Chapter 283 - Archangel

It took roughly 4 hours to fly to Boracay, a small island in the central Philippines. This was the first time that Halia and Jackson visited this island and they were both excited by the articles and photos they had seen. In fact, this was their first visit to the Philippines altogether.

As they left the airport to head to their hotel, they were immediately swamped by taxi drivers wanting to get their business.

"Hello, sir, where are you going?"

"Do you need help with your luggage, let me help you."

However, Jackson had booked a room at a 5-star resort and they had arranged a driver to pick them up, so he politely declined their offers. 

The weather was hot and humid on the island. When the couple left China, it had just started heading into summer but the temperatures never got this hot. It was so hot that, even though they had just stepped out of the air-conditioned airport, they could already feel their bodies getting sticky.

"Let's hurry and find our driver," Jackson said as he pulled their luggage away from the crowd of taxi drivers and began to look around.

There were a lot of cars and vans parked everywhere as well as people holding signs with names on them.

Halia scanned her eyes across each sign. There were certainly a lot of visitors. After all, Boracay was the top tourist destination in the Philippines, famous for its white sandy beaches that seemed like an escape from the concrete jungles of everyday life. But, the number of visitors was already a lot less than a few years ago before the government scaled down the number of visitors allowed on the island. A couple of years back, the island had been so overrun with tourists that the environment deteriorated and the government had no choice but to shut it for 6 months to rehabilitate it.

Back then, Halia had actually planned to go on a short holiday with Natalie to Boracay, but due to the closure, they did not go ahead and ended up making a short trip to Shanghai instead.

Who knew, a year and a half later, they would actually end up here together...with their husbands...on their honeymoon!

Halia looked around and her eyes suddenly paused on one particular sign. It wasn't her and Jackson's name, but for some reason, the name sent chills down her spine: Joel Gabriel Santos. It was quite a typical name, but for some reason, Halia couldn't tear her eyes away from it. Joel Gabriel Santos; where had she heard this name before. Why did it feel so familiar?

Just as she was deep in thought, she suddenly felt a tug on her arm and she snapped out of her daze. "Halia, I found our driver," Jackson said as he pointed to a man with a big smile, holding a sign that read, 'Mr. Jackson Wu & Mrs. Halia Wu'.

Halia blushed a little. They were married, but this was the first time someone referred to her as Mrs. Wu and she felt a little embarrassed.

Jackson saw his wife blush and led her towards the man with a smile. "Come on, Mars Wu," he teased with the name that Sean made up for her.

Halia punched her husband playfully and subconsciously ran her hand through her hair. She had cut it short for her mission and it had now grown to just above her shoulder. She missed her long hair, but this haircut actually made the hot island weather a lot more bearable and she enjoyed it. 

As she touched her hair, she suddenly remembered the one red wire attached to her head. Back when she cut her hair, Eric had carefully snipped it and transferred legal knowledge into her brain. Now that she thought about it, it had already been 4 months since she had this thing attached to her. By now, Sara's memories were long gone and so was her weapons knowledge, but she still had the Captain's fighting skills, legal knowledge, and also...Trojan's memories!

That was right, she had totally forgotten about that corrupt officer's memories.

As the driver from their resort welcomed the couple into his car, Halia sat inside and a thought suddenly came to her mind - Joel Gabriel Santos - was this someone that Trojan knew? Was that why the name seemed so familiar? Because, no matter how she thought about it, she didn't personally know anyone by that name.

Halia leaned back against the comfortable leather seats of the car and gently closed her eyes as the refreshing air-conditioner cooled her body. Last time, she had managed to tap into her memories and search through them like a database. If she concentrated, would she be able to do it again?

Joel Gabriel Santos....Joel Gabriel Santos...

Halia chanted the name in her mind, hoping that something would come to her. For some reason, she had a gut feeling there was something important about this person and she couldn't just let it pass; she had to find out what it was.

But, no matter how hard she tried, it didn't seem to work.

Finally, she opened her eyes with disappointment and turned to look at Jackson.

However, her heart almost stopped when she realized that the person sitting next to her wasn't her husband.

Instead, a fierce-looking man with a big mole on his nose stared back at her. "We will be rich together, brother. Don't worry, I will make sure the regulations go through."

Halia felt her lips curve upwards into a smile. She then replied in a deep manly voice, "Everyone in the organization is depending on you. Let's hope you are as good as you say you are...'Archangel'."

Halia's eyes opened wide in surprise. 

Her voice!

It was a man's voice; a voice that she hadn't heard in a long time. 

She was Trojan!

And if she was right...the man in this memory...'Archangel'....he was Joel Gabriel Santos...