Chapter 48

Darwin’s POV

 

“Look Lushan! You look like that fish!” Holding my fifth beer of the day, I immediately turned around to see Mariella teasing Lushan as she quickly pinched his cheeks.

            I never expected the two to see them here, the place where I ‘cloistered’ myself from everyone who knows me by drinking and weeping and plunging myself into deep thoughts, then drinking again. But with Mariella and Lushan’s presence…God, I never felt out of place as today. I pretended that I didn’t—I wasn’t in the bar in front of the large aquarium where several sea fauna were swimming before everyone’s eyes.

            “Oh really?” Lushan challenged. “You look like that puffer fish over there.” Mariella nudged his elbow.

            I am not single. In fact, I have a fiancée. But why the hell do I feel so goddamn small and lonely and unloved compared to these two?

            I’ve been a coward. I know that.

            I also know that I have been a jerk towards Minerva during our company outing in Isla de Rubia.

            I can never forgive myself for siding with Jocelyn at that moment, for defending a murderer. She is the fucking reason why my half-brother vanished in my eyes in an instant.

            I don’t know how to face Minerva. I really don’t. I may be one hell of a rich bastard but money cannot solve everything alone. That being a billionaire is nothing more like being a shark in an ocean of sturgeons.

            I may have the advantage but it doesn’t mean I cannot fail. And I have failed Minerva, and her daughter Hemera. Our daughter.

            I failed as Derrick’s brother and family for not being able to keep the promise I made to him, to watch over Minerva. I let my pride swallow me whole; let my cowardness take over my mind.

            But upon knowing the truth about Jocelyn and Derrick and what she did to him…I guess this is not the right time to cower. There is no time for me to act like a chicken where in fact I have the spirit of a wolf—I will protect my woman and my child, Derrick’s daughter, come hell or high water.

            Speaking of an angel, I hoisted my head to find Damon looking at me. Cyrene, my friend and future stepmom, was looping arms with the woman who became a great part of my life. The woman who made me change and also brought changes to my existence.

            ‘Why are all of them in this ocean park?’ I wondered.

            “Darwin!” my father called at me. Sitting in this bar chair, I never felt a hot seat in my entire life like today. All of them are staring right at me. Even baby Hemera began to cry at the stroller.

            I gulped down all my worries. I shook my cold, trembling hands, fixed my wet-but-not-so-wet hair and walked towards her.

            “Hi, Minerva. I’m so sorry for what I’ve done lately. I—” The back of my head cringed, anxious to hear what she might say.

            But she smiled instead; she fucking grinned at me. “Hush, sweetheart. When will our wedding be, Darwin?”

            Speechless and not knowing what to say, I smiled back. “Next week, Minnie dear.”

***

Minerva’s POV

Sky blue and pink.

            Those are the color motifs that me and my first love had always dreamed of.

            But seeing this now…in my very own designer wedding dress is astounding. I was flabbergasted how lush and lavish our wedding is, considering that we have only prepared for just a matter of days.

            Darwin said next week at that time in the ocean park but I insisted that we pushed it to two weeks later. Hemera had a mild fever and I took her to the doctor several times.  Even if she had already felt well, I still took her to a doctor for a baby’s vaccination. The physician said it will last for ten years against common diseases and such.

            I sighed, relieved at what the doctor said. But I almost forgot that I also have a wedding to prepare if not for Darwin’s text message. As a form of gratitude, I invited the doctor, who was also Mariella’s colleague and he (but my bestfriend often refers to the doctor as she) gladly accepted without so much of a blink of an eye.

            The sky began to bleed in tangerine and orange and a little bit of pink and purple. Perfect for a wedding ceremony. The temperature is not too humid but not too cold.

            We chose this specific time since sunset is pretty much symbolistic for me. The time when the moon is about to wake and the sun begins to fade in the horizon. The colors are so breath-taking, especially for a beach wedding.

            This was a  January wedding in the late afternoon, a bit chilly and wintery. Hence, our wedding planner placed some ice sculptures by the aisle to add more beauty and aesthetics. Some are shaped into swan, others are shaped into random swirling designs. But what I love the most are the intricate heart ice sculptures.

            Such beauty, such elegance. Such a wonderful ambience.

            At the end of each seated aisle, though quite sandy and the smell of the salty sea is inevitable, jasmine and lavender scented candles hung from snow-covered naked tree branches as if Christmas have never left. Spreading down the red carpet in the middle were white rose petals, freshly picked from Chateau Bellerose. We’d have a small group of close family and friends dressed in beach attire underneath their wedding attire for comfort. They sat in pink-and-sky-blue-covered chairs set up for them by the organizers on the sands of Isla de Rubia.

            “Okay, okay Minerva…” I whispered to myself as I shook my cold and quivering fingers. I often do that to relieve my anxiousness. “I need to fucking breathe!”

            Only five minutes remained before our—me and Darwin’s—wedding began; I knew I should not be nervous but I am utterly one right now.  It felt just like the first time I saw him on that table behind us when I joined Rhea and Richard for lunch.

            Ah the memories…it felt so lucid and nostalgic, I mused

            Mariella looked at me wide-eyed. “Are you ready now, Minnie?” I can do nothing but cry. Even until now, my friend, who once loved me as a woman—and still loved me as a friend—patted my back and calmed me down.

            I hugged her, despite Lushan’s arched brows and laser-like eyes towards my direction. I just stuck out a tongue at him and, good freaking gracious, he smiled.