PMS1: President's Forgotten Wife

CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER 23: THE PLAN SHE STARTED; THE PLAN HE WILL FINISH.

"Jade! Oh, my popcorn! You're finally here!" Laura shouted from a few tables away from where she stood. Laura even waved at her and motioned her to go near them. Jade can't stop but smile at her friends.

"Well, well, well, if it wasn't our favorite Jade Ardante Guevara! Finally, in the flesh!" Brent isn't sound surprised at all. He may not expect Jade to visit, but he didn't bother showing how surprised he is. "I didn't know you were going to visit here today. So, how was life out there?"

Jade looked at Brent, but she first hugged her friends before stopping right beside to where Brent was seated and also gave him a warm hug. She then scooted beside him after that, settling in between Brent and Laura. Jade smiled at her friends for the second time before entertaining Brent's question.

"Well, I was given a week off to be with my family. My patient's family was considerate, so they understood my reason for visiting my family. So, as soon as I got back here, I decided to visit you because I missed working here. But, as much as I wanted to hang out with you longer, I just can't because I still have matters to attend to," she said as he took off his jacket.

"Oh right. It's your mom's birthday, right?" Laura's face turned pale as soon as she raised the question. And something was telling Jade that her mom had invited her friends to attend her 50th birthday.

"Yes." She shortly replied, which made Laura pout and rested her chin on the table, flawlessly bending her back and allowing her disheveled hair to get in her way.

"I still remember the time when she called you, and you can't attend her birthday. And now that I think about it, she even sent me an invitation card, Jade! Why do I do? Greet your mom for me, okay? Sorry if I can't attend her birthday or even prepare a gift." Laura said in disbelief as Jade plastered a concerned smile while Brent rolled his eyes in annoyance at Laura's reaction.

"I wish I could attend, but you know how a thing works for us in here. Inform me next time if your mom visits Manila. I want to personally shop with her as a thank her for raising such a fine, dignified woman like you." Brent, on the other hand, is now covering his lunch box because he has finished eating and ready to leave for his shift.

"Seriously, guys, you don't have to think about it. It's as if mom will put your heads on a spike and use it as a decoration for Halloween when you can't be there for her birthday. It's not like you're making excuses just to avoid her invitations. Mom always understands. But next time, she'll be expecting for you to come because she might actually chop your heads off."

Laughter serenades the cafeteria as the group continued to talk like it was the last moment they'll be able to keep in touch.

They even talked about what Jade went through as a private caregiver while her friends told her what happened at the hospital while she was away. They enjoyed the short moment they could talk to each other because as time passes, the allotted time to cherish the moment she shared with them turned out to be lighting, so instant, just like a blink of an eye.

When Jade looked at her wristwatch, it was almost one o'clock, signaling that Brent and Laura's break was coming to an end.

"It sucks knowing that my stay in here is closing to an end. I'm sorry if I can't stay too long and stick around for a bit. I was planning to surprise my mom tonight if God permits me to go home safe. But before I leave, I just want to give you these," jade carried the bags of gifts and snacks and rested them on top of the table. "Since I've been out for too long, I brought you some simple gifts that I could pick up on my way back here. Don't be too greedy and share that with everyone... So, this is my cue to leave. Bye!" Laura extended her arms open and gave Jade a tight embrace while the others followed.

"All right, sis. Be careful on your way home, okay? Greet your family for me! And don't forget to send me a picture of your brother, okay?" Laura ordered one last time before releasing Jade from the tight hug.

"Sure. I'll let my family know you all said Hi and greeted her Happy Birthday. And Laura," Jade gave her friend a wink before continuing, "You're not getting any picture from my brothers!"

Brent stood up and blocked the way out, so Jade has no access to the door. She wanted to ask what's going on, but Brent touched both of Jade's hands and nestled them on his warm hands before looking her deep into her eyes. "If you need anything, you know how to reach me, okay? I'm one call away. I promise."

"Thank you, Brent. Expect me not to bother you during working hours. So, don't mind about me and do a good job with your task today. I'll be taking my leave now." and she uncomfortably withdrew her hands away from Brent's grasp and awkwardly planted her hands on the pockets of her jeans before walking past through Brent, leaving her friends once again.

