was. I looked around as I entered, forgetting my open mouth in amazement.

"You like it, hah," he said, glancing at me and closing the door.

I nodded. "Isn't it expensive?" Asking him. I walked into the living room. Wide. I saw three doors and a staircase on the other side of me.