Saving the Villain

"Please let my papa go."

Maxen stared at Cosette blankly, noticing the utter fear in her eyes. The anger in them already disappeared, replaced with nothing but fear and helplessness.

"I will give you everything you want. Don't take my papa away from me." His grip on her other wrist loosened as Cosette pleaded something he didn't expect.

Didn't her father die a long time ago? Why was she saying this now? Maxen studied her eyes and she was dead serious.

"Papa." She looked back and rushed to Asher, hugging him as she knelt beside him. When she looked up, tears continued to roll down her cheek. "Please, don't hurt my papa anymore. He didn't go to Sharie to hurt people — let us go, please."

"Cosette." Maxen sobered up, taking a step with his hand reaching her. However, he stopped when Cosette stiffened, hugging Asher protectively in her embrace. Her shoulders were trembling, lowering her head and eyes as if she was expecting Maxen to hurt her or take her away from Asher.

"Please, Mister. Don't hurt my papa anymore. Don't hurt us anymore," she continued to plead with a tiny voice, making Maxen stagger back.

"What's going on, Cosette?" his eyes dilated, and after taking a step back, he leaped forward. Maxen grabbed her shoulder and pulled her up, making her scream as she placed her hands on her ears.

"Ahhh! Please don't hurt me! Papa!"

His grip tightened. "Stop fucking with me, Cosette."

"Ahhh!!!" Cosette screamed and screamed until her throat scratched. She kept begging him to let her go and her father in between. When she calmed down a bit, she slowly turned her head to face him.

"Max?" she called, a little distraught. Upon meeting his eyes and confirming it was him, Cosette smiled in relief. "You're here?"

Cosette immediately stood on her knees, wrapping her arms around his neck. She embraced him as if this was their first time meeting after a long time, resting the side of her head on his shoulder while her nose poked the side of his neck.

"I'm so glad you are here," she muttered with a low chuckle. "Those love birds annoyed the hell out of me."

She slowly drew her head back and smirked flirtatiously. "Why are you looking at me like that? Surprise that I can be sweet?"

"Come on, Mister Devilsin. Those lovebirds — Asher and Mia — had been parading their affection to each other." Bitterness filled her eyes as she kept her cunning smirk. "It makes me wonder… what would it feel like if we can also date publicly?"

"I mean, at one point, it's tiring to not be able to gloat about the man I'm dating. It's like we're having an affair even though you and I aren't married." Cosette frowned, raising her brows as he just looked at her blankly. "What?"

"You…" he trailed off when she suddenly leaned closer, embracing him tightly and resting her head on his shoulder.

"I don't want to hear it if it's just rejection." Cosette chuckled weakly. "I know you don't want any attachments and want to keep this setup since it's convenient. But… there were days I really want to ask you things such as stay with me, keep your eyes on me, love me, and things those boring couples we called, do."

Cosette's eyes softened as she chuckled again. "Am I strange, Mister Devilsin?" she pulled his body closer, almost burying her face in his shoulder.

"Max… what should I do? I've fallen in love with you," she confessed, gripping his back tightly. "And it scares the hell out of me because I'm not well."

"What do you mean by that?"

Cosette bit her inner lip as she drew away from him. She cupped his cheek, stroking his lean cheek with her thumb.

"I'm…" she trailed off as her voice cracked.

Another word and she would break down. Should she really tell him about her condition? Would that benefit him or her? Was her worsening condition enough for him to pity her? And make him stay beside her even for the time being just to delude herself they were in love?

"Max, I —" Cosette narrowed her eyes as her vision zoomed in and out, clutching him to stop herself from falling.

"Cosette." Maxen held her arms in panic, gazing at her as she shook her head mildly and blinked her eyes. "Cosette!"

His breath hitched as he caught her waist before she fainted. Maxen was panting for air as his heart suddenly raced, gazing at her, and then at Asher. Asher already passed out, and with this turn of events, Maxen didn't have any choice.

Maxen called for his men guarding the warehouse outside, and they came almost immediately. He ordered them to send Asher to the hospital and Cosette as well. Good thing Maxen had his connections, and he managed to get a private room for Cosette. Meanwhile, Asher was sent to another general hospital and left Asher's assistant number to pick him up.

Cosette was unconscious all night while they did all the tests Maxen asked them to. Before morning, the results came back to him and Maxen was in for a big surprise.

Cosette had early onset dementia, leukemia, and other minor health issues. The attending physician patiently explained to Maxen about Cosette's condition, enlightening him about what to expect and that her days were numbered.

"You cannot treat her?" he asked under his breath. He could barely process what the doctor told him.

"It's not that she cannot receive treatment." The doctor turned his head in the bed's direction where the patient was resting. "It was her wish to continue living the way it is, and she refused treatment. The patient knew the risk, but she requested a DNR if ever she gets a cardiac arrest."

The doctor let out a deep exhale as he looked back at Maxen. "I'm sorry to say this, but there were people like her case. Most of them always have a life ahead of them and live life freely. Dying doesn't scare them, but living with life support."

"For them, dying is better than being on life support. They think that's not the life they wanted and we cannot do anything but respect that." The doctor offered a thin smile at Maxen. "She chose to use the rest of her days like how she knew it, instead of going in and out of the hospital…"

The rest of the doctor's words drifted past Maxen's ears until they sounded distant. He just stared at the table between him and the doctor, losing track of time, and unaware of when the doctor left him. Maxen felt stuck on that chair, listening to the mechanical heart rate that was piercing the deafening silence.

The doctor told him that Cosette might've been experiencing episodes since her MRI showed the shrinking part of her brain. That was why she would sometimes mistake people, and the situation, and get confused.

"You are enduring all these things…" whispered Maxen, setting his eyes on her. "... what was I doing all this time?"

Ruining people and wreaking havoc. That was what he was doing. Out of jealousy and anger, Maxen hurt many innocent people. Funny thing was that it seemed the root of all this was a gigantic misunderstanding.

"Hah…" tears filled his eyes as he clenched his chest. "Hah… aha ha ha."

Maxen laughed through his gritted teeth, running his hands through his hair. While Cosette was suffering silently, all he had been doing was hurting people out of jealousy.

How shallow, Maxen.