Chapter 69 Room 8801

<Mia>

I'm here at the hospital because I'm visiting Daze, and she's awake now.

Ethan doesn't know that I'm visiting someone else. He thinks I'm just hanging out at the hospital. He doesn't like leaving me at home, so he takes me with him every day. We go home early too, as if he's just visiting the hospital.

I found Daze with a red face and looking pale. She was staring out of the window.

"Daze?" I called her attention as she seemed lost.

"Mia…" she called my name, and her tears started flowing.

I approached her and embraced her, concerned about her.

"My mom died," she said while crying.

"Someone killed her in her condo," she continued, her voice trembling.

I didn't know what to say. I'm not good at comforting people.

I talked to her mother just the other day. Her mother also sent me a text, asking when I'll visit Daze.

"I think it's the same person who hurt me," Daze said, her vulnerability showing.

Daze kept crying, and I couldn't leave her alone in that state. I felt sorry for her because she was all alone. I knew how much she loved her mother.

I texted Dashie to switch shifts with me, but he said he couldn't make it. My husband is looking for me. He's getting angry from his text messages, and he's been searching for me since earlier.

I left Daze when she fell asleep after crying. I left her in the care of a nurse because I needed to leave. She's pitiful, having no one to take care of her. Why is life so complicated?

I entered Ethan's clinic and found him researching with his eyes on me, his fists clenched.

"Where the fuck have you been?!" He asked with anger. I stepped back out of fear. Why is he angry?

"Who did you visit in room 8801?"

My heart raced when he said that. Does he already know?

"You're cheating on me again! Why is it so hard to trust you?" He yelled. I was on the verge of jumping from his loudness. I prayed that no one would pass by his office.

"Ethan, it's not what you think," I said through tears. My voice was trembling.

"Do you think I'll believe your lies? Damn it, Mia! I try to trust you, but you always give me reasons not to!"

I jumped in surprise when he angrily swept everything off his desk. His new iPhone was included in the things that fell.

"I can't see any reason to love you anymore! I can't find a reason to fight for this!"

"So are you tired?"

"Yes! I'm fucking tired!"

His answer surprised me, but I was even more surprised when he started crying in front of me. I didn't expect that response from him.

"Mia, am I not enough? I thought you were starting to love me, but now I find out that you're visiting your ex-lover! You're painful to love. I'm so fed up. Please help me work on this relationship. I'm human too, and I get tired."

"Ethan, I'm just visiting her because her mother asked me to. I don't love Dashie anymore because I love you now," I cried as I confessed to him.

His face was angry, and his eyes were red from crying. He was also crying. He looked weak to me.

Am I hurting him too much? I didn't mean to hurt him, really.

"She needs a friend because her mother died. I hope you understand that we had history too. But you're the one I love," I confessed to him.

"And we're going to have a child."

He clenched his fist.

"Understand? Have you ever considered my feelings?! You're fucking hurting me, Mia! You keep hurting and disappointing me. I fucking understand you, but I don't fucking understand why you have to stay by his side! Doesn't she have any friends? You're too busy worrying about other people while your husband needs you! I need you too, Mia! Show me that you're by my side! Because the truth is, it's hard to fight alone! I've fought and given up everything for you, but why can't you fight for me? You're fucking neglecting me!"

I closed my eyes because I couldn't bear to see him so angry. Am I hurting him so much?

"Sorry..." I said, unable to meet his eyes.

"Can't you do that? I'm tired of loving you," he said, and my world stopped. Is he giving up? But we're going to have a child.

I approached him and held his hand.

"Ethan, please don't be like this. You're scaring me. Are you leaving me? You said you love me," I cried as I held his hand tightly.

“you don't love me, Mia. You're not sure about your feelings. If you love me, you'll prioritize me, not your ex. I guess you're not done loving your exes yet. You're killing me slowly. I hope it won't be too late for both of us by the time you're sure about me."

Due to my fear of his words, I hugged him tightly.

"It's you that I love. I don't want to lose you," I said, trembling in fear. He didn't hug me back tightly.

