JHARIED'S POV
The moment I stepped out of my car, they all stared at me and buzzed like bees.
"Is it true that he got Filia pregnant?"
"Aren't they enemies? That's really surprising."
"I can't believe Filia finally gave in to Jharied."
"What they say is really true: The more you hate, the more you love."
I looked around, trying to find Filia, but couldn't see her.
I need to talk to her about what Dad said last night.
Where is she? I even got her some food. That witch—she had the nerve to stomp out. It's because she didn't let me finish talking.
I went to our hang-out place, thinking probably she might be there. Unfortunately, I only found the faces of my idiot friends.
"Oh, what's that? Is that for the missus??" Kris asked. I ignored him.
I sat down on the sofa and looked at them because they had been staring at me strangely for a while.
"Hey, Ried, you're going to be a father, and you haven't told us anything," Roy said. I gave him a mean look.
"We were just together last night, and you didn't even mention it," Rey said.
"Who spread that this time? I haven't gotten anyone pregnant!" I asked, angry. I was so stressed last night, asking Lara to find me another girl, and now they're saying I got someone pregnant already.
"Who else but your Mom and Dad? It's all over the school," Rey answered, smiling.
"What?!" I shouted. What have they done now? I clenched my fist.
"They told the teachers not to stress Filia, and she's not allowed to take P.E. A student overheard them, and the rumor spread so fast," Alex recounted, laughing.
"Wow, the way you react, bro. Don't forget to make us godfathers," said Zander, bursting out laughing.
"Godfathers of what? I don't even know that I'm going to be a father!!" I replied, utterly frustrated with him. He just laughed.
"Keep denying it, but bro, what does it feel like to be a dad?" Arman asked. Because he added to the noise, I felt my temper flare even more.
"You jerks, shut up! Filia and I don't even sleep next to each other, how could we have a child!" I shouted at them. The foolish guys looked at each other, then laughed together in unison. My eyes narrowed as I stared at them.
"You're so weak, then!" they said, still laughing. By now, my head felt even hotter.
"Weak? No, I am not," I said coldly.
"Is that what they call a player? A husband who doesn't sleep next to his wife," Zander teased me.
"Just shut up!" I told them to be quiet, but they acted like they couldn't hear me.
"We're better looking than you are, and you're weak with your wife," Rey teased me again.
"I'm better looking than all of you, and I have a wife already! You don't, you jerks," I countered, glowering at them as they just would not stop laughing.
"Doesn't matter, bro, you're weak!!" they teased again.
I sprang up suddenly and went into my room. Yes, I have a room here. This is where I bring my girls whenever I'm in the mood to cheat.
I lay down on the bed. My class isn't until Ten O'clock. I took my notebook from my bag, just to check her schedule. I have a copy of her schedule, so I know everything.
Her class starts at nine o'clock Am. Why wasn't she at the hideout? I rose and took the lunch box I brought for her. I just felt like bringing her some. Why did I walk out of our hangout? My friends were gone. Good—they were just making me more irritated.
I walked toward the cafeteria. Soon thereafter, the girls who saw me started squealing. I just smiled.
I scanned inside the cafeteria. The moment I stepped inside, I saw them. I headed in the direction of where they were sitting.
"So here you are," I said. She just looked at me in apparent surprise.
"Here's your breakfast. You didn't eat earlier, right?" I asked her, putting the lunch box on the table. She merely rolled her eyes at me.
"Aww, so sweet!" her two friends chirped. These two are so giddy, but this girl won't even blush.
"Oh no, I don't think she wants it, Papa Ried. I'll take it," said the gay best friend. I ignored him.
I sat down next to Filia. She looked at me again. I opened the lunch box. This is how we are: in public, it's safer, so no one can report us.
"Why are you here? Go away!" she whispered. I just ignored her.
"Say 'Ah,' baby," I said. She just stared at the spoon; she didn't look like she would ever open her mouth. Irritated, I trod on her foot.
"Ouch—", she was going to scream, but I quickly fed her the food. She stared at me; I only managed a strained smile.
