The Greatest Love, The Greatest Heartache

"Dad!" She immediately launched herself at her father, catching him off guard.

"Woah! Careful there, little girl." Mr. Pereira held his daughter in his arms steadying her.

Yvonne remained silent as she continued to embrace her father. When she caught the familiar scent of her father's aftershave, it immediately brought a sense of calmness in her tumultuous heart.

"There, there. You're such a crybaby, you know." Mr. Pereira chuckled as he awkwardly patted her daughter's back. "What's gotten you so excited today?"

Yvonne felt warm at her father's gesture. Feeling a lump on her throat, she gulped heavily and forced her tears to keep from flowing.

Letting go of her father, she shook her head while smiling sweetly at him. "Nothing, dad. I just..."

She trailed off just as words left her mouth. Biting her lower lip, she stared at her father as if trying to memorize his face. The face that greatly resembled her own, the very face she missed in years.

"Don't stare at me like that, kid. I'm getting goosebumps!" Her father lovingly scowled at her, while he mockingly rubbed his arms.

Feigning ignorance, she tilted her head and asked, "Like what?"

"Like, you're seeing me for the first time after coming back from the dead."

Yvonne's heart skipped a beat as she thought, 'Who's the one between the two of us that came back from the dead?'

"Anyway, we better go now or we'll both be late." Mr. Pereira then made his way to his car, with Yvonne in tow.

The Public Attorney's Office was a thirty-minute car ride from their home. While the father and daughter pair were on the road, their usual endless chatter with frequent reverberating laughter filled the car.

"Are you nervous?" Mr. Pereira suddenly asked, as he recalled her daughter's actions earlier.

"Sort of..?" Yvonne didn't know what she's really feeling at that moment, for her nerves were all over the place.

A minute of silence passed when her phone beeped notifying her of a text message. She fumbled inside her bag and took out her phone. She then saw a message that made her eyes turn cold:

It was from her first boyfriend, Brien Ahsan.

He was older than Yvonne by seven years. His strong and matured personality "tamed" her bratty attitude. From conversations, habits, and even mindset, Yvonne had been unable to break away from his charms.

She used to be so madly, deeply and blindly in love with him that when he told her to prove to him how much she loved him, Yvonne did not hesitate to give herself to the man. After all, she already saw him as her Mr. Right, her future husband.

It was then she learned that when two hearts were deeply connected, one would feel what the other was feeling. Because of this, her woman's instincts told her that something was happening, something wrong. It made her blood run cold and her body soaking in cold sweat.

Nearly two years into their relationship, she experienced for the first time the kind of pain that shattered her heart into smithereens. It was, for her, a soul-shattering blow. The kind of heartache that even after a decade was not able to heal.

He was her first and greatest love, so also was he her first and greatest heartache. For little did she know, opportunities had been knocking at Brien's door to play around her fragile heart.

~×~×~×~×~

Flashback ten years ago in her past life.

Brien was in his kitchen preparing dinner while Yvonne was lying down lazily on the sofa.

Just then, a message notification sounded from her boyfriend's phone.

Brien immediately picked it up then put on a poker face as he typed in a lengthy reply.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Yvonne's heart skipped a beat.

Instinct was telling her that something's happening as she started to break in cold sweat.

When Brien resumed preparing their dinner, the prickling feeling intensified in her heart as Yvonne looked at her boyfriend's back in front of her.

During dinner, Brien told her, "Babe, I have to attend a two-day conference this weekend. I may not be able to contact you in those days because of the intensive rules during the training."

All the while Brien was talking, Yvonne's body was trembling cold and didn't answer.

She cleared her throat to get his attention.

"Babe, can I borrow your phone for a minute? Mine is dead and still charging up. I forgot to tell Mom that I'll spend the night with you."

Brien looked up and smiled at her. "Sure, babe. Go ahead."

Yvonne picked up the phone. As her boyfriend didn't set a password, she easily accessed it.

She opened his inbox, and there she saw a thread of messages that almost made her soul leave her body.

[My Wife: Do you know how much I love you? You are my whole world, Brien Ahsan. Please don't ever leave me.]

[My Husband: Of course, I won't leave you. I'm already yours. I promise you that.]

[My Wife: I believe you. I can't wait to see you this weekend!]

[My Husband: I can't wait to be with you too, wife.]

Yvonne felt as if a bucket of ice poured down all over her. She discreetly took a deep breath to calm her nerves and immediately saved the other woman's number intending to call her soon.

In her mind, she made plans to get Brien busted and the sooner she could contact the woman, the sooner her plan of action would take place.

'I too, can't wait for this weekend.' She viciously thought.

She would show this Brien Ahsan that she knew about his cheating, thereby giving him a chance to redeem himself. She would prove to her parents that their love for each other could withstand any storm. She felt smug as if victory was already in her grasp.

However, what she expected was far too different from reality.

~×~×~×~×~

Present day.

"We're here."

Mr. Pereira turned to her daughter and when he saw her daughter's hooded expression and pale face, worry lines formed on his forehead.

"Little girl, are you alright?" Mr. Pereira asked in a soft voice. "You're not going to be a lazy ass and not show up there, are you?"

Yvonne then whipped her head to her father as she snapped back into the present.

"I'll be fine, Dad." Yvonne squeezed her father's hand and planted a resounding kiss on his cheek, catching once again a whiff of that familiar aftershave.

"Dad, can you pick me up after work later?" Yvonne bashfully asked her father before she stepped out of the car.

Mr. Pereira rolled down the window as looked at her incredulously. He thought, 'This girl won't see that asshole tonight? That's a first.'

"I'll think about it." He decided to tease her.

Yvonne grinned brightly. "I knew you'd say that. See you later, Dad."

"You be careful, kid." Mr. Pereira then drove off, leaving a certain girl who was waving at his trail.