"Your love is so painful. You make me feel like it's okay to lose me compared to your exes," he said in a low voice, enough for me to feel how much I've hurt him.

"Your love hurts so much."

"Stop crying," he gently told me.

"I promise I won't visit him anymore," I said and bit my lower lip.

"You've broken your promises many times," he said, as if he no longer expected much from me.

We were on our way back home, and I was still crying. The pain was overwhelming. I could sense that things weren't okay between us. We were talking, but there was a barrier between us.

I woke up to all of Ethan's words. I was chasing others without realizing that he was by my side, willing to sacrifice and love me more than his own life. I forgot that he's human, not just a machine. I regret it.

I thought Yunnie would be the one to love me unconditionally, but Ethan was there, loving me better than I loved myself.

I was seeking validation and love from other people.

I looked at him as he held my hand while his gaze was on the road, and his left hand was on the steering wheel.

"Sorry," I apologized again, and I hugged his arm. He didn't say anything. Maybe he's just tired of me.

"Don't leave me," I pleaded in fear. I've been left several times, and I don't want to be abandoned again. I have trust issues, but what about his trust issues with me? I was hurt by his words about how painful I am to love.

I was too blinded by my feelings, and I didn't think about him. I felt like I was dying from the guilt in this moment. Crying was the only thing I could do.

"Stop crying," he said in his deep voice. But I just cried even more. He used to get frustrated when he heard me cry, but now it's different. Does he have someone else now? I wish you had told me, so I wouldn't have held onto the hope that we'd still be together in the end. I wish you had told me, I would have let you be happy and move on.

Does he feel the same pain? Or is it even more painful for him? I can't undo what's happened; all I can do is relive those moments. Stay toxic.

~

<Third Person>

*Play the song Balang araw by I belong to the Zoo*

"Damn it!" Nathan cursed.

Ethan was at the company, sitting in his swivel chair. He had left his wife at home to rest. He planned to go home later in the afternoon.

He was utterly exhausted. He felt like he needed a year's worth of rest. He came to the office just to check on his employees.

He had so many problems. He was only human, and he got tired too.

He didn't expect that his twin brother would come to visit him.

"What happened to you?" Nathan asked, annoyed, as he loosened his own necktie.

"You're neglecting yourself. You look tired and troubled. Aren't you taking care of yourself properly?" he asked, taking a seat in the visitor's chair; they were facing each other.

Ethan sighed.

"What do you need?" Ethan asked without much energy. He didn't really know what he was thinking before his twin brother arrived, given how tired he felt.

"What are you going to do about the stolen gold bars? That idiot Xavier messed up," Nathan said angrily.

Their gold bars were stolen, and Ethan had lost more, so they were in trouble.

"I'll fucking kill Xavier," Ethan said in a scary tone, clenching his fist. His eyes were burning with intensity.

"Relax, he's still our friend," Nathan calmly remarked.

"I don't fucking care. He didn't do his responsibility well. Damn! He let our money be taken away!" Ethan answered mercilessly.

If Nathan was intimidating, Ethan was heartless, and then some.

All their friends were angry at Xavier. They had only found out about the news yesterday, and everyone had serious expressions on their faces.

Ethan also had a rough day yesterday. He found out that his wife was meeting her ex-lover who was in the hospital. He had even planned to kill his wife's ex-lover, thinking that this would finally get her attention and make her love him. But he was tired. He needed to address his bigger problems first.

"If you kill Xavier, who will look for our money?"

"Replace him. In the fucking first place, he's not doing his job. Really? We all lost a fucking gold bar worth billions!" Ethan angrily exclaimed.

Xavier and Ethan were kept apart deliberately by their friends because they knew that a confrontation between them would lead to a fight.

"Thunder will be mad at you. Xavier is his close friend among us."

"I'll fucking kill him too. They will be happy to die together! I'll burn their dead bodies together!" Ethan said emotionlessly, his eyes becoming even redder.

All of their friends knew Ethan's true nature. When they found out that he had been struck by Cupid's arrow, they took great pleasure in teasing him. It was a way to make up for Ethan's generally gruff demeanor towards them.