Even at the business of the night, Essi still had protected Oneil. How can he not look at her after what she had done? He cannot even tell the reason for admiring her at this moment.“Do you have something to say?” Essi asked while looking around. She was waving at those greeting her.“Nothing,” because where can he begin? “Are they your friends?” he asked.“I don’t know. Just keeping polite. Maybe they know me.”“It seems like everybody likes you and they want to meet you.”Essi shrugged. “It’s impossible. Everyone has a critic.”“You’re right,” Oneil uttered, still negotiating i

The defective red light of the boulevard blares intensively. It didn’t matter as vehicles are taking the intersection at their own discretion. Victor’s car is remaining on the side of the lane, waiting for the trailer truck to finish crossing. Traffic congestion has become a convenience for Essi to look back at how things have gone into trouble. But the splatters of raindrops against the window and the persistent glint of the red light hint to her that there is no other way to find out what happened but to visit the world that her youth has forgotten about. She made sure that Victor was not looking at her. Yet her secretary knew what she was planning and advised her to not look at the comments. Essi nodded before skimming the post. The post declares that Essi took Oneil away and it ruined Marika. This kind of malicious content is nothing new to Essi. However, it is amplified by the promises of technology and the intrigue of the people. Marika had revised so many stories and

Essi has always been good at this, to make you feel guilty even without doing anything. But none of these events were products of her manipulation, neither did she apply any tactics at all. She did nothing but forget to take care of herself. She did nothing but fear the night sleep because of the dread of what must be done on the next day. The news about her roadside injury is but an additional devastation, an optimum riff off of the two families’ talking game. If it were not for Gwyneth who sought her to ask forgiveness, they wouldn’t find out what happened to her. She is confined in a hospital. Curtains are her partition from the people discussing among themselves how they must deal with the issue about Oneil. Essi chose to keep her eyes shut while imagining that the words of their conversation are but low background symphonies of the orchestra in her mind. At first, her heart was beating along with the sweet imagined music. But its violent rhythm took over at the

The Mercators have returned to visit Essi. Anyone concerned, and passersby who have other purposes in the hospital can comprehend that most of these non-immediate Mercators will just stir another incessant blame game and ignorance to solutions at hand. Victor has thought it well to impose his autonomy for the sake of the patient in room 802. “Mr. Arlelle has instructed me to only allow two persons to visit Essi in a day,” he said while standing between his men. Due to his notice, the other Mercators have to set themselves aside. They needed to let Oneil’s parents face Essi by themselves. They pleaded to hear some thoughts but the men reminded them to keep things negotiated inside and remain undistributed to other people. The men immediately closed the door as they entered. Madame Latifa steps forward while pressing her fingers on her purse. Her eyes are on Essi who didn’t notice her yet. She made another step that caught Essi’s attention. Essi

There are many ways that people can say they are okay. Essi has recovered her health. But she still doesn’t feel good. She will have the need to face herself to the Paulssons and she does not have the right to plead to her family to excuse her. Essi intended to focus herself on the tablet with the aim of keeping up with her business. Her mind is already gearing back to the systems of her company and how she can help PHYGIN while Oneil is away.  “Essi, you should take a rest first. You just got discharged. Don’t get yourself too busy.” “I can’t,” Essi replied while her eyes were fixed on the large screens to skim many emails and appointments. “Your father has dealt with them. He explained that it will be a private matter that we will not discuss with them.” Essi stopped from her work and glanced at her mother. Is she telling the truth? Essi had it hard to believe because the Paulssons are known to be passionate about knowing the business of their