The next day

Ventina still couldn’t choose one place. She decided to return to Ven’s manor for the time being to fetch some new clothes first. She didn’t bring any clothes with her the day she walked away from him.

At Ven’s manor

Ventina arrived in the morning. The place was very quiet, probably because everyone was still asleep. Ventina had keys to the front door so she was able to enter Ven’s house. She was afraid to wake everyone up, so she quietly walked to her room to fetch her clothes.

She opened her door quietly and quickly walked to the closet to grab her clothes. Suddenly, a voice sounded behind her.

“Where were you last night?” A familiar voice sounded from behind her.

Ventina was really surprised since she didn’t expect there to be anyone in her room. She quickly turned to face the direction the voice came from. She then saw the man she wanted to avoid the most right now.

Seeing that there was no response from the woman before him, Ven walked towards her, repeating his question, “I asked you, where were you last night?”

“What does that have to do with you?” Ventina asked back as she turned to the closet to continue packing her clothes.

“Did you stay at that guy’s place?” Ven asked, his tone dangerous.

Ventina was surprised why he would even ask such a thing. Was she that bad in his eyes? To sleepover at a guy’s place so easily? Ventina decided to ignore his question and continue gathered her things.

As there was no response from Ventina, Ven became furious. It was the first time he was ever furious with his friends. Ven grabbed her slender arms and pulled her towards him forcefully.

“Ouch! Let me go!” Ventina tried to bristle her wrist but to no avail.

“Did you do it with that guy too?” Ven asked, his tone trembling. He didn’t know if it was trembling due to his anger or jealousy.

“So, what if I did? What does it have to do with you?” Ventina said sarcastically. She was tired of clinging onto him. She decided then that she was going to give up on him today, so that she didn’t have to torture herself like this.

“Tina! You know that he’s a playboy! He’s just toying with you!” Ven roared angrily.

“So, what? I’m also toying with him.” Ventina retorted back as she struggled.

Ven saw how she was trying to get away from him and pulled her into his arms, trapping her.

“Didn’t you say you love me? Then why are you trying to distance yourself from me?” Ven asked, his voice sounding lonely and hurt.

Ventina heard his tone and finally looked up to look at his eyes. His eyes were filled with hurt and somehow, she also saw jealousy in his eyes. However, it might just be her wishful thinking.

Ventina was speechless as she looked into his charming eyes. There were dark circles under his eyes as if he had stayed up the whole night.

Ven also became speechless when he realized what he had done. Her face was so close to him, his nose almost touching hers. Her beautiful eyes looked hurt and at a loss, making Ven feel his heart breaking.

“I… I do love you! But I can tell that you don’t love me! I know that the one that’s occupying your heart right now is Sharon and not me. Ven… it hurts too much to stay near you. I’m tired of clinging onto you.” Ventina whispered, tears flowing down her cheeks endlessly.

“So… let’s return to being strangers…” Ventina said as her voice trembled. It took her all her courage and energy to just utter that sentence.

“Okay?” Ventina uttered as she was about to lower her head to avoid his gaze. However, Ven cupped her chin up and leaned in closer, kissing her on the lips.

Ventina was stunned and shocked. She was speechless, and her mind went blank.

“This is my answer to you…” Ven muttered as he finally let go her lips. Actually, Ven was still unsure about his feelings at first. He thought that he was just concerned for her as a friend but when she had told him that she wanted to go back to being strangers, he felt like he couldn’t accept it. He didn’t want to become strangers with her, letting her belong to other men. When he looked at her juicy lips, he had the sudden urge to kiss her, preventing her from saying other hurtful things that would make him go mad just from the thought of it.

There was still no response from Ventina even after a few seconds had passed after their kiss. Ven thought that she was still feeling emotional and decided to kiss her once again to convey his feeling. He now knew what he felt for her. He had a policy of not kissing others but just the sight of Ventina’s lips made him want to kiss her endlessly. He finally knew that his feelings for her was love.