Chapter 6 Ashley, her sister

Chapter 6 Find Me In Your Heart Zoe Castuera s point of view ????"You should get your ass outta here, Zoe. Let s just avoid any trouble," said Alessia, pushing me inside the car. ????Even if I want to go grocery shopping with her, I have to put into my mommy s preferences first. Just like in many instances, I will put their preferences before mine. ????I always feel sorry about Alessia. I know what kind of person, woman, and friend she is. She s not the type to just give up on the problem, but when she s full, she ll definitely not hesitate to let go of everything. ????I love my job. I got a lot of offers, and there was no offer from Engineer Diony six months ago. He told me that he was intimidated. He said he knew my parents were so strict, and he wasn t sure if he would be able to deal with them in case he took me. ????And, of course, he knew that they had another plan for me. He said that did not include working for his small firm. But then, I squeezed myself into Engineer Diony simply because I wanted to be with Alessia. In fact, everyone is the same, whether small firms, government agencies, or even private companies. I can also do what I want to do, and I promise myself that I won t leave Alessia s side. One more, I am more than annoyed with this situation! I had to leave my friend alone to have a blind date. I need to meet someone because of mommy s wishes. All of them were from high-end heirlooms that I don t know where did my mother gets – where in fact, I am not even interested! ???I m still young, and I am currently enjoying my life — well if they aren t blabbering about me getting married to a random man. My God! There, I will definitely grow old early. ???I gasped when I heard the loud sound of the cellphone from inside the bag. It was my mom. I m sure I already know what she is going to say. ??? ????"Mom, I m not–" ????"You don t need to come." I was stunned by her sudden change of mind. Just this morning, before I went to work, she seemed to be tickled with so much excitement. ????"What? We re on our way, Mom. What do you mean?" ?????"I won t let you date such a playboy. That man is dumb. He wasn t even that handsome." ????I couldn t stop laughing. I know my mom s been really desperate to find a man, but she knows that a good man is what it takes for me in all dating. ????"Do whatever you want today. Be home before ten." ????When the call was dropped, I hurriedly called Alessia to catch up. I still have a lot of stuff to buy.? Throughout the trip, I did not receive a reply from the woman, even after we finally reached the mall. ????I was expecting to find Alessia that fast, but that s how I frowned when I saw Asher on the side of a round pole there. He is silently watching someone from afar. ??When I followed that gaze, I saw Alessia, who s unknowingly entering the place. ????But when Asher was about to take a step closer to my friend, I quickly pulled him away and hid. ????Asher also became my friend, and even I was furious with him. ????I value Alessia a lot. So who is he to just cheat and hurt my friend like that? ????The man next to me did not speak until Alessia disappeared from our sight. ????"What are you doing?" I let go of my grip on the man; I straightened up and looked at him sharply. ????"I. . . I was in the area." He hesitated. "I didn t know that she was here." ????"What have you done in five years, and you just showed up now?" I said frankly and boldly. I don t care if there are a few people who can hear our conversation. ????If anyone should be ashamed, it should be Asher. ????"Zoe. . ." ????"What? Are you shy now? Do you want me to remind you how shameless you are for cheating on my friend?"? My eyes narrowed when I felt my blood boils.? "Asher, you re the one who ruined her life. Even she told you to leave her alone, that don t approach her, don t be with her. . . But you push yourself more to her. You did everything until she welcomed you into her life. You treated her well, you loved her, and she gave it back to you. She even surpassed all that! So. . . How can you do that to my friend?" My heartfelt drastic. I feel I was also deceived. I feel Alessia s pain, too, even five years ago.? ????"Zoe, calm down." ????"No, I won t! I won t stop until you answer me. I will not leave you here. I will not be quiet, Asher." ?I can still remember all the conversations Alessia and I had, the pain lingering in her eye, the tears that were wasted for this idiot. ????"Why, huh? Why now, will you show up to my friend again? Why are you bothering her again? Do you think she s happy to see you? You re just hurting her as you did five years ago!" ????I couldn t control my laugh. My patience was strained as I lost control. "What? Are you scared? Are you afraid that people will find out your true colors–" ????The man sighed dramatically and tried to stop me from talking. "Zoe, I didn t cheat on Alessia." "Ha! Why? Is Ashley scared to know that until now? Is she scared to know that you re still bothering your ex-girlfriend that you cheated on for her?–" ????"Ashley. . . she is my sister." ????I blinked twice in front of the man. I had to consider what was happening before the words that he said finally entered my mind. ????"What did you. . ." I tried to step back. "This some sort of. . . excuse. . ." "She s my sister," he said politely, accompanied by his convincing eyes. "I didn t even try or even thought of fooling Alessia." * * *. * * ????Alessia cried in front of me a few times before. There were days she was furious with the man, and there were days she hated herself. ????There are days she misses him, and there are days she regrets what did she do. But all those days, I knew that the woman was in pain, and her anguish remained. ????That night, she called me. I didn t immediately understand what she was saying, not only because of the strength of the wind in her place but there was only pure sobbing coming out of Alessia s