(Sandra’s POV)

I regretted the day that, when I went back to school, I mindlessly thought that I saw Lucas when I saw Paul. It was so dumb of me to believe, even for a second, that they were the same person! In fact, there were days that I started following Paul around because I got intrigued by the sight of him and how much he resembled my first love.

The good thing was I was able to immediately see the difference between them when Paul began to be a poop around me, and there, I was back to my senses that maybe, it was only a coincidence that they looked alike, but there was no way in hell that Paul would be Lucas! Lucas had always been better in so many ways!

Honestly speaking, I isolated myself for so long after I lost Lucas. I felt as if the world sank with me when he died. Nobody could ever be compared to him. He was one of a kind. Even if Paul looked like him, the good and admirable qualities of Lucas would never be matched.

Anyway, it could happen to some people at some time, couldn’t it? It was not uncommon for one to have a look-alike, as if a doppelganger or a twin brother or sister, so I should not even be surprised or make a big deal about it. I should not insist that Paul was Lucas, and vice versa, because that would be complete nonsense. They were two different men with two distinct personalities. The only sad thing was that I lost the precious one, and all I could do was to miss him every single day of my life.

Lucas, in my eyes, was the perfect man in all aspects of being perfect. He was every girl’s dream boyfriend, and I was so damn lucky that I had him. That, even for a little while before a tragedy took him away, he became my fiancé, and my days with him were the happiest days of my life. Paul, on the contrary, was the total opposite. He was arrogant, a bad boy, and so full of himself! Indeed, he was famous at school, and women were thirsty for his attention, but I didn't care. I would not be one of them as I only had Lucas in my heart, no matter how many years had passed since he left.

I shook my head and walked past Paul. However, he was quick to grab my arm, and what made my eyes go wide in shock was when he aggressively held my waist and pulled me closer to his body!

I violently inhaled and pushed him away, but of course, he was way stronger than I!

“Let me go, Paul!!!” I hissed.

I threw him deadly glares, but he didn't seem to mind. He just stared straight into my eyes.

“Let me—” I couldn't finish when I realized that the more I tried to fight him, the tighter his arms wrapped around me!

Damn him to the core!

He drew his lips close to mine. His eyes were deep and intense, as if he were scrutinizing me to the depths of my soul. And I hated how my body naturally reacted to his actions! Because it contradicted my sane mind! My sanity was telling me this was so wrong on so many levels, but my body secretly liked his intimate proximity!

I couldn't move. It was as if my whole body was freezing. My knees were melting under his magnetic spell!

My eyes automatically closed as soon as I felt him kissing me…

Damn, my body was betraying me!

The kiss went from gentle to being hungrier and rougher. I didn't even know what kind of insanity ruled me, but I just found myself submitting and giving in to him to the point that I snaked my arms around his nape and pulled him deeper so I could grant him more access to me. His hand caressed my back while his kisses went down to my neck. I could just hug him because I wanted more. I was enthralled to feel him filling me completely…

“I can prove to you that I am a better lover than him…” he whispered.

I felt like a cold water had been splashed in my face, so all the heat I felt had disappeared! It was replaced with outrage!

I pushed him to my very best effort, and this time, I succeeded in making him stop!

“How dare you insult me and insult Lucas?!” I shouted in his face.

He looked at me madly. “Admit it or deny it, Sandra, you gave in to me! You wanted me, too! Your body desired me as much as I desired you!”

I shook my head. I would never admit it! I should not! It was not just right! “No way!”

“Deny it all you want, but how your body reacted to my caress is a clear indication that you're into me—”

I cut him off by slapping him hard. And I immediately regretted what I did. It was, yes, satisfying to cut him and teach him his lesson to shut the fuck up, but at the same time, I wanted to quickly regret it because I felt like I just aggravated the situation! He was so ragingly mad by now. His eyes were like a predator ready to attack prey into the latter's doom!

Oh my goodness!

Before he could grab my arm, I had already run away from him.

“Don't come near me, Paul!” I yelled with a shaking voice.

My feet were shaking. I was so afraid Paul would hurt me once he caught me!

I initially thought of running to the door to get outside, but I knew that even outside, he would not stop chasing me until he got me caught, so I stopped at the big window, opened it, and stepped my right foot outside of it.

“Sandra, what the fuck are you doing?!” he shouted. Horror could be seen on his face, afraid that I might jump out of the window, given that we were, at the moment, on a high floor of a school’s high-rise building!

“I'm warning you, Paul! Don't come near me if you don't want me to kill myself right here by jumping off this window!” I warned him. My voice was shaking in fear.

I was fearful I had to jump off a high window, or if he would get me, only he knew what he could do to me because I slapped him!

“Sandra, I'm warning you, don't do that! You will hurt yourself big time if you jump!” he warned me back, but he sounded more persuasive and scared now than angry.

Scared? Of what? Was he scared that I would really jump and hurt myself? But why would he?

Was that fright I was seeing in his eyes?