I spoon-fed her again, and she had no choice but to open her mouth.
"Wow, your hair is long, Filia," Nicole teased. She just pouted.
"Aren't you full from all the food you've eaten?" asked the gay best friend.
"Yeah, be careful; you might eat too much, and your baby might pop out of your stomach," Nicole said, seeming concerned. She choked. I immediately handed her water.
She snatched it and drank. She gave Nicole a death glare. The two of them just laughed.
Our fellow students stared at us. All that I did was feed her.
The bell rang, and their class was about to start. She stood up and so did her friends.
"A kiss?" I said. She looked at me. The students were watching us.
She leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. I smirked.
"Why there? It should be here," I said, pointing to my lips. She frowned; she was getting annoyed. I tried hard not to laugh because she might punch me.
I pulled her close to me. I kissed her on the lips. Her eyes widened. Why is this woman reacting like she didn't kiss me last night?
"Kyah, that's so sweet!" the students shrieked. I broke the kiss. She was still in shock.
"Be careful, honey," I said, smiling. She just nodded.
They left the cafeteria. I fixed myself up, then I left too and headed to our hangout.
I was about to open the door to our hangout when a leech wrapped herself around my arm.
"Hey, babe, you miss me?" she said flirtatiously. She immediately kissed me deeply. I responded to her.
We went inside. My friends were gone, so we continued kissing.
I sat down on the sofa; she climbed onto my lap.
I unbuttoned the two top buttons of her uniform and kissed her neck.
She groaned as I sucked on her neck. I smirked.
She was practically begging me to slip my hand inside her shirt. I unhooked her bra, then kissed her on the lips again. She began to unbuckle my belt; I made her stop. I stopped kissing her.
"Why???" she asked bewildered.
"You can leave now, I lost my appetite," I commanded.
"But—"
"I said, get out! I don't want you anymore; you're boring," I said. She got off my lap. I stood up. The girl had no choice but to leave. I just went into my room.
Arghh! What is happening to me? How annoying.
Why did I see Filia's face when I was kissing that girl just now? WTF.
I slammed the remote against the wall. The sound reverberated around the abrupt, suffocating silence of my room.
What the hell is happening to me?
So annoying!!
My body felt hot, restless-like an overheating engine, starved of the right fuel. I paced the length of the carpet, running a hand through my hair. That girl, the one who'd left, was everything I usually wanted: easy, willing, and utterly disposable.
But when her uniform came undone, when her moan was trapped against my mouth, it wasn't her face I saw. It was the face of Heartfilia—her wide, shocked eyes from the kiss I stole in the cafeteria; her furious pout when she realized I was using the same spoon. It was the taste of her, sharp and defiant, not the practiced sweetness of the girl who just left.
I was kissing one woman, but I was seeing-and desiring-my enemy.
Boring? Since when was a beautiful, compliant woman boring? Since the little Amazon burst into my life, turning my perfectly predictable world into a Hell-Kitty-themed chaos.
I am not supposed to feel that. My life is a delicately designed escape route: a divorce in a year, freedom, control.
The thought of her-Heartfilia-out there in the world, continuing to live her life and maybe even with another man-as Lara had dared to say-pierced my gut with a cold, sharp spike of possessiveness.
I didn't want her, but I couldn't stand the thought of losing her. I threw myself onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling.
The ceiling that was supposed to be a place of fleeting pleasure with countless women, now only held the image of my unwanted wife.
Damn you, Cojuangco.
I closed my eyes and tried to clear the image, but the memory of her lips—the brief, electric shock of her kiss—was the only thing my body registered.
Even my lust felt betrayed. I reached for the phone, intending to call Lara, or anyone, but stopped myself. No. I can't let them see this weakness. I am Jharied, the womanizer, the Top one student, the untouchable King. And yet, one furious, stubborn girl is unraveling me one Hello Kitty curtain at a time. The world thinks we're having a baby-a future I rejected barely 24 hours ago.
Still, all I can think about now is why, the minute I almost betrayed her, I saw her face.
She is my curse. And for the first time, I am afraid of what I might do to break it.