Dare to Break Me

PROLOGUE I stepped out of my room, ready for whatever this morning had in store for me. For months, I had imagined this moment. The walk down the aisle. The music filling the church. Our families watching with proud smiles. And at the end of that aisle, Uno was waiting for me. Today was supposed to be the beginning of forever. I was already wearing the white gown designed by a famous designer and Mommy’s dear friend, Tita Vera. The dress was simple, elegant, and exactly what I had always wanted. I never dreamed of an extravagant wedding. I only wanted to feel beautiful for him. My make-up team had just finished packing up, completely satisfied with the results of nearly an hour of working on my face and hair. I looked at myself in the mirror one last time. For a moment, I barely recognized the woman staring back at me. My hair was carefully styled, with soft strands framing my face. My make-up was elegant but not overwhelming. My eyes looked brighter, my lips softer. My hands trembled slightly. “You’re the simplest yet most elegant bride I’ve ever worked on, Violet. I’m sure Uno won’t even be able to blink when he sees you at the church later.” Brianna, my make-up artist, sounded even more excited than I was. I smiled shyly. “I hope he likes how I look later.” “Of course he will!” Brianna laughed. “If he doesn’t, then he clearly needs his eyes checked.” I laughed with her. But beneath my smile was a nervous excitement I couldn't hide. It had been five years since Uno and I first met, yet I still got nervous whenever I faced him with a full face of make-up. Most of the time, I only wore a little lip tint and face powder. That was enough for me. Uno even preferred me that way, especially when I went to the office for work. “You don't need all that make-up,” he would always say. And sometimes, when I dressed up too much, he would stare at me with a frown before asking, “Who are you trying to impress?” I would laugh and tell him, “Nobody.” He would simply pull me closer. My fiancé was possessive like that. He could even get jealous of his own brother whenever it came to me. At first, I found it amusing. Jake would tease him whenever Uno became jealous. “You know, brother, I’m not interested in your fiancée.” Uno would glare at him. And I would laugh. Back then, I thought it was sweet. I thought his jealousy meant he loved me deeply. I thought I was lucky. I thought I had finally found someone who would never leave me. My phone suddenly rang. I glanced at the screen. My heart immediately skipped. Uno. I picked it up without hesitation. “Good morning, baby. Are you ready?” His voice was warm and familiar. I closed my eyes for a moment. Hearing his voice made everything feel real. “Yes, baby. They just finished doing my make-up. I’m going downstairs now so I can get into the car.” “Okay. I’ll see you at the church.” “Okay, baby.” There was a short silence. Then his voice became softer. “I love you, Violet. And I will love you for the rest of my life, baby.” My smile widened. Those words. Those exact words. I had heard them countless times before, but today they felt different. Today, they felt like a promise. A promise I believed could never be broken. “I love you too, Uno. I can’t wait to be your forever wife. I’ll see you later.” “Okay. Bye.” The call ended. I stared at my phone for several seconds. I couldn't stop smiling. “Someone is very happy,” Brianna teased. I shook my head, trying to hide my smile. “I’m getting married.” “You better be happy. You only get one wedding day.” I looked at her. “One wedding day,” I repeated softly. I didn't know then how cruel those words would become. I climbed into the bridal car while my make-up artist followed behind in our van. My family had already gone ahead to the church. Mommy had insisted that I leave later than everyone else. She said it was tradition. She said the bride should make an entrance. I didn't mind. I was too excited to care. The driver closed the door, and I settled into my seat. I looked down at my hands. My wedding ring was already there. I touched it gently. It was strange. I had worn that ring for months, yet today it suddenly felt heavier. Perhaps it was simply the weight of the moment. Perhaps I was nervous. After all, I was about to marry the man I had loved for five years. The man I had built my dreams around. The man I believed would be beside me for the rest of my life. The drive took about thirty minutes. Aside from the traffic in the center of the city, the church where we were getting married was quite far away. We were headed to Baguio City First Methodist Church. As we drove, I simply gazed through the window. The tall pine trees still stood proudly along the road. The flowers planted along the pathways seemed to be showing off their colors, just as beautiful as ever. Nothing had changed. It was still cold. Still peaceful. There was something about this place that always made me breathe easier. I missed the sea of Zambales. I missed the sound of waves crashing against the shore. I missed the warmth of the place I had once called home. But somehow, my