“Are you saying… you want me to let you go now?” King asked, feeling his world crumbling and accepting his fate that in the end, Joanna still won’t choose him even though how much he tries. “I am stuck between leaving or staying with you. You’ve been a good friend to me; you even gave my child a father figure” she answered; feeling King’s warm breathing.
He caressed Joanna’s back; she could not stop sobbing now. “Maybe you’re right. We can’t fake ourselves for a lifetime. If today is the time you can finally break free from the past, then I’ll be glad to let you go” he said with a pain in his voice. He stood up and offered his hand for Joanna to hold. Joanna stood up and gave him a tight hug he wasn’t prepared for.
“I am sorry. I am really sorry” Joanna kept apologizing. King’s eyes started watering up as he replied, “What can I do? It’s love over anything else, right?”. Joanna doesn’t want to abuse King’s kindness and put his efforts to waste. “Had I realized earlier that I am just wearing this mask that’s making me strong, it wouldn’t be this hard to let go” she said while loosening her hug from King’s body.
“It was never your fault that I decided to give you the life you deserve. I am just a phase of your life, Joanna. I did what I had to do. And now that you finally built yourself again, I think my job is done” he said while wiping Joanna’s tears. She just nodded; she was glad that King understood what she wanted to happen.
“Let’s go see DJ now. I bet he is awake by now” he said and guided Joanna on the way to the emergency room. They opened the door to see the jolly DJ playing with his toys. “DJ did a great job today. He is not scared of injections” Delia proudly said to them to make DJ more comfortable. “My little boy is so strong. Next time, you have to eat a lot of fruits so you won’t get sick again” Joanna said while caressing her son’s hair.
“Big dude bought me a penguin plushie because I am strong”, DJ said while showing them the new toy he got from DK. “Your big dude stayed with you?” King asked. The kid just nodded and continued playing. “Delia, pack up the things, and let’s go home. We have nothing to worry about. DK shouldered everything” Joanna instructed and so Delia started fixing their things.
King drives back to the place where they are staying. It’s getting late now and Joanna decided to stay with DJ for the night. King opened his laptop and stayed in his workspace inside his bedroom. Suddenly, a skype call popped on his laptop screen – it is his mother who is calling him. He immediately answered it and saw how sunny it was in the United States.
“How are things there, Mom?” he asked while continuing to encode something for work. “Can’t you spare me a glance? You’ve been so busy lately that you forgot to send me calls” his mother replied. “Work has been draining lately. Uncle Joel’s company is receiving more and more clients each month” he answered.
His mother sighed, “Have you considered my offer? You know working here will benefit you more. You can even expand your designs here”. King stopped for a second and gave an answer, “I’ll think about it one last time. It’s not bad though”. His mom’s eyes widened, “Did you just assure me a little bit? Before, you never paid attention to it” she said.
King looked at the screen and saw his mother’s reaction. “What? I didn’t even give a final answer yet. I said I’ll think about it” he replied, but his mother still had the smiles on her face. King thought about it after the talk with his mother. He stood up and went to his room’s mini veranda. Maybe taking his mother’s offer will make him move on faster. But there is something holding him back – he hasn’t confessed to Joanna regarding what he did to destroy DK.
He is too scared that Joanna will hate him for doing it. What’s left between them is a mere friendship they developed because of being there for each other. He stayed still, slowly feeling the despair of the consequences he will be facing soon.
 
Jash grabbed a bottle of beer and opened it. “Bro, you will be taking the boards again tomorrow. I’m sure this time, you will totally nail it!” he said while handing over another bottle to DK who is busy watching a football game on his office’s television. “Not quite confident about that. I am just fulfilling my mom’s wish” he answered and took a sip of the cold beer in his hand.
“I know you. You’re just acting as if you did not prepare for it. I’m quite sure this year is your year” he replied and sat beside his friend to watch the football game. Paola knocked on the office door and informed them, “Sir, someone’s here to see you” the secretary said. DK’s eyebrows crossed and looked at his wristwatch, “It’s past working hours. Who is it?” he asked.
“Me” King simply replied and entered the office. Paola closed the office’s door and let the three do their business inside. He grabbed a beer bottle and opened it for himself. He heard DK tsk while his eyes were focused on the television. “What brings you here? Didn’t you already get what you want?” DK asked not glancing at him.
King and Jash fist-bumped. He sat beside the two, crossing his legs and feeling the cold beer flowing in his throat. “What spell did you cast on Joanna? She cannot even make me believe that she forgot about you already” he said while playing with the half-emptied beer bottle. DK scoffed, “Are you jealous that I am still running through her mind? You already got her for Pete’s sake! What links me and she is just Dion” he replied.
King shook his head, “You don’t get what I mean, Dior. That’s not the case”. Jash stood up and sat somewhere else; he believed he should not be there while they are talking about family matters. King crossed his legs and finished the whole content of the beer bottle. “She loves you. And it’s getting hard for me to take it away from her” he revealed.
DK maintained a straight face; he does not have any trust left for his ex-best friend. “I’ve always felt safe whenever she is around. I’ve been holding her for years now but her mind is always with you. She never turned an eye for my affection because all this time, all she wanted was for you to come after her. She might be the one who pushes you away, but now she realizes how much you mean to her. She just realized that she is a fool for your love. Just now when I’ve fallen real deep for her. Just now that I started planning the future with her” King expounded while his eyes are staring at nowhere.
“It’s satisfying to hear that. But when will you let her know what disaster you’ve caused to us?” DK said that made King petrified. “You already know?” he asked; eyes widened in surprise. DK simply nodded, “I just knew it. I hired all sorts of investigators with my mom. And there I traced where that rented bitch is located. She confessed everything to me” he answered and drank a bottle of beer.
“Why didn’t you confront me? You had all the chance to spit it out to Joanna” King replied; his hands trembling knowing that he was already caught even before he confessed. “Because I can see through her that she loves you. Though I failed to sense through it. By the way, you said everything earlier, Joanna just loved you as a friend” DK responded which made King’s pride trampled.