Utos Niya

33 PURPOSE

 "To love is to destroy—and that to be loved, is to be the one destroyed," ito ang mensahe sa fortune cookie na nakuha ni Noleen.

"That must be a quote from a book," saad ni Cruz.

Though Noleen was having dinner with Cruz, ang tanging laman ng isip niya ay si Xander, ang asawang pinagtulakan niya palayo sa kanya. Sa mundong ito, ang tanging mahal lang ni Noleen ay ang kanyang sarili at ang propesyon, anyone could attest to that. Ngunit ngayon? She loved Xander. She loved him now above all others, more than herself even. She dreamed of a peaceful life with him, a life where no past sins could harm them. But she nearly destroyed him for that dream. And the sad thing was, she did it on purpose. She had broken his heart cruelly, damaged his pride repeatedly, and now she was on the verge of breaking his spirit.

Date all those women, make them happy, and give what they want except sex. Do it all with your wife's knowledge. Do it all in front of me. Come home to me with your body reeking of another woman's scent. Kiss me with the mouth that has kissed them. And break their hearts as if you were cruel, when we all know that it is not true.

Letting someone you love be with someone else? Kiss them? Touch them? Pag-ibig ba 'yon? It was a terrible thing to say that you love a person while hurting them on purpose, but Noleen loved him in a way that could never be explained unless one had knowledge of their story.

Pinagawa niya ang lahat ng 'yon kay Xander but to what end? Kahit sino, matatangahan sa ginawa niya. Kahit siya nalilito na rin sa nagawa, but she wouldn't admit defeat.

How were vaccines made? You had to use the virus itself to counter the illness, to make oneself immune.

She used her husband as a weapon against those women. He had the same looks, the same character, the same setup with Alex, but the outcome would always be different. Despite his looks, despite his believable acting skills, Xander would never be Alex.

Xander was someone else. He was better than Alex. Xander was known as a playboy, but a gentleman at that. Most of the women Noleen encountered from the breakup were satisfied with how the new 'Alex' treated them. Of course her husband had acted out his brother's sly cruelty, deceit, and wickedness, but he played the devious role by making his own version. Just like a weakened virus used in a vaccine, Xander was gentler and kinder.

Alex tortured his women by dominating them. Tinrato niya ang mga ito na para bang siya na ang nagmamay-ari ng buhay nila. He manipulated them. Hindi man kapani-paniwala pero isa si Noleen sa mga nabiktima. All her life she had been spoiled to the core by her father and the people around her. It was a new experience to be treated so callously.

On the other hand, Xander sweetly tormented the same women by treating them as paragons, sometimes as equal. He was always asking for their opinion or how they feel about something. He was there for them, open to anything. He would sometimes give curt advice na pinagtataka ng mga babae. It seemed like he was trying to convince them that they should not be in the company of someone like him and that they should value themselves more.

It was a mission with purpose. People said you have to be cruel in order to be kind. Xander was unconsciously changing his brother's image with the hope of saving the women involved. The reason why some of the women were promiscuous and demanding was because Alex wanted them to behave that way. A twisted love that was damaged and hard to explain, with the need to possess and to dominate. Ito ang klase ng pag-ibig na ipinakilala ni Alex sa kanila. Kung pag-ibig man ang matatawag do'n.

In terms of relationship, Alex deceitfully dated a lot, juggling all of his partners at the same time, spouting promises he never had plans of keeping anyway. Walang alam ang ilan sa mga babae na pinagsasabay-sabay sila. For some reason, Alex openly admitted this to Noleen. Nauna na siyang umamin bago pa man ungkatin ng overprotective na ama ng dalaga ang mga karelasyon niya. Nagmukhang tapat si Alex sa ginawa niya and Noleen admired his courage not knowing that his honesty was tainted by evil intent.