[Margaret]

I really didn't know what I should consider as hard. If it was to approach a stranger to introduce myself or to ask that person about certain things where trouble could possibly be rooted.

Seriously, why does curiosity had to even exist?

But if I had to blame something for that curiosity of mine to even exist at the moment, that could only be one person. Do I have to say who it was? I didn't think there was a need to do that. It was already obvious, anyway.

So here I was, just walking down the hallway leading to the rooftop where I knew the person I needed to talk to was possibly waiting—-the person who could tell me the truth about tha jerk that would always messed up my mind. But I just noticed. My movement seemed weak at the moment. I wasn't like that even in the mornings. I could say that I could keep up with Mayu's level of hyperactiveness in the morning and when I was in the mood.

So what was happening to me?

Until that question I thought of made me stop to my tracks. I sighed soon after.

That was right. I felt out of it because of Brent who crossed path with me at the campus gate. He was blank-faced while I stiffened slightly. It was a weird reaction, right? It looked like the situation between us would become harder for me than ever, huh?

Why was it that I ended up learning the truth?

I continued traversing the path going to the rooftop ng building ng College of Arts because that person was studying there who was majoring in Fashion Designing. It was a good thing that I didn't have any class in the next three hours for that mornig. I just hoped that person would allow me to discover more about the truth that I needed to know.

It wasn't long before I finally reached the rooftop. But in the entire duration of the walk just to go there, my heart won't stop beating so fast for unknown reasons. Great! Why did I have to be nervous at this time?

"You can do it, Margaret... You can use your curiosity as a driving force." What the heck? Did I really have to talk to myself at this crucial time?

I looked like a crazy person here, you know.

I heaved a sigh—-heavier this time—-as I proceeded to open the door to the rooftop.

I didn't see anyone standing near the door could possibly be waiting there when I opened it. What greeted me was the sound of ocean waves tossing to the boulders as the ocean seemingly sparkled because of the light coming from the morning sun. To be honest, it was truly a relaxing sight to see.

I couldn't even help smiling at it. If this would greet me in every day that would pass, maybe there wasn't a day that my mind would end up in a mess. But then, what should I expect? I guess that even the sea could never get rid of the reason for my mind to become like that.

"You must be Margaret Relaina Avellana."

I was inwardly startled when I heard that. I turned instantly to the source of that voice. What greeted me was the sight of a beautiful girl's innocent face. She was fair-skinned—-maybe even fairer than me that made me unable to stop feeling insecure.

Of course, I thought it was quite weird for me to feel that way. Not to mention, absurd.

Sporting that person's simply elegant outfit which consisted of ruffled blouse, jeans, and doll shoes was a beige summer hat. I remembered that the hat was said to be Vivian Esguerra's trademark whenever she was outside of the campus.

"How did you know?" I asked with a frown when her words finally registered in my mind.

That girl smiled, revealing a perfect set of white teeth and a warm welcoming smile. "My name is Vivian Esguerra. Mayu mentioned that you would come here looking for me."

I groaned upon hearing that. I even scratched my head because of that. "That girl is seriously a tattletale."

Vivian just laughed at that, though. "You're right. But it's okay. She already explained to me the real reason why you're looking for me."

That was when I looked up and faced her. "I guess I don't have to state my reason for seeking you, huh?"

She shook her head that confused me, of course. But what confused me more was the thing she said next.

"You don't have to say that. Ever since, I wanted to meet you. You have no idea how popular you are even here in the College of Arts. To be honest, I was glad when Mayu told me that you were looking for me. At the time, I thought that maybe it was also the right time for me to tell you the truth," she said in a way that told me she felt... relieved.

What? "I-I don't understand..."

Vivian just smiled again. "Forgive me for talking vague about this. But I'm really glad I'm finally able to meet you."

Okay... Seriously, I couldn't understand her more because of what she was saying. "You're only making things confusing for me, you know that?"

"Why don't we find a seat so that I could finally start telling you the whole story?" she said to me.

This had gotten a lot weirder than ever. But was this supposed to be alright?

"Are you sure... about letting me know this?" I wasn't sure why I thought of asking that. But I had to ask that, right?

A few moments of silence surrounded both me and Vivian. Her expression turned serious. I didn't know but I thought that perhaps I stepped on a landmine on that one. I couldn't helped feeling nervous because of that.

But that feeling soon vanished when I saw Vivian smile again. It looked like Vivian's model-like smile was also her trademark.

"Margaret, you of all people right now should knew the truth. Maybe that way, you can stop him from doing his way of taking revenge." Vivian's face looked kind of distraught, though.

