I'm Legal Wife

Chapter 2 — The Night Everything Changed

The night air in Carigara, Leyte was unusually silent, as if the entire town had grown afraid to make a sound. Inside their small ancestral home, the ticking of the old wall clock echoed too loudly—following every weak breath that came from Lioren Aves-Dravos.

She lay on the floor, cheeks bruised, lips bleeding, her duster drenched in blood and sweat. The pain in her body was sharp but the pain in her heart was unbearable. Moments ago, she had tried to leave quietly. She only wanted to collect their clothes and take her children away before Rhaen's behavior truly returned before his psychopathy took another life.

But he caught her.

His cold eyes and calm voice those frightened her more than any violence ever could.

She had once believed she could teach him how to feel. She once believed love could change him. She married him knowing his condition. And for a while, she believed they succeeded. He became gentle with the children.

He smiled at her.

He looked at her as if he understood her pain...

She thought he had changed.

Until tonight.

The moment she saw his blank expression again while she cried. She knew the family she built was slowly vanishing like the person she used to be.

A boiling kettle was the only thing within her reach. With all her remaining strength, she stood and threw it toward him just enough for him to lose grip. She collapsed again, crawling away, not out of fear for herself but for her three children.

They cannot become like you, she thought, trembling.

Rhaen's footsteps moved slowly across the wooden floor his breathing remained calm, his stare still empty. There was no rage only possession. For him, love meant control.

And he believed his family still belonged to him.

But when he saw the blood on her clothes—something inside him paused.

Not guilt.

Not fear.

Something else.

Something unfamiliar that he couldn't name.

She saw it too...confusion.

She forced herself to stand on her knees, her vision spinning, and whispered hoarsely, "Change, Rhaen...so you can see our children again..."

He didn't reply.

He just stared, frozen in a silence that felt heavier than violence.

It was then she made the choice that would rewrite all their lives she walked out the door wearing only a torn duster, no shoes, no plan... only a mother's last strength.

Outside, the wind grew harsher. It stung her wounds as she ran through the narrow paths, toward the one house she knew she could reach her brother's childhood friend.

With every step, she felt her life fading. But the thought of her three children waiting in the dark kept her moving. When she reached the gate, her knees finally gave up. She didn't knock. She simply fell to the ground.

But her children found her first.

"Mama!"

The voices pierced the quiet street. Vale, still too young to understand, searched behind her for their father. Deyr's eyes filled with disbelief when he saw the state she was in. Vhenn, the eldest, didn't say anything—his hands clenched as he helped her stand.

Inside the house, her brother's friend asked what happened. The truth was painful. But silence would have been worse.

She told them everything. Even the part that destroyed her the most that she knew in her heart, Rhaen might have been involved in the tragedy of her family years ago, and she was too blinded by love to see it.

It was the first time her children heard about psychopathy the word that would change how they saw their father forever the word that marked their family history.

She didn't force them to choose her.

She didn't ask them to hate him.

She only said, "I will leave, If you don't want to come...don't."

She stood and began to walk away alone.

Too hurt to look back...too ashamed to cry.

But then her eldest son followed then the second...then the youngest.

Vhenn said gently, "Papa is still our father, but we don't want to lose you too."

For the first time that night Lioren broke down completely not from fear...but relief.

They chose her. And she chose their future.

They left Leyte before dawn.

The house remained lit behind them.

Rhaen stood at the window, watching their silhouettes fade into the darkness. He didn't chase them. He didn't scream.

He didn't cry.

He just stood there—with no expression.

But when the last car light disappeared down the road... his breath shook for the first time in years.

He didn't understand why.

Perhaps it was guilt.

Or loss.

Or something he never learned how to name.

Whatever it was—that night, Rhaen Dravos finally felt something.

And it was already too late.

The morning air was humid and heavy. Lioren's hands were still trembling from the escape, though her legs ached from running through uneven dirt paths. She held her children close, their small hands gripping hers as if their lives depended on it because in that moment, they truly did.

Her eldest, Vhenn, walked beside her with a strange mixture of fear and resolve. The boy had inherited his father's sharp eyes, but unlike Rhaen, he had a heart that felt the weight of every decision. Deyr, the middle child, followed closely, silent but vigilant, as if protecting his younger sister, Vale, who clung to her mother's side and refused to speak.

They arrived at the small house of her brother's childhood friend. The porch light flickered weakly in the morning haze. Lioren's heart beat violently against her ribs, not because of fear but because for the first time in years, she felt the fragile possibility of safety.

Her friend opened the door. His eyes widened at the sight of her blood-stained duster and the weary faces of the children.

"They...they hurt you, Ma?" Vhenn's voice was barely audible, but sharp with disbelief.

Lioren swallowed, trying to hold back tears. "Yes... your father... he..." She could not finish.

The words were too heavy, she looked at her children instead. Their eyes, wide and questioning, mirrored her own anguish. "We can't go back, not now—not ever."

Deyr stepped closer, placing a trembling hand on her arm. "But Mama...Papa...he...we can't just leave him?"

She shook her head slowly. "He is not the father you deserve and I will not let you become like him."

Vale, barely 11, hugged her tightly, her small body shivering. "I don't want to be like Papa,"

She whispered. "I just want you, Mama. Please don't leave us."

Lioren pressed her cheek against her daughter's hair, inhaling the faint scent that reminded her why she had to run. It was more than fear. It was love—real, imperfect, unyielding love. And for that love, she had to choose survival.

