Chapter 6: Such a Fool

-=Ang's Point of View=-

I didn't know what pushed me to follow and trail Miranda; my feet just sort of moved on their own to follow her, and instead of using one of the cars in the parking lot, I decided to just take a cab instead.

"Seriously, Ang. Why are you doing this?" I heard a voice at the back of my mind ask as I continued to follow the taxi that Miranda was in.

I thought deeply at first before coming up with a sensible reason why I was acting like a creep and stalking Miranda, and that is because maybe I wanted to apologize to her. After all, I feel like I judged her too harshly. Perhaps she loves my brother so much, which is why they decided to get married.

I continued following the taxi she was in, which, in retrospect, was kind of stupid considering that I could have just called her phone to meet me.

Finally, the car stopped at a mall in Makati, and after paying the fare for the cab, I immediately tried to locate Miranda, but when I got inside, I couldn't see where Miranda went.

I tried to check every floor, hoping to spot where Miranda was, but half an hour had already passed, and I still couldn't find even a trace of her shadow.

"Where are you, Miranda?" I thought to myself while frustratedly running my hand through my hair.

I didn't give up and decided to continue looking for her. I spent another thirty minutes, but I still couldn't find her, and after deciding that my search was futile, I finally decided to leave the place, only to strike my luck when I finally saw Miranda, and this time, she was hailing a cab again.

I was intrigued to see that a man was riding with her in the taxi; their proximity to each other suggested a potential intimate relationship.

I quickly looked for another vacant cab, and luckily, I managed to find one almost instantly.

There was this nagging feeling inside me that was making me nervous, and the need for me to find out who the guy with Miranda was was bugging me.

We reached a well-known restaurant in Makati after thirty minutes.

"Can you wait for me?" I asked the cab driver, and when I noticed that he was going to refuse, I immediately grabbed a thousand pesos in my wallet and handed it to him, not entirely sure if he was going to wait for me or not.

"Good afternoon, sir. Do you have a reservation?" I was asked by one of the hosts when I tried to follow Miranda and the guy she was with inside a restaurant.

Actually, because my attention was only on Miranda and that unknown guy, I was unaware that they had entered a restaurant.

"No, I don't," I answered honestly.

"That's fine; let me check if there is any available table. One moment, please," he replied.

I couldn't help but get worried seeing the number of people inside; just by glancing inside, I could already tell that almost all the tables were taken.

He checked his tablet and fortunately found that there was a last-minute cancellation, giving me an available table.

"Thank you," I told him, and then I followed him to my table. Once I settled down, I immediately scanned the surroundings, looking for Miranda.

A couple of minutes had passed, but I still couldn't find Miranda, and I was about to stand up to have a better view when I finally spotted her getting out of the ladies' room.

I followed her with my eyes to see where her table was, and that was when I saw the man she was with in the taxi earlier.

There were other people with them, a couple perhaps based on the closeness they are to each other. I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that maybe I was overthinking, but that relief didn't last long when I saw Miranda kissing the man on the cheek.

Impulse overriding reason, I moved with tenacity towards their table, an uncontrollable force driving my actions. Before my own actions could fully register, I grabbed the man's collar and lifted him just a tiny bit off the ground.

"Hey! What are you?" Miranda didn't suddenly stop talking when she finally saw my face, and I could see how pale her face was after recognizing me.

"Let go," the boy next door said while gasping for air, which made Miranda wake up from her reverie.

"Let him go, Ang," Miranda calmly said, and when I didn't listen, she slapped me, making me lose my grip on the man's collar. I wasn't finished yet, but before I could even make another move, I was stopped by the employees from the restaurant.

"Stay away from Miranda! She's mi... she's already married!" I angrily exclaimed.

I was horrified when I almost said that she was mine because of the rage I was feeling; fortunately, rationality kicked in and stopped me from making a fool of myself.

Those words were a reminder for this guy, but for some reason, it felt like I was reminding myself that Miranda is Anthony's wife and my brother.

After that commotion, I tightly held Miranda's hand and led her out of the restaurant. I could feel the stares of the people who witnessed what happened, but I didn't care about their opinions. I was furious as hell, and it seemed like they saw it too, as they avoided us.

After that commotion, I pulled Miranda out of the restaurant, and thankfully, she didn't resist and just remained silent until we were finally outside.

"I can... explain," she said, but I didn't want to hear any more lies from her, especially when I remembered how she affectionately kissed the man in the restaurant.

The image was making me furious again, and I had to restrain myself from going back inside and beating the hell out of him.

What I witnessed was enough evidence for me to know that my suspicion about her was right.

"How could you cheat on my brother? How heartless can you be taking advantage of his condition?" I angrily yelled.

"Listen to me, Ang. It's not what you want," she persisted, but I didn't let her finish and cut her off.

"To think I was considering that I might have wronged you by thinking the worst of you and that, in fact, you really love my brother, but then again, you have proven that I was right; you're nothing but a conniving, gold digger bi..." 

Miranda slapped me hard across the face before I could continue speaking, and I was astounded by the pain that was engraved across her beautiful face as she tried to hold back the tears that were about to escape from her eyes.

"Since you're so sure that I was the worst, then, I guess, it would be pointless for me to defend myself," she said with so much bitterness in her voice.

I was certain she wiped the tears from her eyes before turning her back on me completely.

She was probably only pretending, so I wouldn't feel guilty, and I despised myself for being so trusting of her. That day, I made a promise to myself that I would no longer fall for whatever she showed me since, in my opinion, Miranda Sandoval is a fraud. I also resolved to have her marriage to my brother dissolved and to ensure that she had no financial support from my family at all.

I didn't need to catch another cab because I quickly went back to the one that was waiting. Fortunately, it was still there.

"Where to, boss?" the driver asked, smiling, which was far from my mood right now.

I yelled, "To hell!" at him, and in return, he scratched his head. I calmed down by taking a big breath and then directed him back to the house.

Though I didn't want to acknowledge it, I was feeling bad once more after I eventually stopped being so angry and remembered the tears she had attempted to conceal earlier.

"Crocodile tears," I thought to myself.