Chapter 36

Alice asks Jacqueline about her wedding plans. Instead of answering, Jacqueline informs Alice that she and Phillip will be hosting a charity banquet to eliminate the nasty rumor. She invites Alice to join in and warns her not to donate any of her used clothes.
Bill and Hilton meets once again. their meetings are becoming usual.
M
oving on, Bill comments that meeting in the rain is something only lovers do. Hilton responds by asking him if he thinks their meetings are dates. the reason why he wants to meet there is because he enjoys watching the young soccer players, sharing that he envies their vigor and youthfulness. Bill then remarks that Hilton has become overly dramatic. When the soccer ball nearly hits them, Hilton suddenly coughs up blood, rendering Bill confused and concerned.
At the lab, Hilton spills that he was exposed to plutonium while working on a case and is suffering from lung cancer. He doesn��t want to be pitied upon so he kept it a secret and tried to live normally as possible. Bill then deduces that it��s because of this that he rejected Alice proposal. Hilton confirms, saying that it��s unfortunate that his luck was up. He then pleads to Bill to keep this a secret.
Roman and Alice patch things up over a bottle of wine. He says sorry for blaming her. He owns up to his faults and admits that he regretted meeting her. But since fate brought them together, he is obligated to protect her at all cost. There will be times when he can��t be with her, so she must promise to persevere and protect herself until he comes. Alice remains silent and Roman feels her erratic heartbeat. He chuckles and concludes she��s being possessive again.
After drinking two glasses of wine, she musters up courage to confess. He��s wrong. What she feels is not simply possessiveness but love. There were times when she was confused about her feelings but now, she��s sure of it. She may be scared or angry at him at times but she never despised or felt wronged when she does things for him. She did it all willingly. She��s even happy to die for him. Yes, she��s possessive but she��s also willing to give. With alcohol in her system, she boldly sits on his lap, making Roman wonder if she��s sober. But Alice only smiles and bluntly tells him that even though she loves him, he doesn��t meet her standards. She has a full grasps of reality and understands that a future with him is dim. Roman can��t agree more and tells her to end this folly, mainly, because it��s impossible for him to fall in love and spend his life with a normal woman. But Alice isn��t hearing any of it because she already fell asleep. He hugs her tight and gently reprimands her not to engage in excessive drinking anymore.
Meanwhile, Detective portman phones the enemy to report that Roman is already suspecting him so he can��t come over. However, he assures that everything has been laid according to plans.
Richard notices Alice gloomy aura and asks if she had a fight with Roman. She answers that it��s worse because she told him she loves him but he instantly rejected her, saying that he cannot love a normal woman. For her, Roman is just making up excuses and takes the human-monster incompatibility way too seriously. She tries to fish for sentiments and asks if she isn��t charming enough. Richard says that she is. But she��s not contented with his compliment because unlike Roman, he only knew few women.
Richard then reminds her that she must protect Roman against media people at the charity banquet tomorrow or his real identity will be exposed. Alice guarantees that Roman's identity is safe because the event is well-organized and media people are not after him. Speaking of the banquet, she just remembered that she has yet to find something for the auction.
Alice goes to her parent��s house. Her Dad was worried she had a fight with his son-in-law but she assures they��re fine and she��s just looking for the drawing she did in 3rd grade. When her Dad asks why she��s looking for the ��ugly junk��, she proudly states that it��s her donation for the auction. Her Dad is too appalled that he offers to buy the drawing himself, just to save her from dire embarrassment. But Alice is confident someone will buy it. Besides, it��ll be auctioned together with her previous art teacher��s painting. Her Dad concedes and tells her that the drawing is under the bed. However, while she looks for it, she finds a box load of condoms and sexy lingerie inside. Gawd, Dad��s guilty face is so funny.
Alice wears one of the undergarments in the box, supposedly to seduce Roman. However, he isn��t even looking her way and only focuses on his favorite drama. His insensitive attitude irritated her, so she turns off the TV and continues with her provocative poses. But sadly, her actions only confuses him. She finds it absurd that he can��t take a hint and bares that people dubs her the goddess of men. But Roman differs and says that the society has very low standards. He adds that her antics are useless because he��s not attracted to her at all.
When alone, Alice blames herself for making the fake relationship with Roman a real one. But then she doesn��t get why Roman is immune to her charms and postulates that maybe, just maybe, Roman is gay.
To prove her theory, Alice forces Richard to seduce Roman in exchange of a salary hike. Though reluctant, he yields. Alice sets up a hidden camera and watches the scene upstairs.
Richard immediately plays the seductress, making the unsuspecting Roman very uncomfortable. Since Richard's ��suggestive�� pose doesn��t work, he gets ��touchy�� which revolted Roman. As a last recourse, Richard burns his finger with the iron and uses the ��damsel in distress�� act. Being the good old Samaritan that he is, Roman tends to his burn. And since they walk beyond the camera��s view, Alice thinks of the worst and runs to prevent any intimacy between the two. Thankfully, she finds Richard in the CR alone. He relays that Roman went out to buy medicine. With this, Alice is content to know that Roman is definitely not a gay.
The next morning, Alice acts cute and virtuous. She even prepared a meal for Roman, saying that she��s just an ordinary woman and though she��s a goddess she��s still very approachable. Roman laughs at her overconfidence and asks what her point is. She tells him that she��s trying to make him fall in love with her. And since he��s not gay and not intimidated by her ��goddess�� status, she can��t comprehend why he isn��t attracted to her. Roman clarifies that he finds her charming and all, but the thing is, he lived for too long that he��s used to charm and finds living alone more comfortable.
Phillip picks up Jacqueline and compliments that she��ll be the most beautiful girl in the party. Jacqueline jokes that he shouldn��t be saying that because Alice will freak out. He then apologizes for losing his temper the other day. She also acknowledges her fault. And since everything��s well between them, they shake on it.
At the charity ball, Alice warns Roman not to wander around. They chat with Jacqueline and Phillip a little before going to the banquet table. Alice is happily picking up food when she notices Roman putting food on his own plate as well. Roman explains that it��s to blend in and he will just find a place to throw up later. So Alice purposely puts a big chunk of cake on his plate just to spite him.
All the while, Professor Gerald looks at them from afar. Phillip spots the professor and they casually chat. I wonder if it��s all an act. I really believe Phillip is the enemy.
The auction starts with Phillip as the host. The first to be bidded out is Jacqueline's jade bracelet. And to Alice horror it was sold for 1.5 million. She then turns to Roman for help. However, he is non-committal and asks what she brought. Of course she��s embarrassed to say it��s an ugly childhood drawing so she dismisses him with a ��Don��t ask��. Roman already has an idea that it��s something tacky so he turns her down, reasoning out that people will condemn him for having a bad taste. She implores some more, even promising that she won��t force him to eat cake. Roman smiles smugly. He will agree if she promises him one thing.