CHAPTER ONE

"I want to leave."

I can't even count how many times I heard from Nathalie's mouth that she wasn't convinced of my plan. She thought I was just trying to get away from Travis.

She knows how much I hate that man. She was there when Travis humiliated me in front of many people, yet here she is, preaching to me. She wants me to marry Travis even if I don't want to!

I don't even know what Travis fed her, and it's like she wants me to marry that man! Travis is a fucking bastard. He's a manipulative and arrogant man! If Nathalie had just said at the beginning that Travis would be my boss in that company, then I wish I would not have accepted her offer.

I wonder if my friends are in cahoots with Travis. I don't even know if I can trust Nathalie, especially with what she did to me earlier!

"No, you're not," she said while pointing at me. "You will stay here whether you like it or not, Empress."

"Am I really your friend?" I asked.

Because of what I said, the reaction I saw on her face changed quickly. Based on her look, it seems that all the reactions I saw in her earlier were quickly washed out.

"Yes, of course!" she said before she held my hands. "Empress, I want nothing more than to make you happy..."

"Do you think I will be happy when we both get married, Nathalie?"

She quickly shut her mouth when she heard what I said. There was a look of shock on her face, which quickly changed when she saw tears dripping from the corners of my eyes.

"I'm devastated by what happened to the two of us. Please, Nathalie, don't add any more."

"I-I'm sorry, Empress. I'm just scared," she replied, making me shake my head. "I'm just scared. I thought you loved him. He loves you, Empress. He just can't tell you. In fact, I know he has a plan, Empress. Just hold on, okay?"

"I don't believe in things like that anymore, Nathalie," I answered, making her sigh. "I want to leave. If you're not going to help me, can you just keep your mouth shut?"

"So... I can't change your decision anymore, Empress?"

I shook my head at what she asked before I decided to continue fixing my things. I was immediately stunned when I felt her sit by my side to help me wrap my things in the luggage.

"I'm sorry. I thought you'd change your mind once something happened between the two of you. I thought that was the only thing I could help you with. I just want to help, Empress."

"But... you ruined everything, Nathalie," I answered, making her bow her head in shame. "Can I... make a request to you?"

"Anything!" she said before she raised her head to turn to me. "Please, Empress, tell me. I will make it up to you, I promise you!"

"I want to leave the Philippines," I answered, to which she barely responded. "This time, I have no plans to come back here. Once I leave, you will never see me again."

"W-What about Travis then?" she asked after a few seconds of silence. "He'll be mad when he finds out I made you run away. Maybe... he'll be mad at me when he finds out I didn't stop you from your plan."

"I know him, Nathalie," I answered as she breathed deeply. "He will never be upset with you."

"You weren't here when he got mad at us, Empress," she answered. "You weren't here when he almost turned the whole world upside down, just to find you."

Turn the whole world upside down? Why was he looking for me at that time? Wasn't he also the reason I left? He was the one who pushed me away. He's the one who pushed me to stay away from him, so what is she saying now that Travis almost turned the whole world upside down just to find me?

That's right. I know Nathalie. She only says these things to change my mind.

"You don't believe me, do you?" she asked, and I didn't even nod. She folded her arms before snorting again. "He never stopped me or Lucas before. He thought we were just hiding you from him. He thought we knew where you were. He was always bothering us, asking where you were. We couldn't give him an answer, so the ending... she and Lucas always fight each other just because of you." She took a deep breath before continuing to speak. "Lucas and I always blamed him at that time. You wouldn't have left if it weren't for what he did to humiliate you in front of everyone. I witnessed how he blamed himself, Empress."

Nathalie looked up at me again before smiling sadly again.

"If he didn't love you, Empress, he wouldn't be looking for you like he did before," she added. "Do you think he will accept you in his company if he doesn't want to see you anymore?"

"He told me that work was the reason why he hired me," I replied, making her smirk.

"And you believed it?"

I didn't do anything but snort at her, which she just laughed at. She just continued to explain on his behalf. I didn't do anything other than let all her sugarcoated words about him out of my other ear.

I can't help but be confused as to why her perspective on Travis seems to have changed. It's like before, when she was always disparaging me. Travis is her first love. Travis was also her first heartbreak when Travis rejected her before; that's why I don't understand why her perspective seems to have changed.

