FAITH’S POINT OF VIEW

Three years ago…

I locked the door of my bedroom before sitting on the edge of my bed. In front of me were hung photos of me and Atlas. With silence filling the room, I gazed at each of them.

A series of knocks sounded on my door.

“Faith? Sweetheart? Why is your door locked?” My mom’s voice softly echoed from outside.

“Are you okay, honey?” she asked again.

I hugged my legs and remained staring at the photos, not wanting to answer her.

“F-Faith? Honey?” she worriedly said. I could hear her raising her voice already. When she didn’t hear any reply from me again, she started pounding on the door.

I lazily got up and unlocked the door. When I opened it, my eyes immediately met my mother’s concerned ones.

She heaved a deep sigh of relief before squeezing me into a hug. “You made me so worried, Faith! Why did you lock your door?” she scolded.

I cleared my throat and looked away.

“Uhm… Sorry, Mom. I didn’t notice it. Sorry that I made you worry,” I replied hesitantly. I looked at her and saw that she was studying my face.

“Sweetheart, are you okay? Is something bothering you?” she worriedly asked in her soft voice before cupping my cheeks. I gulped and forced a smile.

“I’m okay, Mom. I think I’m just really sleepy,” I sheepishly told her, making her smile in return.

“Okay, sleepyhead.” She softly caressed my cheeks. Suddenly, her eyes widened as if she remembered something. “And, oh, I forgot to tell you,” she started.

“Dave and Kate invited us for breakfast next door so get dressed quickly.”

She turned around and left me alone in my room again. I quickly closed the door before she could see the tears falling from my eyes.

I rested my hand on my chest, pressing it as I felt it hurt.

How would I be able to face them after the betrayal they just did to me?

My parents and I entered the Williams’ home. The first person we saw was Atlas.

“There you are, Atlas! Look at you now! You’ve become a man! I’m so proud of you!” Dad told him with enthusiasm.

“Congratulations on your marriage, by the way. I’m kind of hurt that you didn’t invite us, though,” Dad joked as he patted Atlas’ back. The latter just gave him a smile.

“Don’t worry, Uncle. I’ll make sure to invite you to our wedding soon. We only had a civil wedding, so we might plan to have a big wedding soon,” Atlas said and wrapped his arm around Melissa’s waist.

I pursed my lips and looked away. I hoped they wouldn’t hear my heart shattering to pieces right now.

Kate, who appeared from the kitchen, approached me. “Let’s go sit at the dining table, shall we? Faith? Come on, sweetheart.” She sweetly smiled at me and caressed my back.

I forced a smile and slowly went to the dining table. I sat down on my chair without looking at anyone.

“So, Atlas,” my dad started. “How was New York?”

“It was actually good. I kind of had a hard time at first, but it was all worth it. Becoming a CEO changed my life for the better,” Atlas replied in his deep voice. Even just his voice could already make my stomach flutter.

“Faith? Why are you so quiet, darling? Normally, you are always the talkative one here. Are you okay?” Kate suddenly asked me in worry. I nervously glanced at Atlas who was staring at me with a blank expression.

I looked back at his mother. “I’m fine, Aunt Kate. I’m just really sleepy since I didn’t sleep well last night. I was so busy watching TV series,” I lied. Everyone laughed at my answer except the newlyweds sitting opposite me.

“Yeah! My sister’s too addicted to that newly-released TV series. Look at her red eyes,” Nate, my second older brother said with a chuckle. I forced a laugh and stared at my food, trying to hide the discomfort I was feeling from someone’s piercing gaze at me.

“By the way, should we expect to be grandparents soon?” Kate teasingly asked the couple. Atlas and mine’s parents laughed. My brothers hooted in unison. Melissa blushed profusely. They were too busy with their reactions that they didn’t notice how I froze in my seat.

Atlas, on the other hand, smirked and wrapped his arm around Melissa’s shoulders. Our gazes suddenly met. Without leaving his eyes on me, he kissed his wife’s ear and smirked.

