04:39 P.M.
Katrina Fajardo's Residence.
July 20th, the year 2018. Friday.
Katrina felt the tears brimming in her eyes. Xian played it again with the same angry tears pouring down his cheeks. She swallowed, hearing every word pierced through her heart.
"Lieutenant Dela Rosa. The bracelet that's found on the crime scene of Margo Monteverde right at the top of the hood of her car. It's positive about Katrina Fajardo's fingerprints. The forensic team sent it over through the international forensics for the test. The scanners have been out for almost three weeks now."
"Where... where did you get that?" Katrina stammered, knuckling her fists. Xian glared at her as the message stopped. His teeth gritted, Katrina glowering at him,
"Why do you have the guts to ask me that? You... you have been there at the crime scene of Margo?" Xian spat. Katrina shook her head aggressively as Xian scoffed.
"Admit that you killed her, Katrina!" Xian shouted over the confines of the garden, as Katrina couldn't believe what she had heard. Katrina shook her head repetitively. She held her chest and gasped as much air as she needed.
"You killed her, Katrina! You were the one who murdered her!" Xian bellowed, sobbing uncontrollably.
She fell down on the grass as Xian gritted his teeth towards her. They were both crying out of loathing and disbelief. Katrina gripped her chest. The words from the voice of the message on Xian's cell phone bombarded her mind.
"I don't... I did nothing wrong," Katrina whispered, looking at the grass. The results astonished her. She realized Marcus knew it all along. Katrina sobbed uncontrollably. She bit her bottom lip and mustered up the courage to look up to Xian.
"What? Do you still have the power to say that you did nothing wrong? I am not clueless, Katrina. I saw your scandal with Margo at the Queen's Bar, too. Don't deny everything that happened," Xian muttered, infuriated. He wanted to fight back the angry tears from coming, but it seemed unlikely to happen.
"I just... I just did that because... because I was so angry... but...," Katrina can't continue to say it as the hiccups came. She wiped her nose and sat down on the grass.
Until someone rang the doorbell outside of their house. They both looked over there as Katrina stopped sobbing.
"Katrina! Katrina!" Mina shouted over the gate. The front door opened and her aunt came outside right away. She opened the gate for Mina, creasing her forehead. Mina huffed an air and looked over Katrina's bedroom window over the second floor of the house. He turned to Auntie Karyn when he saw she's puzzled.
"Where is Katrina, Auntie Karyn?" Mina asked.
"She's right there in the garden with Xian," Auntie Karyn mumbled. She looked over at the door that led to the insides of the garden.
Katrina stood up from where she seated, peeking over the gate. She heard Xian's scoff. Katrina's incredulous eyes turned to her. Xian did the same thing.
"I never thought that your best friends will still protect you with how much they can, Katrina. After all, Marcus can't help himself turn a blind eye to what was happening right now to protect you," Xian cackled. He couldn't believe the scenes unfolding in his eyes.
"Marcus isn't turning a blind eye. I knew him. He knew the truth, Xian," Katrina muttered. She remembered the call Marcus made earlier. He asked about where she was, and Katrina didn't know how to express her gratitude towards him. Xian shook his head repetitiously.
"I saw him before I came here, Katrina. And I knew Marcus wanted to deny it himself, even if it was the truth. He even tore the results of the fingerprint scanning in front of me. Now tell me, did you still know Marcus, your longtime best friend, by seeing that he was doing this?" Xian explained. Until Mina appeared right behind him. He heard everything as he spoke up diligently.
"What? Marcus did what?" Mina muttered, Xian glancing at his back over behind his back. Katrina looked down at her feet and regretted everything she said that day on the Queen's Bar. If that didn't happen, Margo would be alive.
Mina knuckled his fists as he hissed, "Remember, Xian. This wouldn't have happened if you didn't cheat on Margo."
Xian snickered, and retorted back, "I knew what my mistake was, Mina. And I regretted it."
Mina walked behind Katrina while glaring at Xian. Katrina questioned Marcus' vagueness towards the case.
Why would Marcus do that if he had the right of responsibility to catch the murderers, the killers? Why would he do that if he knew that his best friend would be in much danger if he continued to lie?
Katrina felt the tears falling down her cheeks as Mina said something to Xian. Marcus is the head of detectives, yet he wanted to protect Katrina. A hot-headed, arrogant woman who doesn't know anything but to cause a scandal.
The cold breeze made them shiver in their places. The heated exchange of the stares of the two guys was still blazing.
"Do you regret it after doing it? That is right. Regrets always come too late," Mina muttered as he gritted his teeth. Xian felt a lump on his throat, clenching his jaw.
"What about Katrina? She didn't regret everything, right? He doesn't have the same mutual feelings I have since Margo died," Xian mocked. It made Mina grab his collar. Katrina didn't even know what was happening and put her hands over her mouth. She felt the struck of lightning as she heard Xian's response.
"Stop what you are saying right now, Xian," Mina hissed at him, which made Xian chortle at him. Mina couldn't contain the detest he was feeling right now.
"She's the one to blame for why Margo died! She's the one who killed her! Didn't you hear this message while talking to Marcus?!" Xian shrieked. Mina cannot control his hands from punching Xian's face. He didn't even care about the wooden crutches that Xian was clasping to his sides.
"Never say that in front of our faces! You don't have to mock everything just to put the blame on Katrina! She didn't kill her!" Mina bellowed back, which made Auntie Karyn look over the entrance and gasped as she saw Xian on the ground.
She ran over to Xian and stared at her niece, who was crying. Mina glared at him as Xian tried so hard to stand up from where he fell down. He felt the screeching pain in his leg as he tried to move it and yelped.
Xian chortled as Mina felt the heavy tears coming down his eyes.
"I have the evidence, Mina. She... murdered her, and we can't be in the denial stage right now to protect Katrina. She is the real culprit here," Xian snarled. Auntie Karyn looked puzzled at the three.
Katrina's sobs became more invested. Mina can't handle his anger. He threw another punch at Xian. It made him slap his head over the grass. He even smirked that Mina's blood boiled seriously, and he punched Xian again.
Auntie Karyn screamed at the top of her lungs to stop fighting as Katrina moved, coerced from her place.
Mina smacked Xian's face hard. He stopped right away when he saw Katrina go out of the garden as her auntie shouted her name.
Mina stood up from punching Xian and went outside to the garden, too. Auntie Karyn was so confused about what happened that she didn't know what to do. Xian looked up at the sky as he felt the blood coming out from the sides of his mouth.
He chuckled like a maniac. Xian thought that everything that was happening was because of that person. The one wearing a black hoodie. He closed his eyes right away and cried silently as Katrina's aunt asked if he was okay.