Flashback On
With firm resolve, Darren decided to shut the door of his heart tightly against Aurelia. He would build a new life with Nora, the woman who had entered his life three years ago.
Actually, Nora was the woman Darren's parents had chosen for him. They had brought the two of them together because their eldest son had never brought any woman home. But at the time, his father, Julian, and his mother, Dewi, didn't force their son into anything. They merely intended to introduce them, then leave it up to Darren to decide what he wanted for the future.
Darren, who had never refused either of their wishes, decided to agree. The thirty-year-old man believed that love would grow with time. He hadn't realized that his heart was already deeply attached to Aurelia, the girl whose well-being he asked about every day.
With lighter steps, having met with Arden and explained something he considered important, Darren continued walking silently toward his room. He wanted to go back to sleep beside Nora. His hand hadn't even reached the doorknob when a voice from inside suddenly made his body go rigid.
"Yes, baby. I'll make sure everything is safe. We'll get everything, little by little, but surely."
"Okay, get yourself ready. I'll be there. We'll spend my time satisfying you. Satisfy me with your newest moves, okay?" Nora said over the phone.
"Darren won't find out about any of our plans. That man is still busy with that little girl."
"He's never touched me. The only thing I do with him is use these beautiful fingers of mine. He never wants to touch me more intimately because he says he wants to do that after we get married, so it'll be more meaningful."
"Wait for me. I'll be there in twenty minutes, while that man isn't home."
Nora kept talking, unaware that Darren was hearing everything. Behind the wooden door, Darren had clenched both hands so tightly that his fingers had turned white.
When he heard Nora say she was going out, he quickly hid. Darren wanted to know what Nora was going to do next.
"I'm heading out for a bit, Mbok. If Darren asks, just tell him I went straight to the building," Nora said to Mbok Nah as she took her leave.
Keeping a safe distance, Darren followed Nora. He wanted to know who Nora was meeting and why she was doing all this to him. Darren had tried to give Nora the best of everything, even burying his love for her deep inside.
"Nora, what are you doing to me? What's really going on? Why did this happen just when I'd made my decision?" Darren whispered, his thoughts spinning back to the first time he had met Nora.
"Hey, baby," Nora greeted the man who had just opened the door. The man looked disheveled, as if he had just woken up.
Darren didn't approach them right away. He watched Nora from a distance. Although he didn't have feelings for Nora, Darren still felt deeply disappointed.
Darren continued watching the two of them from inside his car. As it happened, the door of the boarding house Nora had visited was directly in front of the road, not far away, making it easy for Darren to keep an eye on them.
Darren got out of the car once Nora and the man were no longer in sight. Slowly but surely, he approached the boarding house. He didn't know what he was going to do, but for now, all he wanted was to ask Nora directly why she had done this.
"Um..."
A moan rang out clearly when Darren reached the door. Since it was still early in the morning, there didn't seem to be anyone else at the boarding house. They had probably all gone to work.
"Ahhh..."
That disgusting sound reached Darren's ears again.
"What is she doing? All this time, I was wrong. So terribly wrong. I chose a woman whose body had already been enjoyed by another man." Darren laughed at his own stupidity.
"I protected her so carefully and respected her, only to find out she—" Darren was utterly shocked by the reality before him. He couldn't even bring himself to open the door. The truth was so bitter. Just when he had wanted to give her his heart, this was when he was betrayed.
"Staying here won't solve anything. I have to put an end to everything that's happening right now," he told himself, filled with determination.
When his hand touched the doorknob, it opened with ease.
The two people inside had probably forgotten to lock it.
Darren continued toward the source of the sounds, stepping around pieces of fabric scattered across the floor. He stopped beside the sofa next to the bed. The sofa faced away from the door, so the two of them didn't realize Darren was there among them.
Nora's lips remained locked with the man's. Their bodies were joined as they both chased their pleasure.
"Excel, you know exactly what I want," Nora's voice rang out again.
"Nora," Darren called out from directly in front of them, just as Excel was thrusting into Nora beneath him.