“Soon,” Atlas answered. The whole table erupted in cheers while I could only hear my heart breaking once again.

I stood up. “I’m actually not hungry. Excuse me,” I muttered before leaving the dining room in a rush. I walked to the guest room and when I saw that it was empty, I entered and closed it.

I leaned my back against the door as I burst into tears. I held my hand over my mouth, so no one would hear my sobs.

Seeing him with her was killing me. It hurt to see them together.

Why was Atlas doing this to me?

I sat on the bed, still crying. My heart clenched in anger, betrayal, and sadness. All of a sudden, I heard the door being opened. I raised my head to see who it was.

“What are you doing? Why are you… crying here? Shouldn’t you just be happy for us? After all, it’s not like you had nothing to do about this,” Melissa hissed.

I stood up and walked toward her. “What are you talking about, Melissa? What have I done to you? Why the hell are you doing this to me? Why?” I burst out.

Melissa glared at me. “Because you hurt him! You hurt my friend. You broke his heart! A great person like him doesn’t deserve a fake witch like—”

Before she could finish her statement, I already slapped her across the face.

Melissa held her cheek and looked at me in shock.

“I thought that you were my sister. I thought that you were my best friend! But today, you only proved to me that people like you can never be a family,” I told her with anger.

She rolled her eyes and scoffed. “You’re right, Faith. We’re no longer friends. I can’t be friends with you after what you did to Atlas.”

I stared at her in confusion. “What did I do, Melissa? Why can’t you just tell me? What did I do to deserve this?”

“You’re well aware of what you did, Faith. I don’t want to waste my time telling you stupid things,” Melissa replied before turning away. She was headed to the door when Atlas suddenly came in.

“There you are! I was looking for you everywhere. Why are you he—” Atlas immediately stopped when he saw me.

He looked at Melissa and noticed the red mark on her cheek. He gently caressed it while his jaw clenched in anger.

“Did she do this to you?” Atlas asked in a menacing tone. My heart started beating rapidly.

“Just leave it, Atlas. Let’s go.” Melissa tried to pull him away but he didn’t move.

“Answer me,” he commanded. Melissa just stared at him.

Atlas removed his eyes from her and looked at me. I could clearly see anger in his eyes.

“How dare you hurt my wife, huh?” he asked with a cold tone, making me flinch.

“She started it, Atlas. She deserved it,” I firmly answered.

He continued glaring at me. I softened my expression and took a step closer to him.

“A-atlas,” I sobbed. “Why are you doing this to me? What did I do? Please, tell me. I-I love you so much. I know that you don’t love her. I—” I couldn’t finish my sentence because I felt a sting on my cheek.

I froze in shock when I heard a gasp behind him. My trembling fingers slowly found my throbbing cheek.

“I love my wife, and she’s the only woman I’ll love in my entire life. The love I once had for you died long ago, You’re nothing to me now, Faith. Hear me? You’re nothing but a piece of trash to me,” Atlas muttered menacingly.

“You won’t imagine what I can do to you the next time you lay your hand on my wife. Remember that.” Then, he held Melissa’s hand and pulled her out of the room. I silently watched them leave me here. All alone while crumbling to pieces.

I stood on my spot, still speechless. Tear after tear fell out of my eyes. My knees started to shake, making me fall to the ground.

Atlas slapped me.

He just hurt me.

How could he do that to me?

PRESENT

“What is she doing right now?” I asked with a cold tone.

“S-she’s at work, Sir,” one of my men stuttered.

“And?” I asked, wanting to hear more details.

“She… She was crying, Sir.”

I clenched my jaw and looked at them. “Who dared to make my princess cry? Why did she cry?” I asked impatiently.

“A-actually, Sir, she was with her ex-boyfriend at the time she cried,” the man stammered. Fear was obvious in his voice.

I leaned on my chair as I looked at the photos in front of me. I clenched my jaw when I saw that asshole wrapping his arms around my little girl.

