Daphne had a shower first after she was done packing her belongings. After a few minutes, she grabbed a shirt and a jean from the bed and put them on. She didn’t have time to fix her hair and have some make-up as she wanted to get out of the house as quickly as possible. By the time she was done, she threw her torn wedding dress in a black garbage bag and went straight to the garbage bin by the side of her room.

As she walked back again into her room, she set her bag and luggage, carrying the arm-sized back in her hand while she made her way downstairs. The minute she was on the first floor, she saw Tatiana again with her hands on her waist, looking livid as ever.

Daphne had just laughed, her expression in her mind, completely ignoring her.

When Tatiana took notice of her carrying her luggage, she couldn’t bear but to make another remark. “You ungrateful bitch! After everything that we have done to you!” She followed Daphne behind her back. “I knew it! I knew from the start when Maverick introduced you to me! You’re a gold digger, just like your mother . . .”

For the longest time, Daphne had never once heard Tatiana complimenting her or be pleasant to her. Maverick’s mother bullied her incessantly, that it had become a usual thing for Daphne to hear her say every time she was near the bitch.

“Don’t talk to my mother like that as if you know her, Tatiana,” I warned her while pulling mg luggage.

Her eyebrow rose. “Because you know that I’m right, Daphne! You’re a slut, just like your mother!” she spat back with every intention of hurting Daphne.

However, Daphne had gotten hung with her insults as though it was just another appalling jingle, she had heard on a radio that was so bad you’ve just disregarded its existence. Moreover, Daphne knew that Tatiana was celebrating like it was New Year’s Eve when her son didn’t appear on their wedding day.

“At least I am not as horrible as you are,” Daphne murmured as she ambled throughout the room, gliding with her suitcase.

She was about to pull the gate open on the sidewalk when, all of a sudden, she noticed a blue car that was parked in the driveway. Daphne stopped in the middle of the path and saw Maverick coming out of it, looking fresh and blissful as if nothing had happened.

‘Well, fuck that asshole!’ Daphne hissed internally.

Maverick, however, had seen Daphne with a suitcase that made his brows furrowed, utterly distraught about it. “What are you doing, baby? Why do you have your bag with you? Are you leaving me?!”

He was about to touch her arms when she hit it quickly, shoving it away from her. How could he act as if nothing had ever happened? God, how did she love this narcissistic and vain man? She was such an idiot to be blinded by all the red flags of Maverick that were already waving in front of her for the past eight years!

“Don’t you dare touch me, Maverick!” Her emotions surged up like a firework that was about to burst out. She couldn’t bear to see his face or even just smell or hear his voice made her want to barf already.

Maverick yanked her wrist and said, “Come on, babe. Let's talk this through, don't just leave me hanging without talking this out to me." He paused for a while, raking his hair with his fingers, and continued, "I ran away because this whole thing scared the shit out of me!"

Daphne pulled a coy smirk. “Huh, yeah, you did, and you ran away with another girl even before our wedding, Maverick!” She pushed his arms away from her and distanced herself from the man she thought would never lie. “I’m not stupid and I’m definitely not an idiot, you jerk!”

“Daphne . . ." Maverick couldn’t think of another word that would somehow make her believe him again.

Then, he composed his bubbling anger as he tried to get hold of her by defending himself; however, she waved it away. “That's not it! Everything in the article was a lie!”

Daphne nodded and skewed the corner of her lips upward. “Yeah, it was all a lie. Just like our relationship and your feelings for me. It is all a lie.” And with no warning, she raised her arms, slapping him directly on his cheeks and making him as shocked as more than ever.

Maverick just looked at her with wide-open eyes, as he couldn’t believe that a woman like her who couldn’t break a glass could do that.

When his thoughts had already processed Daphne's gesture, he uttered, livid and furious, “Daphne, shit! Don't you leave me like this! We're not yet done!”

Tatiana came down to walk toward them. “Oh no! You don’t have a right to do that to my son! You bitch!” she shouted, lifting her arm aloft to hit her when Daphne stopped it by clenching it tightly with her grip.

“No, Tatiana. I won’t let you have it your way again, bitch.” She gritted back and before Daphne could hear the last insult word of her sentence, she walked away from them with full determination.

Maverick tried to run after Daphne, but immediately gave up when he realized talking it out with her would also be completely useless. On his side was his mother who reached out to him, cradling his man-little boy in her chest and soothing her like a five-year-old kid.

Meanwhile, Daphne stepped outside of the house and as she breathed in the fresh-sweet invite of the air, she cloyingly smiled in delight.

“At last self, you’re out. You did well.”