But even so, I could understand her. A lot of people had been suffering. It was about time that something or someone should put an end to this.

Vivian and I went to a shaded part of the rooftop where a wooden bench was placed there. We sat there. As soon as both of us seated, I saw her taking a deep breath as if she was preparing herself before facing me.

"It actually started when Brent was in the senior year of high school," Vivian started. "I was also a senior but we were not classmates. His classmate was my twin brother Vance who was older than me by three minutes. Brent and Vance were really close. Their closeness even beat that of me and my brother. That's why Neilson and I felt that we were outcast because of that. Of course, that was just a joke. It was a good thing that Mayu would always accompany us. She was the one who would entertain us whenever Brent and Vance would suddenly disappear."

I noticed that the nostalgic smile on Vivian's face didn't disappear as she was telling me that. As for me, I was just being quiet here. I couldn't think of what to say. That was why I waited for her to continue her story.

"At the time, Brent was already known for being a heartbreaker but definitely not as worse as he is now. It only got worst after what happened to Vance."

I frowned when I heard the last words she said. So Vivian's brother was really the catalyst?

"It was late October, we were surprised when the police told us that my brother was found dead when he fell from a six-storey building. Their initial conclusion about the event was suicide but we knew that something was wrong with all that. Even so when Brent went home sustaining a lot of bruises on his body... and his eyes were filled with hate."

I saw Vivian clasped her hands placed on her lap. And it looked like they were slightly trembling. In my guess, Vivian's body was reacting as she was remembering a lot of things while telling me all this.

"Vivian..." I called out gently as I held her trembling hands. I noticed that she was startled because of what I did. "Maybe you should stop."

She shook her head firmly. "I won't stop. You have to know the truth. Only you can help us stop Brent's actions."

I decided not to speak anymore even though to be honest, I wanted to contradict the words she said that I was the only one who could stop that guy from his vengeance spree. In the first place, what exactly could I do?

"That was the first time that we saw that kind of hatred in Brent's eyes. Even I had to stay away from him because of fear. We couldn't understand the reason for us to see that emotion in his eyes. That is, until we found out that Brent knew something about what really happened to Vance."

"So... the initial conclusion which was suicide wasn't really a suicide?" I hesitatingly inquired.

My eyes widened when Vivian nodded. Wait a minute. This wasn't included in what Mayu told me yesterday. "How did that happen?"

"Being born in a family of talented detectives and investigators has its quirks, you know. Brent took advantage of that to investigate what really happened because Uncle Cedric was still doubtful about his eldest son's actions. Uncle Cedric found out that Brent was discreetly hunting the girl that caused my twin brother's death. The reason why Brent arrived home full of bruises and wounds was because he ended up beating up the people who was with the girl that happened to be my brother's girlfriend. Brent forced them to confess where Carol Sanchez was but they were tight-lipped about it. They remained like that even though he nearly killed them with punches and kicks full of Brent's rage."

To be honest, even in my imagination, I never thought that Brent had that kind of dark side in him. The Brent I knew was a jerk. He liked to tease people, he was wearing a sneaky smile on his face, a joker sometimes, and... possibly a closet romantic if I would based it on my observation.

But never this vengeful.

"What happened to the girl? Did he find her?"

Vivian nodded but she wasn't looking at me. She was just staring into space. "He did... after it was finally confirmed that Vance was pushed from the rooftop of that building. By that wretched girlfriend of my brother!"

I could feel the extreme anger from her tone that perhaps she was just supressing within her.

"What happened next?" I needed to coax Vivian to tell the rest of the story. That was the only way I could think of for her to let her emotions all out. It was a good thing that I was the only one who could see it.

"It was summer the next year when Brent managed to find Carol. At first, I really though he would physically hurt her. But we were wrong because we never thought that he did something worst as a revenge. What he did was to break her heart in the same manner as Carol broke that of my brother's—-only with a damage greater than what she had dealt to Vance. Brent did it in a way that Carol would actually wish she would just die than live without him." Vivian smiled bitterly after that. "And he succeeded..."

Okay... Now that was seriously too much. I never realized that Brent was like that. It was understandable if he just felt furious when he did such a thing. But to actually hurt a girl like that?

I just couldn't... believe it...

The Brent Allen Villaruz I knew was completely different from the Brent that Vivian was telling me at the moment.

