"Is this your province, Celeste?" Valentina asked her, stuttering.They gazed upon a place that had been almost stripped of trees and plants. The once lush landscape was now bald, with only patches of grass and rice paddies. The beauty of the buildings that once stood there was also gone, with most of them now abandoned.Celeste hurriedly headed towards the riverbank where the beauty of the place used to be showcased. But she was surprised to see piles of garbage littering the surroundings. There were metal barriers blocking their way to the riverbank, making it seem like a private bathing area had been set up."What happened here?" she couldn't believe what she was seeing. The beauty she had expected from their province was nowhere to be found.This was the land of the Costa family, registered under Celeste's name. So she knew it couldn't be easily taken away by their relatives, especially while she was still alive."Come on, let's go visit Mama Lordes!" she hurriedly said, leading th
“I’m so sorry for the rough first impression I made on you all,” Lordes apologized to the elegant guests accompanying Celeste in her hut.The three of them responded immediately, with Valentina’s voice standing out. “Auntie, don’t worry about us. We understand your situation. We’re not here to be served; in fact, we’re here hoping to win your favor.” Valentina gave a warm smile.This behavior was unfamiliar to Luca and Semion. They weren’t used to their sister’s softer tone.“Oh, come now! You’re my guests, of course I’ll serve you,” Lordes started to stand from her wooden chair, then realized something. Embarrassed, she scratched her head. “But I’m sorry, my son Felip didn’t make any money from the fields today, so I don’t have anything prepared for you.”“Auntie, you don’t need to worry about us,” Valentina said sincerely. “If you would accept what we have to offer, we’d be delighted. But it seems like you and Celeste have more pressing matters to discuss right now, so we’ll hold off
After Lordes and Celeste had calmed down from their crying, comforting each other, and explaining past events to exchange information, they were now seated peacefully, sipping cold juice—something Semion had ordered his staff to prepare.“So, knowing the evil of the Allegra family after your demon of a husband abandoned you, it’s clear that you’re really separated, right?” Lordes asked Celeste for confirmation.Celeste nodded repeatedly. “It’s been two months since we separated. Even though I deeply regret not realizing things sooner, I’m still fortunate that it’s not too late for me.”Lords breathed a sigh of relief. “Good! I’m glad to hear that! Thank goodness you’re safe from the Allegra family!” Lordes then turned her attention to Semion, who was sitting across from her. “Semion, thank you so much for helping Celeste! We owe you a great debt of gratitude!”Semion insisted, “Actually, it was Celeste who saved my life. If she hadn’t been there, I would probably have lost my life.”L
“Mama!”In the middle of the conversation and laughter among Semion, Celeste, Valentina, and Lordes, a man’s voice dominated the small hut.A man walked through the wooden door, wearing worn-out farm clothes and a headscarf. He was carrying two dirty sacks that were full and looked heavy.“Ma?” His brown skin looked sunburned from working in the fields. He dropped the two sacks and looked curiously at the large people in their small hut.“Felip, my son!” Lordes, delighted, stood up from her seat beside the beautiful woman to greet him. “I’m so glad you’re finally home!”“Yes, Ma. We finished our work. And by the way, Captain Pablo gave out some corn and sweet potatoes, which should last us a few weeks.”“Wow, did you thank him? Even though the captain can be difficult, he’s still a kind man.”Felip laughed. “Of course, Ma.”“Good! But we’ll deal with that later, dear.” Lordes pulled Felip to the front of the beautiful people, making him quite nervous. “You need to meet them! This is, r
For a few seconds, Semion and Felip stared at each other with hostility, their glare crackling like electricity. Both men gritted their teeth but remained silent."Oh my goodness!" Celeste exclaimed, shocked as she processed the sudden turn of events. She felt the tension between the two and couldn’t help but cling to Semion's arm.Meanwhile, Lordes grabbed her child with a flurry of agitation. “What are you doing? You shouldn’t speak like that to a guest!” she said apologetically to Semion. “I’m sorry, dear! He doesn’t know what’s happening, so he’s just saying all sorts of things!”Semion was snapped out of his anger and turned his attention from Felip to his mother. “It’s okay, Ma---”“What am I supposed to know?” Felip interrupted impatiently. “From what I see, Celeste shouldn’t be marrying so soon after everything that’s happened because she needs to be extra careful! What if this guy is no different from Darson? Celeste is lucky to be alive now, and now she’s jumping into another
Celeste thought it would be easy to change Felip’s attitude toward Semion by telling him their ‘fake’ love story. Instead, it only seemed to worsen Felip’s mood for reasons she couldn’t quite understand.“Isn’t our love story believable, Semion?” she asked, puzzled, as she dried her wet hair with a towel.She had just finished showering in the small bathroom of their little apartment. She sat on the bed, looked at Semion, who had been fiddling with his phone and was now staring at her with a blank expression.“Why does it even matter?” he asked. “So what if that guy doesn’t believe it? What can he do to stop the wedding?”Celeste was momentarily taken aback. Was she imagining it, or was Semion really in a bad mood?“It’s not that,” she said. “But he’s like family to me, so it would be easier if he understood my side. Plus, Val said they don’t want any objections to our marriage. What if that ends up making them suspicious of our relationship?”“Tsk, I still don’t see the point.” Semion
“D-Darson… p-please don’t…”As usual, at precisely four in the morning, Semion was awakened by Celeste’s faint whimpers while she was deep in sleep.He turned on his side to look at her face. Cold sweat had gathered on her forehead, mingled with the moisture clinging to her long, thick eyelashes.“Darson…” Celeste’s face scrunched up in distress, her body trembling.Semion watched her with a cold, expressionless face. He left her like that for a while, unlike before, before he wrapped his arms around her and held her close.“I’m here,” he said without much emotion, gently smoothing her hair.“Hmm…” That was when Celeste seemed to relax. Her trembling and whimpering stopped.Semion closed his eyes again.On their first night sharing the same bed, he remembered how much worse Celeste’s sleep disturbances had been. He didn’t know what to do since nothing would wake her up. So, he simply held her, and only then did Celeste stop calling out for her former husband.When he asked her about it
“Luca, don’t be rude. Eat your vegetables,” Valentina whispered to her brother when she saw him just playing with his food.Luca whispered back to his sister, “I don’t get it. Rice and vegetables for breakfast? It feels like lunch.”“What? It’s a typical Filipino thing. Rice in the morning, noon, and night. You’ll need to adapt, since we’re not at home. Just eat your food.”With a pout, Luca reluctantly tried the vegetables with his rice. He thought it wouldn’t taste good, but was impressed when he tasted it. “Wow, what kind of vegetable is this?”Little Luca’s question was overheard by Lordes, who responded despite talking with Celeste. “That’s adobong talbos ng kamote, dear.”“What? I thought adobo only came with chicken or pork. There’s something like this too?”“Oh yes, dear. Out here in the province, you’ll find all sorts of different dishes! They’re delicious even if the spices aren’t expensive!”“Really?” Luca’s curiosity was piqued. “But too much rice might make me fat. I want