Deceitful Desire

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath while enjoying the fresh air. The wind was strong, and I could feel the salty spray on my skin. Even though it was calming, it didn't help because I was upset and hurt. I was just wearing a bikini instead of putting my cover-ups on. I stared at the sunset as its brilliant colors faded away with the sun sinking below the horizon. With each second that passed by, my heart grew heavier. What am I doing alone in this resort? Alone? No, My boyfriend is here but he didn't know I was here; he told me that he would be attending some family matters. Family outing my foot! If it's not about family matters, then it's about some stupid friend!** And he's with other women. As in plural! It would have been tolerable if he cheated just once, but this i***t has actually created a harem instead. This made me clench my fists as anger boiled up inside me. I didn’t care if he went to hell; he was a jerk. How could he do this to me? My mind raced through memories of him making false statements and looking me in the eye as he said everything truthfully, including every sweet word and promise that felt like knives stabbing into my back. After being betrayed, the pain was excruciating and deep. The sting of tears filled my eyes, but they never fell. They had no business coming out for that disgusting bastard! I stood up from the rock I was sitting on and walked straight into the hotel. I’d been outside long enough because this was the last day I promised myself I wouldn’t be foolish anymore. And to overcome that, it would be better to hurt them—physically. I brushed aside the hair that had fallen across my face. I headed to the room where the animals I was about to slaughter for my moving on were waiting. I also brought the taser I took from my brother Alas's things. I’ll be in trouble when I get home, but this is better than a gun. I’ll just treat my brother to his favorite restaurant with his crazy friends. I knocked on the door several times, and I even heard the complaint of the idiotic woman inside. I bit my lip hard, trying to hold back my urge to cause chaos right away. As soon as the door opened, I gave her a sweet smile. “Hello, how’s it going in here?” Colette—my brother King’s fiancée—was wide-eyed. This was the woman who pretended to be close to me so I wouldn’t find out she was flirting with my boyfriend. And what's funny is that she wasn’t the only woman here. Disgusting. "Shi-shivani..." she stammered, stepping back. I gave her a cold look and walked toward the door. She moved aside on her own because she knew how I acted when I was angry. And clearly, she hadn't learned her lesson from what I did to her before. I walked in. I hadn't even reached the bed when I could hear the laughter of the animals I was going to slaughter today. Colette followed me, looking like she wanted to stop me, but she couldn't. As I pulled the curtain aside, I took out the taser from the small bag I had been carrying and pressed the button to turn it on. Without any expression on my face, I charged toward the two on the bed and shocked the woman who was with my wonderful boyfriend. She convulsed and immediately collapsed onto the bed. The blanket covering Sabrina's lower body slipped off due to the shock, and I quickly turned to face my boyfriend Davin, who was stunned by what had just happened. I could hear Colette’s scream and Davin’s shocked reaction. His jaw dropped at what I did, but I just gave him a dark grin. I moved quickly, wasting no time, and pointed the taser at Davin. Seeing how serious I was, he immediately raised his hands. “Shivani, calm down!” he shouted, trying to soothe me. “Let’s talk about this!” “Talk?” I spat, my voice dripping with venom. “You want to talk after everything you’ve done? You’re a lying, cheating bastard!” The atmosphere was tense, the only sounds were our breathing and the pounding of our hearts. My hand shook as I held the taser, consumed by rage and pain. “Shivani, I’m sorry,” Davin said, trying to appear pitiful. “It was a mistake. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” “Mistake?” I could hardly believe what I was hearing. “You’ve been doing this for years, Davin! Do you think I’m stupid?” I could see the fear in his eyes now, which gave me a sick sense of satisfaction. But beneath the rage was a deep well of pain, a betrayal so profound that I felt like I was drowning in it. I moved the taser closer to his neck. He tried to back away, but I pressed the taser to his jaw, making him scream as electricity surged through his body. He fell back, trying to crawl away from me in fear. As he backed up, he tumbled off the bed, causing the blanket to fall off, revealing that he was only wearing the boxer shorts I had bought him! I quickly moved, and even though he was stronger than me, he couldn’t get up right away because he was desperately trying to cover his body with just those boxers. Before