Heaving a sigh, she hailed a cab across the street and as a yellow cab stopped at her side, she quickly went inside, happy and excited about what her future would bring her.

“To sixty-eighth street, Eastwood Avenue sir,” Daphne said to the driver to which he just nodded.

***

When she got to Clara’s place, she was not in her apartment. Her friend was still at work and luckily, she was given a spare key to be able to get inside Clara’s apartment. As she placed her bags and luggage on the porch, she rubbed her palms on her jeans and roamed around her friend’s place.

Clara’s flat was quaint, small, and just perfect for a single woman. Everything inside was so Zen-like that the room looked so peaceful and refreshing. The entire place had every pot of plants hanging around on was on the top of a table. As she went to the lounge area, her lips went up when she saw a hammock by the window. Beside it was a side table and a cactus plant on top of it.

She slumped into the hammock and leaned her back on it as she tried to close her eyes. It was fortunate for her that Clara allowed her to stay temporarily in her place while she tried to find an apartment once she got back to teaching. However, the downside of this was that she might get accustomed to her friend’s flat, and she would have a hard time finding her own place that would be as comfortable as here.

When Daphne felt that her eyes were getting heavier, her phone started to ring. Grumbling, she ducked it out of her pockets and pressed the button.

“What is it, mom?” She asked begrudgingly because usually her mom only called if she was out of money or if she was in a tight position.

Yeah, her mom wasn’t really like other moms who were responsible and dependable. Truth be told, Linda was more dependable on her daughter than Daphne on her.

“Do you have an extra cash with you, honey?” Linda asked without any reluctance.

Daphne sighed in contempt. “You lost another game again?”

Linda explained, “Yeah…well, I was about to hit the pot Daphne, but damn, I was short of luck.”

Out of frustration, Daphne stood up from the hammock. “I told you to stop gambling, mom! We can’t afford to pay our debts right away. Eventually, I won’t be able to sustain you with your addiction!”

“Just this time, sweetheart.” Linda paused for a while and then fumbled as she spoke. “Fuck, I swear I’ll stop gambling. I can promise you that.”

Daphne rubbed her palms on her forehead. “You have said that a thousand times, mom. I don’t know if I still ever believe that—”

It was true, though. Daphne didn’t know if she would ever believe Linda again. Ever since she was a child, she had never felt her mother’s love. Linda would always be out in the morning and be back in the morning with a sour mood and a drunk condition. She would only take notice of Daphne or would heed her attention when she needed something.

That was also the reason she also couldn’t break her relationship with Maverick. Because at the moment Linda knew about Maverick, Daphne felt that her mother finally regarded her as her daughter and not just some responsibility she had to take care of. And, despite this, Daphne still hoped that her mom had loved even just a sliver part of her heart.

“Please, honey? Just this time, help your mama.” Linda pleaded on the phone.

Daphne tried to understand her mom’s situation. Sometimes, it was just too much for her to be patient with her.

Resigning with her shoulders in a slouch, she huffed. “Alright, I’ll think of something.”

“Great! You’re the best daughter!”

Linda dropped the phone after that, leaving Daphne to deal with her debt problem. She tilted her head high to breathe deeply, and as she release a heavy sigh, she uttered, “I’m your only daughter, mom.”

***

Nathan Kelly was buried under his work; even with that, he couldn’t stop thinking about that woman in an awful wedding dress. It was unexpected to meet someone so disturbing, yet so interesting, like her.

More so, the woman was not exactly that bad. Although she looked bad that night with her smear of blank goo on her face, and a botched look, she kind of looked decent if she cleaned up. Besides, he was not interested right now in doing dates or entering into a serious relationship, knowing it would only be a nuisance to his plans and his career.

The man had a lot of things that were more important than that.

When he was about to grab a file from the pile of documents, his phone rang suddenly. He yanked the phone by his side and answered the call.

“Hey, sup man? How is it going?” he said, leaning his back on the swivel chair.

He heard him chuckle. “Hey, man! I’m good!” The man on the phone stopped for a moment, then spoke again, “Anyway, you’re up for a drink later? Same time and same place, just like old times, Nathan.”

Nathan looked at his smartwatch. He didn’t have a meeting later and could probably fit his time into meeting his friend.

“Yeah, of course! Sure, Maverick!”

The call ended after that, and Nathan went back to his work.

Right now, Daphne was in a hot potato.

After moving with her friend Clara for a few days, both her mother and her ex-boyfriend had been pestering her with calls. Linda kept on pestering her for money, while Maverick was constantly calling and texting her to come back to him. More so, on the same weekend she had just settled down in Clara’s apartment, her mother called her again, asking Daphne with her most pitiful voice about getting back with Maverick. Linda explicated Maverick was the only way they could, or more likely, Linda could pay for her debts.

