Chapter 44

Third-Person POV Around three in the morning in London, Lucas felt his cellular phone vibrating. He put it on silent mode before going to sleep and placed it on top of the bedside table next to him. Lucas reached for it with one hand to check why it was vibrating at that hour. There was an unknown number calling, but with the digits that he memorized, he knew who it was by that time. He immediately sat on the side of the bed and walked out of the room to answer the call. He had no idea why he was calling at such an hour. It was something he forbade him to do because Diane would be around and because the vibration would wake her up, had no choice but to answer the call and go outside. "Why are you calling this late?" he asked almost in a whisper while walking down the stairs. "S-Sorry, boss, I forgot the time difference," Ignacio replied, the man he paid to follow Elyana in the Philippines ever since she flew back to the country. He had truly forgotten, and because he had an important update for his boss to see, he couldn't wait for tomorrow to tell him what it was. "What do you have for me?" Lucas asked him. "I-I will send it, boss," Ignacio responded, and in a nick of seconds, Lucas received it. As Lucas stared at his phone screen, his grip on the phone tightened along with his chest, which started to feel heavy, and it seemed his heart was getting squeezed in. "A-are they truly dating? W-who are the other people smiling at them?" He had a lot of questions, and he knew the answer would hurt him more. "I think yes, boss. Generoso got busy recently, and they went back to seeing each other again," Ignacio answered. After a short pause, he answered the next. "So her parents know," Lucas murmured. With this thought, the intensity of his anger went to its peak. He ended the call and went out of the house to get some air. He felt the pain in the back of his neck from the overwhelming emotions he was feeling. Quintin's way of hugging Elyana in the photo he saw annoyed him so much, and knowing what kind of man Generoso was, he couldn't help but think about what the two were doing when they were just the two of them. The thought that Elyana would fall in love with someone like Quintin so quickly made it hard for him to believe. It had been less than a month since they got legally separated, but Elyana started dating. Worse, to the person he saw as a rival. Lucas couldn't help but feel a deep kind of regret that brought him back to the day when he found out the result of his infertility test. Diane was outside her father's clinic that day, smiling brightly at him when he came out of the door, and he didn't expect that smile to have some plans behind it. Never in his life had he imagined he would be treated as a toy by a woman. He loved Elyana very much, but he chose to hurt her. He let her go through their divorce, which he saw would be better than locking Elyana in their marriage, knowing giving her the child she wanted would be impossible. Aside from this secret, he wanted to protect her from greedy people like Diane and his father, who saw him as his puppet. Diane, who he thought was his closest friend—a sister that he could rely on and turn to when he needed someone—would blackmail him. She was the one who first discovered the result of the infertility test he took, regretting the day he chose Diane's father to be his doctor. "Elyana will surely get hurt when she finds out about this, Lucas. Should I make a call to tell her? Think of these as good deeds, so she no longer hopes of getting pregnant with your child." Lucas clenched his fist. When he saw Diane take her cell phone out of her bag, he immediately grabbed it away from her. "D-don't you dare, Diane," he warned her. "Well, I like challenges, and I will take the dare. Give me my phone!" she exclaimed without caring about the people around them who would see them fighting. "No, I won't let you," Lucas firmly told her. He looked straight into her eyes, and Diane secretly smiled at Lucas's reaction. "Okay, fine! I won't, but in one condition." Lucas calmed down a bit after hearing this. He immediately concluded that Diane would only ask for something lame and simple, but when the way Diane looked into his eyes changed, he instantly felt the desire to step away. There was lust in her eyes, making him wonder who the person in front of him was standing. "Go to my place tonight," she answered, and she warned him of what she could and would do if he ever didn't. Diane took advantage of the situation. She gave him no choice but to agree with what she wanted, and on that same day, Lucas found out about Diane's great desire for him that he felt in every touch she gave his body, which disgusted him so much. Lucas thought that one time was enough, but Diane came back and asked for more of him. His plans to take medicines to help him and Elyana conceive stopped because he feared he might get Diane pregnant instead of his wife. As a man, Diane's extreme ideas and actions gave him so much adrenaline. He started liking what she was doing, but he knew deep in his heart that it wasn't love, but all lust, and that he only needed some aid. He had no fear of letting Diane use him just to make sure she wouldn't hurt Elyana, because no matter how many times they would do it or make an accident, he wouldn't make Diane