CHAPTER 9: Shadowed Encounters
406 Words
Four years had passed…
Yarra stood at the grand entrance of the Cebu Waterfront Hotel, her ID swinging lightly with the wind. She had made it — a medical intern now, chosen to represent her university at a national convention. The future she built with her own hands was finally beginning.
But her heart felt heavier than usual.
She clutched the strap of her bag and inhaled deeply. She wasn’t nervous about speaking in front of top doctors. No. It was something else.
A name she had read days ago in the program list echoed in her mind.
Zarred Altamonte.
She hadn’t heard that name in years. But she never forgot it.
And she never forgave it.
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The ballroom was filled with the rustle of white coats and clinking glasses. Yarra found her table silently, her eyes scanning the crowd like instinct. Then… there he was.
On stage.
Zarred.
He was walking up to the podium, confident and calm in a dark tailored suit. His smile charmed the audience, his voice smooth and steady as he gave his speech as Vice President of Altamonte Holdings — sponsor of the medical convention.
Yarra’s fists clenched.
“Look at him,” she thought bitterly. “Like nothing happened.”
She watched from afar, emotion boiling in her chest. Not even a flinch. He didn’t even notice her. Or maybe he did, and he just didn’t care.
The audacity.
The same boy who crushed her heart four years ago was now a man adored by crowds — untouched, unbothered.
He hadn’t seen her. Not yet.
But she saw him.
And with every word he spoke, her resentment sharpened like glass in her chest.
She didn’t even realize she was biting her lip until she tasted blood.
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Later that evening, as the crowd mingled and music played, Yarra stayed near the far end of the venue. She didn’t want to get close. Not yet.
“Ang galing ng speech niya ‘no?” a fellow intern beside her whispered.
“Hmm,” was all Yarra managed to say.
She turned away and stared at her reflection in the hotel’s tall mirror — her white coat, her name tag, her strength.
“I’m not the same girl he left behind,” she told herself.
If fate brought him here again… then maybe this time, she wouldn’t be the one left broken.
This time, he’d be the one to bleed.
- Writer
