"What are you doing? I said—" Whatever I wanted to say was cut short when he put a finger on my lips to silence me.

"—Just sit there and let me, mi hermosa." He insisted and then drew the spoon full of food to my mouth. I glared at him but he looked at me beggingly and I sighed in defeat.

Cazzo! What the heck is happening with you, Ath?! You're getting closer to the fire and you're about to get burned again! One side of my brain chastised me and I groaned inwardly.

I was about to protest further when my tummy suddenly grumbled. I haven't had anything since yesterday and I felt so hungry. My cheeks heated up. I didn't even realize that because of Maximus and I's talk a while ago.

I heard him chuckle. "C'mon, mi hermosa. Eat up. Your stomach is complaining already." He urged full of amusement. I looked at the food that he cooked for me and it made my hunger double. I sighed again and decided to just eat.

Knowing Maximus, he would surely insist on making me eat because he's more stubborn than I am. I wanted to get out of there but for some reason, something inside of me was telling me to stay even for a little while longer.

I caught the smile that broke across his face when I finally opened my mouth and ate it.

"How is it, mi hermosa? I hope, it doesn't taste bad." He inquired as he scooped another spoonful of the food. In all honesty, I was surprised that the food he made tasted good. I wasn't expecting that.

I furtively gazed at him. He looked calm but I could see the sparkling of happiness while staring at me. That look again...

"How do you do that?" I asked instead of answering his question. His forehead crinkled.

"Do what?"

"Fake the emotions that you show to me on your face." I answered casually and he looked taken aback. He went silent for a couple of seconds. That happiness that I saw in his eyes faded.

"Do you really think that I could do that to you?" He questioned back.

"Don't answer my question with a question." I voiced out sternly. He heaved a sigh.

"If you asked me that almost two years ago, I would probably say that I tend to mask most of my emotions so that other people wouldn't read what was on my mind. But when I got to know and spent those precious moments with you, I learned how to show my real emotions because of you." He chuckled as he reminisced the past.

"I don't know why but when it comes to other people, it's easy for me to fake and hold back my emotions. But when it comes to you, I always lose myself and turn into someone that I can't even recognize. Everytime we were together, I forget about my goal. That's your effect on me, mi hermosa. You make me forget everything and just be happy with you." He heaved a sigh as his eyes turned somber.

"Leaving you was the hardest thing that I've ever done in my life and that wasn't a lie. Without you by my side almost drove me insane." Our eyes met. "Now, here I am in front of you, without any pretentions, willing to unveil who I really am to you. All I'm asking from you right now is for you to listen to me." His eyes were begging while saying the last sentence and my heart reacted.

Every word that he said touched my heart even though I didn't want to. I was already too right of being deceived by men that was preventing me from easily believing in him again. Just remembering about all the pain that I've felt when I discovered who he really was gave me unexplainable fear. Fear of trusting again.

But even though I had that kind of fear, one look at Maximus' begging eyes were beginning to melt all the resentment and anger that I was feeling for him.

My weakness that I thought I already buried under the ground when he left me was resurfacing again. I was left speechless and didn't know how to react.

He released a breath. "Let's continue this later. Eat for now so that you could take your meds later." I didn't answer and just let him do what he pleases. He continued feeding me and the silence was deafening.

I could sense that he had a lot of things that he wanted to tell me but he was just holding himself back.

When I finally finished eating, I took the medicine that the doctor prescribed for me.

"I'll come back later, mi hermosa." Maximus said after I finished taking my meds and took the tray out of the room. I stood up and was about to open the cabinet that I saw in order to search for something to wear when I noticed another door at the left side corner of the room.

Looked like it was a door going to the terrace. I wanted to breath some fresh air. I opened it and I was right. It was indeed the terrace. I stepped out of the room.

It was already dark but the lights around the area helped me see the lake. There were two boats at the dock. Then, my eyebrows furrowed when I noticed something in the leaves of the trees at the lakeside. There were many small glowing things that were flying around.

"Oh, my." I uttered in awe. It was my first time seeing that many fireflies in one place and it looked so amazing. It calmed the turmoil inside of me.

A sudden urge to paint the magnificent view rose within me. It was such a perfect place to paint. If only I had a camera with me, I would surely snap a picture of the fireflies.

