When Fate Intervenes (Giselle and Anthony)

Anthony could barely sleep a wink after knowing that Giselle must have found his photo album by accident. Throughout the night, he couldn't stop thinking about everything that had happened in the past few years.

If Anthony had been pursuing Melanie for the past dozen years or so, then, he had been learning to let her go for the last three years ever since she got married.

From the moment Melanie married someone else, Anthony had been telling himself that he should only treat Melanie like his little sister, and nothing more.

Meanwhile, he still considered Giselle only a friend even though she'd been pursuing him for years. He had always felt guilty toward her-maybe it was due to the fact that they were both on the same boat, loving someone who never reciprocated their feelings. Anthony had continued feeling guilty about Giselle for years until they reunited three years ago.

He knew as soon as he looked at her that she wasn't over him yet.

So, as his parents continued nagging at him to get married as soon as possible, Anthony kept thinking about it.

Would he want to listen to his parents and marry someone they set up for him? Or, would he rather accept Giselle's feelings and give her a chance?

At the very least, he thought, if he married Giselle, she wouldn't feel as hurt as he did.

Young Anthony thought that fulfilling Giselle's wish would get rid of the despair of him not being able to get what he wanted.

However, he hadn't known then that things rarely ever went as he wished. In fact, chances were that things would even turn out far worse than ever expected. Sometimes, it wasn't always a good thing to fulfill wishes like these.

On one end of the spectrum, Anthony was faced with the pain of losing a loved one to another man. On the other end of the spectrum, he was stepping into a marriage trap he set up for himself.

And, he found himself constantly going from one end to the other and back again. He felt as if he was going to be split in half.

While on the edge of a breakdown, Anthony then proposed that he and Giselle get married in secret. Giselle agreed at once without thinking about it.

So, while still battling fresh memories of losing his loved one to another and not knowing how to forget Melanie, Anthony married Giselle, also not knowing how to properly manage his married life afterward.

Anthony seldom contacted Melanie in the three years of his marriage. He only talked to her occasionally at dinner gatherings with his friends. He'd also kept the group photos from those events in his photo album.

He was learning to let go of his obsession as the days went by. The only thing was that letting go was a lot harder than he expected.

Habits were hard to break. His gaze would almost always end up on Melanie whenever she was in close proximity. His emotions would also easily get affected by her, even more so after learning that she was going through a divorce.

He sincerely wanted Melanie to leave her bitter past behind her and start anew in life. That was the main reason why he'd done everything in his power to help her win her case.

After all, she was someone he'd truly been in love with. Although he knew that they couldn't possibly end up together, he still wanted her to lead a good life.

However, these were only all of Anthony's thoughts. He'd never told anyone about them before.

He used to think that crushing on a person was a matter of one's own heart. He thought that he'd hid it well, but he forgot that Giselle was also someone who had been secretly crushing on him for a long time. Of course, she could see through him right away. Meanwhile, he only learned that he'd long exposed himself only after he lost everything.

When the moment of epiphany finally hit, Anthony was angry. But, he wasn't just angry because he'd been tricked into divorcing Giselle.

He was angry because she'd jumped to her own conclusions without asking him about anything. He was angry because she'd left so suddenly and so discreetly. He was angry because she never even gave him a chance to explain himself.

Also, he was angry at himself for not noticing the signs earlier. He was angry at himself for always neglecting Giselle out of habit. He was angry at himself for not being a responsible husband to her.

Most importantly, he was angry at himself for not realizing earlier how important Giselle was to him.

They had spent three years together. That meant he had been with her for more than a thousand days. And, he was already used to having her by his side.

Even after Melanie successfully went through her divorce, Anthony never even dreamed about divorcing Giselle.

That was because he'd promised himself one thing from the moment he received his marriage certificate-which was that he would stay with Giselle for the rest of his life.