Chapter 119 - The Voice from the Darkness (1/2)

His voice shocks the beejesus out of her. She squints in the half-darkness. ”Miguel?”

Miguel steps into the light, his face drooping with indescribable sadness. ”What is it, Claire? Why are you doing this to me?”

Claire gazes at him, steeling her resolve. She feels something, a sense of danger. Sure, this is Miguel Tan, a normally level-headed person. But he seems different now. He seems in so much pain, and she only has an inkling of why it is so. And yet, she can't do anything about it. She can't give in to this show of pain or sadness or whatever this is. Gabriel's love is at stake, and she would never want to compromise that.

”I don't understand, Miguel,” she mutters. ”I already made it clear so many times. I didn't want to hurt you, but you're doing this. You're the one who's hurting yourself. You know I'm…I'm in love with Gab.”

Miguel scoffs. ”But you only just met. You can't possibly be so in love with him? Less than four weeks and you're already so in love with the man who initially hired you to pose as his fake fiancée.”

”Are you hearing what you're saying?” Claire's voice quakes with emotion. ”You've only just met me, too, do you even realize that? And yet, here you are, telling me these things. That's what love is, Migs. It's hard to understand, to fathom. How can you belittle my love for your brother, while ignoring the fact of your own infatuation?”

”Infatuation? You call this infatuation?” There's hurt in Miguel's voice.

She shrugs. ”I don't know. Maybe. Maybe you're behaving like this because of all the women who are chasing you, the table has turned when it comes to me. Perhaps because I'm the only one who couldn't return what you offer.”

Miguel steps closer. Claire recoils, expecting the worst.

”You have no idea, Claire, what you're doing to me,” he mutters. His face is so close to her face that she could smell his liquor-tinged breath. ”You're driving me crazy. How can you not like me? How can you not want what a million other girls are dying to experience? I can make you deliriously happy, Claire. If you let me have you for a single night, just one night, I ȧssure you, you will never ever forget me.”

Claire takes a few steps back. ”Stop it. Do you even remember who I am? I'm your brother's fiancée—”

”How could I forget the fake fiancée?”

”It's not… It's different now.”

”Oh, really?” Miguel scoffs. ”Then why are you called Bella at the office? Why the deception? Why all this play-acting? Did you really think it's going to work in the long run?” Miguel's eyes glimmer with resentment. ”My brother is just playing. He's just trying to rebound from his heartache. He's just using you, Claire. Wake up. I'm the one who truly loves you.”