She tried to reason it out on her mom that she didn’t want to go back with Maverick and that she was done with him. However, since Daphne was a woman who had a golden heart, she obliged her mother and finally texted Maverick back. Daphne asked him if he could meet her and Maverick pleasantly agreed that they could meet in a hotel.

With that, Daphne came to the hotel and found Maverick by the café, surrounded by a bunch of women. She approached him without hesitation, pushing off each woman who was blocking her way in Maverick’s direction. As soon as she met him eye to eye, Daphne crossed her arms against her chest and lifted her eyebrow.

“I’m breaking our engagement, Maverick,” Daphne greeted him with indignation.

Although Maverick was a bit surprised, he held it back and looked at her impassively. He just laughed at her like Daphne was a complete joke. “I don’t really care, Daphne. Besides, I have never loved you in the first place.”

Daphne’s lips pressed into a thin line. Her heart sank to his cold, mercurial tone. Even if Daphne already knew that Maverick fooled her, his words of affirmation hurt like her. Taking a deep breath, she clenched her fingers and balled them into a fist.

“Then you should pay for every single cent I’ve used just to purchase everything we needed for our wedding, which, by the way, should be your responsibility as the groom!” She pointed her index fingers at him and added, “And also for the emotional damages you have caused me throughout the years that you deceived, used, and humiliated me!” Daphne seethed with anger.

Maverick chuckled so loud enough to be noticed by everyone near them. “This is the reason you’ve always been fooled, Daphne. You’re so stupid!”

Daphne’s tears instantly shed not because she found Maverick’s statement insulting, but because she knew that what he had said was true. She was stupid enough to believe him and she was a fool to love him.

“Yeah, you’re right, Maverick. I was an idiot to believe all your lies, and I was stupid enough to love you, despite your shit narcissistic attitude. Yes, I’m that fucking stupid!” She slapped him on his cheeks as she tilted her chin to meet his gaze.

“This is for hurting me!” Daphne hit his other cheeks. “This is for humiliating me!” She slapped him back again on the right side of his face. “And this is for lying to me, you piece-of-shit!” One more time, she hit him with full force to let him know how angry she was.

“Ann—” Daphne heard his voice. However, before she could fully hear his reply, she dashed out of his way, while her tears incessantly fell down her cheeks.

By the time she reached the hotel’s entrance, her feet halted when she suddenly bumped into another person. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she looked up and was daunted by a familiar face.

It was Nathan Kelly, the man who offered her a job, wearing a black slim-fitted suit. His hair was tousled back in perfection, as though it took an hour to look as fine as hell. Daphne immediately stepped back, hunching her head down.

“Sorry,” the woman stingily replied.

Nathan’s eyebrow twitched a little. Before she could move away from him, he yanked her arms, placing his palms on her shoulder. “Miss Collins, are you okay? Did something happen?”

She shoved his hands away from her while trying her best to look away. “Yes, I’m fine.” Daphne cleared her throat and then was about to walk out when Nathan persisted in asking another question of her.

“Are you sure?” He blocked her way, staring directly into her eyes. She looked at him as though all the barriers on her eyes were almost naked. Her cheeks were scarlet red, her eyes were glinting with tears that he found so appealing and mesmerizing.

She softly nodded. “Yes. Thanks.”

Daphne was about to go to the entrance door when he turned around to ask her another question. “Uh, Miss Collins?”

She stopped walking and pivoted to her back. “Yes?”

Nathan gulped as he felt his heart skip a beat at the moment their gazes collided. Inserting his hands in his pants pockets, he asked again, “It’s the last day for you to decide, Miss Collins. Are you still up for it?”

“Yes, I accept the job offer,” Daphne quickly answered, with no hesitations.

He was dawned by her answer. Nathan didn’t expect that she would quickly accept it without asking for the specification of the job responsibilities. “Great! Finally, you’ve come to your decision.”

She bit her lips in contemplation, and after that, lifted her chin to answer him. “And thanks—really — for the offer.” His Job offer was a God-sent to Daphne, surmising that this might be her way to move on from Maverick and get her life back.

“No worries, Miss Collins. Glad I could be of help,” He replied.

Daphne pointed her finger at the back. “Well, I guess, I got to go, Nathan . . .” she said it with slight disinclination.

“My driver can take you home.” He fished out his phone and called his secretary. “Jonathan, please tell Isaac to drive Miss Jenning home.”