"Such a pity that I don't have my phone with me." I mumbled, wanting to take a video of the fireflies.

My eyebrows creased when I remembered about my phone. Where the heck is it? I need to call everyone. They're surely worried about me by now!

I was about to go back inside the room when I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around my waist. My body went still as my breath got trapped in my throat.

"How do you feel now, mi hermosa? Do you like watching the fireflies? I wanted to show the fireflies to you myself but you already discovered it." I swallowed hard, trying my best to not let myself get affected of his touch and presence but my traitorous heart skipped a beat.

I gritted my teeth.

"Stop calling me that. You lost the right to when you left and did everything that you did." I answered and then unwrapped his arms from hugging me. I then faced him with all the courage that I could muster.

"You wanted us to talk, right? Now, I'm all ears. What do you want from me? Why did you bring me here? Whose house is this?" I bombarded him with questions and amusement filled his eyes even though he looked sad.

"You haven't changed. You still ask a lot of questions whenever there are things that you want to know. Remember when—"

"—Stop beating around the bush and just go straight to the point." I interrupted him sternly and he sighed before a small smile appeared on his lips.

"Yup. You really haven't changed."

"Mr. Vaz—" I was about to address him by his surname when I suddenly remembered what he did the last time I called him that. I took two steps away from him, afraid that he would do something that could bring out my weakness.

I looked at him and chuckled bitterly when I saw the expression on his face. He looked genuinely sad while staring at me as if begging me to listen. I shook my head. "This is crazy. It's useless talking to you because you're nothing but a con artist." I looked away. "I changed my mind. I want to go home now. Give me my clothes back."

"Mi hermosa—" Before he could finish what he wanted to say, I brushed past him and then went inside the room. I opened the door and went out.

"Mi hermosa, wait!" I heard Maximus called for me but I ignored him. When I saw the stairs, I walked towards there and was about to begin descending when I ran into an older woman. She was already near the top landing of the stairs. She must be around 45 years old, holding neatly folded clothes in his hands.

She did a small curtsy upon seeing me. "Buenas noches, Your Royal Highness. Thank God, you finally woke up. I was about to go to your room to give you your clothes." She then said. I almost sighed in relief upon hearing that.

I was still wearing an oversized shirt without anything underneath it.

"Mi hermosa, wait!" I was pulled out of my reverie when I heard Maximus' voice again. He was now walking briskly towards us. I quickly took the clothes from the woman and then thanked her. She nodded her head with her eyebrows furrowed while looking at me and Maximus alternately and left even though she looked confused of what was happening.

"Please, stay. You're not totally fine yet. Besides, it's already late."

"I'm leaving. You can't make me stay here!" I hissed and then took my panties and put it on, uncaring if he was watching me. Then, I put my jeans on next.

"Please, let's talk. Just hear me out before you go." He was about to approach me and I panicked. I let go of the remaining clothes that I was holding and hurriedly descended on the stairs.

"Athena, wait!" Maximus said, following me. I gritted my teeth. He was so persistent. When I reached the ground floor, I groaned inwardly when I realized that I didn't know where the main door was because the house was huge.

I noticed the living room and I was about to walk towards there when Maximus finally caught up to me and stopped me by the hand.

"I said, wait!" He said sternly and then made me face him. My eyes suddenly watered for some reason. I knew I was acting childish but I couldn't help it. I wasn't prepared for this. I already readied myself to start living my life with another man without seeing Maximus again. But now, he returned and I began feeling confused again.

"Who do you think you are to demand anything from me?! You don't have any right to force me to come with you and listen to your sh*t! I don't have time to waste here! Tomorrow is a very special day for Costavia so I need to go home and prepare! Now, let me go if you don't want me to get mad at you even more than I already am!" An unknown emotion passed through his eyes but I didn't want to stay and figure out what it was about.

I turned my back on him and started walking away, determined to look for my way out of there before it's too late.

"You're asking me who am I to ask anything from you? Well, I am the man who's hopelessly in love with you. Your dolce metà. The man who promised to protect and love you until the day he dies. The man who will do anything to make you listen and love him again." My steps came to a halt.

"I love you so much, mi hermosa." It felt like an arrow pierced my heart upon hearing that. The tears that I was holding back not to fall, fell upon hearing his declaration. My hands formed into fists.

