Henry and I parted ways before we reached the market. I want to comfort him more, but he said he needs to go home before his parents arrive. If the only mobile phones existed in this time.
"Where did you go, Aliyah?" Cristel asked me when I came back.
"Like what I said, I just roamed around the market." I smiled.
"We thought you already went home. We've been waiting for you for almost half an hour," Alfredo said.
"But I am here, let's go." I walked first. Should I tell Cristel what I just discovered? Sure, why not? I trust her, I don't have to keep any secret from her. I should tell her...
After Alfredo left, I pulled Cristel to her room. She creased her forehead, probably she knew already that I am going to tell her something controversial.
I heard her sighed. "What is it, Aliyah? You look very scared." She is almost laughing.
"I have to tell you something." I lowered my voice, almost whispering. "Something about Henry's parents."
Her eyes went wide, her mouth formed an 'o'. She came closer to me. "What is it? Did you find something bad?"
I nodded. "But you need to promise me that you won't tell anyone about this. What we are going to talk about must stay in this room."
She nodded. She raised her pinky finger. "Pinky promise," she said.
I nodded then smile. She never forgets what I taught her the first time we met. I will gonna miss her. We did the pinky promise and then make sure that the door was locked.
"So, I found something terrible. Something unexpected. When I said I was going to roam around the market, a while ago, I saw Henry's parents, unintentionally. I followed them; they lead me to the truth about them. They are members of a terrorist group," I whispered to her.
She gasped then put her hand to her opened mouth. She was just like me when I know the truth by myself.
"How did you get out of that place? You are risking your life? Did they saw you?" she asked.
I shook my head. "No, luckily, Henry was there too. He helped me to get out without someone noticing me. It is very hard for him to know that his parents are supporting the terrorist that militaries are fighting. He is a part of the military, he said he has no choice but to send them to jail."
"That was really unbelievable, Aliyah. I don't know if I should accept what you said. Dizons are known to be very kind and rich. Just look at Henry, his face doesn't seem like going to do something bad." She sighed.
"Looks can be deceiving, Cristel. I saw what I saw, and there is Henry with me. He witnessed it too, what's the point of dragging them? I will not get anything if someday they will spend their lives in jail." Although I am whispering, my voice is still tough. I want her to believe me. And now, I am worrying, she doesn't believe that easy, how can I tell him the truth about me?
"I just can't believe, Aliyah. Coming from a complete stranger like you this news, is really hard for me to accept. I need to talk to Henry, when I see him, I am going to ask him straightly," she said.
I just agreed with her. There's nothing wrong with it, it is really hard to believe, and I don't have any evidence to prove it.
We heard a knock for the door, Cristel opened it, it was her mother, crying. I stood up.
"Mama, why are you crying? What's wrong?" Cristel accompanied her mother to her bed.
"Your father, sweetheart. He was bribed by Sonia's family. We don't know what we did to them. They say if he didn't do anything, they will make him leave from being the leader of our town. I am so scared, Cristel. We can't fight them, they have lots of connection, your father was just lucky that got the position. We don't know what to do." Mrs. Dela Fuente cried more.
"Everything will be okay, Mama. I will talk to Sonia. Aliyah and I will talk to Sonia." Cristel glared at me.
I know this is all my fault. It is still part of history? Did I change something?
"Aliyah, look what you have done." Cristel is very frustrated right now.
"I'm so sorry." I lowered my eyes.
She sighed. "I can't blame you at all, Sonia's family is not a friend to ours. We are just to prevent fights and any arguments. They highly believe that they should lead the whole town, not my father. And now, they are using the issue between you, Sonia, and Henry. This will be easy to solve, I'm telling you, Aliyah."
So, there's a past issue about them. This is not all about Henry, this is about something else. I ran to my room then opened the diary. I should know what Sonia's hiding.
I flipped the pages of the diary. They are tan and very old. I stopped on the last few pages of the diary. It was written there the words I needed, 'if only I could turn back the time, I will never let this happen. I will never kill them. I'm so sorry.'
Who did she kill? Sonia killed who?
I continue to read the text, 'This is the secret that I will be bringing to my grave. No one will know about what I did.'
I gasped. She really did kill someone. And who's that? Is it Cristel or her family? Or Henry's family? Or maybe Alfred's family.
Whoever she killed, I should stop it, right? I should not let him kill anybody. I need to talk to her and warn her about what she is about to do. And also, I need to meet Henry to end whatever is going between us. I need to get back on my track, I can't be lost again. There are so many consequences.
"Where are you going, Aliyah? It is almost dinner." Cristel approached me.
"I am going to Sonia, hopefully, she can cooperate. I will..." I breathe heavily. "I will let Henry go. I will make sure that they will be together. There's no need for this."
She smiled weakly. "How about you? You love Henry, right? Why is so easy for you to let go of him?"
I sighed. "Sometimes, letting go is the best thing to do. You cannot hold onto something or someone that you know you mustn't have. In the first place, the reason why I am here is to make them fall in love with each other. That's really the purpose why I am here, and then I accidentally fell in love with that man, I shouldn't. I need to make this right, Henry is for Sonia only, not anybody else, not to me. I need to accept that. I need to sink in my mind that no matter what I do or whatever I give, I and Henry will never happen." I turned my back on her.
I know she is very confused right now. I will tell her soon. But for now, I need to find Henry and Sonia and fix this mess.
"So, tell me, why you and I should not happen?"
I almost jumped, and I literally hold my chest when Henry spoke behind me.
"Tell me, Aliyah."