[ Monday, July 18 ]
My head felt so heavy the moment when the rays of the sun entered my bedroom's window, waking me up. I pulled myself up and sat down, trying to process everything that happened last night. I closed my eyes and ran my fingers through my hair. The scenario of everything that happened last night played in my mind like a movie. Everything was so clear, to the point where I can still feel Amethyst slapping me again and again.
Please, tell me that everything is just a dream.
Sasha's confession and kiss.
Amethyst who witnessed the entire thing, making her cry and run away.
Summer, who slapped me hard like Amethyst and yelled at me like there's no tomorrow.
Everything is a mess. I am a mess. How can I even face anyone from their family after what happened last night? The entire company knows that the wedding would happen before this year ends and once everyone finds out that Sasha and I did something wrong, my reputation's gonna be ruined. My life will be officially over.
I calmed myself down and stopped myself from overthinking. Relax. Everything would be okay. This is just a trial and I have to be strong. My greatest enemy would be my mind and I have to change my mental attitude instead. Reminiscing about what happened wouldn't help. I should think of a solution instead.
An hour later, I stood outside Sir Gabriel's office for he told me to come. It's a Monday, a real working day, but I believe that today, I have something else to do and not my typical work. Is this judgment day for me?
I closed my eyes and took a deep sigh as I held the doorknob with my cold hands. Cold sweats ran down from my temples like a race, but I won't let these feelings stop me from facing the reality. I'm a big part of the damage. Therefore, I must face the consequences.
I knocked and turned the doorknob down and gently pushed the door open. Sir Gabriel was there, standing in front of the glass door that leads to the balcony, his hands behind him. The glass door was so clear, our reflections can be seen in it. The glass door reflects a blank facial expression, his eyes as cold as ice.
He turned back to me and gave me a stern look. "Tell me, Vaughn Alcantara," he began, his voice solemn. I gulped as I hear my full name. "Do you love my daughter?"
"Of course, I do," I answered quickly, without any hesitation.
"Who among my daughters? Summer, Amethyst, or Sasha?"
"I don't understand why you had to ask me that. Of course, it's Amethyst. After all, she's my –" Sir Gabriel didn't bother to listen to my explanation, cutting me off.
"She's your fiancée and you broke her heart. You broke my daughter's heart. What do you want me to think now? I can't understand why you had to keep everything as a secret. If Sasha's bugging you, then you should've told Amethyst in the first place. Do you even know where Amethyst is now?"
I raised my head up to look at him. "What are you –"
His lips twitched for a second and he looked away, faking a laugh. "Why am I not surprised? Of course, you have no idea that she's currently missing. The world already knows that my daughter's missing and you're the only one left innocent. You don't read the newspapers, don't you?" Sir Gabriel took the newspaper from his table and tossed it for me to catch. As I held the newspaper in my hands, the headline written in all caps and bold typeface made my eyes bleed.
AMETHYST MONTEVERDE'S CAR FOUND IN THE RIVER, HER BODY STILL MISSING
I braced myself, holding myself back from tears as I read the details of the article. The rush of blood roars in my ears, hammering in time with my heart. This can't be happening. This is too much. I'd like to think that she didn't do this intentionally to suicide. I know that everything is a mess, but I had no idea that things would be this bad. How can I even fix all the damage that I've done? This isn't all my fault, but there's no sense in blaming anyone because whether I'll do it or not, the damage is done. It won't change anything.
"The truth hurts, doesn't it? You made my daughter feel loved. You made her happy. You broke her heart. You ruined her life. Can you still imagine how she'll repay you when she sees you again if she's ever alive?" Sir Gabriel said, his eyes full of pain, hatred, and disappointment. As tears began forming in his eyes, he turned his back away and took the handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his eyes.
"I can't stand to see you here anymore, Vaughn. If I'll keep seeing you, I might do something I'll regret. I don't want to be an animal, but you don't know how much I wanted to …" he stopped himself from saying the next words and took a deep breath. "You know what? You should leave your job here in my office and look for my missing daughter instead. Talk to the investigators, the police, I don't care. You're not coming back here 'till you have her with you, dead or alive. But if you want to give up your marriage, you're free to go. I'll handle everything myself."
I can imagine how painful it was for him to lose his daughter. Amethyst isn't exactly his favorite daughter, but Summer. But the fact that he's acting like this means that he values her too. The thought itself that she's missing made me feel guilty shook and shattered from the inside already. How much more if it's the father who lost his daughter? He was with her for 23 years. He protected Amethyst and became strict when it comes to suitors and then there's me who won her heart.
There's me, who won and broke her heart.
"I'm going to search for her, sir. I know that saying sorry isn't enough, but I am. I'll do my best to find her as soon as I can, I promise." I declared.
"Promise is a big word," he commented. "You shouldn't use that if you're just basing everything to what you feel at the moment. It's easy to say, doing it is what makes it hard." He looked down for a second, articulating his thoughts.
"Don't disappoint me again, son. Perhaps don't let me take that word back again. When you come back, you can call me father if you want to."
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[ Tuesday, July 19 ]
I managed to talk to the police and hired my close friend, Johan Chua as the private investigator for this case. It's only been a day since Amethyst was declared to be missing, but I couldn't stop myself from worrying and have negative thoughts that I keep on rejecting, but they keep on coming. I have lots of questions in mind. But just like thoughts, I'm a mess.
