Chapter 38

Minerva’s POV

 

I knew this was going to happen.

            I look at the people around me. Even Darwin’s eyes…I can’t. I can’t even look him in the eye.

            Did he really fall for his stepmother’s clown show again?

            Well, I can’t blame him. Blood is thicker than water. And considering my status, I am not a real family member yet. I am not a Gray after all.

            “You’re Darwin’s fiancée right?”

            This woman came to me without even introducing herself.

            I looked at her from head to toe, assessing her. Her sunflower-printed bikini matches her skin tone, not bad. She has a nice body and lovely face. I wonder if those are all natural or ‘crafted’ by a professional.

            “Yes,” I said with a chin up. “And who are you?”

            She seems to smirk at my tone of voice. “I am Lyla Roberts, Darwin’s former secretary.”

            “Oh…”

            “And his former fuck buddy.”

            Lyla stared at my blank face. Why is it that every woman I met is either Darwin’s ex or somewhat treats Darwin as solely their own?

            Never mind, all girls are possessive anyway. This woman is no exception to that.

            She acts as if she was Darwin’s girlfriend. In fact, she and Gyzell were never on Darwin’s girlfriend list.

            I think there’s no one on his list at all.

            “I see,” I only replied with the shortest of words. This time, I didn’t just hold my chin high. I also lifted my breasts in a chest-out manner.

            Flipping my hair to my back, I looked her in the eye. But she managed to speak first.

            “I never knew Darwin would choose a girl who pushes women of senior age into a cliff. Or is it the product of your parents’ passing that they didn’t even manage to teach you manners?”

            That’s it. That’s the signal.

            “Maybe yes, maybe no…” I whispered. Then my signature, powerful slap stained her cheeks with redness, sending her tumbling on the ground.

            Because I don’t give a fuck to people who judge easily and humans who call themselves critics who don’t even listen to the two sides of the story. 

Still furious, I grabbed a condom from my wallet and threw it at her. “Here, grab yourself a man who will give a fuck at you for the rest of your life for that disrespectful tongue of yours!”

***

           

Darwin’s POV

 

There she is.  found her through the shriek of Lyla. 

I found Minerva standing before her and Lyla was holding her cheeks that were probably—no, not probably—surely had been slapped by my woman.

            I don’t know what’s happening. Though I already knew that Jocelyn constantly speaks of erroneous claims, I still don’t know how to approach Minerva to ask her why Jocelyn fell at the cliff.

            “Minerva!” I shouted her name. My employees’ eyes are on me. I don’t know if it’s fear or hesitance or intimidation in their faces.

            Maybe because my 6’2 heights made everyone look like a dwarf at this towering height of mine.

            “Minerva!” She didn’t turn her head to me even though I called her two times. “Minerva!”

            “Minerva!”

            “Minerva!”

            “Minerva!”

            She just kept walking to nowhere, and I just kept following.

            “Minerva!”

            When I finally grabbed her arm and made her face me forcefully, she slapped me. Why does she like slapping people?”

            But to be honest, Minerva’s more cute when she’s mad. And her slap…it’s so damn sexy that even my cock had a standing ovation.

            “Minerva, stop.” She hoisted her hand to slap me once more but I halted her. Instead, I brought her hand to my chest, to where my beating heart rests.

            “Here…” I caressed her cheeks with my other hand, “Hush now, sweetie. I know you didn’t do it to her.”

            Minerva arched her brows and pursed her lips. She doesn't believe me. “Then who did, huh?”

            She was challenging. I know that she only needs someone to comfort her, to side with her. 

“The wind did.” My chuckle reverberated in this hidden area of the island. I looked around and I realized a waterfall was above us. It’s a small one that’s perfect for a skinny dip and cuddling for couples.

            But Minerva’s face remains the same. Not a hint of smile or laugh or grin or chortle.

            “You’re insane!” Then she pushed me. Without hesitation.

            I landed on the bare soil, an aloe vera behind me.Glad that I didn’t land on the thistles.

