Chapter 5

Madelyn's POV

Due to the few photo shoots and shootings I was doing, I only got an hour of sleep. I'm exhausted, but I have to get Khloe to Manila, where she is staying with my cousin Emily. I miss my girl, especially because we haven't seen one other in a few years due to my busy schedule, and we only see each other on the phone sometimes.

Khloe is not mine, she is the daughter of my childhood best friend Coleen but she's gone. She left Khloe with me, she was just a baby while Coleen, got lung cancer and could not be cured so she left the baby to me. I also consider Khloe my child, every time the media ask me I always say that Khloe is my child.

I was on my way to Manila using only my car, it was in the morning and here I am still wide awake. I just rested for a while and thought of fetching Khloe from my cousin. I yawned and turned my car around and looked around. Traffic is also why I operate slowly.

I have also been traveling for a few hours just to get to Manila. I was eager to hugged my baby girl, I bet she's now 5 years old. I smile every time I remember her smiles and giggles. I braked hard because the car in front of me suddenly stopped, it had a strong impact on me but I was able to control my car.

"Goodness," I whispered softly and looked at a BMW in front of me.

I got out of my car, irritated, and nearly bumped with him as I drove my car. Is he out of his mind? What if I was blind and didn't see it? I'm sick of being involved in another accident! What an amazing life!

"Excuse me." I knock on the glass and I can't see who the owner of the car is. "Can you please get out of your car?" I added in an irritated voice and slammed the roof of his car.

When the driver's seat suddenly opened, I stepped back a little; it was only normal that the strap of my shorts had been removed, so I took care of it first. My brow furrowed, but the person in front of me spoke so I was stunned because his voice is familiar.

"What's wrong with you?" A baritone voice I heard from the front.

When I looked up, I was taken aback at who stood in front of me. His face did not change as he looked at me in disbelief, as if I had been softened by what he witnessed.

He has wavy hair, a thick brow, mysterious dark eyes, a small nose, and an angled jaw. He grew in stature as well, and I decreased in size. As I stood there staring at him, his lips parted.

"M-madelyn." I clenched my fist when I heard his voice.

I quickly adjusted myself even though my heartbeat was very fast. "Ethan," I formally called so he was stunned.

He looked at me from head to toe, he also looked at my car and sneezed. "I ... uh sorry. I'm running out of gas and ... I don't even know that there's a car behind me," he stammered and the excitement in his eyes couldn't escape me.

I swallowed, he was the only one who made me so nervous that even if he just thought I was getting softer. I should be not affected right? He hurt me, I should be formal towards him. It doesn't make sense for me to stutter in front of him because we've been done for a long time.

"Next time, full your tank." I stepped back and looked at him a few times and walked away.

"W-wait, Madelyn." I stopped when he called my name so I closed my eyes, I took a deep breath and looked at him.

"You need anything? Mr. Mercado?" I said in a formal voice while holding the door of my car.

"Uh ... please be careful," he said and quickly got into his car.

I stared at his car and blinked, I shook and quickly got into my car. I took a deep breath, that face, still not changing. I touched my chest where my heart was, I could feel its strong throbbing. I closed my eyes and shook a few times.

"No, I can't get close to him, he's married. Yes, that's it focus on your mental health, Mad." I looked up and quickly drove my car towards Khloe.

I hurried to my destination, taking many deep breaths because the fact that the two of us had met everything was going upside down. I simply ignored it and proceeded to the ground with my luggage in hand. I walked over to the huge house and rang the gate's doorbell right away.

"Oh, wait!" I heard the shout of someone before I heard the gate open. "Madelyn?" Emily said in shock.

"Hi," I said and laughed as she hugged me. "Where's my baby? Is she here?" I ask.

"Come in first, that girl is excited to see you." She closed the door and walked first so I followed. "You didn't tell me that you’re here, I could have prepared something for you to eat," she said and opened the door of their house.

She's Emily, she's Aunt Ester's daughter and she's also my close cousin so I gave her Khloe. Aunt Paula is in Cagayan and lives in our house with Emily's parents, we are together there at home but Emily works here so she is the only one separated from us. Well, that's life.

"Khloe! Someone's looking for you," Emily called and arranged the scattered barbies.

"Who, Auntie?" I heard her voice in the kitchen.

"Your Mommy!" Emily in a loud voice and we could already hear Khloe’s quick footsteps.

Her eyes widened when she saw me. "Mimi!" Khloe in a happy voice and ran towards me. "Oh, Mimi. I miss you," she said as if she was too old to talk.

I knelt down and hugged her back as well. "Mimi misses you too, didn't you gave your Auntie a headache?" I asked and wiped her mouth full of chocolate.

She smiled cutely and shook her head. "Mimi, I'm kind ..." She said in a gentle voice and she was still holding the jar of gummy worms that we both like.

I lift her up and sat on the sofa while Emily prepared something for us to eat. I looked at her while she’s staring at me, I smiled at her and arranged her curly hair.

"Are you eating gummy worms huh?" I asked and pointed to the jar full of gummies.

"Auntie buy me this ... we went to the store and I saw this," She said in a small voice and snorted.

"Look at your teeth, its kinda dirty." I pointed at her tooth so she pouted at me even more so I laughed. "You know what, try to speak Filipino for now, next year you will be at school together with some other kids. You should know how to speak Tagalog," I added and she nodded repeatedly.

Coleen is of Spanish descent while Khloe's father is an American. But destiny failed them because Coleen left her husband because he's abusing her physically and mentally. That's why he left Khloe with me to be saved from the hands of her husband.

"Yes, Mimi. I'm learning ... Auntie teach me," she said stammering because sometimes she stutters when she speaks.

I smiled at her and let her play with the toys I was carrying, Emily sat next to me so I could look at her too.

"I saw your ex-boyfriend at the mall," She said so I just raised an eyebrow. "I find him handsome, he's with his Son. Then, I said it's your daughter Khloe and if you only knew the reaction on his face. He seemed to have lost a few million when I said that," She added with actions.

I was swallowed and just shook my head. "Actually, we also met earlier accidentally," I said as she paused and stared at me.

"Then?" She said as if she was very eager to hear my story.

"I don't know, I just felt numb when I saw him. I don't know what my reaction was when I saw him," I said and shrugged at her.

"Well, he leave you without a word so what am I expecting, right?” she said and I stared at her badly. "Just a joke!" she added when I saw how badly I looked at her.

"I just want to at least have a piece, you know I'm taking care of my mental health. I don't want to break the wall I built for myself again," I said in a gentle voice so she nodded at me and tapped the my shoulder.

I have loved once and I will never do it twice more, as I said; It is poisonous to love, you can even die.