It was only 5 pm, but I woke up from a bad dream. I was catching my breath, trembling in fear, and sweating. I went to the bathroom to splash some water on my face. I looked for Mateo, but he wasn't there, even on the balcony.

It's always like this. The nightmares come at any time, morning, afternoon, or night. Whenever I dream, Mateo isn't there to greet me.

I decided to go downstairs and to the beach. I walked around, trying to figure out why I'm having these dreams. I stopped walking and looked out at the ocean, lost in thought. A man approached me, he looked like he was about to sleep, but something interrupted him.

"Ma'am Gra- Zylene, Ma'am Zylene. Kanina pa ho kayo pinapahanap ni Mr. Montevallo," he said, sounding robotic. I ignored what he said, thinking he just stumbled over his words. I just nodded and walked ahead.

"Asan si Mateo at sina Mommy?" I looked back at him, but he didn't answer. He stood straight and walked.

I just shrugged and continued walking. I was still in the hallway when I heard Mateo shouting my name.

"WHERE'S ZYLENE?! WHERE THE FUCK IS MY WIFE?!" he shouted. I ran and opened the door because I heard something being thrown.

"Hubby, anong nangyayari?" When I entered, I saw him turned away from me, holding his head.

"O my god, what's happening here?" Mommy arrived, looking like she just woke up. Tita Kristine followed, her sleep disturbed.

Mateo looks mad. His eyes are red.

"What's happening here?" Tita Kristine asked frantically. Behind her were Tito Jaron, Alicia, and Tyrence.

Mateo turned to us, ignoring Mommy and staring at me, which scared me. He took a step towards me. I thought he was going to do something, but he just hugged me. I hugged him back and patted his back. He was slowly calming down, because of what I was doing.

"I thought you left, my wife. Where have you been?" He hugged me tighter and buried his face in my neck.

"I was just by the beach. I woke up earlier, and you weren't here, so I went down for a while," I looked at Tita, and she just shook her head and smiled. She gestured for the bodyguards to leave. They were just standing on the side.

"I just answered a call and got us food, but when I came back, you were not here anymore," he said, still not letting go of me.

He only pulled away from me when Mom laughed. When I looked at her, she wasn't looking at us. She was looking at the door. When I followed her gaze, I saw a figure of a woman, Chatalina. I don't know if I was just imagining it, but I saw sadness and pain in her eyes.

"Argh! So sweet, you two. You're not even embarrassed in front of us. I miss my honey-bunch," Mom said, teasingly. I moved away from Mateo and looked at Mom, grimacing. Honeybunch? But Mom's so cute.

"Yuck, Tita. For real, at your age?" Alicia asked, looking disgusted. She's always like that.

I saw Tita Kristine shaking her head and slapping her forehead.

"Stop it, Majika. You're acting like a child. I'll just call for a service," Tita said, but I stopped her.

"'Wag na po, Tita. Ako na po ang bahala," I said. She just nodded, but her face still showed concern. I nodded and smiled at her.

"What the fuck?! Honey-bunch? Where on earth did you get that endearment, Mom?" Mateo interjected, looking disgusted.

"I got it from social media. That honey-bunch thingy. You can use it like, ikaw na ba ang icing sa cupcake ko, my mosh, honey, sweetheart, apple pie, loml, aki.' Sounds sweet, right?" Mom's words made me cringe even more.

"You need more sleep, Majika. You're getting worse. We're leaving first, Zy, Mateo," Tita Kristine teased, and they left, along with Alicia.

"Mom, you know what, get out. You're giving me a headache," Mateo said, laughing as he shooed his mom away.

"What, I'm just giving you an endearment to use," Mom teased, still not stopping. I shook my head and looked at the door. Chatalina was gone.

"Shit, ew, Mom. I would never use that shit," Mateo said with disgust. I just laughed watching them while his mom teased him.

"Ay, 'di ka sure," I laughed even more. Social media, right?

"Mom, stop teasing me, Mom. Just get out," he said in annoyance and gently pushed his mom.

"Fine, fine. I'll get out. Don't forget 8 pm. We'll watch those fire dancers by the beach," Mom gave in. Before she left, she said something that made me want to disappear into the ground.

Mom smiled at me bago siya tuloyang palabasin ni Mateo.

"Don't forget my apo-" her voice mumbled because Mateo closed the door before she finished her sentence. I blushed when I heard that.

"What the fucking fuck, honey-bunch, my mosh, sweetheart, fuck that endearment. I would never use that shit," I heard Mateo mutter before he came closer to me and sat beside me in the living room.

He hugged me and kissed my neck, but I stopped him because I had to clean up the mess he made.

"Stop, hubby. Need ko linisan mga kinalat mo," I said, laughing as I pushed him away. He pouted.

"Later, wife. Tita will call service, let's just rest. It's 6 in the evening. We have to watch those fire dancers later. Mom is annoying. Why do we need to watch those? It's boring, and I don't have enough time with you because Alicia keeps taking you away from me," he murmured. I just smiled at his whining.

I continued cleaning, ignoring Mateo. I was getting irritated because he was so clingy. When I finished cleaning, it was exactly 8 pm, so I changed into a dress. Mateo was wearing a tank top and beach shorts.