heart had fallen more deeply in love with these mountains of Benguet. This place had become part of me. This was where we had rebuilt our lives. This was where I had found the Uno my heart loved. This was where I had finally learned what it meant to be free. I remember the first time Uno brought me here. I had complained about the cold the entire day. “You said you wanted to see the mountains,” he laughed. “I didn't know the mountains would freeze me to death!” He laughed even harder before taking off his jacket and placing it around my shoulders. “You're impossible.” “You love me.” He looked at me. “I do.” That memory made me smile. Five years. Five years of memories. Five years of laughter. Five years of arguments and apologies. Five years of learning each other's habits. Five years of believing we were building something permanent. I thought about our first date. Our first kiss. Our first fight. The night Uno told me he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. I remembered the way he looked at me when he proposed. I remembered how badly my hands trembled. I remembered saying yes before he could even finish asking. And now— Today was the day. Today, I would become his wife. I smiled at the thought. Then the church finally came into view. My heart began racing. I sat up straighter. I could already imagine Uno standing inside. Waiting. Waiting for me. I took a deep breath. “Almost there,” I whispered. But when the car stopped, something immediately felt wrong. I looked outside. My family was standing there. Not smiling. Not laughing. Not celebrating. They looked tense. Confused. Afraid. My smile slowly faded. I immediately noticed Ate Pink and Blue. My siblings rushed toward me. They reached the car before I could even open the door. “Violet.” Ate Pink's voice sounded strange. “What?” She looked at Blue. Then back at me. “Don't get out yet.” I frowned. “Why?” “Just stay inside for a while.” I looked from her to Blue. Both of them seemed unusually pale. “I’m getting out, Ate.” I reached for the door handle. She immediately stopped me. “Not yet, Violet.” “Why?” Her lips parted. She hesitated. Then she finally said the words that made my stomach drop. “Uno isn’t here.” For a moment, I didn't understand. “What?” “Uno isn't here.” I stared at her. Then I laughed nervously. “That can't be right.” “Violet—” “What do you mean he's not here?” I looked toward the church entrance. Maybe he was inside. Maybe he was waiting somewhere. Maybe everyone was simply trying to surprise me. “What? I was just talking to him earlier.” My voice became smaller. “He said he'd see me at the church.” Ate Pink looked at me with tears beginning to form in her eyes. My heart started pounding. A sudden wave of uneasiness washed over me. Somewhere inside my mind, a quiet voice whispered that something terrible was about to happen. “Where is he?” Neither of them answered. “Ate.” She looked away. “Where is Uno?” “We don't know.” My breathing became shallow. “What do you mean you don't know?” “His parents don't know where he is either.” She swallowed hard. “Even Jake can't reach his brother.” “That is weird, Ate!” I tried to laugh. But no sound came out. I grabbed my phone. I called Uno. The phone rang. Once. Twice. Three times. No answer. I called again. Still nothing. I stared at the screen. Pick up. Please pick up. My fingers tightened around my phone. “Maybe his phone died,” Blue said. “His phone never dies.” “Maybe he got stuck somewhere.” “Then why isn't anyone answering?” Neither of them responded. I called again. Straight to voicemail. My stomach twisted. “No.” I shook my head. “No, no, no.” I dialed his number again. Nothing. I tried Jake. No answer. I called Uno's parents. Nothing. The world around me seemed to grow quieter. I could still see people moving around the church. I could still hear cars passing. I could still hear people talking. But everything felt far away. As though I were trapped underwater. “Violet,” Ate Pink whispered. “Something happened.” “What?” “I don't know.” “Then why are you looking at me like that?” She didn't answer. My eyes filled with tears. Still, I remained inside the car. Maybe he would arrive. Maybe there was an explanation. Maybe this was just a terrible misunderstanding. I held onto that hope because the alternative was too painful to consider. Ten minutes passed. Then twenty. Then thirty. Every passing minute felt like another crack forming inside my heart. I kept checking my phone. Nothing. No message. No call. No explanation. The wedding guests had begun whispering. Some looked toward the parking area. Some were confused. Others looked worried. I didn't want to see any of them. I lowered my head. My hands were shaking. “Violet,” Blue said softly. “Don't.” “Violet—” “Don't say anything.” I closed my eyes. “Just wait.” Maybe he would come. He had to. Uno had promised. He had said he loved me. He had said he would love me for the rest of his life. He had said he would see me at the church. He wouldn't break that promise. Would he? One hour passed. One entire hour. I was still sitting there, and my family still had no