CHAPTER 27: The Aftershocks

KATE’s P.O.V.

A day passed. We are still at the hospital, Mom regaining her strength after being diagnosed of having a mental breakdown. She looks fine, but I bet she felt really bad and sorry for me.

“Here, Mom. Eat this one,” I stated, giving her another slice of apples while Dad is taking a sleep in the couch.

I stiffened as Mom reached for my hand, looking at me with a worried expression plastered upon her face.

“Are you alright, Kate?” she asked.

“Yes, Mom. And I’m one hundred percent sure about that. Here you go. Eat this one to regain your energy.”

“But... I though you like that guy?” she asked curiously.

“Yep... Maybe. But I already love someone. And what I mean by that, I already found someone that could accept me for the real me...”

She smiled, looking relieved after hearing my words. She then took a bite on the slice of food I prepared for her.

“I bet that’s the reason why you aren’t weeping right now. I’m so glad to know that you finally have that special someone, Kate. Though, when will I meet him?”

“After all of this chaos, Mom. I promise you that.”

“And I’ll wait for that day to come.”

I chuckled, before gently giving her a hug. After I finished feeding her, we decided to take a rest for the doctor advice us to let my Mom take as much sleep as she wanted to. I decided to take a nap too just to let the time passed by.

I don’t know how many hours passed and what time it is right now. I’m just sleeping peacefully until I was awakened by the continuous knock on the door of our hospital room. I sat up, scratching my eyes using my hands.

Dad yawned, looking at me with a curious eyes. I guess he’d just been awakened by the same noise coming from outside.

“Who’s that?” he asked.

“I don’t know, Dad. I just wake up.”

“Please take the door for me.”

I nodded, before standing up. I fixed my hair into a ponytail while walking towards the door. I slowly open it, only revealing the last man that Dad surely wanted to see today. It was his bestfriend, Mr. Herrera.

“Kate...” He shoot me an apologetic look. “I’m very sorry for my son’s doing.”

“That’s fine, Mr. Herrera. Would you like to come in?” I tried to be nice and invite him inside.

“Can I?”

“Uhm... Sure. Dad is inside.” I told him that to serve as a warning.

He nodded before making his way inside.

“Who’s that?” Dad curiously asked.

Mr. Herrera and I came over his direction, and as he saw the person next to me, his facial expression suddenly shift into a furious one.

“What are you doing here? After the humiliation your son had caused to our family...”

“Forgive me, Armando. But I’ll admit it in front of your face... I’m the one who should be blame for this, not my son. All he wanted to do is to manage our company. I’m the one who invented this arranged marriage and I didn’t know that it could ruin our friendship... I really am sorry. Please forgive me... Kate,” looked at me. “Forgive me.”

I thrifty smiled at him, but my Dad didn’t. He remained stoic while still looking furious. I feel like he wanted to say something, he just couldn’t.

“Your son hurt my daughter... I will never forgive him for doing that.”

My heart almost melt hearing those words coming from my Dad. I can’t believed it. He’s willing to lose his friendship with Mr. Herrera just to protect me. I finally realized that he loves me as his daughter, not just an asset to our company.

“I’m not asking you to forgive me as of this moment. I just wanted to do my part, Armando. I wanted to send my deepest apologies towards your family personally. I’ll wait for that day to come when you could finally forgive me and my son.”

“You better not hope for that day, Darrel. I’m not sure if our friendship could remained as it is before right after what happened to our children.”

“I’m still hoping. You know I wouldn’t easily give up on things, Armando. Your my greatest friend and colleague. I won’t ever forget you.”

Dad just nodded before motioning his visitor to leave now. Mr. Herrera slightly vowed his head as a sign of respect before leaving the room. Before I could even said a word, Dad already opened his mouth to talk.

“I could take it even if he sabotage the reputation of our company. I just don’t want them to harm you, Kate. If that’s the case, I don’t know if I could ever forgive them.”

“D-Dad...” my voice broke down, causing me to choke on my own tears.

“You’re my only daughter. The only person who will raised the name of our company again someday... I believe in your capabilities as a leader now, Kate. You made me so proud just by carrying our surname. I’m sorry for being too hard on you sometimes... I just wanted you to grow as the person I can’t be. The person who couldn’t meet my family’s expectations. But as time passes by, I realized that you’re not me, and you will never be like me. Because you’re different. You’re greater than your Dad, Kate. For me, you’re greater than anyone else in this world. And you don’t have to change yourself just to fit in... You are, for who you are. Always remember that.”

I ran towards him to give him a hug. He chuckled, embracing me back as I felt his tears on my shoulder. After apologizing to each other, we laughed at ourselves, only realizing that we got so much in common. Being a hopeless yet a dominant person.

“Dad?” I asked curiously as a thought suddenly passed by into my mind. “Would you be mad at me if I already have a special someone?”

He looked at me seriously, without saying any word. I was about to open my mouth again to cut off the dead silence between the both of us but I chose to remained quiet for Dad had already started responding to me.

“I won’t be mad. Though... Don’t you think you have to focus on yourself more right after what happened to Darren and to you? I mean... Before you love someone, you should love yourself first, Kate.”

I stopped for a moment, thinking that the people around me have one thing in common. They wanted me to love myself first before I do that to others. I guess they’re right, but Elijah was the first one who love me for being me... The first person who amended my broken heart.

“I know, Dad. But this one is different. I mean, I hurt him when I let myself be tied to that marriage... And I didn’t even get a chance to thank him nor to apologize properly...”

He looked at me with an understanding expression plastered upon his face. He then touch my shoulder as a sign of sympathy before saying another word.

“Then go on, Kate. Go to that man and be with him if that’s what really makes you happy...” he trailed off, looking to Mom who’s currently sleeping right now. “Don’t wait for something bad to happen before you realized that you should’ve been there...”

“Dad...” I couldn’t help but ask him this question. “Do you love Mom?” I asked, making him stop.

My heart ache seeing a bead of tear coming from his eyes. He slowly nodded, and I almost rejoiced witnessing how he admitted it to himself that he really loves my Mom. Maybe I’m not just a fruit of an arranged marriage. Maybe I’m more than that.

“I do, I really love her. At first, I was like Darren... Forced to marry someone I didn’t like just to save the future of our company. But as time passes by, I came to see that your mother isn’t just a woman for me. She became my wife, and the mother of my child. That’s when I realized that I love her. Though I was afraid of showing it to her because I know she’d probably already accepted it to herself... That I’m never going to love her as my wife. But I do, Kate. I really do.” He was looking at Mom with his eyes filled with tears.

“Dad...” I trailed off, choking in my own tears as I saw his vulnerable side for the very first time.

“And when she comes out from here, I’m hoping that it’s still not too late for me to make her feel that she’s loved... And she’s worth it.”

“Mom will be delighted to hear that, Dad. I’m sure she will. She love you as much as she loves me.”

“I hope so too, Kate. Maybe it’s not yet too late to rebuild our family. I love you both.”

”I love you too, Dad. Thank you so much for everything.”

Again, we share another emphatic embrace. I feel whole, like nothing could stop me from fighting for Elijah now that I finally got my parents approval and support. And I’m hoping that the aftershocks of chaos will be finally over in here.