“Continue following her and make sure that she doesn’t get hurt. If I find even just a scratch on her body, I won’t hesitate to send all of you to hell,” I warned. It was effective because they all flinched in fear.

“Y-yes, Sir!” They answered in unison and left the room.

I grabbed my phone and turned it on. I let out a small smile when I saw my lock screen wallpaper. A photo of my princess. I secretly took a photo of her while she was busy reading a book in a coffee shop.

She was very beautiful.

“I love you so much, my princess. Just wait for me, okay? I’ll be there soon. I will protect you with all my heart,” I whispered before kissing her photo.

I opened my phone again and dialed one of my men’s numbers.

“This will be our last meeting for now. After this, I’ll fly back to London. I’ve been away from my girls for so long. I can’t wait any longer. Make sure everything is done for today,” I ordered sternly before hanging up.

I looked at the photo again.

“I’m coming back, my love. Finally, I will be home.”

ATLAS’ POINT OF VIEW

PRESENT

I sat in my room, drowned by the thoughts about Faith. Leo was fast asleep, so I finally got some time for myself.

The dinner scene flashed in my mind repeatedly. I clenched my jaw in anger. Why couldn’t she accept me? Why did she refuse to marry me?

I know that what I did to her was wrong. It was a big mistake on my part, but I knew that she was still in love with me. I could see it in her eyes despite her great ability to hide her true emotions.

I didn’t want to lose Faith to somebody else.

I couldn’t even imagine myself living without her or even seeing her in someone else’s arms.

But, one thing that bothered me was, didn’t I do that to her, too? Didn’t I marry Melissa so I could move on?

I frustratedly pulled my hair and groaned. Shit. I was such a big asshole, but I couldn’t move on from her. Even though I married Melissa, which was one of the biggest mistakes in my life, I was still very possessive over Faith. Seeing her with other men made my blood boil.

THREE YEARS AGO

I woke up with a pair of arms wrapped around my waist. I turned my head and found Melissa nuzzling my chest. Slowly, I untangled myself from her and got out of bed without making any noise. I didn’t want to wake her up yet.

I almost groaned when I realized something. I didn’t feel any fluttering feeling with Melissa like I felt with Faith, but never would I want to touch that damn woman who dared to cheat on me behind my back.

I went out of the bedroom and slowly walked to Faith’s room. She and her family were living with us for a few months now. My parents offered our house for them to stay in as the construction work at their place wasn’t finished yet.

I slowly opened Faith’s bedroom door. I thought that she was still asleep, but to my surprise, her bed was already empty. I frowned and entered her room.

Her room looked… clean. It was as if no one had ever used it.

Wait… What am I even doing here?

I sighed heavily and left her room. I walked downstairs while my eyes kept looking around for her. I just want to have a glimpse of her angelic face. I was already near the main hall when I heard faint sounds of laughter coming from the front door. I walked closer and immediately stopped when I saw them.

My eyes immediately turned sharp as I watched the scene in front of me. Faith was happily laughing with another man. I scoffed inwardly. If she could cheat on me, what else couldn’t she possibly do?

But when I saw her planting a kiss on the man’s cheek, my blood immediately boiled in rage.

Or was it jealousy?

I gritted my teeth and glared at the man.

“We should go to the club tonight, babe. It’s been ages! Please? Please, come with me? I promise that I won’t leave you,” I heard the man plead as he held her hand.

Faith sighed and ran her hand through her long, brown hair. The hair I once loved playing with.

“I can’t, Liam. I can’t go back to the club anymore after what happened. I don’t want a repeat of that experience again,” Faith sadly muttered.

“I was lucky enough that I got saved. Or else I would have been—” she stopped talking and looked down.

What night was that? What was she talking about? Why did she say that she was lucky that she got saved?

The man gave her a sympathetic look as he caressed her cheeks. That was when I couldn’t suppress my anger anymore.

