The moment Jaguar stepped onto the sprawling expanse of the exterior terrace overlooking the gardens, he forcefully and decisively disengaged his hand from Miranda's grasp; his pretense before his grandfather and Fati had concluded, and he acutely comprehended that his grandfather had ensnared him within a calculated trap to place him in a precarious dilemma and that he imperatively needed to terminate this absurdity immediately and return to justify his stance to Fati before her trust in him evaporated entirely.
Jaguar pivoted toward Miranda with a gaze as incisive as steel, uttering in a voice brimming with condemnation:
- What is this utter nonsense you are indulging in, Miranda?! How do you grant yourself the audacity to assume the role of a fiancée and orchestrate this charade of a beloved with such theatrics?
Miranda lunged toward him anew, clinging to his forearms in a desperate bid to command his attention and press herself against him boldly, declaring in a cadence feigning bewilderment:
- What has come over you, Jaguar?! Your grandfather was the one who personally contacted my father, requesting our immediate presence to deliberate upon the formal arrangements for our engagement
Pausing briefly, she pursuing with eyes dilated in resentment:
- Indeed, I am the one experiencing shock here... for how is it conceivable that you have yet to divorce that girl from whom you severed ties and departed her sphere years ago?
Jaguar extracted his hands from her grasp anew with dry severity, retreating a step backward while warning her in a deep, raspy masculine voice saturated with threat:
- First... do not lay a finger upon me again! And second... my private life constitutes an absolute boundary I permit neither you nor anyone else to encroach upon! And whatever transpired between us formerly was nothing more than...
Jaguar tightened his fist fiercely; prolonged proximity to this young woman conjured dark, thoroughly distasteful recollections within his consciousness. He desired to confront her with that hideous reality buried by time when she attempted during high school to impose her hysterical fascination upon him, and upon encountering his decisive, composed rejection, she initiated a reckless suicide attempt that compelled her influential father to dispatch her abroad instantly to distance her from him, leaving her unseen since.
Jaguar had invariably despised her; she was merely an arrogant young woman, haughty to the point of cruelty, notorious for her atrocious harassment of her peers through criminal tendencies that admitted no absolution, exploiting her father's perpetual ability to extricate her from consequences to escalate her tyranny.
How vastly distinct was that brutality from the essence of his beloved, the aroma of his soul, "Fati" the delicate, fragile, pristine Fati who overflowed with benevolence, seeking to aid everyone and implanting smiles within the hearts of all surrounding her... or so she was prior to being wounded by his harsh conduct, a inner serenity he had recently begun witnessing the dawn of its restoration.
Tilting his head to dissolve the chasm of silence, Jaguar leaned toward Miranda's ear with an unyielding, freezing composure, whispering in a sharp, masculine baritone as incisive as a blade:
- ...nothing more than a girl devoid of ethics, possessing not the slightest inkling regarding the true meaning of love, driven solely to possess whatever she desires through force!... And I am by no means a plaything within your hands, Miranda
Meanwhile, Fati stepped out of the mansion, boiling with rage and anger. She took nothing with her except her handbag and the fabric rabbit she clung to, completely forgetting her luggage amidst her distress furious at everyone in this mansion, a place she never entered without leaving with a broken heart and a wounded soul.
She stood below waiting for the car, trying her hardest not to look up toward the terrace where Jaguar stood with his new fiancée. Doubts and questions devoured her mind: Had he discussed their divorce with her grandfather behind her back?! If so, why did he try to get so close to her all this time? Why did he stay by her side until she completely surrendered to him, both emotionally and physically, despite all her resistance... only to let her down so ruthlessly once again?
Yet, in the end, she couldn't stop herself from looking for him. She involuntarily raised her eyes toward the distant terrace... and there, her gaze fell upon Jaguar, who was standing so close to Miranda that they seemed to be kissing! What made it worse was how tightly Miranda was clinging to him. Fati couldn't hear their conversation, but from afar, the sight conveyed nothing less than words filled with love and passion.
In truth, Miranda had caught sight of Fati out of the corner of her eye as she exited through the door and stood at the top of the stairs. The moment Fati lifted her head, Miranda seized the opportunity to press herself even closer to Jaguar, whispering in a pleading voice:
- But I still love you, Jaguar... I've changed for you and become a completely different person. Just give me another chance
Upon the exterior terrace, where the night breeze collided with the embers of fury incinerating within his chest, Jaguar clamped his powerful palms onto Miranda's bare shoulders, repelling her with a firm thrust while locking his eyes onto hers with a searing gaze capable of consuming whomever stood before him. Yet Fati, positioned below the staircase grappling with the shattering of her spirit, remained unreachable by the heat of those furious eyes; all that extended to her distant vision was the image of his hands encircling Miranda's exposed shoulders!
Jaguar uttered in a low voice dripping with severity:
- Look at yourself, Miranda... your kind never transforms; you merely degenerate into deeper ugliness as time passes
Yet Miranda, guided by her ingrained malice, caught sight of Fati standing beneath the luminescent lights of the outer foyer, confirming that her gaze remained anchored upon them without the capacity to perceive their dialogue. Seizing the interlude, she surged in a fleeting second to press an abrupt kiss upon Jaguar's lips, before stepping back to declare with provocative audacity:
- Does no emotion stir within you following such a kiss?
Jaguar ignited with rage, elevating his palm to wipe his lips with sharp, overwhelming revulsion, as though cleansing his frame from a lingering stain, stating in a parched baritone brimming with disgust:
- Never... I sense toward you nothing short of spiritual repulsion
At this juncture, Miranda assumed the mask of innocent benevolence, articulating in a feigned cadence of gentleness:
- Do you know, Jaguar? I am contemplating quite seriously becoming a close friend to Fati
At that precise instant, the luminous essence of Fati crossed Jaguar's consciousness the noble Fati who soothes the hearts of the destitute and tenderly pats the hands of suffering patients within hospital corridors. He comprehended within his core that an angel of her stature would never taint her purity by befriending a viper harboring such venomous thoughts; stepping a pace closer, he poured into her ear a terrifying threat that caused the spirit to tremble:
- If you so much as attempt to approach Fati or speak to her... you are as good as dead
Miranda's eyes shifted, the confidence that filled her moments ago completely fading—the belief that she could win Jaguar if she just tried hard enough. But Jaguar spoke again with even greater anger, his voice cold and fierce:
- I am going inside right now to tell my grandfather that we are not meant for each other, and that I will never let anyone take my wife Fati's place! You will confirm my words, or I swear you will not see tomorrow
He grabbed Miranda's hand and pulled her toward the terrace doors to enter the mansion. But the loud sound of a car engine below made him freeze in his tracks. He quickly turned and looked down, where he saw Fati standing just as the driver opened the car door for her.
In that painful second, their eyes met across the distance. It was a single look filled with silent heartbreak and unspoken blame. But Fati did not look for long; she turned her face away, stepped into the car, and drove away with all the broken pride left inside her.
Only then did Jaguar realize the trap. He understood that Miranda had used the moment to press against him and kiss him just so Fati would see it and misunderstand everything making her leave in pain when all she wanted was to stay by her grandfather's side. How had things turned out this way? Deep down, Jaguar knew that fixing things with Fati had just become so much harder.