I immediately got up when I felt a warm touch on my face. When I opened my eyes, I saw my husband opening the window. I scratched my nape and inspected him while he fixed the tangled ribbon on the curtain. The sunlight must have been the culprit of warming my face.

“Need help?” I asked. He immediately glanced back and smiled. “Oh, you are awake! Did I wake you up?” I grinned and shook my head. I don’t want him to feel bad. He told me how he always felt bad whenever I tried to help him. He often emphasizes that he is a man, and he should be doing all the work. The next second, I see him breaking down, so that’s the time I intervene. I love him to death, but perhaps that is the only thing I hate about him. Out of the blue, someone opened our bedroom door.

“Ana, can you please knock first before entering?” Hans scolded his little sister who is currently chewing gum. Oh, the other thing I hate about Hans, is his family. Luckily, he was adopted, so he didn’t get the trait his current family has.

“Mama wants to see you,” Ana uttered and closed the door as if she planned to break it. I flinched, which made my husband sigh.

“I’ll just talk to Mom. Stay here.” I nodded and stared at my husband as he disappeared from my sight. The wind suddenly blew, which is why I stood up to fix the window. However, a small notebook resting on my husband’s table piqued my attention. I didn’t want to touch it, but there was something inside me that wanted to read it. The wind blew again, making the notebook open on its own. I was intrigued, which is why I took a peek. My eyes widened when I saw a picture of his secretary, kissing his cheek, pasted on the notebook.

“This is Tina…” What made me mad even more was seeing hearts drawn around it.

“Is he cheating on me?” I whispered as I nervously picked the notebook up. I gulped and flipped to the next page. That was the moment I found out it was Hans' diary.

[I spent the whole evening talking to my childhood friend, Tina. She is the sweetest person. I still don’t get why I didn’t take the initiative to ask her out back then. Maybe if I only had the courage, we would be married by now.]

“Childhood friend?” I asked myself and gulped. “But he never told me about this. I didn’t know they were childhood friends…”

This information stayed on my mind for hours, and even for days. I want to talk to him about it, but I am afraid of what he might answer. In the end, I think people were right when they said that ignorance is bliss. I wish I didn’t read it. Maybe, I won’t feel bad about myself.

“Sasha!” I came back to my senses when I heard Cecille shouting at me. “Look! The fish is already burnt! When are you going to learn how to cook?!”

She immediately moved me away from the stove and held the cooking equipment.

“I am sorry, mama,” I whispered and clenched my fists. “It’s just that, I am thinking of something.”

“You are always thinking of something. What’s new? You can’t even dress yourself up. You have wrinkles, pimples, and you suck at makeup. If you don’t have money, Hans won’t mar–” Cecille didn’t finish her words, but I already know what she meant by that. She loves his son, and I remember the day we were at the church. She was crying not because of happiness, but because he ended up with someone she didn’t like.

“I am sorry, mama,” I whispered. “I will do better.”

“You always say that. Nothing’s new.” I gulped and started walking away. My heart stings.

“Hey..” I glanced back and saw a tall guy with thick eyebrows. “Are you crying? Are you okay?”

I wiped my tears and smiled.

“Yes, love! Do you want to eat outside? Let’s have lun–Wait, is that lipstick?” I pointed at the pocket of his long sleeve when I saw a pink cap showing up. My friends always bring those types of lipsticks, that’s why I got familiar with them. Hans peeked at his pocket and took out the lipstick.

“Oh, this? This is my gift for you!” He smiled and handed it to me. I grinned.

“Thank you!” I uttered and opened the lipstick. I glided it in my hand to see the shade, and I was taken aback. This was the exact color I often see on his long sleeve after work.

“A trip? That sounds fun!” Ana, Hans’ little sister, exclaimed. “Where are we going?” We are currently eating at a five-star restaurant, and it is my treat. I decided to take all of them out, including Hans's cousin, named Ash, who is an engineer.

“Mom always told me how much she likes to go to the beach. So we will be heading to the beach!” Hans answered. “It would be a family vacation, and Sasha will be paying for it.”

I stopped slicing the meat when Hans uttered those words. I glanced at him and furrowed my brows. Everyone celebrated, making me feel bad.

“Huh? We haven’t talked about it?” I whispered to him. “Why are you doing this? You should have told me in advance.”

“Love, you told me before that you are willing to cover the expenses on our vacation trips. Now you are taking it back? Look, they are all now excited!” Hans replied and pointed at some of his family members. “Don’t kill their happiness, love.”

We were taken aback when Ash, who was beside me, suddenly coughed. We both looked at him and continued eating.

“Wait, is that Tina?” I felt my blood boil the moment Cecilia uttered her name. “Yeah, I am pretty sure it is her! She is looking dashing as ever!”

When I looked at the corner, I saw a woman walking towards our area, with a wide smile on her face. She waved at us, the reason why some of Hans’ family stood up to greet her. When our eyes met, she initiated to kiss me on the cheeks. I inspected her lips and at that moment, I knew that my suspicion was true. It has the same color as the lipstick Hans gave me.

“Your lip color is so pretty, where did you buy the lipstick?” I asked and smiled. She giggled.

“I am happy to hear that! Thank you! I have an extra actually, you can have this.” She told me and took out a lipstick from her purse. “Sir Hans told me how you help him in any way!” She inserted the lipstick inside my hand and smiled.

“She’s good, except in being a housewife. She sucks at cooking and doing the laundry.” Ana interfered. Ash immediately raised his left eyebrow. Everyone started laughing, which made the atmosphere weird for Ash.

“Ana, do you think it is a nice thing to do?” Ash told his cousin. “How about you? Do you know how to do house chores? You can’t even clean your room.” I expected Hans to scold his sister, but it made me baffled that he was one of those people who laughed.