he could stand, I grabbed his hair and pressed the taser to the back of his neck. He stiffened as he felt the taser’s tip. “You’re a pig, Davin,” I said, pulling his hair. He couldn’t fight back as I shocked him in the neck. He convulsed, his eyes rolled back, and he lost consciousness. I looked down at his unconscious body in disgust. I glanced at Sabrina, who was also unconscious, and then back at Davin, who had turned pale from what I’d done. I picked up the blanket and draped it over Sabrina—not out of pity, but because I didn’t want to see her face anymore, which only fueled my anger. I approached Davin, grabbed his clothes, and threw them at him. “f**k you and your harem, asshole,” I whispered. “When you wake up, say goodbye to your career.” I heard a sound and turned to see Colette, who was about to hit me with a vase that had been sitting on the nearby table. But before she could, I swiftly kicked her in the stomach. She dropped the vase, and it shattered on the floor. She tried to run, but I grabbed her by the hair, which reached down to her waist. She let out a yelp of pain as I yanked her back, ready to scratch her when the door suddenly opened. My brother, Alas, walked in, dressed in his police uniform, followed by King and two other officers. I rolled my eyes before letting go of Colette's hair. Here we go again. Because my brother King is obsessed with his flirtatious fiancée, I'm always the one who ends up as the villain, despite him knowing what Colette's been up to. Both of my brothers looked furious as their gazes landed on me, surveying the situation. I didn't expect them to be shocked by my actions. I've always been this way—a troublemaker. I grew up being bratty, spoiled, and insecure. That's what they knew about me. Colette was one of my targets in college. I was a bully, and she was one of my victims. Who would've thought that this loser would make my brother fall in love with her? And now she's seducing my boyfriend to get back at me for what I did to her. What I did wasn't even that bad. Sure, I humiliated her a few times in public, but it wasn't a big deal. She's just being overly dramatic—and she's not even that pretty. "K-King, help me! Your sister is hurting me again! She's going to kill me!" Colette cried, crawling to my brother King's feet, who immediately helped her up. She sobbed as if I had done something terrible to her. I flicked my hair back and tucked it behind my ear, raising an eyebrow at Colette. Did she think we were in some sort of drama, where she'd play the victim? If I were the protagonist, she’d be the pathetic, worthless antagonist. King and Alas were furious as they looked between me and the shattered vase, their expressions a mix of exhaustion and anger. My brothers had seen this side of me before. I could tell they were disappointed, but at this point, I didn’t care. King stormed towards me and snatched the taser I had pointed at his fiancée's neck, throwing it to the ground before gripping my arm tightly. The pain shot through my arm, but I refused to wince. "What the hell is this, Shivani? When will you stop acting like a thug? You're not a child anymore! I thought you had changed. For God's sake, you're a grown woman!" King's words hit me like a slap in the face, more painful than his grip. Alas sighed deeply, his face reflecting his weariness. "We've told you time and time again, Shivani. You're old enough to know better. Mama and Papa didn't raise us like this." "Kuya, don't you get it? They're making a fool out of me! They've been deceiving me!" I tried to reason with them. "I won't just stand by and let them treat me like this! I've been played by that jerk for years! How can you expect me to do nothing?" Alas looked at me with sadness in his eyes. "Shivani, we understand that you're hurt, but this isn't the way to get back at them. You're only making things worse." "Worse?!" I laughed bitterly. "Do you even know how many times I've cried because of him? He’s been playing me all along, while Colette pretends to be my friend! Damn it, do you think it's easy for me? You'd be lying if you said you wouldn't be angry in my place!" I glared at Colette, who was cowering in the corner, terrified. "You! You had the audacity to pretend to be my friend while seducing my boyfriend! You're still the same loser from college! Just because you got a nose job, you think you're beautiful? Ha! You're still the ugly duckling I know! You're pathetic, Colette. All this revenge, all this scheming, and look at you now. You're still worthless. You can't break me no matter what you do!" I stepped closer to her, and she shrank back even more. "Do you remember in college? You always cried because you thought you were the victim. Did you really think you'd change? No, Colette. You're still the same nobody who only knows how to steal and lie. You're a disgrace. King is only with you because he knows you don't deserve his respect." I saw the tears