He closed his eyes tightly and took a deep breath. He was restraining himself from telling Azora the truth. No. He shouldn’t reveal the truth here; it might ruin his father’s plan. He tightened his grip on his free hand on the steering wheel.
Quietly, he drove the car again down the dark and long road. The vehicle was heading towards the North. His plan was to take Azora to the Police station in Naga, the territory of the Briones.
And before he could drop her off at the station, Azora needed to completely lose her sanity, according to their father’s plan as well. His father wanted Azora herself to confess as the suspect in the killing of his twin brother Anthony, because they both knew Alibata was responsible for Anthony’s death. However, since the De Lapaz family were allies of Alibata, they found it difficult to confront the Briones directly.
That’s why they decided to use Azora. Azora was Alibata’s weakness, so with Simmy’s help, they poisoned Azora. But aside from the poison that nearly killed the girl, there was another toxin that doctors couldn’t identify. That toxin was what was destroying Azora’s sanity. Simmy had long claimed that this particular poison was effective in causing Azora’s mental breakdown. Simmy was confident, so he couldn’t help but ask why Simmy was so confident.
And when he saw Azora’s gradual mental deterioration firsthand, he knew Simmy hadn’t been wrong about poisoning the girl. It was also a small percentage of the toxin in the room where the girl stayed in their mansion.
That’s why he always wore Azora’s room, because besides wanting to see her, he also wanted to know if that poison was affecting Azora’s body. And there is. But it looks like even he was affected when he kissed Azora on the back of his neck once complaining that his hips hurt because he slipped in the bathtub. He didn’t plan to lie down and kiss his back, but he didn’t know what was going on in his mind and he did that.
Since that day, he couldn’t get Azora’s face out of his mind. She was always on his mind from the moment he woke up to his dreams. He was alarmed. He couldn’t just fall for a woman because she was the daughter of the man who killed his twin brother. She was his enemy, so it wasn’t possible.
So even though he felt pain and sadness about what he was about to do, he refused to let his feelings prevail. Because that was the only way he saw to make Alibata confess.
Their father’s expectation was that once Azora confessed to being Anthony’s killer, Alibata wouldn’t hesitate to admit his guilt because he didn’t want his only child to go to jail. The autopsy report, confession record, CCTV footage of the road where Azora passed before everyone learned that her twin was dead, and the necklace with a picture of a girl and Anthony… all this would be evidence against Azora.
The girl had no escape from the case that would be filed against her, so they knew Alibata wouldn’t hesitate to confess and surrender to the law.
He glanced at Azora, who was smiling while tightly gripping his hands. He swallowed again. With a little push, she would finally lose her mind.
Before long, the car stopped a few meters away from the police station. He quickly faced Azora, only to be surprised when he realized she was staring at him.
“Azora-”
She cut him off. “I-I’m sorry about my Dad, Anthony. H-He tried to kill you and…” She looked down. “… I want to let you know that I am happy to see you alive.” She lifted her gaze again and smiled at him.
Andrie sat stunned in his seat for a few minutes, staring intently at Azora’s smiling face. He swallowed and reached out to touch her cheek. He gently caressed it. “Do you love me?” he asked.
The girl nodded quickly. “E-Even if I tried to hook up with another man, I still love you, Anthony.”
“You tried to cheat on me?” Andrie raised his eyebrow, recalling when she talked about her relationship with his twin but never mentioned another man.
“N-No… I mean, I tried to, but it was still you in my heart!”
“Okay.”
Azora took his hand and placed it on her chest, where her heart beat strongly. He could feel the pulse in his palm. It felt like he would lose consciousness if she continued holding his hand like this.
“Anthony,” Azora said emotionally, using his twin’s name. “I miss you,” she said, staring straight into Andrie’s eyes.
He felt like there were weights biting into his heart. He couldn’t understand what he was feeling, so he furrowed his brows slightly. “I-I…” He didn’t finish his sentence because he ran out of words. He needed to look away.
“It’s okay if you don’t miss me, but I am really sorry for my Dad. I am really sorry. I hope you can forgive me, Anthony. Since the day that I saw you lying on the cold ground, I was petrified.” Tears welled up in Azora’s eyes. “I saw you died. I saw how Dad choked you to death, yet I was hiding in the corner, afraid to intervene. I didn’t help you that night. I was just afraid that Dad would hurt me too, or kill me too! I just couldn’t believe that he could and would kill you, Anthony. I am sorry. I’m so sorry for being your useless girlfriend. I don’t deserve you…” Azora sobbed. She released his hands and covered her face with both palms. “I don’t deserve you, h-hon…”
Andrie had been staring at Azora in astonishment since earlier. He couldn’t believe she had just told him everything that happened that night.