“Come on, you can’t have it all. Everyone has flaws. It is okay!” Tina explained and sat beside Hans. “By the way, Sir Hans told me we will be having a family trip! I am so excited! He planned it for two months!”

I raised my eyebrows at that moment. So they already planned about it for two months without asking for what I might feel?

“Omg! You will be joining us?! That’s a relief!” Ana exclaimed. “Can we sit together?!”

“Apparently, we have to fix some documents while we are inside the airplane, so no. I will be sitting with Sir Hans.” everything is moving too fast. I am getting overwhelmed.

“Excuse me, I just want to get some fresh air.” I stood up and went outside the restaurant. I took a deep sigh and touched my forehead.

“What the hell was that..” I whispered. “Why is he deciding on his own? What is going on?”

“Hey..” I looked back and saw a tall guy holding a soda. He extended his hand and smiled. “You seem stressed out. Have a cold soda.”

I looked at the soda and glanced at the face of the guy in front of me.

“Thank you..” I uttered and accepted the soda. “Maybe the happenings are just too much for me. Maybe I was just overreacting.”

“Well, I would react like that too. No worries,” he uttered and took out a cigarette. “My cousin is an asshole, and if I told you now to run, would you run?”

“Too late, I buried myself deep in his arms,” I uttered and laughed. “I love him, and no one could replace him in my heart.”

“Even if I tell you something?” I heard my heart pound loudly, afraid of the words that might come out of his mouth. “Are you willing to listen?”

“No…” I uttered while shaking my head. “I am not interested to know about it, thank you,” I added and started walking away. Out of the blue, he grabbed my arm, making me look back.

“Ash, I said no. Do you know the word No?” I uttered. “I will shout right now if you don’t let go of my hand.”

“He is fucking her inside the house you bought.” I felt my knees weaken, making me fall to the ground. “Did you know that?”

“Stop saying nonsense…” I was trying my best not to break down, but when he showed me his phone, I burst out.

“This is a video of them, making love. He accidentally sent it to me, because he has a friend named Ash too. I just pretended that I didn’t receive it so he won’t panic.”

“Don’t mess with my head, Ash. I am an overthinker. Do you want me to die because of it?” I shouted and removed his grip from my arm. “I can’t believe I am hearing all of this.”

“Are you just gonna let it slide? Come on. I drove all the way here to tell you that!” He sighed and sat on a bench. “You still want to stay with that jerk?”

“You don’t understand because you haven’t fallen in love with someone!” I shouted and went back to the restaurant. I nervously fixed my hair and sat on our table.

“Love, as soon as we reach home, let’s start packing. We will be leaving on Thursday.” he smiled and drank an iced tea. I nodded and looked at Tina who was currently chatting with Ana. I pretended to be dumb and naive, but it seemed that fate wanted me to know about it.

—

“With everyone I could be with, why with Sasha?” When I was walking down the stairs, I heard Ana complaining about me. I stopped for a moment and sighed. “I’ll just sit with you, papa!”

“Your mama doesn’t like her too, so where is she going to sit? I know you all hate her, but you might be forgetting that she bought this house for us. Without her, we might be starving! Besides, she let you study in a prestigious school.” I heard Manny reply to his daughter. “You don’t use your brain.”

“Well, it is the only thing she got. The wealth. Without that, she would be nothing.” Ana’s words cut right through my heart, making me flinch. “I hope Hans impregnates Tina so they could—”

Ana wasn’t able to finish her words when suddenly, I heard the sound of a slap. I tried to peek and I saw Ash in front of Ana.

“Why did you slap me?” Ana shouted.

“Oh, I am sorry. I thought you were sleeptalking, ‘cause you are talking nonsense,” he uttered and started walking away. At that moment, I told myself that I wouldn’t join them in their seats. I’ll just trick them that I will be taking a different transportation since I don’t want to pretend like everything is alright.

—

“Oh really? Will you be alright?” Tina asked and touched my shoulder. “Are you sure about that?”

“Yeah, I feel a bit sick so you better go first. I’ll just follow, don’t worry.” I told them and smiled. They all nodded and waved goodbye as they slowly entered the airplane. They had no idea that we were just on the same flight, but I just chose a different seat. I think it is better this way. I’ll hold on even more until I can’t anymore. I can’t give up on him that easily.

—

I entered the airplane and sat on the third row at the back. In this way, they won’t see me. However, my eyes widened when I saw a familiar guy sitting on the side of my seat.

“Why are you here?” he asked. I furrowed my brows and sighed.

“I should be the one asking you that. You are supposed to be with your family, right?” I asked back and sat beside him. “Are you following me?”

“Why would I follow you? I just want to be away from my family throughout the flight,” he replied and inserted some earphones inside his ears. “Didn’t know you feel the same way.”

“No, not really.” I lied and wore a face mask.

“It is okay, I would understand if you start hating on our family,” he added and stared out the window. “If only I could pick a family, I wouldn’t pick them at all.”

“But still, it is your family.”

“Yeah, but I spent my whole life with them. You didn’t,” he whispered and closed his eyes. His words felt heavy, making me sigh. Maybe they were also tough on him, the reason why he moved out when he graduated college, according to Hans.

Hours passed, and it was already nighttime. We ate some dinner, and almost all of the passengers were already sleeping. I stood up to go to a comfort room, but I became baffled due to a weird noise. It seems that the lady was trying her best not to make a noise, but she seemed having too much fun with someone.

I rolled my eyes, and when I was about to leave, I heard a guy’s voice.

“You like this? Do you like this, little slut?” I felt as if I was about to puke when I heard Hans’ voice, running out of breath.