welling in her eyes, but I didn't care. "Did you really think you'd be happy after ruining my relationship? You won't be. You're nothing but a lying, scheming, backstabbing bitc—" But before I could finish, I felt a sharp slap from King. My cheek stung, but I refused to cry. This was the first time my brother had ever hit me, and it took everything in me not to break down. "You're out of line! You have no right to say that to Colette!" King shouted at me, pointing his finger in my face. Alas shook his head, clearly disappointed by the mess in the room. Clothes were strewn everywhere, the bed was disheveled, and the vase lay shattered on the floor. "Shivani, your behavior is out of control. I don't know how to defend you anymore. I'm tired of trying to protect you when all you do is cause pain and chaos!" King added, his anger seething. Alas approached me, rubbing his forehead in frustration. "Shivani, violence isn't the solution to everything. You've embarrassed our family enough. Every time you feel like you're losing, you resort to revenge. I thought you'd changed, but clearly, you haven't." I couldn't hold back my tears any longer. Their words cut deep, especially King's. No matter how hard I tried to explain, it was like they didn’t care anymore. "Kuya, please, don't you understand? They betrayed me! They started this!" But King remained unmoved. "You know what? I regret defending you all these years. I should've let you face the consequences of your actions. You're nothing but a spoiled brat who thinks the world revolves around you. I'm done with your nonsense. Grow up!" Every word felt like a knife twisting in my heart, but I refused to let them see how much I was hurting. I fought back, even though I knew I had lost. "What? Just because I loved someone and got hurt, I'm the bad guy? Colette is a manipulative b***h, and you're too blind to see it!" But before I could say more, Alas's hand landed heavily on my shoulder, stopping me from speaking further. "Enough, Shivani. This isn't right anymore. Get your life together, and learn to respect others. Violence and cruelty aren't the answer, and this attitude of yours is a disgrace. You're embarrassing all of us." I took a deep breath, trying to control the pain and anger bubbling inside me. "Fine. If that's how you see it, then so be it. You're all too blinded by that flirtatious woman to realize she's making a fool out of you. Go ahead, keep being fools. I don't care anymore!" I turned around and stormed out of the room, consumed by rage and heartache. Let them think what they want. Right now, I needed to get away, to fix myself—alone. I headed straight to a bar owned by a friend’s brother. We had grown close recently because I'd been spending a lot of time here. I had stopped being a party girl for eight years during my relationship with Davin because I wanted to be better, but those eight years were wasted. Logan placed a glass of Hennessy XO Cognac in front of me. They ordered it for their exclusive customers, including me. This wasn’t a cheap bar—it was one of the most exclusive places in town. "I never hang out with different men at the bar. I don’t care about my surroundings. I just keep dancing, but I resist getting involved with anyone, even though Davin was cheating on me back then.” Are you crazy? You suddenly pop out of nowhere and ask me to marry you? A stranger in a bar? Have you lost your mind?" I didn't know whether to laugh or get angry at what this man was saying. It was as if he just decided to hand out marriage proposals to anyone he fancied. My God! This can’t be happening to me! He grinned and picked up the box, opening it once again. He took out the ring and then grabbed my hand, slipping the ring onto my finger. He leaned in close, whispering in my ear. “I’ll wait for your answer, Miss. But if you don’t give me one, I’ll come and find you.” “You’re serious?” I asked, still in shock. “Dead serious,” he answered, his gaze piercing into mine, causing my heart to skip a beat. Before I could respond, he stood up and walked away, leaving me dazed and confused. I tried to spot him in the crowd, but he had vanished. I looked down at the ring on my hand, holding it up to examine it. “s**t, it’s really an engagement ring,” I muttered to myself as the diamond glistened under the light. But then I remembered the warnings my brother had given me about scams or setups. What if this ring was stolen and I ended up being framed? I quickly pulled the ring off and placed it back in the box, leaving it on the table. There’s no way a stranger would propose to me out of nowhere. Only a lunatic would think that was normal. “Getting married? To someone I just met in a bar? Is this a joke?” I whispered to myself. “This can’t be real. Who the hell does he think he is, asking me to marry him like this?” Maybe he was just messing with me because I seemed upset, or maybe he thought I was desperate enough to say yes. Well, he’s dead wrong!