"Don't point fingers at me!" Ryzel snapped, his voice laced with fury. "You were doing the same thing. You were playing around with other men while we were already engaged!"
"Ryzel!" Mr. Clark, Romos, and Zeus all reprimanded him at the same time.
Ceres, however, remained calm. She reached for both Romos and Zeus's hands, squeezing them gently... a silent assurance that she had this under control.
Zeus looked at her, his jaw tight with barely restrained anger, but when he felt her squeeze, he exhaled slowly, trusting her to handle it.
"So, you're admitting to it?" Ceres asked with an amused smirk. "You really were playing around? And with my sister, no less?"
"You're one to talk!" Ryzel shot back, his voice seething with rage. "You did the same thing... with Zeus, and God knows how many other men! You have no right to judge me when you were doing the exact same thing behind my back!"
Ceres let out a soft chuckle.
"Behind your back?" she echoed. "Are you sure about that? Because I never once did it behind your back. In fact, I always made sure you knew whenever I went out with another man."
Ryzel's eyes flared with barely contained anger. "And you're proud of that?"
Ceres lifted a shoulder in a nonchalant shrug. "They asked me nicely. And since there was nothing improper about it, why shouldn't I go?"
"We were engaged, Ceres!" Ryzel shouted. "Yet you had no problem going on dates with other men while refusing to sleep with me!"
The entire room stilled.
Ceres blinked at him... then suddenly let out a laugh, rich with amusement.
"Oh, so that's what this is about?" she mused, raising an eyebrow. "You went around sleeping with random women because I refused to sleep with you?"
Romos and Cielo clearly did not like where the conversation was heading, but they remained silent.
Because while they disapproved of Ryzel's crude words, they could see it on their daughter's face... she was in complete control of this conversation.
The Clarks, however, were visibly uneasy.
"And let me guess," Ceres continued smoothly, "you assumed that since I was entertaining other men, I must have been whoring myself out to them?"
Her voice was eerily calm... too calm for someone who was close to snapping.
Ryzel scoffed. "Wasn't that exactly what you were doing?"
Ceres let out a slow breath, her lips curling into a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
Then, she turned to Zeus.
"Did I?" she asked, her tone almost teasing.
The anger that had been burning in Zeus's golden eyes shifted, his features softening into something smug... something proud.
Because he remembered.
He remembered the first night they had spent together.
And he knew the truth.
Zeus let out a low chuckle. "Honestly, love?" he said, rubbing the back of his neck, looking somewhat guilty. "I thought so too. But imagine my surprise."
His smirk widened slightly as the memory played in his mind.
Because not only had she not been sleeping around... he had been the first.
And he would make damn sure he was the only one.
"What the fück, Zeus." She shot him a glare. "You also thought I was whoring myself around?"
Disappointment was evident in her voice, and Zeus immediately held up his hands in defense.
"Of course not!" he said quickly. "I never thought that! But… I did think you had at least done it with that asshole if not with the others."
He gestured toward Ryzel, his expression darkening for a second before his smirk returned.
Zeus had never cared whether Ceres was a virgin or not. It wasn't something he found important.
But he had assumed that she had already been with Ryzel, considering they had been together for two years.
And yet, she hadn't.
"You can't blame me," Zeus said honestly. "You were engaged for two years, and he was your only boyfriend. But you still allowed other men to entertain you, so I thought... maybe you had done it with him at the very least."
Zeus shrugged. "But either way, it never mattered to me. Your virginity was never an issue."
Then his smirk widened. "Well... until I found out you actually still had it."
Ceres scoffed, folding her arms across her chest.
"It wasn't important to you?" she repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Then why the hell did you reject me that night? I practically begged you to sleep with me!"
Romos and Cielo gasped.
"Sweetheart!" they scolded her at the same time.
But Ceres ignored them, her glare still fixed on Zeus.
Zeus groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Love, you were drunk," he reminded her.
Ceres waved a hand dismissively. "So?"
Zeus exhaled sharply before looking at her again. "I didn't want you to wake up regretting not just the hangover but also sleeping with me. You were drunk. You might not have been thinking clearly. And worst of all?"
He gently cupped her face, his thumb brushing against her cheek.
"I didn't want you waking up and not remembering it at all."
Ceres blinked, caught off guard by the tenderness in his voice.
But just as quickly, she scoffed. "Even if I drank an entire pool of alcohol, I never get amnesia when I'm drunk."
She glared at him, jabbing a finger at his chest. "And I don't believe in that 'I don't remember because I was drunk' excuse. So don't you dare use that on me, Zeus."
Her glare sharpened further. "Or I swear to God, I will poke your damn eyes out."
To emphasize her point, she pressed her finger hard against Zeus's perfectly straight nose.
Zeus chuckled with amusement. He didn't seem the least bit threatened. If anything, he looked entertained.
Then suddenly, they heard laughter... harsh, bitter, and completely devoid of humor.
"You really expect me to believe that you never slept with anyone while we were still together?" Ryzel asked, his voice dripping with disbelief. He laughed again, but it was clear he was forcing himself to. His eyes, however, betrayed him... he was desperately trying to convince himself that what he had just learned wasn't true.
"Who cares what you think?" Ceres shot back without hesitation. "I stopped giving a damn about your opinion a long time ago, Ryzel."
