“Carmienne…”

My eyes widened as my eyes lingered on my sister. With lips parted, I mumbled her name as if it was a foreign word to me. It was a long since I last called her. Even thru phone calls, she was always busy and so was I. But seeing her here in front of me gives me a familiar feeling. A very comfortable one. My comfort zone.

“You’re here?” I struggled to speak as my throat went dry. “I thought…”

She chuckled before she walked towards me. Her stiletto was making a noise as she came near me. Her long hair is swaying as she walks like a model. Well, she’s indeed a model. She sat near Kian who just gave her a smile.

“I thought you were mad at me,” she uttered as soon as she embraced me. I whimpered, almost sobbing as I miss her so much. I hugged her back, wanting to feel her warmth against mine. Her arms were soft against my shoulder, and it has been a while since I felt this feeling. “I miss you too, Sharmienne.”

A smile crept on my lips. She knows me too well even if I do not speak my thoughts. She knows everything that bugs me as she was always the first person I will talk to about my struggles.

“How are you, Carms?” I asked after I embraced her. She wiped the lone tear on my face before I saw her smile at me again.

“I should be the one to ask you that, shouldn’t I?” she asked, smiling. Kian, who was beside her, smiled too, but it was a weak one. “This guy beside me always misses you though. I would have felt jealous if I didn’t know that he sees you as his sister too.”

“It’s true,” Kian rebutted. “She’s like Kia.”

Carmienne rolled her eyes as she glanced at Kian. “That girl is the exact opposite of my sister.”

“Still…” Kian can’t continue what he was about to say, but he just sighed as she scratched his eyebrow. “Well, yeah.”

I chuckled which made them look at me. “I’m fine living with my husband. It was a bit different than what I perceived, but I enjoy being with him.”

“You sure?”

I got silent because of that. I don’t want them to know my situation with my husband right now. It's quite complicated. It was between me and Denver. And even if they ask me questions about how my husband treats me, I will always tell them what I said earlier. In the first place, I am confused these past few weeks about his casual treatment of me.

Kian and Carmienne both look at each other again. I know they are thinking the same thing about my husband since they both don’t like him for me. They’ve been the ones who warn and try to stop me from being a wife to one of Velasquez’s heirs. They’re still protective.

“Kian already told you about Denver Velasquez?” Carmienne asked after she heaved a deep sigh. I nodded in response to her. “we told you before that after your semester, we will visit you. But it has a purpose, Sha.”

My forehead creased at what she said. “You’re still insisting that my husband is a gangster?”

“He really is,” she uttered, with emphasis. “He is not just a Velasquez, who’s a son of a General. He’s also bad for you.”

“We already warned you about him, Sharmienne, but you didn’t want to listen.” Kian’s serious voice echoed throughout the entire room. “You want to prove that you can help your family by being married to a Velasquez. You let yourself become the bait even for the fact that you know the consequences of your marriage with Denver. You halfway succeeded, Sha. Still not enough.”

I sighed. I am aware of that already. But I didn’t regret being where I am right now. I am helping my parents get our company back. And it was all thanks to the Velasquez family.

“And you did it for me too,” Carmienne muttered. “That’s why, I made a way for you to get out of this marriage.”

“Carms…”

“I know you saw me that day when I kissed someone, Sha… You were with Denver that time.”

“You knew?” I pursed my lips as I tried to remember that day. And my eyes widened at her when a memory flashed in my mind. I glanced at Kian, but he shrugged. “I was about to ask you that, but Kian told me not to bother you about that.”

“I asked him to do that,” she uttered. “I planned it to lure The Falcon members.”

“You what?” My breath hitched as I stared at her, observing if she was serious or not. But there was void of any emotion in her eyes. “Why would you do that?”

The Falcon, as Kian mentioned, is the counterpart of The Hawk. They are both gangs... And they are dangerous.

“That time, we’re suspecting Denver if he’s also part of the gang. We want to know if he would react if he knew that Jake Hart is just around.” Carmienne explained but my mind was like a roller coaster ride, and I can’t understand a thing about what she just told me.