            “I promised to marry you when we were kids!” She turned half of her body at me. I noticed worms crawling around me and I realized a bunch of them were below my ass.

            Minerva just shook her head.

            “I was that young boy…” I yelled, making my voice louder with the use of my two hands. “I was that young boy who’s celebrating his birthday at that time and the one who vowed to marry you under the sea of stars, where the wind and the night itself witnessed my promise!”

            She walked at me slowly. I grinned; I knew she indeed loved me.

            “I don’t give a shit with your poetic words!” She grabbed the ring on her finger and threw it on the water nearby.

            “I don’t love you. And as far as the days I’ve counted, my debt had already paid with my fucking and kissing and blowing.”

            My heart had escaped from my chest, from its cage.

            “Fine…” I countered. “Go home by yourself.”

            Her eyes widened.

            “Go home and get out of my fucking island this instant!”

            I should’ve stapled my mouth, but anger had guided the words that my tongue uttered.

            She turned her back on me, running away as fast as she could. 

            How could she run that fast? She has Hemera in her womb.

Shit.  Minerva left, leaving me here all alone. Once again. Minerva  running with that condition of hers is—

            “I’m sorry, Derrick…”  I murmured on the water’s reflection, to where she threw the ring I gave her. “I’m sorry. But I am not the perfect man to guard and protect your Minerva.”

            With the water’s presence, I can no longer hold my tears.

            I just let it flow from my eyes; I poured all the heaviness of my heart with weeping and punching the sandy shore.

            I looked at my reflection once again.

            “No…I am not a coward. I will not easily give up,” I chanted.

            “I am not a coward. I am Darwin Gray. I will never fall back down. I will never step back.”

            Then I dived down and swam in the coolness of the water, looking for the ring she threw.

***

Minerva’s POV

 

I left him. Rage made me leave him.

            Then he also left me, without even chasing after me or even calling me by my name again.

            Maybe he already gave up on me. Maybe he realized that two people who came from two different worlds are no match for each other. Jocelyn was right, she is right. I shouldn't have come to the Grays in the first place.

            But can you live without him? A thought crossed my mind.

            I can… I answered as if I was talking to someone. I have lived without him for more than a decade, how much more now?

            But my heart knew. My mind knew. My blood knew. I cannot breathe without his scent. I cannot think without his touch. I can't smile without his face.

            I cannot live without his presence here beside me.

            He is my blood and my bone, my heart and my essence.

            I loved him.

            I loved that young boy who took my hand and promised that he’ll marry me under heaven's starry blanket. I loved that young man, even if he didn’t promise me marriage. Love has its own language that no linguist can decipher. Hearts have their own voices.

            And to me…Darwin was my voice. The voice of my heart, the light of my life, and the fire of my narrow icy cave.

            “Oh, Darwin…” Then I hugged my knees. I can see in the distance that a fire is being made. People are having a party, dancing around the fire like some ancient heathens praying to their deities.

            “Jocelyn is probably one of them,” I whispered.

            “No, she isn’t.”

            That voice…it wasn’t Darwin.

            “Did you and my son have a fight?”

            That’s him. I can’t be mistaken.

            “Your fight was useless. I found out that the part of that cliff is indeed slippery as it rained last night. I even fell in there earlier when I climbed up to check and decipher how Jocelyn fell. I’m lucky a jellyfish didn’t bite me as soon as I landed on the water,” Damon explained, his smile returning on his handsome, old-but-hot face.

            Damon is like this Dad In Late Forties that every teenager wants to get laid by him.

            It’s a good thing I’m no longer a teenager.

            He stretched out his hand and lifted me from my knees. When I reached his tent, which I just found out that he and Jocelyn don't sleep together, he offered me a bowl of hot crab soup, grilled cheesy lobsters, and a towel.

            “Hush now, sweetie. Father’s here at your side.”

            My tears of joy are my only answer to Damon Gray, the man who sees me as his daughter already even if my surname isn't Gray yet.