There was no CCTV footage at the location where the incident occurred, and only Alibata and Azora were caught on CCTV footage from opposite directions. He couldn’t believe she had confessed to him herself.
“Azora…” he groaned. Tears welled up in his eyes as he remembered his twin’s face. “W-What did you say?”
The girl looked up at him again, tears streaming down her face. “I-I was there… I saw Dad choking you to death. I heard how your body went limp. I was there, and I felt your body turn ice-cold. I didn’t help you that night, hon. I am sorry. I’m very sorry!”
“Azora.”
“Since that night…” the girl swallowed. “I can’t sleep peacefully. My dreams became nightmares. B-But I’m relieved to see you alive, Anthony. I can now sleep without nightmares.”
“You didn’t tell me what truly happened that night,” he said softly.
Azora nodded. “Yes. But I wanted to prove that you are indeed Anthony.” She took a deep breath and weakly smiled at him. “Now that you are here, my conscience will be at ease. I will understand if we can’t mend our broken relationship. I am content to know that you are alive, Anthony. Please… find someone brave enough to fight for you. I will be the happiest girl if you find the right woman for you, h-hon.”
Andrie closed his eyes and took another deep breath. Although he knew those words weren’t meant for him, he felt the weight and sadness in Azora’s words. He pulled the girl closer to him and hugged her tightly. He buried his face in her neck and repeatedly took deep breaths.
“I-I love you, Anthony. You know that, right?” Azora whispered hoarsely to him. Her trembling hands held onto both of his arms.
“I know.”
“Good. Please… can you forgive me for being too cowardly?”
He released her from the embrace and held both sides of Azora’s cheeks. He stared into her eyes. “If you can surrender yourself to the law, I will forgive you, Azora.”
Azora stared at him in shock for a few seconds. Soon, her eyes showed various emotions. “Y-You’re not Anthony…”
Andrie furrowed his brow. “What?”
Azora closed her eyes, tears falling from them. “Anthony is not the kind of person who forces the one he loves to tell a lie.”
He quickly released Azora’s face and stepped back in surprise. “You tricked me again?” he exclaimed in astonishment.
“You just wanted to know the truth, Andrie. The moment you stopped the car meters away from the police station, I realized that you were just using me to find out the truth. So I gave it all to you.”
“But why?”
Azora cried. “B-Because for a moment, I believed that Anthony was alive.” She looked away and leaned against the seat. “I wanted to hear him again, to talk to him again, to tell him that I regretted being a coward that night. You know… the burden is too heavy, and I can’t carry it anymore. I miss him. I miss Anthony so much.”
“And you still love him?”
Azora looked up at him. “He has a special place in my heart.” A broken and melancholic smile appeared on her lips.
Andrie’s heart squeezed. He looked away. But he was surprised when Azora opened the compartment and took out a cloth from there.
Before he could stop her, she sniffed the poison on the cloth.
“Azora!” he exclaimed in shock.
Azora carefully returned the cloth to the compartment and closed the small container. “I know that I’ve been poisoned, causing hallucinations and making my mind go berserk. The moment you said that it was you and your father who supplied Simmy with the poison, I realized that the poison is not only meant to cause physical pain and damage but also to wreck one’s mind.”
“Y-You knew?”
“Of course.” A faint smile appeared on her lips. “I am certain that I am losing my mind since the day I woke up in the hospital. I even confessed to incorrect information. When I think about those times, I knew that someone had been poisoning my mind.”
“And you told me all of this to…”
“Yes, to give you and your father what you need.”
Andrie furrowed his brow. “Why are you doing this?”
“Why? Don’t you want it?”
“But…” Andrie ran his fingers through his hair. Irritation built up in his heart. “You’re stronger than this!”
“Oh.” Azora chuckled softly, but tears continued to flow from her eyes. “I gave up.”
“What?”
Azora sighed. She kept her gaze forward as if looking into the distance. “You and your father tried to break me… and congratulations, you two won the game. I was broken, crushed, and shattered to pieces. And I am tired. I’m tired.”
“Azora.”
Azora looked at him. “I am telling you this not because I have surrendered to you and your father’s schemes, but because I want you to know that I know what you are planning.
You may have won this game, but you only won because I let you win.”
With that, Azora abruptly opened the passenger seat and walked towards the brightly lit police station not far away.