“How is that related to being kissed by a guy in the parking lot?”

Kian suddenly chuckled as if he was teasing her and Carmienne glared at him. “She wants to let the public know that she’s dating the guy she likes—Ouch!” Kian immediately received a smack on his arm as Carmienne punched him.

“It was Jake Hart you kissed?” My lips parted because of what I’d heard. But I still couldn’t get it why would he want to lure The Falcon?

“Yeah,” she confessed, cheeks blushing. “It was intentional but the main purpose of that wasn’t because I like him, but to know if Denver will recognize the guy I am kissing that time.”

I looked down and closed my eyes as Denver’s face showed up in my vision. From what I remember, she was cool with it. He even told me that it’s normal for my sister to do that, especially since she’s a model and kind of liberated.

“He seems not to care at all.”

“Eh?” Carmienne reacted as if she doesn’t expect what I told her. “What did he tell you?”

“He told me to let you be.”

“Oh.” She looks disappointed as she sighed deeply.
Kian looked at me with a confused expression on his face. “Velasquez is observant. It’s quite suspicious to know that he didn’t react to that.”

“Maybe he already knows about Jake Hart?” I asked.

“Correct,” Kian said, both Carmienne and I glanced at him. “Let’s say he’s already aware of Jake Hart, then what’s the reason of Velasquez for pretending not to know?”

It took them quite a while to continue. They were like solving a puzzle with a missing piece while here I am, looking so clueless. Carmienne suddenly gasped as if she realized something.

“He’s protecting his identity as a gangster…” Carmienne mumbled as she glanced at me. “I might not get the confirmation that I needed, but I surely have the answer now.” She nodded as she held my shoulder. “Because you were there, Sha.”

“Huh?”

“He’s protecting you,” she mumbled but then she instantly smiled as she confirmed something. “Shocks.”

“We are still not sure about that,” Kian interrupted as he frowned at what my sister told me. “Carmienne… We are here to amalgamate your sister with us. This is to stop the two gangs from a war between them. We are not telling this to your sister to give her false hopes. Get it?”

“I know that… but maybe, just give Denver the benefit of the doubt?”

“Tsk.” Kian scoffed but nodded at her. “We want you to join us, Sha. Let’s stop these gangs before they make everything worse.”

“What? Me?” I heave a sigh as I slowly get what they want to tell me. “Are you two in cahoots?”

“We’re more than that,” Carmienne added. “You’re like the missing pawn we needed.”

I gasped, completely disbelieving what they just revealed to me. “What’s your purpose? Why do you need to delve into information about these gangs? You’re digging your own grave!”

“We’re here to uncover the case of the accident three years ago… b-but it leads us to this. The two gangs.”

It felt like my heart stopped when Carmienne mentioned that. It was like a taboo topic for us. I don’t want her to remember that tragedy as she always blames herself for the thing she never intended to do. It was not her fault. But here she is, investigating an accident just to give justice to our cousins.

Kian patted Carmienne’s back. He’s also aware of what happened that night. I am not sure if Carmienne told him that. He was just aware of things already when he befriended me.

“I’ve been eager to give justice to our cousins, Sha. I want to investigate… I can’t keep living like this knowing that two people who were close to my heart suffered just like that… I just can’t…”

She tries to keep her eyes void of emotion, but as soon as blinked, a tear already fell from her eyes until it followed by another then another. She covers her face with both of her palms as she wept silently. I was just staring at her, but deep inside, my heart is already tightening in pain seeing my sister being hurt.

“T-the gangs might be our answers to what happened to Xyxie and Brian,” she whispered as she tries to wipe her tears. “We need your help, Sha. Please…”

“We never want to drag you into this mess, Sharmienne,” Kian added as she gazes back at me. He was telling me through his eyes that I should believe him. “But after Denver become your ‘secret’ husband, you were unintentionally part of this mess…”

I understand them now. They need my help. This is the impact of being married to Denver. And one of these is my unconscious involvement in these gangs. And I just realized it just now…

I am a pawn in this game. The game that The Hawk and The Falcon are playing.