Clarisse woke up the next morning to find Jonathan already gone. His car was no longer outside. She had wanted to thank him; despite the harsh words he had spoken the previous night, he had helped her see the true nature of that boy.
When she returned, Farah rushed over, worriedly asking, "Clarisse, Jonathan didn't do anything to you last night, did he?"
Seeing Jonathan's angry demeanor the previous night, Farah had feared he might devour Clarisse.
Clarisse shook her head and recounted the events involving the boy to Farah. When they got to school, Farah found the boy and gave him a severe beating, making him cry and beg for forgiveness. Even then, Farah was reluctant to stop until Clarisse pulled her away. With red eyes, Farah shouted at the boy, "Don't ever let me see you again, or I'll beat you every time I do!"
That afternoon, just as Clarisse was about to head home after class, she received a call from Fadrique. Ever since Fadrique's confession to her failed a while back, they hadn't seen or contacted each other. Every weekend when she returned to the Jian residence, Fadrique wasn't there. Clarisse knew he was avoiding her, but she didn't know how to reach out to him.
So when she got Fadrique's call, she was delighted, walking toward the school gate with a sweet smile as she held the phone. "Fadrique!"
"Hmm, what time does your class end? I'll come pick you up," Fadrique's voice was as indulgent as ever, as if the unpleasantness had never occurred.
"I don't have any more classes now; I was just about to head home."
She giggled, and Fadrique said, "Then come out; I'm already at your school gate. Oh, I can see you now; come over!"
As Clarisse hung up the phone, she saw Fadrique waving at her from a distance. She ran over to him.
"Fadrique, why are you here?"
When she reached him, she noticed the trash can beside him was full of cigarette butts. "Oh, why did you smoke so much?"
Fadrique smiled, "It's nothing; you know how addicted I am to smoking."
Clarisse pouted, about to scold Fadrique for smoking so much, but Fadrique suddenly raised his hand to ruffle her short, fluffy hair, his eyes filled with affection. Clarisse froze, and Fadrique, realizing his mistake, awkwardly withdrew his hand and changed the topic, "What do you want to eat? I'll treat you to dinner tonight."
For some reason, Fadrique's gaze made Clarisse feel a pang in her heart. She suppressed this inexplicable sourness and smiled at Fadrique. "Anything will do; you know I'm not picky."
Fadrique smiled slightly and opened the car door for her, as he always did, "Then let's go, my little princess!"
Clarisse got into Fadrique's car and left, not noticing Jonathan's car parked not far away. Jonathan had business nearby and, seeing it was about time for classes to end, thought he might give her a ride home, saving her from getting into trouble again. But not knowing her phone number, he had to wait.
From a distance, he saw her walking out of the school gate, talking on the phone and smiling brightly. She was wearing a white chiffon dress that day, its hem fluttering as she smiled radiantly, like an angel descending to earth.
He was momentarily lost in thought. Just as he was about to get out of the car, he saw Fadrique waving at her. His face darkened, and he sat back in his seat. She really couldn't stay out of trouble; he had just helped her deal with that boy yesterday, and today she was with Fadrique.
He suddenly felt that coming to pick her up was a foolish idea. Watching her get into the car with Fadrique, laughing and chatting, he angrily turned his car around and drove away.
In the restaurant, while eating, Clarisse looked at Fadrique, who was sitting across from her with a pile of dishes in front of him but not eating. She asked, " Fadrique, why aren't you eating?"
"I'm not hungry," Fadrique replied, reaching for his cigarettes again, only to have them snatched away by Clarisse.
"No wonder you're not hungry. You've been treating cigarettes as food, haven't you?"
Fadrique glanced at her, his lips moving slightly, "Clarisse, I'm getting married."
Clarisse stared at him in shock, thinking she must have misheard. It took her a moment to recover. " Fadrique, what did you just say? I didn't catch that."
Fadrique picked up the cigarette she had just taken away, lit it, and then looked away from her. "It's with the daughter of another gang leader. That gang has always been at odds with our foster father, and his health is not very good. I don't want him to worry about these things every day!"
Clarisse suddenly felt so sad that she couldn't say a word. She knew Fadrique liked her, but she thought they were still young, and with time, he would gradually forget about her. She believed he would eventually meet a girl he truly loved and start a family with her, not through a quick marriage that sacrificed his happiness for convenience.
She looked at Fadrique with a heartache, "But, Fadrique, shouldn't marriage be based on mutual affection? Do you love that girl?"
Fadrique took a puff of his cigarette and replied indifferently, "I wouldn't say love, but she's good to me."
He also wanted a marriage based on mutual love. He wanted his wife to be someone he loved. But his fantasy was shattered by her, so now any woman would do, especially one who was beneficial to BALAS.
He could see that the girl liked him. The way she looked at him was similar to how Clarisse looked at Jonathan, full of shyness and anticipation. Sometimes, he saw traces of Clarisse in that girl, which might be one reason he chose her. Unfortunately, she was not her.
Clarisse couldn't accept Fadrique's future being like this. She treated him as her brother and couldn't stand him sacrificing himself like this. " Fadrique, if you don't want to marry, don't force yourself. I'll talk to father!"
Fadrique extinguished his cigarette and turned to her with a gentle smile, "You misunderstand. It's not our foster father who is making me marry. It's my own decision."
Cesar Rollin Balas had never forced him to do anything. Because of this, Fadrique respected and admired him as a father and was willing to sacrifice for him.
Hearing Fadrique say this, Clarisse knew there was no turning back. She felt so sad and didn't know what to say. Fadrique affectionately tapped her forehead, as he used to, and pretended to be relaxed, "What you should be worrying about now is what kind of wedding gift to give me."
From now on, she would always be his sister, his beloved sister.
The more relaxed Fadrique appeared, the sadder Clarisse felt. She lowered her eyes and said softly, " Fadrique, I'm full. Can you take me home?"
She feared that if they didn't part soon, she would start crying.
After Fadrique dropped her off, he left. Clarisse stood there watching until his car disappeared from sight. She murmured, " Fadrique, you're such a fool."
With a heartbroken sigh, she turned and walked into the house, her spirits low, her head down. A ghostly voice whispered in her ear, "If you can't bear to see him go, why didn't you make him stay?"