“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.

“No..it can’t be…” I uttered inside my brain. “It is impossible…..perhaps I am just hallucinating..”

I know he can’t do this to me…am I going crazy?

“I think…I think I am going…I am going to c—”

I held onto a bar and closed my eyes. I think my knees trembled, and anytime, I might pass out of shock.

Out of the blue, I can see someone in my peripheral vision, heading towards where I am standing at. I immediately wipe my tears, and peek at the person standing next to me.

“What are you doing there?” I immediately pushed Ash away from the comfort room.

“Come on? What are you doing?!” he whispered as I kept on pushing him towards our seat. “Why do you keep on pushing me away?”

“Someone’s doing something in there. Let’s respect their privacy!” I whispered and pushed him towards our seat. I don’t want him to see the couple in there. It would definitely cause chaos, and I don’t want to make one.

“But why do you seem so affected?” I paused for a moment and sighed. I placed my palm on my face and started rubbing it. I am trying to pull myself together, but I can’t help but break down.

“Hey, are you alright?” he asked and tapped my shoulder. “Did you see some ghost or something? Why are you crying?” He removed my palms from my face and raised my chin.

“Hey, what’s the matter?” he asked. “You are free to tell me, I am a part of your family.”

I shook my head and slowly rested my forehead on his shoulder.

“I trusted him…” I whispered. “I gave him everything. I tried my best…but it wasn’t enough..”

“That motherfucker..” I saw him clenching his fist, the reason why I immediately touched it. “What did he do this time?”

“I heard…I heard his voice inside the comfort room…” I sobbed. “Making out with..making out with someone..or I don’t know, it could be worse..” He moved me away and stood up. He was about to head towards the comfort room, but luckily, I was able to drag him back to our seat.

“Why are you guys making so much noise? Everyone’s sleeping.” we were taken aback when someone scolded us. We looked at each other and laughed a little. He gave me a handkerchief and glanced at the window.

“So what’s your plan?” he asked.

“Well, are you going to help me in case?”

“Do you want me to?” without any second thought, I nodded.

“It would be nice, I think,” I answered. “But..I think I could handle this..”

He squinted his eyes. Perhaps he has no idea what I am talking about, but either way, I will do it.

—

When we finally arrived at the airport, I could already feel the fresh air greeting us. I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself amidst the chaos. However, someone pushed my shoulder, making me open my eyes. When I turned around, I saw Tina holding an enormous bag.

“Oh, I didn’t see you there. I didn’t think you would be Sasha. You look like an old maid.” I was taken aback when Tina uttered these words. After what happened earlier, perhaps she thought she had the upper hand.

“Hey, you are already here!” We both looked at the group of people walking towards us. “We’ve been waiting for you!”

“Well, I had to–”

“Ouch!” Tina complained and immediately dropped the bag she was holding. “This is so heavy! Can someone help me?”

“Hey, Sasha, can you bring her bag instead?” asked Ana. “Also, did my brother give you a ticket?” I furrowed my brows and looked at my husband, who is currently looking guilty.

“Ticket for what?” I laughed. “I mean, he didn’t tell me anything. What do you guys mean?”

“We will be going to another place since Tina wants to go to the countryside instead,” Ana explained and placed her arm around Tina. “Therefore, we will be going to the countryside.”

What does she have that makes these people go crazy? They worship her as if she has the cure for a fucking disease.

“Also, we will be meeting her family there! Who knows? Maybe the tables might turn and one day you wake up, you guys are already divorced!” Cecille really loves to make weird and uncomfortable jokes.

“Also, can you just, bring all of our luggage? It’s not that many. Besides, you will be taking a train, right?” Tina asked.

“What the fuck do you mean?” Ash laughed and crossed his arms. “She’s not your maid. Besides, you guys have hands!”

I smiled widely at Hans’ family and fixed my hair.

“Okay! No problem.” I can see how Ash’s eyebrows went up, making me laugh a little.

“Oh, please don’t forget to leave your wallet to Ana. I’ll be using it for the payment.” Hans added.

I grinned and nodded.