"I told you, let's just rest. You're tired from cleaning," he continued to whine.

"I'm fine, hubby. We're here to enjoy," I told him and continued walking. Just as we stepped out, Tita and the others came out of their unit.

"Zylene, come here, bebe luvs," Mom called out, but Mateo immediately corrected her.

"Mom, you are so noisy. And bebe luvs, yuck! You should stop using social media, Mom," he said and pulled me away from his mom.

Inirapan ni Mommy si Mateo at ngumiti sa akin.

"You're so kj, Son," she rolled her eyes at Mateo. Chatalina was quiet, but I sometimes saw her rolling her eyes too. I don't know who she was rolling her eyes at.

Doesn't this woman ever get tired of rolling her eyes?

"Ate Zy!!!" I heard Alicia's high-pitched scream from afar. I covered my ears because her voice was so loud and echoed throughout the hotel.

"It's her again," Mateo said. Just as Alicia was about to hug me, Mateo suddenly pulled me to the other side and put his hand on my waist.

"The heck, what is wrong with you, Kuya?!" Alicia said angrily, but Mateo ignored her and just pulled me. I shook my head. I could still hear Alicia calling Mateo's name in annoyance.

We were already by the beach, and we could see the crowd gathering. We could also see the fire dancers.

We found a spot and just watched. Mommy and Alicia couldn't sit still, which made Mateo even more irritated. He just watched in silence.

When the show was over, we went back to the hotel to eat. We couldn't find Chatalina. Mateo called her, but she didn't answer. So he just told the bodyguards to find her.

Mateo seemed troubled by his daughter because of Alicia and Mommy's constant picture-taking with him.

"Mom, Alicia, quite, please! God, you're going to kill me," Mateo said to Mommy and Alicia, trying to hold his temper. But Mom seemed unfazed and continued taking pictures, though she finally stopped when more food arrived.

"Your Dad will be here in a minute," she said and looked at Mateo.

"With Grandpa?" Mateo asked and kissed me on the forehead. Mommy nodded.

"Dad? You didn't tell me they were coming," Tita Kristine asked, surprised.

"I don't know, Ate. But Dad said he tried to call you, but you didn't answer," Mom said. Tita Kristine took out her phone and checked if Lolo had called.

We were in the middle of eating when Tita spoke.

"Oh, they're here," she said and stood up. "My honey-bunch, I missed you," she said and hugged Daddy Carlos. We just grimaced.

"Honey-bunch? Where did you get that endearment?" he asked Mom, confused. He looked at us. Mateo and I stood up and walked towards them.

"Dad," Mateo said and hugged him. I was nervous because Dad was looking at me. I had talked to him on the phone, but not in person.

"Is this Zylene?" he asked in a cold voice, making me even more nervous. Mateo nodded.

Did something change about me? Maybe he doesn't know me well enough, or maybe he only met me once because of his business? It's impossible for them not to attend their own son's wedding.

This is why I always wonder why I'm suspicious of our marriage. Some of his family members act like they're meeting me for the first time.

He walked towards me. To my surprise, he smiled, easing my nerves.

"Good evening, Ija," he said. I looked at Mateo. He just nodded.

"G-good evening po, D-dad. Welcome back din po," I stuttered and slowly walked towards him to hug him.

When I got closer, I hugged him and he hugged me back.

"You look nervous. Calm down, I don't bite. Thank you, Ija. Nice to meet you," he said, letting go of me and turning around. Behind him, I saw an old man standing next to Tita Kristine. Alicia and Mateo were also there, with Chatalina standing beside them, just looking at us.

"Grandpa, this is Ashianna Zylene Montevallo, my wife. Wife, this is my Grandpa Carlitos Montevallo," Mateo introduced me to his grandfather. I walked towards him to get a blessing, but he pulled me into a hug.

I was still wondering why Mateo needed to introduce me to his other relatives, since we were married. Shouldn't they have known me already? For a long time?

"I already know her. By the way, how are you, ija?" He smiled at me and held both of my hands. I don't know why, but I felt like crying. Maybe it was because of their welcome, or maybe I was just searching for something, like something was missing.

"Okay lang po ako. Kayo po?" I stepped back and approached Mateo.

"I'm fine. Just tired from the trip," He said. Tita immediately approached him, looking worried.

"Then you should rest, Dad," she said and offered him water, but Lolo Carlitos just shook his head.

"I told you, I'm fine. No need to worry," he said and looked at Chatalina, who was just using her phone.

"Lina, how are you?" Chatalina stopped using her phone and turned to Lolo Carlitos. I guess Lolo knows Chatalina.

"I'm fine, Lolo," she said briefly and looked at me, then rolled her eyes. I grimaced at her. What's this woman's problem?

We just chatted while eating. After we finished eating, we decided to rest because it was already 10 pm.

Mateo and I changed into our pajamas to sleep.

"Good night, hubby," I kissed him on the cheek.

"Good night, wife. Sleep tight," he kissed me on the forehead. I stood up for a moment to turn off the lights.

I turned off the light and left the lampshade on. Then I laid down beside him. He hugged me.