"I don't believe you!" Ryzel shouted.
"And I don't care if you do or not!" Ceres snapped, her voice rising to match his.
Ryzel's jaw clenched.
"You slept with my cousin... two months after we broke up. And you were still a virgin then?"His voice was a mix of frustration and something else... an underlying sadness, a tinge of hurt that he refused to acknowledge. "You should have just told me you were waiting for our wedding night, instead of refusing me without reason everytime!"
Ceres blinked, then let out a sharp, disbelieving laugh. "Waiting for our wedding night?" Her brows furrowed before her expression turned incredulous. "Are you trying to convince yourself now that I slept with Zeus just to spite you?"
"Isn't that exactly what happened?" Ryzel shot back, accusing. "You've been using him to make me jealous for years."
Ceres tilted her head, eyes glinting with something cold and unforgiving. "And do you also think I said yes to Zeus's proposal last night just to spite you?"
Ryzel didn't answer, but Ceres could see it in his eyes... that was exactly what he thought.
She exhaled sharply, shaking her head. "You're not just egotistical, Ryzel. You're delusional."
Then her voice turned cold.
"Let's set the record straight... I did use Zeus to make you jealous before. I never hid that from him. I never led him on. He knew that I was only using him. I was honest with him and with every other man I allowed to pursue me while we were still together. You know why?"
"Because I didn't let them chase me just to make you jealous. That wasn't the only reason. I didn't sleep with you, not because I was waiting for some stupid wedding night promise. I am not a hypocrite. Unlike some people -" she cast a pointed glance at Ciena, who visibly stiffened."- who pretends to be some saint while secretly sleeping with my boyfriend!"
"I did it because I wanted you to step up," she said. "Do you really think I didn't notice how affected you were whenever people questioned what I saw in you? How they wondered why I chose you when I could have had any man... men who were better than you?"
Tears welled up in her eyes, but they didn't fall.
"I entertained those men... men who were far superior to you... but at the end of the day, who did I always choose? You."
She let out a shaky breath.
"Because I wanted you to prove to them that even if there were men far greater than you, you were still worth choosing. I wanted to prove it. Because you were supposed to be worth it."
She let out a bitter laugh.
"But no. Instead of stepping up, you coward. You flaunted other women in front of me. In front of everyone. As if you were telling them that you could have anyone, just as easily." Her voice hardened. "And I know you did that to make me jealous. But you should have known better."
"I know my worth too much for that to ever work on me." Ceres's voice was sharp. "Especially when the women you paraded around were the kind who wouldn't even think twice about leaving you the moment I told them to back off. Because they knew... they were nothing compared to me."
Ryzel sat there, frozen. His face had gone pale, his jaw clenched so tightly it looked like he was holding back everything he wanted to say. His hands were balled into fists, trembling slightly.
The entire room fell into stunned silence, all eyes locked on Ceres.
"And when you broke up with me and told me you 'fell in love' with Ciena," Ceres scoffed, "do you really think I believed that?"
Her eyes bore into him, daring him to lie to her again.
"No, Ryzel. You broke up with me because you couldn't handle me. You thought I would beg you to stay. That I would cry and cling to you like some desperate, lovesick fool. You wanted me to break, to behave like a 'good girl'... because that's what you needed. A woman who would say yes to your every whim. Someone you could push around."
Her voice dropped.
"But Ryzel... didn't we grow up together?" Her lips curled into something that wasn't quite a smile. "You should have known me better than that."
"I would have done it. I would have swallowed my ego. I would have swallowed my pride... for you. Not because you ordered me to, but because I wanted to."
Her voice softened just for a moment.
"All I wanted was for you to prove that you were worth it."
The weight of her words seemed to press down on Ryzel, his face shifting with a storm of emotions.
"Daddy treated me well. He loved me too much. Even other men treated me better than you ever did. So tell me, Ryzel... why should I have settled for the way you treated me?"
She didn't give him time to answer.
"If I had settled, if I had let you make me small, it would have been an insult to him. He raised me to be a woman who knew her worth. He loved me, treated me like a princess... not so I could turn into a pushover for a man who didn't even have enough confidence in himself."
Ryzel's breath hitched, his grip tightening at his sides, but he still didn't say a word.
Ceres took a deep breath. Then, her voice came out final.
"So stop, Ryzel. Stop using Ciena as an excuse. Stop pretending this is about anything other than your own damn ego. I'm not coming back to you."
"I'm with Zeus now. I'm with him... not to make you jealous. Not to get back at you. I don't care about you anymore. You wasted every single chance I gave you to prove your worth."
She inhaled deeply, then met his eyes one last time.
"I'm with him because I want to be. I chose him because he's worth it. And it has nothing to do with you anymore."
Silence.
Ceres exhaled slowly, letting the finality of her words settle over the room.
"Now, if you'll excuse me."
She turned to her mother, whose eyes were glistening with unshed tears. Then, to her father, who gave her a small, approving nod.
Without another word, Zeus rose from his seat beside her, pulling back her chair like a gentleman. His movements were smooth, effortless... like he had been waiting for this moment. For her.
He placed a firm hand on the small of her back, guiding her away from the table. Without hesitation, without looking back, they walked out of the dining room together.