CHAPTER 9
1177 Words
CHAPTER 9
Nagising siyang wala ang lalaki sa kuwarto.
Bumaba siya at inabutan si Jacob sa kusina, kasama si Leo—halatang kabababa pa lamang ng dalawa.
Hindi sila nag-usap.
Hindi habang naghahanda siya ng almusal.
Hindi habang pinapakain ni Jacob si Leo.
Hindi kahit pa ramdam ni Libby ang bigat ng bawat kilos ng lalaki.
Parang sabay nilang naramdaman ang bigat sa hangin. Parang pati si Leo ay apektado—tahimik, maingat, tila takot magsalita.
Kaya pinilit ni Libby ang ngumiti. Pinilit niyang kulitin ang anak, pilit na magbiro, pilit gumawa ng maliliit na usapan. Kahit simpleng “Pakiabot ng toyo,” sapat na para lang may masabi.
Jacob was polite.
Too polite.
Which was making her more nervous.
Gone was the Jacob na panandaliang sumilip kagabi.
Dumating si Aling Susan at inaya si Leo sa labas. Obvious na tinawag na ito ni Jacob kanina.
Pagkaalis ng dalawa, agad niyang iniligpit ang mga pinagkainan, nagmamadali—balak sana niyang sumunod sa labas.
Ngunit sumandal si Jacob sa lababo. Tiklop ang mga braso sa dibdib.
Mas lalo niyang binilisan ang pagkilos.
“Did you know you were pregnant?”
Halos mabitawan ni Libby ang hawak na plato. Pinigil niya ang hininga, dahan-dahang ibinaba ang hawak at kumapit sa gilid ng lababo, parang kailangan niya ng sandalan.
“Did you know you were pregnant when you left?” ulit nito.
Alam niyang ang isasagot niya ay parang isa na namang kutsilyong ibabaon sa dibdib ng lalaki.
Why?
Why did he have to ask?
Pero wala nang takas sa sandaling ito.
“Yes,” pabulong niyang sagot.
Ang katahimikang sumunod ay mapanganib.
At saka—
“Bakit ka umalis?”
Tumama ang tanong na parang suntok.
“Bakit mo ako iniwan?” dagdag nito, mas mababa ang tinig. “Bakit mo akong hinayaang magising sa ospital na wala ka?”
Nanginginig ang mga kamay niyang nakakapit sa lababo, pero pinilit niyang manatiling nakatayo.
“I thought you were going to die,” mahinang sagot niya. “I honestly believed you were going to die.”
Huminga siya nang malalim, luha’y nagbabanta na namang bumagsak.
“I blamed myself,” patuloy niya. “Kung hindi kita tinawagan… kung hindi ako humingi ng ice cream—”
Bigla itong humarap sa kanya. “So you ran,” putol nito.
Hindi iyon tanong.
“Jacob, I was terrified. I thought I’d killed you.”
“Fear shouldn’t have been your first concern,” mariin nitong sabi, halos nangingitngit ang ngipin. “Guilt shouldn’t have been your second. Your love should have been what mattered most. Sa mga sandaling pinakakailangan kita, you could have at least let go of your self-love and thought of me. Me, Libby.”
Lumapit pa ito. Masyadong malapit.
“I loved you,” mariin nitong sabi. “Too much. That’s why the pain was too much. Alam mo ba kung gaano kahirap magising araw-araw na puno ng galit? It was so hard—just because I loved you too much.”
Muling bumagsak ang luha ni Libby. “I loved you too,” bulong niya.
Biglang tumigas ang mukha ni Jacob.
“Loved?” inulit nito. “Past tense?”
Tumalikod siya, naglakad palayo ng ilang hakbang, bago muling humarap.
“Listen,” wika nito, kontrolado ngunit mabigat. “Hindi na tayo babalik sa dati. I didn’t bring you back thinking we could fix things between us.”
Parang lumubog ang dibdib niya.
“Dinala kita rito dahil may obligasyon ka,” patuloy nito. “To me. And to Leo.”
Humugot siya ng malalim na hininga, pilit pinapakalma ang sarili.
“I know, Jacob,” mahina niyang sabi. “Hindi ko man alam kung paano magsisimula, tinatanggap ko ang lahat ng pagkukulang ko. Please… tell me what to do.”
Totoo iyon. Wala na siyang tiwala sa sariling desisyon. Para bang ayaw na niyang magpasya—dahil paano kung magkamali na naman?
Jacob smirked.
“Good,” anito.“What you will do… is marry me.”
Napatitig siya rito, tuluyang nawalan ng tinig.
Sa lahat ng pumasok sa isip niya, ni minsan ay hindi niya naisip ang posibilidad na iyon. Hindi matapos ang lahat ng nagawa niya. Hindi matapos ang lahat ng sakit—
“Don’t get your hopes up,” dagdag nito, malamig. “This won’t be a happy marriage.”
Of course.
Ito ang paraan ni Jacob para masigurong hindi na siya muling lalayo.
JACOB
He didn’t plan to ask.
The question had been sitting in his chest since the moment he saw Leo sleep, his tiny fist curled into his.
He leaned against the counter, watching Libby move around the kitchen, moving so fast na para bang sa paraang iyon ay makakaiwas ito sa kanya.
“Did you know you were pregnant?”
He watched her hands freeze around the plate.
In that split second—before she answered—Jacob prayed.
Wished she would say no.
That she would shake her head, look at him with those wide, terrified eyes, and tell him she had no idea. That she had been just as lost as he was. That leaving hadn’t been a choice—it had been fate.
Because if she hadn’t known, maybe, just maybe, he could forgive her.
If she hadn’t known, he could let go of the anger he’d been carrying for years like a second skin.
“Did you know you were pregnant when you left?” he asked again, softer this time, as if lowering his voice could soften the truth.
She turned to the sink, gripping it like she might fall.
“Yes.”
The word was barely a whisper.
It hit harder than the accident ever did.
There's the truth for you Jacob, anang isipan.
She chose to leave kahit alam nitong buntis ito.
She deliberately had his child but away from him.
His chest tightened, scars screaming beneath his skin.
Something cold settled in him, heavy and permanent.
He wanted to ask her how she slept at night. How she lived with herself. How she looked at our child and didn’t think of him bleeding on a hospital bed.
But he didn’t.
Instead, Jacob asked the only question that mattered.
“Bakit ka umalis?”
Because if he heard the reason, maybe—just maybe—it would hurt less.
It didn’t.
Wanting to end the painful drama, he blurted my last ace.
Marry me.
Libby didn’t answer right away.
She just stared at him, eyes wide, as if he’d struck her instead of proposed. He saw the fear there. The confusion. The part of her that wanted to run and the part that didn’t know how anymore.
Good.
If she was afraid, she would stay.
That thought should have made him feel powerful.
Instead, it hollowed him out.
He turned away before she could speak, before he could hear himself soften. He couldn’t afford hesitation. Not now. Not with Leo involved. Not with his chest tightening every time he looked at her.
He told myself this wasn’t cruelty.
This was structure. Control. Protection.
- Writer