However, she waved her arms at Nathan, rejecting his gracious offer. “No! No—You don’t have to do that! I can just get a cab, sir!”

“I insist,” he retorted back while dropping his smartphone back into his pockets.

“Really, it’s alright, sir. My apartment is just two blocks away from here,” Daphne lied. It actually took her forty-five minutes to get to the hotel and a fifty bucks cab fee. Nonetheless, she didn’t want to owe the guy more until it would get to where she could hardly repay him.

“I told you, just call me Nathan.” He rubbed his palms against his scruff. “Besides, it might be actually weird for my nephew to hear you calling me, sir.”

“Then I suppose you also have to call me by my name, Nathan. Since you said your nephew will get awkward about it,” Daphne rebutted.

Nathan couldn’t help but smile at her remark. “Touché, Daphne.”

Daphne’s eyes glittered with delight. “And you really don’t have to let your driver drive me home.”

“It’s fine, Daphne. Besides, Isaac must know where you live, so he knows where he could drop you off after your tutoring sessions with Chuck,” Nathan explained.

Her eyes widened. “I assume that’s your nephew’s name. Isn’t it?”

Nathan looked back at her and answered, “Yes, it is. Chuck for Chester.”

“I’m excited to meet him,” Daphne commented.

He didn’t know what to reply to her, that it rendered him mute. It was fortunate for him that his car arrived soon before Daphne could ask him another question.

“He’s here,” he informed her, and they walked to the entrance door and were welcomed by Isaac, Nathan’s driver.

“Take her to her flat, Isaac,” Nathan replied thriftily.

Isaac nodded at her and asked Daphne for her address. She was reluctant at first, but she then gave it away to the driver. As soon as both of them got inside the car, Nathan watched them as his gaze trailed to where the car was.

When it disappeared from his view, he turned away, walking back inside of the hotel to meet with his dear-old friend Maverick while the smile on his face was still etched unwittingly.

Nathan went to the private room where he was going to meet his long-time friend, Maverick. As soon as he reached the location, he was overwhelmed by a crowd of prostitutes settling in the room. He cut into the mob and was greeted by lascivious and thirsty comments from the women who were surrounding Maverick.

“Hey, handsome!” A slut in a skimpy body-con suit squeaked wantonly.

“Oh, who do we have here? Another daddy!” Another woman came forward, circling her arm to his.

Immediately, he gave her an alarming gaze. “Get off me.”

The woman obediently untangled her arms to him, stepping away from Nathan as he approached Maverick. By the time Maverick had noticed his friend coming forward, he stood from his seat and welcomed him with a partial bear hug. Nathan accepted his gesture and patted his back.

“Good to see you, bro!” Maverick said when he parted. “It’s been a long time! What’s up?!” He asked, giving him a bottle of beer.

Nathan sat across from Maverick. He took a swig of the beer and replied, “I’m good! Been better—” Then he paused for a while as he peered around the room. He felt unsettled with a horde of girls watching them like they were feasts to be gobbled in. With his cold mercurial gaze, his lips clenched into a straight line. “Can all of you get out of the room? You circling around us feels so unsettling.”

Maverick laughed at his comment. “Chill up, Nathan. These ladies just want to have some fun with us.” He then grabbed a piece of food from the table and ate it. While chewing, he smacked one of the woman’s asses lewdly. “Sweet pea, get out with your friends for a minute outside. I’ll be back with you later.”

The red-haired woman gave her a saccharine smile. “Okay, sure, babe.” She pecked Maverick’s lips first before heading out of the room with his ladies.

Maverick and Nathan were left inside the area as soon as all of Maverick’s sluts went out to get the two boys some privacy. Chugging his beer, Nathan was the first one to crack the silence between them.

“So, how have you been doing? The last time I heard from you was that you were getting married. Finally decided to settle down?”

Maverick leaned his arms on the back of the seat and gave him a wolfish smirk. “You know I don’t do that shit, bro.” He lifted his feet up on the ground and propped them onto his other legs. “Didn’t happen. I bailed out on the ceremony.”

Nathan wasn’t that shocked to know about it. Since their university days, Maverick had been the asshole in their group. He had been in and out of the jail for petty violations and was in numerous fights because he had hurt some brother’s or friend’s girl. His friend hadn’t changed a bit even after six years of being away here and going to the States to take over his brother’s failing business.

It was Nathan’s idea to take hold of the management of their offshore businesses since their global sales and accounts had been drastically down after that shocking incident. The stock market plummeted significantly and Nathan’s only choice was to manage their international accounts after what happened.

