Chapter 6: Beneath the Spotlight
Early May 1996 – National Buzz
The fallout from the scandal didn't crash their careers.
It catapulted them.
Hearts on Fire—once projected to be a modest prime-time romance—became a national obsession. The teaser with the rooftop hug alone hit 3 million views on newly launched internet fan pages. Billboards with Bella and Enzo's silhouettes popped up in Cubao, EDSA, and even the airport arrivals tunnel.
The studio scrambled to adjust: new scenes were written, magazine covers booked, and a theme song was commissioned and recorded by a rising OPM star. Suddenly, Bella and Enzo weren't just actors—they were BellaEnzo, a love team branded into the cultural bloodstream.
And still, no one could say for sure if it was real.
Except them.
Public Chemistry, Private Moments
They learned to dance the press waltz. They showed up to mall shows, answered talk show hosts with careful charm, even exchanged banter that made teenage fans scream in food courts.
But it was the private moments that stayed with them.
One night, after a particularly long shoot where they filmed a rain-drenched breakup scene until 3 a.m., Enzo walked Bella to her car. Her driver waited. Her umbrella was forgotten somewhere.
"You okay?" he asked, noticing her silent stare out over the empty lot.
"I should be," she said softly. "Everyone says we're winning."
He offered his hoodie. She took it.
"I don't want to be a fantasy," she added. "I want something real. Even if it's small."
He swallowed. The air between them buzzed.
"So do I," he said.
The Nation's Sweethearts
By mid-May, they were booked for their first national endorsement deal together—a major telecom brand.
The commercial shoot was in Baguio. An overnight trip. Two days of work, two nights in cool mountain air.
On the second evening, after dinner with the team, they found themselves alone on the veranda of the hotel. The pines whispered in the wind. The moon hung low, pale and shy.
Bella stood by the railing, arms crossed. Enzo joined her, a jacket draped over his shoulders.
"They keep asking us when we're going to admit it," she said.
"Admit what?"
"That this isn't just acting."
He looked at her, really looked.
"Are you asking me to?"
She smiled, slow and sad. "No. I'm asking if you feel it, too."
He stepped closer. No cameras. No press. No stage lights.
"I think about you when I'm not supposed to," he said. "I wait for your scenes more than mine. I remember lines because I don't want to mess up your take. I feel it, Bella."
She blinked fast. The truth, when spoken softly, often hit the hardest.
"You've become the realest part of my life," she whispered.
Then—quietly, tenderly—he reached for her hand. No kiss. No grand gesture. Just fingers threading together in the dark.
"I'm yours," he said, barely above the sound of the wind.
She nodded. "So am I."
Back in Manila – A Subtle Shift
They didn't announce their confession. They didn't need to. Something had changed in the way they looked at each other, in how they paused between scenes, in the warmth that lingered when the cameras stopped rolling.
The crew noticed.
The director grinned privately and began adjusting blocking to keep them closer.
Even Kai, once icy and sharp, offered a grudging, "Whatever you two are doing... it's working."
The fans didn't need confirmation. They felt it.
Because when love is real, even fiction can't contain it.
One Final Scene – Studio Set, Early Morning
The final episode's ending was a mirror of their beginning: Celeste and Joaquin at a bus stop. Strangers once. Now, soulmates.
As they filmed the last shot, Bella stood under a drizzle of staged rain, her hair damp, eyes wide with real emotion.
Enzo walked toward her, just like that very first audition.
Only this time, the lines weren't needed.
He looked at her. She looked at him.
The director, watching from behind the camera, whispered, "Let them improvise."
Bella smiled through the rain. "Took you long enough."
Enzo stepped forward, cupped her cheek.
"I was always coming for you."
He kissed her.
The crew stayed silent. Not out of professionalism, but reverence.
When the director finally said, "Cut," no one moved.
Because some moments—like some loves—are too beautiful to end.