"That's why if you noticed, all of the girls that entered Brent's life were just for a short time. They were like past time for him. But the damage he would leave to them was too much. He said to me once that he would continue doing that until those girls finally learned the lesson that he wanted to impart to them. That those girls had no right to just randomly choose someone to play with and break their hearts in the end. He also said to me that beating up Vance and pushing him from the rooftop wasn't the only sin that Carol did. That girl destroyed my brother's heart because it so happened that Carol became my brother's girlfriend as part of a bet. My brother begged to Carol not to leave him but she took no heed of it. She just cruelly laughed at his face that she even called him stupid and pathetic. Not to mention, a fool."

That was when I remembered the things that Brent said to me when we were at the Legendary Promise Tree...

xxxxxx

"But seriously, why bring me here? And how many girls have you brought here, anyway?"

But then I saw his gaze at the tree hardened. Did I say something bad?

"Why would I bring them here when they couldn't even understand my simple fascination to this tree and its legend? They only knew how to make themselves pretty in the face of others, fool around guys that caught their attention and in the end, they would just destroy those guys' hearts that they played with. They were doing it without them even knowing that it wasn't just innocent hearts that they were destroying but also those people's desire to dream and live their lives much longer."

I had no idea what to say after that. I could feel the disgust and anger from Brent's voice as he was saying those words. This wasn't the usual Setsuji I knew. He was certainly different when he firmly spoke those words.

I guessed there were many things that I still didn't know when it comes to this guy.

"So Margaret, don't let that Oliver guy ruin your life and your dreams. He may have broken your heart but time will help you piece them back together again," he said in a serious tone. But that serious tone was also laced with concern and care that I knew I heard once before...

xxxxxx

So that was why...

All that he said to me that day had some basis. But then, I couldn't help thinking that Brent was also pathetic and a fool. "Why was he doing this for your brother? He has his own life to live, for heaven's sake! Was he really that mad for him to feel that kind of hate towards your brother's murderer?"

Vivian smiled bitterly once again because of what I said. "Funny... I also told the same thing to him. But do you know how he responded to that? The day those bastards took my brother's life, they also robbed Brent of his ability to entrust his heart to anyone except to his family and a few selected friends. It was because until the end, what my brother still wished for was for Carol to be happy. But Brent destroyed every reason to make that girl even feel a bit of happiness. They were brothers, in their perception, and brothers look out for each other. But I think what remained in Brent's heart was the guilt he felt because in his perception, he didn't do his job properly as a brother to Vance. So he thought that to stop the same tragedy from repeating itself on his watch, he broke those girls' hearts." And Vivian's story ended with a heavy sigh.

It was 10:03 AM and the sea breeze was, for some reason, suddenly felt calming. I could definitely feel something like that when I looked out to the sea.

"He only chose to break the hearts of the girls that had the same character, attitude and personality as that of Carol's..." I whispered to myself when I thought of that. In short, Brent was meticulously selecting his victims.

"That's right..." Vivian replied in a soft tone. "He said that he had to teach those girls a lesson they would never forget at all."

"But what about the girls who weren't like the ones he hated but still fell to that jerk's charms?"

"He was rejecting them downright but as discreet as he could. That way, those girls who had nothing to do with his vengeance would be spared. But of course, it couldn't be helped that he would still leave their hearts broken." Then I noticed that she sighed heavily once again before smiling wistfully. "To be honest, I was one of them."

She looked at Vivian in surprise. "You confessed to Brent?" What the heck? Was Brent's charms really that strong for even the likes of Vivian to fall for him?

She nodded. "I did, but he said that it's better that I should stop. I admitted to him that I liked him for a long time. Even now, if I have to say so. But after my confession, I just decided to love him secretly. He said that, more than anyone else, I was one of the girls that he doesn't want to see how he takes revenge. I was that important to him, that's why he said that it was for the best if I destroy my feelings for him."

I was truly speechless with what I learned from Vivian. For real. How could a high school senior boy bear such immense grudge in his heart for everything to reach this point? It was totally unbelievable wherever I would put it. But I guess that everything I saw, observed, and heard from one of the people who truly knew Brent was more than enough as a proof.

"I confessed to him in hopes of making him stop doing that, but to no avail. That's why after confessing to him and ended up rejected, my own wish since then was... I hope... a time will come that Brent would meet a girl who would do everything to help him and ultimately free him from his hatred," Vivian continued.

Until Vivian finally turned to face me, but I was inwardly surprised at how intent her eyes was on me.

Oh, boy! To be honest, I really didn't like what could possibly come next to what she said after that.

"And I think... you could be that girl for him, Margaret."

Say what now? This was seriously insane!

This was what I was talking about. This was called trouble, I tell you!

You got to be kidding me!