pregnant. It was all for fun and went on for more than a year and a half. No one got to know about his affair. They did their best to hide it, but Elyana was too smart and made her way to find out about it. On that day, Lucas came to a realization. It was very clear that divorce would happen, and the thought of losing Elyana suddenly came into his mind and made him wake up. It seemed to him he was a bird flying in the sky for a long time, and when his feet touched the ground, he went back and realized he wasn't flying and he didn't have wings. Diane somehow made his escape from his father's shadow. When he started cheating, he felt he could do such things without his father knowing; however, after that fun, he faced a strong storm that slapped him back into reality. He agreed to the divorce. He knew it would help Elyana start over, but his father was against it because Lucas's significant assets would legally disappear from them—as if Lucas cared. For the first time in Lucas' existence, he gave his father a no. That same day, he confessed to his impotence, and he received a blow on the face. It was the wound that Elyana saw on the side of his lips, which she thought her father had given him. Lucas decided to tell Elyana the truth, but Elyana's anger towards him at that time was very intense, and even he was hurt so much by all the words he received from her. Blaming her and turning the table was not fully his intention, but in his mind, hurting Elyana was saving her from greater pain. He admitted that it was the stupidest thing he ever did in his life, but knowing Diane's plans to hurt Elyana just to get him frightened him. The divorce process would be easy and quick if it weren't for his father. He did not appeal, but his father made a way, and the truth would always prevail. A lot of things happened after the divorce was granted. Although it hurt him every time he looked back, something happened that made him happy because his mother finally dared to leave his manipulative father's side. What Elyana did gave his mom the strength to set herself free, and Lucas was beyond happy about that. He knew he had so many things to be sorry for about Elyana and also a lot to be thankful for. His heart still yearned for her. Elyana still owned his heart, even though Diane owned his body. Lucas slid his phone into his sweatpants pocket. He stayed in the pool area for a few minutes and didn't want to go back into the bedroom where Diane was sleeping. For a couple of minutes, he stood there silently while looking from a distance. His mind was full of thoughts, asking himself what he could do to win Elyana back. He was ready to fight for her—for her safety—against anyone who would try to harm her. Lucas was in the middle of those thoughts when suddenly someone spoke from behind. A pair of slim arms clung to his waist, moving forward, and ended up hugging him from behind. "I thought you left so early. Did you come here to get in the mood?" Diane asked in a lustful tone of voice. "No, I came here to be alone. So, will you please excuse me?" Lucas replied and did nothing to remove the woman's arms like a snake clinging to him. Diane was stunned. She gasped and couldn't believe what she heard from him, making her loosen the hug. Lucas felt it and took that chance to walk away from her. She was confused. Lucas moved to that villa after his divorce from Elyana. She had been back and forth to the place she called their haven. The place where they often hide and do the deeds before they get caught; however, several times she came to visit, Lucas seemed to avoid her, making various excuses to not grant what she came for there. Since the divorce, she felt Lucas was no longer afraid of him. He got worse, colder, and numb toward her. Diane thought, after getting rid of Elyana out of their lives and after making Lucas crave the things she could do to excite him in bed, she could finally take over Lucas's life completely, but it seemed she was wrong. A furious Diane left the place in the middle of the night. The silence in Lucas's house after Diane's car engine driving away faded was deafening for his ears. He had no intention of going back to sleep. He went to the underground bar of his villa to get something to give a different warmth to his body. He took something to drink to calm himself down and think straight. At that moment, he was thinking of going to the Philippines or Elyana to see her face-to-face. He just didn't know how to talk to her to admit everything—to say sorry for what he did and ask her forgiveness—but he was afraid of what he might get from Quintin, who he was thinking at the time was dating Elyana. There were so many questions in his mind that every time he sipped his whiskey, another one was added. He had no intention to get drunk; he just wanted to drink a little because of the weight of his regret for his rash decisions. As minutes passed, his thoughts became overwhelming. The whiskey started to kick in. He leaned his back on the single-seater leather chair when he received another call from the man he sent to the Philippines to be his eye for his ex-wife. He gave him an update. His grip on the cellular phone and the glass on his other hand tightened as he listened. That same night, he immediately canceled all his scheduled plans and booked a flight to the Philippines.