Jaguar hung up after promising his grandfather he would arrive soon, his memories racing like a whirlwind. Finally, his grandfather had awakened from a coma that lasted over six years a coma that began the exact moment Fati's grandfather spoke the truth over the phone:
"Fati is your granddaughter... Rosie's daughter."
The grandfather had collapsed from the shock, entering a long tunnel of silence while the lies continued outside. Now Jaguar understood why his grandfather harbored such hatred; they had deceived him, making him believe the infant had perished with her mother. And who was behind it all? Rosie's husband that heartless scoundrel who stripped himself of every shred of conscience to erase the truth of Fati's existence.
But what truly shreds Jaguar's heart is the realization that the girl he expelled, hurt, and left to face her grandfather's death alone, is his own kin his aunt's daughter. He had unwittingly repeated her mother's tragedy. He remembered her dream from two nights ago: the image of her curled up, whispering bitterly,
- I will never forgive you.
And now, for the first time, Jaguar felt that he truly... did not deserve forgiveness.
He began the grueling search through the towering grass. He couldn't find her, but he didn't falter. He pushed on as darkness drew its heavy veil over the land, his heart pounding with a violence that tore at his chest. Nothing mattered anymore except finding her, even if it meant wandering these wilds for months to come.
The flashlight on his phone was the only beam piercing the gloom of that grim night. Tears welled in his eyes as he whispered brokenly,
- No, Fati... don't burn my heart like this! I don't want to lose you again. The six years we lost were enough... no, the twenty-seven years you spent away from us from your family were more than enough.
His heart raced frantically as he noticed his phone battery was dying, with only minutes to spare. He felt a crushing sense of helplessness the very same helplessness she had always felt beneath his power. Unable to contain the agony in his chest, he unleashed a scream that shook the wilderness to its core:
- Fati!
The birds, startled by the sheer terror in his voice, took flight from their nests, leaving him alone to face the echo of his own cry and the encroaching darkness.
His phone finally died, and everything plunged into pitch-black darkness. Jaguar kept pacing in the gloom, not lost in direction, but utterly lost without her. He struggled to breathe, his mind tossed between the worst possibilities fighting off one terrifying thought only for another, more cruel, to take its place. He called her name until his voice broke, eventually whispering to the grass around him as if pleading for it to lead him to her.
Suddenly, a distant moan pierced the silence of the night; the sound of bitter weeping that seemed to have lasted for hours, reduced now to a thick, raspy sob that tore at the soul. He rushed toward the sound until he saw her curled up in a fetal position amidst the wild grass, as if trying to hide from the entire world.
He could no longer restrain his heart. He lunged toward her, pulling her into a desperate embrace as if his very life depended on it. He whispered in a voice choked with tears:
- No matter how much you ask me to leave you... I won't. Not because I don't want to, but because I can't! I truly cannot stay away from you or leave you. I feel my heart being ripped from its place at the mere thought of you being out of my sight.
Silence fell between his arms, as if her moaning had vanished into his warm chest. He pulled her back slightly to catch a glimpse of her face; she was clutching her phone, its flashlight still shining bright the sole witness to her collapse. Jaguar looked into her tear-filled eyes and asked bitterly,
- Why are you crying, Fati? Why all this sadness?
She stammered in a fragmented voice,
- Jaguar... my father... my father lied to me! He told me that... that...
She erupted into another fit of bitter weeping. Jaguar held her close, trying to soothe her:
- If you can't say it now, wait... tell me when you've calmed down.
But she insisted on releasing the embers from her chest, sobbing with rapid breaths:
- My grandfather told me I was Rosie's daughter before he took his last breath. But my father... my father said she was a maid he cheated on my mother with, and that she died giving birth to me! He said no one remembers her... Are they all deceiving me? Does no one love me enough that they find pleasure in torturing me like this?
Jaguar spoke, pressing a tender kiss to her forehead,
- No, my dear... everyone loves you. My grandfather loves you... and I...
Fati interrupted him with a certainty born of agony,
- No, Jaguar... my mother, Rosie, must be alive! That's why my grandfather spoke of her before he died. She is alive, I'm sure of it, I just don't know who she is.
Jaguar longed to tell her the truth, but her desperate yearning to find her mother alive made him hold back. He settled for embracing her, stroking her hair as she sobbed against his chest. He couldn't bring himself to strip away that fragile hope in her shattered state.
- Let's go back now,
He whispered softly.
- And I promise you, I will never let you feel this deprivation again.
Fati finally succumbed to their collective exhaustion and fell asleep in his arms, though her body continued to shudder with intermittent gasps even in her deep slumber. Jaguar held her until his strength failed him, then used her phone to call his secretary, Dam Dan. Hours later, they were found. He carried her in his arms for a long distance until they reached the waiting car. He placed her inside, sat beside her, and whispered to the driver,
- Go... to the nearest hotel.
The room had been booked well before their arrival, and the check-in procedures were swiftly finalized. Jaguar carried her in his arms up to the room; as usual, the moment Fati fell asleep in his embrace, she became dead to the world, unplugged from all worries. He laid her gently on the bed, then stepped back, glancing at his dust-covered clothes from the journey, knowing he needed a warm shower. But the moment he stood up to distance himself, her small, soft hand extended like a magnet, gripping his forearm.
- Don't leave me
She murmured, her voice thick with sleep.
It was as if those words were a command he had been desperately waiting to hear. All thoughts of a shower vanished as he slid into bed beside her, pulling her into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, and in turn, she instinctively mirrored his embrace. Yet, she was in another world entirely a parallel realm of deep sleep, searching in her dreams for a love she couldn't find in reality, practicing it only in her subconscious. He leaned down and kissed her softly, but she didn't return the kiss. He continued to press his lips against hers, hoping she might wake, but she only offered faint, quiet sighs.
Jaguar stopped, respecting her rest, and simply held her tight to sleep. But deep within his heart, a firm resolve was born: he would hasten their first night as true newlyweds in the near future. A crimson night that had been delayed for far too long, and he would make sure it was a night she would never forget. For now, she was no longer an enemy to avenge, but his beloved aunt's daughter; there was no longer any excuse for his mind to cast her away or seek retribution. He leaned down, whispering into her ear with a raw sincerity for the very first time:
- Fati... I love you.