"How could you easily utter those words when you never even meant it from the start?" I chided at him full of resentment. I heard his steps coming closer to me until he was already right behind me. I almost jumped when I felt his warm hand on my arms.

"I love you and I mean every word of it." I bit my lower lip but a whimper still escaped from me. I wanted to smack myself for crying but I couldn't hold it in anymore. Maybe because I've been keeping these inside of me for a long time that it felt like my chest was about to explode.

"When I said those words the first time, I meant it. Until now, there's no one here but you." He continued.

I looked up, trying my best to stop my tears but they still fell continuously like waterfalls. My heart was aching so bad. If only our situation was different then maybe, I could...I mentally shook my head. You know you can't, Ath. You know you can't anymore...

"Why do you have to come back and make me remember the pain like this again? Just when I began to start living normally again, you had to come back and ruin everything. Why?" I asked full of resentment.

"Why, you ask? Don't I deserve a chance to explain my side to you? Is your heart already closed for me? Have you really forgotten everything?"

I chuckled mirthlessly. "This is not about us anymore. What you did was unforgiveable and I would never forgive you for that. You're the one who made my heart close its doors for you. You had your chance but you wasted it." I wiped my tears angrily and then continued walking away and thankfully, I finally saw the door.

I held the doorknob and was about to open it when I heard Maximus' voice again.

"It wasn't me." I scowled and then turned my head to look at him. His eyes were melancholy while gazing at me.

"What do you mean?"

"I wasn't the one who planted the bomb which took many lives. Even the bombing in Nuevo Imperio; that wasn't my doing. Yes, I admit that I became your PRG for a reason but it wasn't what you think it was." I gritted my teeth.

"Stop lying. I've had enough of your lies. You were captured by the CCTV cameras in the palace as you executed your plans so don't ever try to deny it because I will never believe you."

"I am telling the truth. This is what my enemies want to happen; for you to get mad at me and resent me. They used my face and name to commit crimes that I didn't do just to destroy my reputation. Please, believe me, mi hermosa. I can stand other people seeing me as the bad guy but not you. You're the only one I have and I can't let them take you away from me too. Never." Before I could answer, he walked towards me briskly and then pulled me in his arms.

I could feel the tension in his body as he hugged me tightly and buried his face on the crook of my neck.

"Please, believe me. I can't take it when you're mad at me like this." He whispered full of emotions and then kissed my neck. I was at a loss for words as I tried to digest everything that he said. How come he's denying what he did when the evidence was so solid against him?

He pulled away a little bit and then cupped my face as he gazed at me full of unexplained emotions on his face. I've never seen him like this before it actually surprised me. Maximus was never the emotional type of a guy but now, he's actually opening up easily now.

"I love you." My heart ached.

"Liar." I whispered full of resentment. He shook his head.

"No, I'm not. I love you; I love you; I love you." He drew his face closer to mine until our foreheads touched. "You're the only woman I fell in love with and until now, you're still the only one that's why it hurts me knowing that you're about to marry someone else. My heart remained devoted to you but you easily accepted someone else while I wasn't around." I could hint the resentment in his voice.

"Can't you see that I'm about to lose it knowing that I'm about to forever lose you? By marrying another guy, you're helping them win. They're taking everything that's rightfully mine and I can't just accept that! They've already destroyed my life and I would never let them win again by taking you away from me. Never." My head ached suddenly.

How come he speaks as if he's the victim of everything that has happened? How come he's still telling me those three magic words as if he really means it? Why does he act like everything's difficult for him too?

There were many questions in my head but everything faded away just like that when he captured my lips for a kiss full of longing and love. Even if I wanted to push him away and deny him, my body moved on its own and betrayed me.

Just like that, my mind went hazy and forgot everything. All the anger and resentment that I've been harboring inside towards him disappeared. My tears fell as the realization dawned on me.

I didn't forget. I just made myself believe that I've forgotten because I didn't want to feel that kind of pain again but deep inside of me, I've been longing for him too. My eyes brimmed with tears.

"I'm sorry for being selfish but I can't let you go. I love you too much to do that." He whispered when he let go of my lips. "I love you and I will never get tired of saying that." He then claimed my lips for another kiss. This time, it was hotter and more passionate.

When he scooped me up onto his arms and carried me upstairs, the remaining rational thoughts in my head disappeared. One last time...