Moonlight Serenade

She did not have the courage to bring a box of erotica to the mansion. Even against her will, she agreed to burn all the books. She didn't have any container for them. There was no place for erotica in her dad's mansion nor in Gideon's house. And it hurt a lot. Her babies were rejected and she felt like being rejected also by both parties.

She really loves those books and yet she is now outside Gideon's house, watching a box of erotica being eaten by fire.

Jewel was in tears. She didn't quite think Gideon would disagree with her. That jerk was the cause of this mess! But she didn't have the power to dominate him!

It was as if his confession to her last night was not true. Jewel looked at Gideon who was at the entrance of the house and was talking to Tang. Dalya and Pedro were not outside. Her fists clenched. That controlling beast!

Tang entered the house while Gideon walked towards her. It occasionally looked at those erotica's being engulfed by fire. He stopped in front of her and smiled. "Let's go?" he asked.

There was an intense emotion inside Jewel. Suddenly, she slapped her husband's face that it turned red in an instant. Blood dripped down from his wounded lips. Gideon closed his eyes and Jewel backed away. What have she done?

Gideon touched the cracked bloody lip and wiped away the blood. He slowly looked at her and smiled sarcastically. "That hurts, wife."

Her eyes rolled. She also did not know what went into her mind and she slapped Gideon hard. Maybe she was just too infuriated with him so she couldn't help herself. But Gideon deserved it!

She consoled herself and huffed. Jewel didn't plan to apologize because she wanted Gideon to apologize first for burning her books. She rolled her eyes. "You deserve it, jerk."

Gideon snatched a handkerchief from his pants pocket and wiped the blood from his lips. "You changed," he whispered before he passed her by.

She was stunned. Did Gideon just passed by her? He didn't even bother to say sorry? That man was really worthless!

Jewel reluctantly followed Gideon to the car. She sucked in her breathe when Gideon didn't even bother to open the passenger door for her like he used to! Her husband was overdoing it!

She sat down in the passenger seat and closed the door, folding her arms. She pursed her lips into a thin line. The car immediately ran out of the house and onto the highway.

Jewel waited a few minutes but Gideon was still silent. In the past, everytime that she's quiet, her husband will notice it and will ask her why she's not talking. But now, it's different. She kept her mouth shut for hours but Gideon didn't even ask if she was okay or what the problem was.

Even when she got out of the car, Gideon remained silent. He didn't even say goodbye and just drove the car away and out of the mansion.

Jewel was flabbergasted by Gideon's cold attitude.

Her mood grew even heavier and she entered the mansion with a frown on her face. The servants did not dare to ask what her problem was. Her parents didn't ask either.

From that day on, her life returned to normal --- the kind of life without Gideon, the quiet one. The only difference was that it's more quiet now because Dalya and Pedro were gone and her three friends: Hazel, Gabbi, and Tiara had cut their firendship with her.

At the University, the rumor didn't completely disappeared but they were now controlled. Whenever she passed by, some eyes followed her but she couldn't hear any of them deliberately whispering against her. Maybe it's because the director announced that anyone who slanders other students would be punished as per the University's protocol with heavy sanctions even expulsion depends on the severability of the incident.

And that day was just an ordinary day for Jewel. Passing and forgetting what happened in that day afterwards. Every gesture and place were just the same as yesterday, whether by home or in University, just the same. "Miss Mangubat?" someone called her.

She stopped walking and caught her wild strands of hair as the wind passed by. She turned around to face him and saw a Professor who's unfamiliar to her. She smiled. "Yes?"

He smiled too and held out his hand in front of her. "I'm Professor Isagani. I've been waiting for you for a while."

"Uh, nice meeting you, Professor. But why are you waiting for me?"

"The Dean called me. Said he wanted you to go to the Director's office today. You also exempted for all the assignments and class activities today."

She blinked and casted her eyes down. "Okay," she said. The Professor smiled and gestured for her to follow. She complied.

The Professor stopped as they stood opposite the door. He turned to her. "You came in first, Miss."

She nodded and went inside. Jewel was greeted by the cold air blown by the air-cooler above the door and the fragrant smell of fresh honeysuckle and tulips.

She suddenly remembered the flowers in the yard of Gideon's house. Shaking her head, she dismissed the thought. She shouldn't be thinking about that man. She looked around inside.

There was a blurry glass wall in front of her, looking like the divider of that room. There were two open doors on either side. She turned to the left.

Passing the glass door, she first saw the man in his mid-40s sitting behind a large wooden table. On its desk was a nameplate bearing Mikael Hubes Saavedra. Her fist clenched. His nephew was the man who almost raped her. Opposite the large table was a girl who has her back turned to her. She was wearing a uniform for the students, and her body shape was familiar to her.

"Miss Jewel Laine Mangubat-Hernandez," the Director greeted cheerfully.

She almost jumped at the Director's sudden greeting. She looked at the man again and quickly averted her gaze. Jewel should greet him back, but she couldn't find the words to say.

When the Director noticed that she did not greet him, he nodded and smiled at her. "Please have a sit. We have a lot of things to discuss and I hope your parents will pardon our University." 'Pardon the University? What does this mean?' she thought.

She stepped forward and sat in the chair opposite the girl the Director was talking to. When she looked at the girl, her eyes widened. "Jasmine?" Her brow raised.

Jasmine averted her gaze. She wanted to ask why the girl was in the office, when she heard footsteps approaching her direction. She glanced at the source of the footsteps. It was Gabbi. Jewel frowned. "What are you doing here?"