What happened to Nathalie, who did nothing but secretly curse the man who hurt her?

"Did he pay you?"

She turned to me with a frown because of my question. I couldn't do anything but meet her eyes with raised eyebrows.

"What pay are you saying, Empress?"

"Did Travis pay you just to betray me?"

Because of my question, she couldn't stop herself from laughing. I couldn't do anything but raise my eyebrows as I watched her laugh loudly in front of me.

"Why would I do that?" she said before she chuckled. "We're best friends, Empress! Why would I betray you to that man? If you told me you don't like him and you hate him, then fine! I won't force you to do something you don't want."

"What do you call what you did earlier, then?"

"I thought you didn't want to hear any more about that stuff?" She raised her eyebrows with a question that I struggled with. "I thought you still wanted him. You never admitted to me that you still hate him, so I really don't know anything, Empress. Trust me, I don't know anything."

Nathalie drove me to the airport. Lucho had no idea that I was going back to Spain today. Even my parents don't know anything, and I know they will be shocked once they find out that I left without even telling my brother.

I know it's so unexpected. What happened between the two of us was also unexpected, so what else is surprising about that?

"Are you really sure about your plan?" Nathalie asked again as we started to walk inside. "There is still time for you to change your mind, Empress. You know... Lucas will also be surprised when he finds out that you left without even letting him know. You know that... you are special to him."

"Lucas will understand me, Nathalie," I answered before smiling at her. "He's not dim-witted like you."

"What?"

"I'm just kidding," I replied before staring at her. "You can leave me now. I know I've given you too much trouble today."

"Good you know that," she replied before snickering at me, which I laughed at. She gave me a piece of paper from her jacket pocket. "Just please. If the friendship we have is really important to you, call me when you get there. I'll wait for your call, Kitty."

"Stop calling me that," I hissed, which made her burst into laughter.

We hugged each other before we decided to part ways. I watched Nathalie walk away while I just stayed on the bench that was there while waiting for my flight time.

I knew Travis was going to call me at my number, so before the sun came up, I turned off the phone, and that way he couldn't call me anymore.

I didn't realize the time. I just kept staring into the distance while waiting for a call from the crew. While my eyes were busy with other things, I didn't realize that a man sat next to me. I didn't pay attention to it anymore because my mind is now busy with other things, like...

How will Travis feel once he finds out that I'm gone from the Philippines by the time he wakes up from sleep? Will he be angry with my decision? Will he really find me, like Nathalie said earlier?

I know it is unlikely that he will find me. He also got the thing that I have kept the most for a long time. He won't chase me now. That's really what he's after, isn't it? Why am I still hoping for him to chase me? Will he benefit from me?

Now that I'm out of his way, he has a chance to resume his relationship with his ex-girlfriend. I'm pretty sure that, until now, he still loved that girl. That's why I'm giving him a chance now to chase her.

That's all he's been waiting for, right? Well then, this is it!

"Chase that girl, Travis. I know you still love her to this day," I whispered to myself before scowling in irritation.

When it was time for my flight, I quickly grabbed my suitcase before going inside. Just like the usual routine, a lot of inspection happened before I was allowed to go inside.

Just like I said, shock registered on my parents' faces when they saw me knock on the door. As usual, they quickly hugged me. My day became busy explaining things to them until they finally laid me down to rest.

"Does your fiance know you're here in Barcelona?" my mom asked.

I gently put down the cutlery I was holding. My parents noticed my silence, so they have an idea why I am here now.

"Do you want us to talk to him, Faye?" Daddy asked, to which I quickly shook my head. "It looks like you two had a misunderstanding. Did you two fight?"

"Travis is such a busy man, Dad," Lienzo answered before turning to me and winking. "Travis won't let Faye travel back here alone."

"Kuya was right," I answered before snorting. "I just want to pass the time. Don't worry because the two of us already talked about this."

They just kept on questioning me until I decided to go up to my room to rest.

The next day, due to boredom, I did nothing but go out and meet my friend here in Barcelona. Pablo was surprised when I told him that I was here today in Barcelona for vacation. That's why, when I asked him to have coffee at the coffee shop, he didn't think twice about accepting my offer.

"I thought you would never come back here," he said, making me smile. He leaned against his seat and smiled playfully at me. "So, what's the latest, Empress Faye? Are you and your boyfriend already married?"

