NO REGRETS

“You are right about that. I don’t regret it at all. I would do the same thing over and over again if put in the same situation. And yes, I don’t remember saying that someone forced me to pull the trigger. I did it willingly.” Gia affirmed.

Mrs. Azzua took a bold step toward Gia, her dangerous eyes aiming to demean her but failing. His tone of voice rhymed with a look in her eyes—threatening. "Then, as soon as now, I ask you to back off my son’s life. It was bad enough that you brought all this trouble upon him, and with this revelation that you just made, I never want you for my son.”

Gia smirked with a gesture of sarcasm. “That is not for you to decide at all, Mrs. Azzua. It is for Deep and I to decide. And if he was okay with what I did, then I am sorry, but it is you who should back off our backs.”

Anger rose pretty high in Mrs. Azzua, her eyes burning while her every sense of being shook as she spoke. “I am his mother. In the end, it is me who will have to give my blessing and my consent to who he marries, and if I say no, according to our culture, believe me, not even that so-called love that you are talking about will stand a chance against my word.”

Gia shook slightly, but she braced herself in time before her fears could be noticed by anyone. Deep was her love—her great love. The man she would give up the world for. The man she looked forward to having a family with. The man she yearned for and dreamed of every single night. Even with the current unclear state of Deep, she still held on to the hope that their love would bring them together again. How can someone tell her that she and Deep are over?

Whether it was his parents or someone else,. There was no way she would entertain that thought. She believed in what Deep had shown her. In what she felt. In the hope that love conquers all. Deep fought for her, even without knowing whether she would ever reciprocate his love. It was her time to do the same—to fight for him even though she did not know where he was. And no one would stop her from fighting for him or loving him.

She looked at the impossible woman before her. Were it not for the respect she had for Deep, she would have spilled all her wrath on her and told her that she could do nothing about that matter, but she chose to ask her just a simple question. “If your son goes through what I went through in the hands of that monster, and in the end, you find out that you can pull that trigger to save your son, then I don’t know what kind of mother you would be. And you, your parents, got killed in front of your eyes; a series of more cold murders of innocent people happen right under your watch; wouldn’t you try and at least serve justice for them?”

Mrs. Azzua remained mute, perhaps weighing the questions and mulling over them. There was not even a single doubt in her head that she would do anything for the sake of her son and her husband. She would pull that trigger even without thinking. But she did not want to admit that she hated the guts of Gia. Her fear of her son marrying someone who had killed her was taking a toll on her. What if they argued and the lady killed her son?

Mr. Azzua walked closer, chasing away the curiosity as she spoke to the two ladies. “Do you two think you can stop fighting? Honestly, we will not win this war like this.

Mrs. Azzua snapped at her husband, countless furrows of disbelief filling her face. “Don’t tell me that you are going to take her side even on this one too!”

Her husband turned to her with a bored, frustrated expression on his face. The situation seemed like it was boring him to the bone. “Can you stop making a mole out of a mountain in everything?”

“A mole? We are talking about murder here! That is not a mole. That is not something to be overlooked.” Mr. Azzua snapped.

“And what will mull over the past do to help the current pressing situation at hand, huh? Can’t we just set everything aside and focus on rescuing Deep, and then we can worry about who is a saint and who is not after that?” Mr. Azzua’s voice was higher than it had ever been.

Silent crept in their midst, the authority in his voice forbidding anyone from defying them, and the weight of his words resonating with everyone’s senses. “I am sorry.” Gia apologized sincerely. “You are right. Deep is our top priority. Everything else can wait.”

“You are the wise one and the one directing us. So, what exactly are we supposed to do? This is another day, and I cannot sit down and do nothing knowing that my son is in danger.” Mrs. Azzua attacked Gia again.

“I believe you can be a bit nicer than that. Spare the poor girl some time, or I will be locking you in the room whenever we are discussing this.” Mrs. Azzua warned his wife.

“It is okay, Mr. Azzua. I understand where she is coming from. I asked for a meeting with the general to ask for formal authorization to open Ejay’s case. Unfortunately, this man is acting strange, but we will know the truth soon. In the meantime, I believe that there are a lot of things that we can do. We can print poster’s and declare Deep Missing. That does not require any authorization from anyone.”

“I think that is a good idea. So, shall we start now?” Mr. Azzua asked, and they all agreed.