Could he possibly fear that something bad might happen to me? But for what? Was he that concerned about me? I always thought he didn't give a damn on me!

Or was he just acting? Maybe because he thought he would be accountable for anything that would happen to me if I jumped. Yeah, it might just be like that. I shouldn't dig deeper into it, nor give it a deep meaning. He was only concerned about himself.

“What will you do if I jump, huh? Are you afraid you might be held accountable and be blamed by everyone if you can't prevent me from jumping?” I asked bitterly, challenging him.

“Damn! This is not even about me!” He shouted frustratedly. “Sandra, it's your life that will be at stake if you jump! And I don't want anything to happen to you! Do you even hear me?!”

“You don't want anything to happen to me? But why?”

He couldn't look me straight in the eyes. It was as if he wanted to tell me something, and yet he just couldn't find the right words to say them…

He shook his head and once again persuaded me not to do anything that could put my life in danger. “Please, I'm begging you, Sandra… Step away from the window now… Please…”

I stared at him. Why did he seem to be desperately begging me not to jump? I was thinking all this time that he really didn't care whether I died or not in front of him. But now, he seemed to care, and not even for himself or accountability, or to be blamed if anything happened to me. It seemed he was genuinely concerned about me…

Or was he only a good actor and pretender?

“Come on, Sandra…” Gradually, he took careful steps to get closer to me while offering me his hand, and he was very cautious not to do anything to scare me for one wrong move and he would have to witness me fall into my doom!

“Stop!” I shouted, almost teary-eyed, which made him literally stop, even though he hadn't reached me yet. “Stop right there, or else, I will not hesitate to jump! I am not kidding, Paul!”

“Alright!” He nodded understandingly while his hands were up in the air, a sign of giving up, and as if he would not do anything that would scare the heck out of me. “Alright. Just please stay away from the window, Sandra…”

“Are you trying to save and prevent me from jumping because you want to beat me up by yourself, huh?!” I questioned him. I couldn't help but get emotional because of my anxiety.

“Beat you up?” He frowned. “What the heck?! Why would I do that?! I have never beaten any woman in my life, Sandra, and I will never do that!”

I did not want to trust him easily, but right after hearing what he said, I felt a surge of relief in my heart. “Really? Won't you hurt me?”

“For fuck’s sake, where did you even get the idea that I would hurt you and beat you up?!”

“It's because I slapped you! I was thinking you were going to make me pay by hurting me back!”

“I chased you when you ran because I wanted to confront you for slapping me and was supposed to tell you not to do it again, but never in my mind did I ever think of beating you up just because you slapped me!”

“Is that true…?” My heart believed in him, and I didn't know why. It was as if my heart knew he was telling the truth, that he could not hurt and beat a woman, let alone me.

When I was already about to step back from the window, I accidentally slipped the handle out of my hand, causing my feet to trip and my body to fall from the high building! And it made me scream at the top of my lungs! “Ahhhhh!!!”

“Sandra!!!!!” I heard Paul’s horrified voice shouting for my rescue.

I closed my eyes and prepared myself to die. Perhaps, this was the end. Maybe my life was bound to end this way, and all I could do was accept it. What I just wanted to do next was to see and meet Lucas again in the afterlife. I couldn't wait to see him and be with him again…

I thought I was dying, but instead of feeling my body fall and break into the ground, I actually felt firm arms wrap all over me, catching and saving me from that accidental fall!

Slowly, I opened my eyes, and there I saw Paul holding me. He was kneeling with one knee to the ground while his arms held me like a precious diamond he never wanted to break. It seemed like he used all his might to keep me from the friction of high-falling.

Nobody was speaking. We only stared at each other's eyes while hearing our hearts beating so fast.

I frowned when I was so sure that I saw a flash of crimson in his eyes before they returned to their usual brown color. This was just another dream, wasn't it?

Subconsciously, I looked at the hands holding my arms tightly, and for a second, I wondered if I was experiencing a nightmare or just hallucinating because I knew I saw it! I just caught sight of his hands’ unusual long fingers, long nails, and thick hair as if they weren't like the hands of a normal human being. But in a single blink of my eyes, the form of his hands reverted to normal!

His expression was intense—there was anger, but his fear dominated like he had never been this scared before.

He helped me stand up, fixed myself, and then let go of me.

Confusion from the things that I just witnessed came gushing through me…

“Your eyes, I was sure I saw them color red… And your hands looked unusual, like the hands of a beast and not a human! I couldn't be wrong, Paul!” I said, voice full of accusation.

He couldn't look into my eyes, as if he were avoiding being confronted about these things!

On top of all my confusion was the fact that he was able to save me from falling into a high building while he remained unscathed! I meant I was grateful he did save me and I wasn't wishing him the worst, but how did he prevent himself from hurting or even having a single wound after jumping off to save me? It was like he did it effortlessly, and no usual human being could do such a heroic act without hurting himself along the way!

“H-how did you do that, Paul? How come you remained uninjured even after jumping off a high building to save me? How come you were so strong?”