Even if Jade considers Brent a friend of hers, she can't help but feel how horrible a person she is because she knew from the beginning that Brent took a liking to her, but she can't turn that feeling back.

Because deep in her heart, she knew that Brent is nothing but a friend, a brother, to her, and she has no intention of giving him false hope.

The whole hospital staff knew about Brent's feelings for her. And Jade is not used to such things because working is more important to her. Emotions weren't significant to her anymore.

Not until the day she met Eisen.

__________

THE MOMENT that Jade stepped out of the island's sand, Eisen was left with nothing but sadness and longing for his wife's presence. He is unwilling to see her depart, but no one allowed Eisen to choose, so he had no choice but to let her go.

Earlier, the woman left in a speedboat that he owned, based on what her brother said. His family did not even bother him when he said that he would stay a little bit longer outside the house just so he could watch the speedboat ceases on the horizon, hoping for Jade to come back.

But when it came back, only the driver was there. It was funny because Eisen thought that his life would turn out to be just like in the movies; the leading characters would leave but eventually come back. But, lucky enough, Eisen wasn't living in a fantasy.

—A sign to make Eisen go back home.

—A sign to remind him that this is the reality; a reality he doesn't know if it's true.

He pressed the remote of his wheelchair, and it voluntarily moved until it stopped at the very back door of the house since the back door of the house is the closest opening of the house he could enter. Besides, it the only way with a paved road where he could use his wheelchair from where the boats are parked.

Eisen was about to twist the doorknob open when a suspicious murmur, no, whispers to be exact, started to fill the kitchen.

He brought his ear to the door undetected, but he did not understand much, so he decided to open the door to see who was talking slowly.

"This idea turned out to be a disastrous turn of events, Lewis." he saw his father folded his arms in front of Lewis and his mom, who was cautiously looking through the living room where they expected him to enter. The faces of the three were severe as they mumbled. But their voices were loud enough for him to hear their wails.

"This is the only way I could think of when the accident happened. You both agreed to this, and there's nothing I can do about it now. If you stopped me with the plan beforehand, then I should've stopped. I didn't know that everything will turn this way. But if I did, I would've refrained myself in making that decision." Lewis said while sitting on a stool, a hand resting at the back of his head.

"At least he remembered something helpful. Something that could help us find who tried to kill him." his mom pointed out, carelessly slipping every essential information out of his lips.

So, it was not just a dream? Everything he saw in his nightmare was a lead to help him find who tried to kill him?! But Jade—

Eisen can't seem to fully comprehend that no one had even told him that it was not just a dream. He had to dig up a hole and find out everything on his own accord. Eisen wanted to fill the gaps in his memories because he felt like the desire to do so even though the process was piercing him bit by bit, but can't afford to lose it.

He can't afford to get his mind to go crazy about something his family was trying to cover up.

What he dreamed of was a part of his memory, and nobody made that clear to him. They just turned a blind eye and shove a pile of blank pages for him to fill up, not knowing that his nightmares were showing him the truth behind all forgotten memories.

"Don't you both get it? He remembered something, and that was good, alright. But will he be able to sign the divorce paper now that that woman seemed to be falling in love with him?" Divorce paper? Does Eisen hear their conversation correctly? Are they talking about the divorce paper that Jade seemed to forget about for a moment?

"Jade was supposed to just a— what do you call that? I can't seem to pick up on the right term to describe that woman." His mom started to think of a phrase, and Eisen saw how discomforting it is to hear their mom speak that way to Jade— to his wife!

"Urgh, mom! Like seriously? Can we just focus on what to do instead of thinking what to call Jade?" Lewis replied in annoyance as he stood up from the stool and drove his body further away from his mother.

"You think I didn't know? She's the same woman you used to be friends with, right? I'm deeply sorry if I told you to keep your distance away from her. I just don't want to see you—" but his mom stopped when Lewis raised his hand towards her.

"Mom, please. Let's just talk about it later."

"About this divorce paper," their father interrupted as his nails tapped onto the marble kitchen table, causing a faint thud in it.

They already knew about it: the divorce and everything associated with his past. Everything started to spin before Eisen, making him feel sick to what he just heard.

Does that mean—

"We hired Jade because we knew she'd do whatever it takes to complete her task. And that task is to make Eisen sign that divorce paper. That is the plan, and the plan she will finish."