“Faith you—”

“What is going on here?!” I yelled furiously, cutting the jerk off. Both their head turned in my direction. Faith looked at me with wide eyes as if I just caught her doing something wrong. I glared at her.

“A-atlas, how—” she started but I interrupted her.

“Who are you?” I asked the man.

The asshole looked at me from head to toe and smirked. “Well, well, look what we have here,” he mockingly said which made me angrier.

“So, this is what you do, Faith? Bring men over to your home? Well, you’re at my house now. Are you really that thick-skinned to invite you bed warmers over my home, huh, slut?” I snorted and laughed sarcastically.

“Oh, I forgot. You really are a slut.” My smirk almost faded when I saw a tear falling down her cheek. I knew that what I said was too much. Heck, even I hated myself for saying such things. But seeing her cry made me feel hurt. I realized that she still affected me. No matter how much I tried to love Melissa, Faith owned me completely. There was no doubt about that.

The Liam guy immediately faced me. “What the hell? Did you just call her a slut?” he said in disbelief.

“You,” I pointed at him. “Get the fuck out of my property!”

However, he just rolled his eyes at me. “Fuck you, jerk! And to clarify things, my friend is not a slut!” he snapped.

I glared at him. He turned to Faith and wiped her tears.

“I’m gonna leave first, honey. Before this man becomes even crazier,” he told her, almost whispering his last words. “Don’t hesitate to call me if he hurts you.”

The man kissed her forehead before turning to me. His piercing eyes stayed on mine for a while before he turned to leave.

When the man was finally out of my sight, I looked at Faith who was busy looking at me angrily. I grabbed her arm and pulled her back to the house. She didn’t say anything which pissed me off. I looked at her forehead and hurriedly wiped it, wanting to erase that man’s trace from her so bad.

“What the hell are you doing?” Faith snarled while looking at me in surprise. I continued wiping her forehead as if I didn’t hear anything. That idiot’s lips shouldn’t have landed on any part of her body in the first place.

“Atlas, stop! Get off me!” she shouted and tried to push me away.

I sharply looked at her and pulled her again toward me. “Listen, Faith. If I see you with that prick again, I will fucking kill the both of you. Understood?” I warned her.

She glared at me, not backing down. She pushed my chest, making me stumble a bit. Damn, this girl was strong.

“And who the hell are you to control me? I can be with whoever I want to be with!” she replied.

“Shut the fuck up, Faith! Stop arguing with me! If I find you with that man again or if I find out that you’ll go to any stupid club, you won’t like what I’ll do to you. You are mine! If you ever dare step out of this house with him or any other male, I will drag you to your room and lock you in there!” I threatened in full rage.

Faith gasped and stared at me incredulously. After a few seconds, a humorless laugh escaped from her lips. Her eyes were filled with anger as she looked at me.

“You’re a goddamn hypocrite, Atlas. You’re a two-faced asshole. You’re already married to someone else, living your fucking life, and still… You’re trying to control my life?” she said.

“The day you got married was the day that I finally felt that I belonged to no one but myself. So, you don’t go around and dare to control me because you have a dam wife for that,” she hissed as a single tear fell from her eye.

It felt like several knives were stabbing my chest. I was married to someone that I didn’t even love. I married someone and it wasn’t Faith. I just wanted to make Faith feel how much it hurt to see the person you love with somebody else.

My expression softened when I saw her tears. I slowly stepped toward her and wiped her face. She quietly sobbed and closed her eyes. I crouched and rested my lips near her ear.

“You are mine, Faith. Always remember that,” I whispered menacingly before turning around and walking back upstairs.

PRESENT

Now, I felt like I was the biggest asshole in the world. I regretted saying those words to her. Why couldn’t I see the love and innocence in her eyes?

If only Melissa didn’t lie.

If only Melissa didn’t betray me… or us.

It was all because of her, and now I needed to fucking suffer the consequences.

I hated her, and I didn’t think I could forgive her.