"He is not my boyfriend."

"But he's your fiance, Empress Faye."

"Only our parents want us to marry each other. We never agreed to that agreement," I answered before sipping on my cup of coffee.

I decided to divert our discussion to something else. It's not that I don't want to talk about our upcoming wedding. As long as I can turn our discussion to something else, I will. I feel like I'm losing myself every time I remember Travis and what happened between the two of us.

"I'm glad to see you again, Empress," he said before smiling sweetly at me. "You only get prettier than before."

"Did I ever look ugly to you?"

He thought for a moment before nodding, which made us both laugh.

The smile etched on my lips gradually disappeared when I saw the familiar figure of the person standing not far away on the streets where Pablo and I were. Pablo noticed my reaction, which is why I wasn't even surprised when he turned in the direction where I was staring.

"Isn't that... your boyfriend?" he asked while pointing in Travis' direction.

I didn't turn to Pablo this time.

"Does your boyfriend know that I'm gay?" he asked, to which I gently shook my head. "Maybe your fiance isn't a war freak?"

"He is," I answered while staring at the man who was now staring at us. "He almost killed my best friend before because of jealousy."

Pablo chuckled because of what I said. "Do I have to pray now?"

When Travis started walking in our direction, that's when Pablo decided to say goodbye. I let him walk away. My eyes stayed on Travis, who was now walking towards me. There was darkness in his eyes when our eyes met. There was devastation and anger in them, and I didn't even wonder why he was staring at me like this now.

"What are you doing here, Empress?" he asked when he got close to me.

Even though my heart was racing with his presence in front of me, I still tried to look calm in front of him.

You can do it, Empress. Don't show him you're afraid. I know he'll laugh at you the moment he sees you're afraid of him, especially because you ran away from him.

"My best friend and I went on a coffee date. Do you have a problem with that, Travis?"

He grinned sarcastically because of what I said. Based on his look, it seems like he's mocking me for my reason.

"How do you do that?"

He still looks amazed now that he's in front of me. I couldn't do anything but raise an eyebrow at his question.

"What is it again?"

"That," he said, while pointing to where I was standing. "You left me, Empress. After you gave yourself to me, you just walked away as if you had done nothing."

"Wait," I asked, laughing, before folding my arms in front of him. "What is it to you if I leave? What is it to you if I gave you my virginity? Don't tell me you fell in love with me because of what I did?"

He didn't say anything, so I did my best to look surprised by what I found out.

"Am I right in my suspicions, Travis?" I asked. "Did you fall for what I did? Just because of that, you fell for me?"

"Shut up, Empress," he said. My eyes almost widened when he grabbed my hand and pulled me closer to him. "Let's go back to the Philippines."

"Are you nuts?"

I quickly took my hand back from him, making him stop walking. He frowned and turned to look at me as if he were curious as to why I was acting like this in front of him.

"Who told you I was going with you?" I asked before staying where I stood. "I'm not going back to the Philippines, and even more so, I'm not coming with you."

"My parents are looking for you—"

"And so?" I asked, which did not surprise him anymore. "My family is here in Barcelona. My friends are here, and even more so... my life is here," I continued to lie.

Whether I admit it or not, the life I dream of is in the Philippines. I grew up in Barcelona, ​​but my heart... is in the Philippines.

He's in the Philippines, Empress. You and Travis met in the Philippines. Your life changed in the Philippines.

Your friends are in the Philippines, Empress.

Your life is in the Philippines.

"I'm not going back to that place, especially with you," I whispered softly before turning away from him.

Even before I got away from him, he quickly carried me on his shoulder. My eyes widened, and I couldn't help but scream in shock. I don't even care about the people who see us fighting on the side of the road.

"Put me down, Travis, or I'll cause a scandal!" I complained as I hit him repeatedly on the back. "What the hell, Travis!"

"I'll take you home when you don't want it and when you want it, Empress."

"I really don't want to go home. Are you crazy?" I complained that he didn't answer.

My cheeks immediately turned red when I felt his hand grab my butt to fix me on one side.

"Get your fucking hand off my ass!"

"Stop moving if you don't want it to go inside your skirt," Travis complained, which made me cover my mouth in embarrassment. "I will bring you home to the Philippines. You will marry me whether you like it or not."

Is he forcing me?