It was the day of Lance and Kitty's flight back to the Philippines. A day before their departure, they visited Angela to say goodbye. On the other hand, Darius and Elle were scheduled to fly back to the Philippines the following day.
Lance and Kitty weren't sure if Elle had fulfilled her promise to be the one to tell Darius the truth about what really happened with Aries. They hadn't spoken to her again. Nor did they have the chance to return to the place where they last saw Elle, because during their final days in San Francisco, they were almost always with Darius.
After the couple Lance and Kitty left, Elle arrived at the hotel where Darius was checked in. She had decided it was time to face the truth — that she couldn't go back to the Philippines with her husband.
As Elle entered the suite, Darius immediately noticed how tired she looked.
"How's New York?" he greeted, kissing her on the forehead.
"Good," Elle replied briefly. Darius noticed the dull tone in her voice. But instead of pressing further, he chose to stay quiet. He didn't want to start the night with an argument.
Minutes passed in silence. Darius went back to reading work emails, but the heaviness between them lingered.
A few moments later, he heard Elle speak.
"Uhm, babe… can we talk after that?" Elle asked, gesturing at his laptop.
Darius immediately closed the laptop. "Yeah, sure. Is there a problem?"
"Maybe," Elle answered softly as she sat on the couch across from him. She had a bottle of wine and two glasses. She was wearing only a robe, no makeup, her hair tied back, barefoot — an Elle he rarely saw, far from the always polished image she presented in public.
Even so, in this state, her beauty remained astonishing to him.
Elle silently poured the wine into the glasses and handed one to Darius. He accepted it. Then she poured herself a glass and downed it in one go.
"Hey, slowly," Darius said gently, with concern.
Elle didn't respond. She poured herself another and swirled the wine around in the glass, as if gathering the courage to speak.
Darius waited quietly, watching her every move. Then he heard a deep sigh.
And that's when Elle began to speak.
As Elle talked, every word that came out of her mouth felt like knives stabbing into Darius's chest. He didn't know how to process everything he was hearing. In an instant, his world came crashing down.
It turned out that Elle had rekindled her relationship with her ex-boyfriend Aries. And the most painful part — Elle had orchestrated everything, including the vile plan that hurt Angela. It wasn't medical malpractice. It was a deliberate pregnancy.
The child they believed would be conceived through a surrogate mother — because Elle wasn't ready to sacrifice her career — was actually the result of a malicious plot. Though he initially hesitated, Darius eventually agreed, thinking the child would still come from both their genetic materials, as Elle had explained to him. So, he let Elle find a surrogate.
But he was wrong. Elle didn't look for a surrogate — she targeted Angela. Angela — and the child she was carrying — was Darius's.
Darius's hands trembled as he tried to contain the rage boiling inside him. He buried his face in his palms, but even that simple gesture wasn't enough to dispel the anger and self-loathing — and his fury toward Elle.
If this had happened under different circumstances, he might have felt unimaginable joy upon learning that Angela was carrying his child. But not like this. Now he felt like he was about to explode from overwhelming emotion.
He stood up abruptly, and in a flash of fury, hurled the untouched wine glass.
Crash!
The sound of glass shattering echoed throughout the suite. Elle flinched and sat up straight. At the same time, tears she had been holding back began to flow.
"Why did you do that?" Darius's voice cracked, pulling at his own hair.
"I could've understood if you just got back with your ex! But to use Angela like that… My God!" He couldn't stop himself anymore. His heartbreak burst forth, not just in anger — but in devastating grief.
Each word was accompanied by flashes of memory:
Angela, whom he had hurt because of what happened between him and Jenna…
Angela, the young woman who wanted nothing but freedom and respect…
Angela, who nearly died from blaming herself and grieving the loss of her family…
Angela, who now had a new life with Clark.
He told Elle everything that had happened in her absence — the last time he saw Angela at her and Clark's apartment, his conversation with Clark, and the arrival of Lance, Kitty, and Dylan — Angela's cousin.
"I've already done enough damage to her…" he whispered, barely audible between sobs. "…and you made it so much worse!"
He sank to the floor, clutching his head. He could no longer hold back his sobs.
"She has her own life now, Elle… She's happy with Clark. We've been over for a long time. There's nothing left to go back to!"
At last, Elle confessed everything. That they found Angela with the help of a private investigator. That she did it all — out of love for Aries, and out of fear that Darius wouldn't let her go if she simply asked for a separation. She couldn't bear to live any longer with Darius because it was Aries she truly loved. And because, even back then, she could feel that Darius still had feelings for Angela.
"I was desperate…" Elle whispered, her voice trembling. "I thought… if I could give you something that would bind you forever, you'd finally let me go and be happy that you and Angela were going to have a child."
But for Darius, it was too late.
The trust was shattered — and more than that, lives had been destroyed beyond repair.