answer as to where Uno was. The church doors remained open. The flowers were still arranged along the aisle. The guests were still waiting. But the groom was gone. Then the tears finally slipped down my cheeks. I wiped them away. More came. I wiped them again. Still more. “This can't be happening.” My voice cracked. Ate Pink sat beside me. “Violet…” I shook my head. “Don't.” “I'm sorry.” “Don't say you're sorry.” I stared straight ahead. “I don't want your pity.” “You don't have to think that way.” “But you don't know what I'm thinking.” She reached for my hand. I pulled it away. My chest hurt. It felt as though something heavy had settled inside it. I didn't want to think about it. But deep down, I already knew. The truth had been sitting in front of me for an hour. I had simply been too afraid to look at it. I wasn't stupid. I could feel it. He had run away on our wedding day. The thought entered my mind like a blade. No. Maybe he was coming. Maybe something had happened. Maybe he was injured. Maybe— But another voice inside me answered. Then why hasn't anyone heard from him? My heart sank. I wasn't stupid enough not to realize that he could never accept someone like me. I wasn't stupid enough not to know that his heart and mind still belonged somewhere else. I knew it now. He had only pitied me. I was nothing but his rebound girl. I was never the woman he truly wanted to bring to the altar. Every beautiful memory suddenly felt like a lie. Every promise became a weapon. Every “I love you” echoed inside my head. I remembered the times Uno had become distant. The moments when he would stare into space. The unexplained silences. The nights when I asked what was wrong and he simply said, “Nothing.” I had believed him. Because I loved him. Love had made me blind. Or perhaps love had simply made me willing to believe. I looked down at my wedding gown. White. Pure. Beautiful. A symbol of a new beginning. Yet suddenly, it felt like a costume. A costume for a woman who had been abandoned at the altar. My tears fell onto the fabric. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't stay there. I couldn't let everyone watch me break. I couldn't let them see what Uno had done to me. I opened the door. “Violet!” Ate Pink grabbed my arm. “Don't.” I pulled away. “I can't stay here.” “Violet, wait!” I ran. I ran away from the church as fast as my legs could carry me. I heard my siblings shouting behind me. “Violet!” “Stop!” “Please!” I didn't stop. I didn't want to hear them. I didn't want to hear anyone. I just wanted to get away. Away from the church. Away from the flowers. Away from the wedding guests. Away from the altar where I was supposed to become Uno's wife. I ran until my lungs burned. Then, for some reason, I turned around. And I saw them. Two women standing near the church entrance. Mommy Hanny. Tita Margaux. Their faces were pale. Then, almost at the same time, both women collapsed. “Mommy!” “Mommy Hanny!” I froze. My siblings rushed toward them. Someone screamed for help. Everything became chaos. People began running toward them. Someone called for assistance. My siblings were no longer chasing me. For one brief moment, I stood there, watching the people I loved fall apart around me. And then something inside me broke completely. I couldn't stay. I couldn't face them. I couldn't face anyone. I turned and ran again. I didn't even know where I was going. I only knew I had to leave. I saw a taxi approaching. I raised my hand frantically. The taxi stopped. I opened the door and climbed inside. “Where to, miss?” “Home.” My voice barely came out. “Please. Just take me home.” The driver glanced at me through the rearview mirror. He looked at my wedding gown. Then at my tear-streaked face. He didn't ask questions. He simply drove. I stared out the window. The world moved past me in a blur. People were living their ordinary lives. Cars were passing. Children were walking with their parents. Couples were laughing. Everything continued as though nothing had happened. But my world had stopped. I looked down at my ring. The ring Uno had given me. My fingers trembled. I pulled it off. I stared at it in my palm. For five years, I had imagined wearing it forever. Now I couldn't even look at it without feeling sick. I wanted to throw it away. I wanted to crush it. I wanted to return it to him. But I couldn't. I simply closed my hand around it. When we reached home, I barely remembered getting out of the taxi. I walked straight to my room. My wedding gown dragged behind me. The room was exactly as I had left it. Everything was prepared. Everything was perfect. My suitcase was waiting by the door. Inside were the clothes I had planned to wear in the Maldives for our honeymoon. Our honeymoon. I stared at the suitcase. Then I laughed. It was a broken, empty laugh. “Our honeymoon.” The words sounded ridiculous now. Our future. Our plans. Our promises. Everything I had prepared for us suddenly felt like a cruel joke. I opened the suitcase. There were dresses I had carefully chosen. Beach clothes. Sandals. Sunglasses. A small bag Uno had bought for me