Her brother's friend helped them inside she refused to look back at the path that had led them to this temporary sanctuary. Every step she had taken away from her home was a step toward freedom but also into uncertainty.

For hours, they spoke little Lioren tended to their minor injuries and washed the blood from her duster, careful not to linger over the stains that would forever mark the night of their escape. She wrapped the children in blankets, allowing them to rest while her mind raced with plans.

How would she survive now? How could she protect them from the shadow of Rhaen Dravos and the twisted legacy of his family? She had no money. No resources. Only the fragments of hope and the kindness of an old friend.

But she had something more important: her children. They were strong, and they had chosen her. That choice was a quiet rebellion against the darkness that had nearly swallowed their family whole.

As night fell again, Lioren sat outside the small veranda, staring at the stars. Her back ached, her body still weak, but her spirit burned brighter than it had in years. She had made the impossible choice: she had left her husband, leaving behind the life she had known, the man she had once loved, and the security of home.

And for the first time in years, she felt a glimmer of control over her own destiny.

"I will give you a life you deserve, a life without fear...without coldness...a life full of love." she whispered into the night.

The children slept inside, exhausted but safe. Lioren stayed outside long after, knowing the danger was far from over. Every sound of the night could be a warning. Every shadow could conceal the return of a man who had once ruled their lives with precision and absence of emotion.

Her plan was still fragile she had no identity, no legal protection, and the threat of Rhaen's psychopathy was always looming. But she was determined. They would survive. And she would rebuild them a world where love was defined not by control, but by freedom.

Somewhere deep down, she knew it would not be easy. Some nights, she would awaken in terror, haunted by the memory of his cold eyes. But each morning, she would rise for her children, and rise she did.

By the first light of dawn, Lioren had made a decision. She would take her children far from Leyte, far from the shadow of Rhaen Dravos. A new identity. A new life. A place where the past could not follow, and the darkness could not reach them.

It was the beginning of Eryl Saeve.

The flight to Singapore was long, quiet, and heavy with unspoken tension. Lioren held her children’s hands tightly in the cramped airplane seat, their small fingers entwined with hers as if drawing courage from one another. None of them spoke much; words felt inadequate against the weight of what they had left behind.

When the plane finally touched down, the humid air of the city wrapped around them like a stranger’s embrace. Lioren swallowed hard, her heart racing not from fear, but from the enormity of the future she had just claimed.

They were strangers here. No friends, no relatives. Only a faint promise of safety and a chance at rebuilding their lives.

Her old friend in Manila, who had helped arrange the identity change, met them at the airport. He had prepared documents, passports, and enough money to start over.

He said softly, handing her the new passport. “You’re Eryl Saeve now, use it wisely, live your life for you for them.”

Lioren looked at her children. Vhenn, still somber, clutched her hand. Deyr tried to smile, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Vale, too young to fully understand the weight of a new identity, leaned into her mother’s shoulder.

Lioren whispered. “Yes, we'll start over...we'll be safe. We’ll be free.”

The first weeks were the hardest. Singapore was bright, bustling, and alive but it was nothing like the quiet town they had fled. Eryl Saeve had to navigate language barriers, new school systems, and the overwhelming pace of the city while hiding the trauma that still haunted her children.

At first, they spoke Filipino at home, clinging to the familiarity of their mother tongue but outside, they were forced to adapt quickly. Schools required English, Mandarin, Malay, or Tamil. For Vhenn, the eldest, it was a challenge but also a relief. He could bury himself in academics and forget, even if just for a moment, the memory of his father’s cold stare.

Deyr adapted more slowly he watched other children closely, always cautious. He asked too many questions, worried about rules and safety. But Eryl let him take his time.

Vale, the youngest, struggled the most with the silence between them. She had nightmares of the night they fled, waking up screaming and calling for a father who had become a stranger to her.

Eryl held her in the middle of the night, whispering, “You are safe now. I will never let anyone hurt you again."

Eryl found work at a plantation business in Singapore, a small enterprise her friend had left under her name. She worked tirelessly, learning the trade and negotiating contracts with foreign clients, all while keeping her identity carefully hidden.

At night, she would sit in her small apartment with the children, exhausted, and plan the next day. Bills, schools, safety measures they never ended. But for the first time, she felt in control.

No one could reach them here. Not Rhaen, not his family, not the shadows of the past.

And yet, she could not deny the small pangs of fear that hit her whenever a car slowed near their apartment, or a stranger lingered in the market too long. She reminded herself: they were safe. They were alive. That was enough—for now.

One evening, Eryl took her children to the plantation fields after dinner.

The air smelled of earth and growth, rich and foreign. The sun was setting, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink.

She looked at her children and saw resilience she hadn’t realized existed in them. They were scarred, yes...but they were growing, learning, surviving.

“Someday, we’ll not only survive...we’ll thrive. We’ll create a life so full of our own rules, our own love… that no one can take it from us.” she said quietly.

Vhenn, standing tall despite his young age, nodded. “We’ll do it, Mama, Together.”

Deyr smiled faintly, and Vale, too tired to argue, hugged her mother’s leg.

And for the first time in years, Eryl Saeve allowed herself to imagine a life beyond fear, beyond the shadow of Rhaen Dravos.

They had escaped the darkness. Now, they would learn to live in the light even if that light was foreign, uncertain, and fragile.

The journey had just begun.