__________

NUMB. That is how Eisen's body felt after backing out of the kitchen, avoiding every truth he might hear inside. He can't take his mind off of the words that came out of his family's lips, stabbing Eisen from every part of his body.

Eisen wanted to scream in pain. He craved to shout, to acquit every wrath his body yielded as soon as the statements that tumbled out of their lips sank in the core of his head. Still, he ended up tolerating every agony until he finally panned out, feeling nothing but understandable numbness.

Eisen let his hand harshly rubbed against his face as his eyes burned with agony. It was all planned out by his family, but he did not even know it until now, realizing how they acted weirdly towards him since the moment they started asking about this dream that circulated his mind.

Eisen felt like a blind man. He has eyes but cannot see the truth in front of him because of how smiles and cares blinded him. He, no, they covered his eyes with secrets and shattered nightmares, and he wasn't able to even understand why.

Now he knew. Eisen knew he was not the man he knew. He changed into a new being, possessed by the darkness of his memories. Eisen depended on his memories and what the people around him wanted him to recall. Not everything may be crystal clear water, but enough for Eisen to realize how painful it is to connect the dots of his memories and every nightmare he can recall.

Now that his wife entered his mind along with the words that his mother revealed in the kitchen earlier, Jade was also part of their great big plan— a plan to ruin him by changing his mind to sign a divorce paper he can't even recall, to begin with. Now, Eisen fully understood Jade's actions as to why she keeps pressing the matter about signing the divorce paper that Eisen kept avoiding.

But why? Is it also a part of their plan to make his life miserable by entirely blocking his memory and replacing it with new ones? That what they only needed from Eisen was a single memory that will direct who the man behind his accident?

"Son, you're already here. Where have you been? We are worried sick that you forgot the trail to coming back in here." If Eisen's father's voice didn't reverberate inside the house, his deep thoughts would've occupied his reality by now.

His brother and father are in the living room, waiting for the advertisements to end so they could watch the news they enjoyed watching together. If Eisen hadn't looked at his watch earlier, he wouldn't have known it was already 7 p.m.

"Eisen?" he started to stop hearing sounds— he heard nothing at all.

Eisen did not understand any of what his mother was saying, fast approaching from the kitchen. He could hear nothing but the pain; his emotions were crying out and flooding against his veins. Eisen's heart clobbers with panic as everything remained numb.

The deafening chirping of his soul echoed in his ears. Every wave of his heartbeat contains resentment from what he heard before, traveling to his pulse and numbly hurting him endlessly. He was a damaged good, and they did not know how enormous that was in his heart.

Eisen tried to accept his family even though he knew where this acceptance would take him. For him, everything has a purpose why he was caught in an accident and ended up suffering amnesia; that is, he needed a new start, a fresh beginning. Eisen needed time to reflect upon his decisions that turned him into something demonic, someone different.

But all he wanted was to know the truth to make him accept who he really is. But Eisen was wrong because neither of them, his family or Jade, tried to tell him the truth.

And what stings him the most is that he already knew that Jade was never on his side.

__________

EATING IS NOT an option for him to do, so Eisen isolated himself from everyone around him. He's hungry, all right! But digesting all the unexpected oddities, it was enough to curl up on his stomach and made him want to puke in his mouth.

He wanted to vomit because of the weight of emotion. Eisen couldn't find the courage to breathe the fresh air from around him because words piled upon his throat, blocking his passageways to talk or swallow anything. And the trust he rested on top of everyone's heads turned into bungee jumping zombies that remained hanging up above.

Eisen can't afford to trust anymore. Eisen can't afford to be the weak one again. He's no black sheep or the cursed child because he is more than that.

He knew he was tired, but Eisen could not sleep. His spirit remained awake as the clock ticking on his bedside table irritated his peace of mind.

Eisen looked at the alarm clock, and as soon as it strikes midnight, he stood up from his bed, walked barefoot without even bothering his casted foot, and endured the pain that stings right through him.

What matters most is how he would be able to sneak out of his room undetected. Waking anyone up is not a facet of his alternatives, to begin with, so he needs to keep it quiet and steady.

Because tonight, Eisen will not remain as a dumb, clueless guy who they treat like a doll. What he wanted was to know every single detail. Eisen wanted not to be left behind. And that is what he's trying to find out— to find out who he really is.