CHAPTER 60: WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

"So... Adrian already knows? How did he react?" Raf asked, his voice a little hesitant.

"He accepted it and didn’t judge us," Bianca replied quietly.

Raf let out a long breath, as if a weight had been lifted. "About what happened in Bali, the time I slipped up, I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean it. I promise it won’t happen again. Losing the woman I love is already hard enough, B. I don’t want to lose my friend too."

His feelings for Bianca had not completely faded, but he knew he had to let her go for the sake of his friendship with Adrian. No man wants his wife to be loved by his own best friend and Raf was no different. Even though it hurt, he had to learn to release her.

"I hope you find a woman who truly loves you, Raf," Bianca said sincerely.

Raf gave her a faint smile, though inside his chest, his heart ached.

It’s not about finding someone else, Bi. God knows I’m not ready for that. All I want now... is to stop feeling this way about you. To wake up one day and not think about you first thing in the morning. To finally be free from this.

Meanwhile, Adrian was buried in a thick stack of project reports, catching up on everything that had happened in the two weeks he’d been away from New York, when the phone in his pocket started buzzing. With a quiet sigh, he set the papers down and reached for it.

The screen lit up with the name Zakari.

A small smile crossed his face as Adrian picked up.

"Adrian, my bro...!"

Zak’s overly enthusiastic greeting, practically a shout, made Adrian hold the phone a little away from his ear.

"No need to yell, Zak."

"Sorry, man. Guess I’m just way too excited. Haven’t seen you in forever," Zak said, laughing.

Adrian gave a small scoff, though a faint smile lingered on his lips.

"Where are you right now? You’re back in New York?"

"Yeah" Adrian replied. "I’m at the office. Why?" he asked, tapping his index finger lightly on the desk.

"Let’s grab lunch. You free?"

"Lunch? When?"

"Right now, bro. It’s almost noon. You don’t have a lunch meeting with some investor or client, do you?" Zak asked impatiently.

"Not today. Where?"

"How about that steak place?"

"Sounds good. Raf’s coming too, right?"

"Raf? No idea where that guy is. Tried calling him, but his phone’s dead," Zak muttered.

"Busy, maybe."

"Yeah, probably. Alright, Ad, I’m hanging up. Got some paperwork to sign. I’ll see you there," Zakari said before ending the call.

While Adrian and Zak were making plans for lunch, Rafael and Bianca already seated at the steakhouse, were lost in a serious conversation about their past, completely unaware of the unexpected meeting that was about to happen.

"You know, B... even with all the pain, I’ve never once regretted meeting you."

"I’m sorry, Raf."

Hearing those words over and over from the woman sitting across from him made him feel like nothing more than a fool.

"You don’t have to keep saying sorry to me, B. Maybe this is just the way it was meant to be... that you and I were never meant to end up together." His voice was low, almost breaking, but Bianca still heard every word.

"You should’ve walked away from me back then, Raf," she whispered, her eyes shadowed with old memories, memories of that one moment that had set the stage for everything that followed.

"I couldn’t leave you like that, B. I just... couldn’t." His shoulders slumped, eyes falling to the table as if the weight of the past was pressing him down.

Bianca let out a slow breath and closed her eyes, as if doing so could shut out the ache that still lingered between them.

***

Flashback

It all started when Bianca began feeling burned out from her job as Adrian’s secretary. The endless stream of tasks and responsibilities from him left her restless. Wanting to clear her head, she decided to try something new, something she had never done before.

Eventually, she agreed to join Diandra and Rebbeca, who had been asking her for ages to come with them to a nightclub in New York.

Bianca came from a conservative family, and ever since she was a child, she’d been taught to follow her family’s religious values closely.

That night, still new to the loud and wild atmosphere of nightlife, Bianca stayed in her seat, quietly watching Diandra and Rebbeca dancing on the floor. While she was observing them, a man suddenly walked up to her with a glass of vodka in hand.

He offered it as a way to introduce himself. Bianca refused, but the man insisted. Not wanting to deal with him any further, she finally accepted the drink, downed it in one go, and then told him to leave her alone.

Not long after the drink went down, a strange heat spread through Bianca’s body. Her skin felt like it was on fire, and her head began to spin. She pushed herself to her feet and stumbled toward the exit, desperate to get home.

The moment she stepped outside, the man who had handed her the drink earlier appeared again.

"You drunk? Going home? Come with me, I’ll give you a ride," he said with a sly grin.

"No," Bianca shot back, trying to keep walking—only for him to step right into her path.

"Come on, I’ll take you," he pressed, suddenly grabbing her hand hard enough to make her flinch.

"Let go. I said let me go."

"You’re drunk. Just let me drive you," he insisted, now yanking her toward the parking lot.

"I said I don’t want to! Let me go!" Her voice rose, sharper this time.

Her voice rang out into the night, just as Rafael was getting out of his car nearby. His head snapped toward the sound. The sight that met him made his jaw clench.

"Bianca?" he called, striding toward her.

"Mr. Rafael," she said, relief flickering across her face.

"You know this guy?" Rafael asked, his tone flat but his eyes locked coldly on the man.

"I don’t. He just grabbed me out of nowhere," Bianca said, still keeping her voice steady out of habit from work.

Rafael’s eyes narrowed, the muscle in his jaw tightening as he stepped closer. Without hesitation, he took hold of Bianca’s wrist and pulled her free from the man’s grasp.

"I’ll say this once, don’t ever lay a hand on her again. If I find out you try anything, you’ll be in a cell before you can blink. And if something happens to her... you’ll be the first one I come after," Rafael warned, his voice low but deadly.

With that, he led Bianca away without looking back, his grip protective and firm as they headed toward his car.

***