because he said it looked good on me. I picked it up. My tears came again. I threw it onto the bed. “No.” I couldn't do this. I couldn't stay in this room. Everywhere I looked, there was something connected to him. A photograph. A gift. A memory. A promise. I quickly changed into jeans and a T-shirt. I wiped my face. I grabbed my suitcase and rushed downstairs. “Violet!” I froze. Mommy's voice. I turned around. But no one was there. It was only my imagination. Or perhaps it was a memory. I couldn't tell anymore. I walked outside. My car was waiting. I put the suitcase inside the trunk. Then I climbed into the driver's seat. My hands gripped the steering wheel. I took one deep breath. Then another. I started the engine. And I drove. Fast. I didn't know where I was going. I didn't care. All I wanted now was to get away from this place—to escape from this nightmare and wake up from whatever horrible dream I was trapped in. I drove past familiar roads. Past familiar buildings. Past places where Uno and I had laughed together. Everywhere I looked, there was a memory. I wanted to erase them. I wanted to erase him. I wanted to erase the last five years of my life. My phone began ringing. I looked at the screen. Ate Pink. I ignored it. It rang again. Blue. I ignored it. Then Mommy. I couldn't answer. I turned off my phone. I didn't want to talk to anyone. Not Uno. Not my family. Not even my friends. Let them call me selfish. Let them call me a coward. Let them call me a disrespectful, spoiled child. I didn't care anymore. Maybe they would understand one day. Maybe they wouldn't. It didn't matter. I just needed to breathe. I pressed the accelerator harder. Tears blurred my vision. I wiped them away. My chest hurt. It felt as though someone was stabbing my heart over and over again. Every breath was painful. Every heartbeat reminded me that Uno had chosen to leave. I wanted to hate him. But the hardest part was that I still loved him. Even after what he had done. Even after abandoning me. Even after leaving me standing outside a church in a wedding gown. I still loved him. And that made everything worse. Because hatred would have been easier. Hatred would have given me strength. But love? Love only made me weak. I drove until the city began disappearing behind me. The buildings became fewer. The roads stretched farther. The mountains surrounded me again. I had already made it down from Baguio City when I turned toward the road leading north. I didn't know exactly where I would go. I didn't know how long I would stay away. I didn't know what I would do when I got there. I only knew one thing. I couldn't go back. Not yet. Maybe not ever. I was going north. Far away from this place. Far away from everyone who knew my name. Far away from the church where my heart had been shattered. Far away from the man who had promised me forever. I looked at the road ahead. It stretched endlessly before me. For the first time that day, there was no one telling me where to go. No one waiting for me. No one expecting me to smile. No one expecting me to be the perfect bride. I was alone. Completely alone. And strangely, that thought didn't frighten me. It gave me a strange sense of freedom. Perhaps this was what freedom really felt like. Painful. Terrifying. Lonely. But mine. I reached for the ring still sitting in my pocket. I took it out and stared at it. The diamond caught the light. Once, I had looked at that ring and imagined forever. Now all I could see was the lie behind it. I closed my fist. “I will never forgive you, Uno.” My voice broke. A tear fell onto my hand. “I will never forgive you.” I looked toward the road ahead. The mountains were getting farther behind me. The city was disappearing. And with every mile, I felt as though I was leaving another piece of my old life behind. My family. My friends. My dreams. My wedding. My love. Uno. I didn't know what waited for me in the north. I didn't know who I would become after this. I didn't know whether my heart would ever heal. But I knew one thing. I could not remain the woman who had been abandoned at the altar. I could not remain the woman who begged someone to choose her. I could not spend the rest of my life wondering why I wasn't enough. So I drove. And I didn't look back. Not even once. Because sometimes, the only way to survive a broken heart is to run before it completely destroys you. And as the road stretched endlessly ahead of me, I made myself a promise. I would survive this. I would rebuild myself. I would learn how to live without him. And one day— One day, Uno would regret the day he walked away from me. But that day was not today. Today, I was simply a woman driving north with a broken heart, a suitcase full of dreams that would never happen, and a ring that no longer meant forever. I tightened my grip on the steering wheel. The tears continued to fall. But I kept driving. Farther. Farther away. Until the place I once called home disappeared behind me. Until the memories became nothing more than shadows. Until Uno became nothing more than a name I refused to say. I would never forgive Uno. Never.