"Vaughn, I can see that you're worried, but you have to be strong. Everything happens for a reason," Johan said while patting my back. I want to think that it's a way of him to comfort me but it doesn't work anyway.
"If everything happens for a reason, then why do all these things need to happen? Amethyst don't deserve this. I don't deserve this. Nobody does!" my fists are shaking, searching for something to punch. I want to yell and break things. But I know that isn't the best way. Things won't be solved that way.
"For now, we should study the details of the case," Johan spoke, ignoring my statement. His expression was blank, but I can see that there are lots of things running in his mind.
We headed to the Jeoyeon bridge where the car accident happened and looked at what's inside Amethyst's retrieved SUV. Her bag includes her broken phone, wallet with her driver's license, credit cards and cash in it, and some unnecessary accessories. The window of the driver's seat was broken, which was concluded that probably someone broke it to take her out of the car.
The thing was if she's alive, where can she possibly be? Why didn't the person who rescued her tell everyone about her?
I looked around the place and saw a CCTV camera attached at the corner of the bridge where the accident happened. "Johan," I called, tapping his shoulder while he's taking notes, my eyes fixed on the CCTV camera. "I think that CCTV camera can help us. We need to see the footage of what happened. Do you have any idea where we can view it?"
"I already have the copy of that footage this morning. Here, I'll show it to you." Johan turned his laptop on and showed me the file of the footage. The video was blurry because of the rain, but clear enough to see what's going on. When her car fell, a man from another car dove into the water.
Seven minutes later, the man went to the surface to breathe and dove back again. Eventually, the man managed to get out of the water with Amethyst with him. My eyes widened when I saw her.
The feeling of guilt returned and the feeling of longing is there. If I can only grab her out of that footage, I would've. As much as I wanted to see the man's face, I couldn't recognize him because the footage was too blurry. I hate this. But at least, I saw something that'll help, like a puzzle piece in our investigation. A few minutes later, an ambulance arrived and brought the man and Amethyst to the hospital.
"That's it, Johan. We need to go to the hospital where they might be taken. How can you not tell me about this sooner?" I said in a rush as I opened the door of the driver's seat to drive. For some reason, the footage gave me hopes that I'm getting close to finding her. She can be in that hospital, I thought. She has to. If she was brought there on Sunday at around 8 pm, she should still be there.
God, please. Save and protect her. That's the only thing I'll ever ask for. If Amethyst is alive, I'm more than sure that she'll dump me and the wedding will never happen. At this rate, it's not the wedding that matters anymore, but her life. She needs to live. I can never forgive myself if I'll get the news that she's gone.
I ran to the nurse's desk of the nearest hospital from that bridge, hoping to get the information that I'm longing to know, that I deserve to know.
"Excuse me, is there a patient named Amethyst Monteverde that was brought here last Sunday, July 17?" I asked, and the nurse started looking at the records.
"Oh, she was here, sir. But she was already discharged four hours ago, at noon." The nurse said plainly.
I narrowed my eyes. "How come she was discharged that fast? She must've had some head injuries or something from that car accident. Who was she with?"
"I'm sorry sir, but I can't share more information than that."
"Why not? I'm her fiancé and I deserve to know what happened because we're all looking for her. The person she's with probably took her, because she didn't go home after. Haven't you read the news? She's missing, and I need to know every single information I can get for this search!"
"Vaughn, calm down. Don't let your anger control you." Johan suggested.
I closed my eyes and heaved a breath, removing his hand on my shoulder. "Don't you get it? How can I possibly calm down if I'm getting close yet I couldn't get the information that I need? Haven't you heard? She was here a couple of hours ago. The time doesn't stop. With every minute, she can be getting farther away. You can't understand this, can't you? Of course, who is Amethyst to you anyway? I'm not really surprised that you don't care that much." I stormed and looked again at the nurse who's whimpering, holding back her tears.
"I'm … I'm sorry, sir. I just got this job two weeks ago and I really need it. I want to help you because I can see how desperate you are but I'm just following what I was told to. I don't want to get fired."
She broke down, tears fell from her eyes. I paused for a moment, realizing that I've already lost my sense of self. Hundreds of thoughts drown out everything around me. I'm losing my mind.
I searched for a seat, walking out little by little from the awkward situation. I leaned back into the seat and sighed, trying to process everything.
Meanwhile, as I was carried away with my thoughts, my phone vibrated from my pocket so I pulled it out to check who the message was from.
Summer: How's your search? Any news?
Me: No significant results yet, but I found the hospital where she was brought. Unfortunately, she's already discharged. At least it means that she's alive.
Summer: Honestly, Vaughn? I wanted to hate you for breaking my sister's heart. But I know that focusing on my anger against you won't change anything.
Me: Which means?
Summer: I'm going to help you. I love my sister, and I feel bad that we only appreciated each other just recently. For many years we've been fighting over The Crown, which is immature. Amethyst is still your fiancée and she's my sister and at the same time, my friend. I'm going to help you with the ads.
Me: Ads?
Summer: Yes, online. Have you forgotten that I've got thousands of followers on my social media accounts? I can use my connections.
Me: Thanks, Summer. This means a lot.
Summer: I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing this because I care for my sister.
At least, another person offered some help to give me a little relief.