The rage and envy made the four devilish. The mansion who was once a quiet and peaceful place became chaotic as the four Nases pulled pranks and nasty things to Paulo.
"If Lolo doesn't want to kick Paulo out of the mansion, we will make that bastard leave himself." Josh said to the three.
Paulo endured everything for a year because he believes that his cousins are just upset at him. He believed that his cousins will soon open their hearts to him and understand him.
But Paulo was wrong. The suffering didn't subside but got worse instead. Until one day, he burst out and can't contain his feelings anymore. Paulo ran away from the house.
While walking in a dark alley, Paulo heard a feminine scream.
"That's right. I-I didn't mean to."a young lady pleaded.
"That's all your job is, you haven't done it yet! You're worthless!"a man in 30s yelled while aiming to hit the young lady.
Paulo's eyes widened in surprise as he is witnessing an abuse. He couldn't contain himself from interfering.
"Hey! What are you going to do to him?!"Paulo yelled and run towards them.
"Damn it. Who are you, you meddler?"the man asked.
Paulo didn't answer the man but grabbed the lady's arms instead and hid her behind his back. However, as Paulo had a clear view of the man's face, it terrified him as well.
Paulo gulped in nervousness. He is now regretting his decision.
"Ha-ha. Brother, maybe we can talk about this? Just chill."Paulo said with a fake smile.
"If I say run, we'll run, right?"Paulo whispered to the woman.
"A-ano---"The woman was unable to continue her question because of the man's scream.
"You're crazy, kid!"the man shouted and threw a punch.
"Run!!!"Paulo shouted and pulled the woman.
"Aurum!!! You shameless woman! You can't escape me!"the man shouted as he chased after the two.
"His name is Aurum? Strange, huh? Scientific name."Paulo thought while running.
He immediately saw a good spot to hide and pulled Aurum over there. He placed his hand to cover Aurum's mouth while hiding themselves from the man.
"Son of...where are those idiots? They were just here earlier, weren't they?"
After a few seconds, they heard the man running away from their position until they couldn't hear a thing anymore.
Paulo take his hand away from Aurum's mouth and sighed in relief. But to his surprise, the lady pushed him away.
"Who said you were interfering?"Aurum asked Paulo angrily.
"What the---you're the one who was helped, and you're still angry?!"Paulo replied annoyed.
Aurum just felt miserable and walked away.
"Where are you going? What if he's still there?"Paul asked.
"You don't care anymore."Aurum replied in a hurry and walked away.
Paulo didn't know why he still followed Aurum. Maybe it was because he had nowhere else to go.
The woman was so annoyed by Paulo's tailing her that she turned her head to look at him.
"You really don't intend to stop me, do you?"Aurum asked annoyed and Paulo just shook his head.
"Hello. What's your name?"
"Paul."
"Baduy. Just like you. It suits you."
"Wow, huh? Why isn't your name beautiful? Aurum? What is that? Are you the son of Dmitri Mendeleev?!"
"My name is not Aurum! That's my sister's name!"
"So that's what the man called you?"
"Tss! You're gone! As long as I'm not Aurum! My name is A'tin. A, apostrophe, T, I, N. A'tin!"
"Hah! It's even more baduy!"
The two continued to kiss for about half an hour under the full moon, temporarily forgetting their problems.
"Aren't you going home?"A'tin asked.
"I don't want to. I'm not happy about that."Paul said.
"Is that so? Why don't you come hang out with me first."A'tin said.
An abandoned house became a temporary shelter for the two to spend the night. Exhausted from running, the two quickly fell asleep and slept soundly.
"Man!"
"Man!"
"Man!"
Paulo was startled by the knock on the door. So, even though he was still unconscious, he opened the door, which he would regret for the rest of his life.
"You're late..."said the man who chased them last night while grinning broadly.
When Paulo saw who was at the door, he immediately closed the door. But it was too late because the man had already entered.
"Paulo, who---"A'tin couldn't continue the question because of what he saw.
"And you and your man are really still together, huh, Aurum?! You shameless people!"the man said and took out a balisong.
A'tin started to tremble and hid behind Paulo.
"He's-he's going to kill us, Paulo. He's attacking again."A'tin whispered and started to cry.
Although confused, Paulo did not flinch and held A'tin's hand.
"It's not possible. We can get out of here, A'tin."Paul said.
"You won't get out alive."the man said and threatened to stab him, which the two of them dodged.
But the two were unable to escape because the man quickly launched a second attack. Paulo immediately blocked the balisong with his right palm.
"Ahhh!!!!" Paulo's daing.
"That's enough! I didn't say I was your wife! Stop it, Brother! This is me, A'tin! Aurum is your wife! My sister is your wife!"A'tin shouted.
The man turned to her.
"I-you're A'tin? W-then...w-where's Aurum?! Where's your sister?!"the man shouted.
"I don't know! I don't know anything. Please. I'm begging you, brother. Enough. Stop this, please."A'tin said crying.
A long silence enveloped the abandoned house, broken by the man's loud laughter.
"Hahahahahahahahaha!"
The man's terrifying laughter gradually subsided until it was replaced by sobbing. The man's eyes met A'tin's.
"W-if Aurum doesn't come back...what other reason is there to live?"the man said.
"Thank you, A'tin. I-I hope you can forgive me."
Paulo and A'tin didn't expect what the man did next. Blood poured out all around because the man stabbed himself in the chest.
"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!"A'tin shouted and sat up on the bed.
Her whole body was shaking because she remembered everything. Everything that had happened to her and Paulo ten years ago.
"He was the one who saved me then? But why doesn't he remember me before we had a relationship? Did he erase those memories too?"
The questions in A'tin's mind were endless.
"I need to talk to Paulo."A'tin said to himself.
He looked at the wall clock in his room. It was already seven in the morning but he was still in the hospital.
Paulo's suicide attempt earlier also crossed his mind.
He was just about to get out of bed when there was a knock on the door and a nurse entered.
"Ms. A'tin, how are you feeling? When you no longer feel anything else, you can be discharged." "Your bills have been paid too."the nurse said.
"Thank you."
He immediately got himself ready and hurriedly got into a taxi.
He was about to say that he would be dropped off at the Nase mansion when he remembered the incident where Paulo's car door hit him. That's why he decided to go there.
He let out a deep sigh before pressing the doorbell. The camera turned on, indicating that someone was watching the house.
"A-how 'bout it, Paulo. You're A'tin."
---
Author's Note:
Last three chapters before epilogue 🥺