Chapter 5 JUSTIFYING THE TRUTH

Terrence glared at her teary face. "I'm here to pick you up. Pack your things and come with me." He muttered curtly.

Athena was drunk but not heavily. She simply glared back at him without any signs of letting him in...

His intense stare irritated her thus she gripped the door knob tight, intending to slam the door shut but he was fast to sense her intention, blocking his feet off the gape. Defeated, she turned around and staggered back inside. Ignoring him, she popped another can of beer and gulped it until it went gradually empty.

"Athena Adams!" Terrence shut the door close and yelled at her as he followed behind. He appeared in front of her in a snap, snatching the can but he found it already empty. He gnashed his teeth and asked. "How much did you drink, huh?"

She turned her back from him, curling herself into a ball in the corner of her couch as a shaky whisper gradually escaped from her mouth. "Leave me alone." She rasped. 

Terrence frowned while watching her. He approached her closer and asked,  "What is wrong with you?" 

She didn't bother to answer him, instead she closed her eyes and stilled in position silently hoping she would calm down but after a few seconds her emotions stirred once more. She felt a wave of pain and exhaustion coming over…

Fresh tears came out rolling in her cheeks, blurring her sight… She had to bite her lips to muffle her sobs but her shoulders betrayed her nonetheless... They were shaking because she was fucking crying… 

"Athena Adams!" His eyes fell on her trembling shoulders, making him feel strangely distressed. He clenched his fist and took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to yank her.

Calling her an 'Adams' made her blood boil thus gritting her teeth, she sat up straight, wiping her tears. "Stop calling me that, will you? I am not an Adams!" She yelled furiously at him. 

"Whatever!" Terrence simply rolled his eyes. "You're still married to me and you can't possibly dictate me, right?" He stated matter-of-factly while displaying a smug look in his face as he successfully stimulated her anger. "Isn't marrying me not satisfying to you?"

Athena was having enough of his endless provocation therefore she faced him, scowling. "What made you think that this is what I want?" She retorted coldly while clenching her fists. Her hands were itching to scratch his face as the bastard was intentionally trying to get on her nerves! 

"Haven't you competed with Hannah before? You even paid a few students to violate her under my gaze. All of that just to marry me and now you regretted this? What else do you want?" He brought up the past just to add fuel  to the fire. Now, his mood had also turned gloomy as memories of the past flashed in his mind.

Her blood ran cold… 'How dare this scumbag accuse me?' She thought. Instead of arguing with him, she burst out laughing.

"Pfttt!" Athena laughed so hard at Terrence's words. She clutched her stomach, catching for her breath whilst trying to regain her composure. 

Now it was his turn to scowl. "What's there to laugh at? Heard a funny joke?" 

"You... You are so funny..." She mumbled as she stood up, staggering towards her little refrigerator. 

Her chuckles resonated in the corners of her occupied room as she took her lazy steps towards her mini kitchen counter. She then went,  "You know what? I begin to doubt if you were really the Terrence that I played with during childhood. You must be his stupid twin..."

He was displeased by her words hence he countered, "I'm still that Terrence but I'm not sure if you were still that Athena before. You learned to scheme, for what? You were jealous of Hannah that you did a lot to destroy her image towards me. Too bad... You didn't succeed and now she ended up being my girlfriend!" He hissed.

She rolled her eyes… Amused at his audacity.

"Are you here to count the schemes that I have done in the past? I couldn't remember any of them, can you tell me more?" Athena asked sarcastically and went, "Oh, I wondered if those hired students of mine could still remember me... I think I need a recap of it." She snorted. 

Opening the fridge door, she retrieved another can of beer, popped it open and gulped the contents in her accord. She could only divert her attention from his annoying words by drinking… Those words were laced with venom, slowly killing her inside…

"You never admitted to your own faults ever since!" Terrence mocked scornfully. "Too ashamed to face them, aren't you? I should have known that you were this kind of person!" He added as disdain was written all over his face. 

"Why should I admit to the things that I haven't done ever since? Have I gone nuts?" She snapped, losing her ounce of restrictions. "I lived my whole life hiding the real me, living simply like the others. I walked to school, and ran to the playground just like the others did. Why on earth have I made a lot of trouble that would cause my identity to get tarnished and destroyed?" She bellowed and continued, "...why would I be desperate to get married to you in the first place? You seemed too confident in yourself, but actually, you are not even my type! I never said that I like your company, remember?"

Terrence's mouth gaped in shock as he turned utterly speechless, absorbing her words…

His mind went back to their childhood…

The first time he met her, she chased him away from their mansion... He didn't know why she was too mean when it came to him but he pleaded to his parents to help him get close to Athena, always finding reasons to stay longer on her side. He was the one who was adamant to stay in one place with her as he got fascinated by how she painted on her canvas and how she chased the butterflies around their garden. 

As days passed, Athena let him stay with her but she refused to talk too much. She remained aloof and indifferent but he didn't feel odd because he found her showing similar behavior to the other kids. 

Everything began to change when Sam appeared. They became closer…  Hannah then followed, pestering him, showing their existence both in their lives…

He and Athena started to fight over the two persons defending each one of them to each other. They have grown distant since then. Hannah constantly talks to him about how Athena acted so mean to her. 

He wanted to confirm the truth but she refused to explain. She just let Hannah do the talking without defending herself. He assumed that Athena was guilty of what she had done which made him angrier. He has hated her guts since then.

"Since when did you start to get dumb Terrence?" She continued, berating him. "I wonder if she cast a spell on you? How come you end up..." Athena shook her head in disbelief, unable to get her words done.

"Are you trying to justify the truth now?" He voiced out mildly. His usual hardened expression had softened as his mind was shrouded with different thoughts regarding the events that caused discord between them. Now he felt complicated…

"I don't need to justify something…" she babbled nonchalantly.

Her hands resumed popping up cans after can, drinking them leisurely as she tried to put some sense on his mind. She hadn't noticed that she had consumed too much. Now she feels lightheaded and tipsy but she wants more… She wanted to drown herself and forget the heaviness that kept on weighing down her shoulders for the meantime and fell asleep…

"Can you give me one?" He uttered calmly, pushing his complicated thoughts aside. 

Something from those words made him realize one thing but he hid it at the moment. 'I should be the one to discover it…' he thought to himself as he stared at her.

Athena glared at him, hiding her can behind her back like a child, refusing to share her favorite candy. "Go back to your own place and find your own drink! I'm not sharing mine!" 

"But I'm your guest! You should at least be considerate…" He protested. 

"I didn't invite you here! You were the one who barged in shamelessly." She retorted, pointing her finger to her door's direction and demanded. "Get out!" 

"I'm not leaving… If you're not considering me as your guest then I'll stay as your husband!"