mouth. There were several times I was asked why and what the problem was. I asked if she and her parents had a fight or she missed them, but I never expected that it was because of Asher. She allegedly saw her boyfriend hugging another woman who seemed to have introduced her to his family after the man did not become in touch with her for a few days. I also took a long time to blame myself. After all, I was the one who seemed to be the bridge of the two because I never expected Asher to do that. ????Asher Felix is such a good man. I know he never entertains girls, even though many are tailgating and surrounding him. He s a good catch. Tall, varsity player then, kind and sociable. ????There were how many times I have seen him with Alessia, and he made her happy. All the time. ????So my system shut down for him right away. I tried several times to talk to and beat Asher to whoever it was, but I still didn t. ????I wanted to ask Asher for a reason, even though Alessia herself said we didn t need to know because she had seen enough. ???? I wanted the man to explain, but I was made to wait out of respect for what the friend wanted. Alessia didn t wait any longer and tried to work on her own life while I didn t stop hoping that one day, someone would stand in front of Alessia to apologize and explain until the years were over — five years. ????I violently lowered the cup after sipping coffee from the famous coffee shop in the city. I looked straight at Asher for a few minutes without saying a word. "Alessia probably won t be able to hear your explanation, but I will," I scoffed. "I ll give you the benefit of the doubt but don t makeup anything." ????My palms are sweating, and I can t keep my feet on the stand. One moment I want to walk, one moment I want to hug my knees. ????I am also not prepared for this event. Little did we know that the truth that had been instilled in us is. . . ????I clenched my fist. I couldn t believe it right away. He s not just anyone who is in front of me. It was the same man who ruined Alessia s life before, and if he was able to fool my friend, it s unlikely he would do the same to me now. ????"What-" ????"Ashley Felix is my half-sister on my father s side. Up to my last year in college, I just found out the truth, Zoe. I got furious to the point that I didn t even want to continue studying at first but had to. I feel like my own parents cheated on me too. It was my fault that I didn t even bother to talk to her. It s my fault why Alessia had doubts about me but, Zoe, believe me. I did not deceive her," the man said passionately. ????I tried to observe his motion. I want to know if what he s saying is true, perhaps out of fear of the truth. I held out my hand to the man before speaking, "Prove it." ????I looked at the man hesitantly, but he immediately picked up his cell phone and tried to show me a picture of Ashley s father, the sister, and him. ????And I saw it, too. I think it was at their house, and it looked like it was just a simple breakfast. "You can be living together–" ????Once, the man picked up the cellphone and typed it before handing it back to me. That Facebook account of a man unfamiliar to me. ????Hesitantly, I scrolled down quickly. I am an expert at stalking accounts, really. ????On that account, They actually posted a stunning photo of the man and Ashley. The two seem like in a relationship, and they seem to love each other very much. If it was confirmed that Asher had another woman then and it was Ashley, it is unlikely that the two would still be together in the same house, especially since the woman has a boyfriend. ????I was convinced that I tried to return the cellphone to Asher when the name 'pretty appeared on its screen. I looked at Asher with sharp eyes and signaled who was probably calling, but his hand also waved, telling me to answer that myself. ????"Kuya! Where the fuck are you? Dad s mad! You forgot something he ordered–" ????"Ashley. . ." I tried to speak, wanting to confirm if Ashley was really her sister. ????"Yeah – but hey! Who are you?" There was silence on the other line then I almost threw away the cellphone I was holding at the woman s loud scream. "Are you, perhaps–" With her second scream, I violently handed Asher his cellphone. ????If we hadn t been quiet for a few minutes, I wouldn t have thought the situation was so awkward. ????Now that I know and confirm that the man did not cheat, what about it? Would that change what s happening now? ????Now that I know, will I run over to Alessia and tell her everything? Will my friend be happy with that? ????Is that the right thing to do after suffering for too long? I clenched my fist and then answered the questions that had been on my mind. ????No. ????My friend s five years of suffering are enough. ????It was enough for her to question herself for five years as to what was wrong and what had been lacking in her. It s enough to cry every night because if there s anything I want a friend to do, it is to forget about it all. ????Will she be free of pain if she finds out the truth? I know I don t have the right to decide because the two of them are in a relationship. Still, suddenly I thought about me. . . a friend stayed with Alessia for those years, a friend who saw everything pain, sufferings that Alessia overcome. Everything was enough. It s all over, and the two have nothing to look forward to. ????She will definitely blame herself if she finds out. She will blame herself for not listening. She blames herself for doubting Asher simply because she prefers to believe what her emotions have taught her. ????I looked straight ahead when I started preparing to leave. Yes, I know the truth, but can anything really change now? ????Asher gently touched my arm when I was about to step on my feet. I could do nothing but turn my gaze and face into his speaking eyes. ????"Help me," Asher blurted. "Help me, Zoe. I love her so much. It s hard not to have Alessia. . . on my side."