“You’re still a pussy, Maverick.” Nathan chuckled and swashed the cold beer in his hand. “Goddamn dude, you’ve broken again another poor girl’s heart,” he stated lightly, but with a slight intention of shoving the truth down on him.

Maverick raised his arms in the mid-air. “You know me, Nathan. I’m a fucking too exceptional for that shit.” He deeply laughed as he dropped his arms back to the armchair and continued, “Anyway, enough about me. I haven't heard anything about you since you left, man. How’s it going?”

“It’s alright. After our accounts internationally became stable, I decided to return here and focus on expanding a new product line to a new market,” Nathan replied with his usual business and acumen tone.

Maverick rolled his eyes as he grumbled. “Ugh, that’s boring, dude. Haven’t you had any fun for the last six years you're away?”

“You know I can’t afford to have that Maverick after what happened…” Maverick placed his empty beer bottle on the glass table and reclined his arms on the elbow chair. Crumpling his fingers into a clench, he added. “I have to fix my own shit.”

“Nah, bro, it isn’t. It was an accident, alright?” He threw him another beer bottle and lightly cheered him up. “Don’t beat yourself innit, wimp.”

Nathan just gave him a smirk as he opened the beer with his teeth, throwing the cap to the side. As the alcohol seeped down into his system, he couldn’t shrug out what happened six years ago when his life turned considerably at three-sixty degrees. It was in his last days in college when he heard the devastating news about his brother and his wife from an employee in their offshore division. His brother, along with his wife, was involved in a drunk-driving accident that took their lives instantly. With Nathan being their only relative, he was informed by the hospital regarding this appalling, unfortunate event.

Having no choice and extremely worried about his brother, Nathan hastily drove to the airport when suddenly an accident clashed with him. He ran over to a woman crossing the bridge and was gotten injured by the impact that she had passed out on the road. However, since he didn’t have enough time to heed her, he kept driving along with the conscience he bore until he reached the airport. Because of this, Nathan called Maverick to ask for his help and told his friend that he would give the woman a part of his shares in the corporation for the awful thing he did.

In response, Maverick agreed to him and took care of everything else as Nathan boarded the plane. To his dismay, the moment he reached the hospital, his brother and his wife succumbed to the blow of the incident and were declared dead on arrival. Since that day, everything that he had ignored in life came down to him, whacking him with an enormous responsibility to his brother’s son, the company, and the debt that he inherited from his brother.

“So, how’s your nephew? He’s what? Already six or seven?” Maverick abruptly asked.

Nathan’s perusing was interrupted when he heard Maverick’s question. He chugged his beer first before reverting to him. “He’s going seven. The boy’s a damn clone of my brother.”

After her brother died, Chuck, his brother’s son, was left in his care. He didn't know how to approach or get along with Chuck at first. The boy had had enough trauma at an early age that it was too hard for Nathan to form a bond with him.

“Is he with you when you came back?”

Nathan nodded. “Yeah, I just actually got him a tutor a while ago. I don’t want him to end up like you, dickhead.” He chuckled, throwing him jokingly into a piece of nuts.

Maverick just shrugged his friendly chides like good-old times. Nathan had been his long-time friend, and they had been through the worst of times. He knew that Nathan blamed himself for his brother's accident, that he had been too distant from the grandeur and beauty of life and had been buried with his responsibilities and work.

“Your nephew must have been spoiled then,” Maverick commented, deviating him from his insults.

Nathan sighed heavily. “I guess so? Shit, I don’t know. I hadn’t babysat a child in my life, lest to take care of one.”

In fact, Chuck Kelly, his nephew, had been spoiled so much that he didn’t know how to tell it to the kid or scold him for his appalling behavior. Nathan had stayed with Chuck for six years and managed the entire business by himself with no help from others. It was then when he became so invested with their off-shore accounts and transactions that he discovered the cause of his brother’s accident.

Nathan had learned that it was not really an accident, but an intended murder by their closest competitor. Hence, when Chuck turned four years old, he sent him to an elite school two years ago for safety, while Nathan stayed abroad to fix the business affairs and find out who was the perpetrator of the crash.

“Can’t disagree with you on that, bro.” He chortled and added, “You can't even handle a woman!”

Nathan just shook his head casually. He then shifted the topic to the woman Nathan had run over six years ago. “Speaking of the devil, do you have any news about the woman I’ve run into six years ago?”

Maverick’s face relaxed expression changed immediately to a galling sneer. “Don’t worry about it, bro. She’s doing fine.”

However, Maverick didn’t tell him it was his ex-fiancée, Daphne, who would be the tutor to Nathan’s nephew, Chuck Kelly.