It was a long flight, but I wasn’t able to sleep or rest. I was so anxious the whole ride. Even during our stopovers, I couldn’t help but think about what would happen the moment we landed in the Philippines. I couldn’t imagine how I will be setting a meeting for my daughter and her grandparents. Fuck, just thinking about it made me even more anxious already. I sighed and draped my arms on Flannel. We were on our last plane. This will be landing in Manila. Damn, after five long years, I’m going to step back to Manila…again. “You’re nervous,” I heard Maia say as she was browsing a magazine. I looked at her and bit my lip. She must have felt it that she put down the magazine first and looked at me, too. She gave me a smile and then looked at my sleeping daughter. I looked at my baby girl, too. The whole flight, she was just sleeping. Well, that’s good because I don’t want her to feel tired when we land. We still have a lot of things to do in the Condo and I am not yet sure if it was t
I was nailed to my seat when I saw them. Fuck. It was really them! I wasn’t dreaming, damn it. What the heck? I couldn’t move in my seat. My whole being was shocked as they were greeting my relatives one by one. I felt my heart beating so fucking fast as it will already get out of my chest. Shit. They are together? After fucking everything, they are together like nothing had happened! Wow. Wow! I looked at my relatives who were all smiles while greeting Gregory and Karrie. This is unbelievable! This was the guy who broke my cousin’s heart, who made me a fucking mistress, and who gave the scandal to our family, yet here they are shaking his hands like nothing just happened! Like that incident didn’t happen!I felt anger overflowing my body as I looked at my mom who was just staring at nothing. It looked to me that she didn’t want to meet my gaze. Why, huh? Is it because she knew? Fuck! They punished me for that fucking scandal and after five years, here they are, welcoming him with op
“So, what are you gonna do, now?” I stared at Maia who was giving me the looks. I arched my brow. “What do you mean?” “You’re really not gonna introduce Flannel to her father?” she asked. I gasped and looked at her unbelievably. “Are you seriously asking me that, Maia? My decision for that is final. And you know that, right?” She avoided my gaze. I rolled my eyes and just drank the juice that was in front of me. We were on the island counter of my condo. My daughter was fast asleep already. I didn’t want to disturb her so I asked Maia to stay here in the kitchen. I badly want to talk to someone right now. Gosh. Thinking about what happened in the hospital was stressful. Not only that, but it was also painful and tiring. I felt like all my energy was drained up upon seeing them and my relatives being so giddy and happy about them. Fuck. I closed my eyes as I felt my heart beating so fast and both my hands trembling as I thought of that moment earlier. Gosh, call me the girl wh
My mom wasn’t able to speak after what I said. It was an awkward situation for us if not for our lawyer who spoke. “If you may excuse me, Madam Lemuel, Miss Lemuel, I think we should start our meeting now,” he said. I shrugged and closed the folder that I was reading. “I’m fine with it. Shall we, Mom?” I turned to my mother who was still in shock with what I said earlier. I shook my head and stood already. I walked past her and followed Attorney out of the office. I guess we will be having a meeting in the conference room. I shrugged and just tailed him until we reached the conference room. There, I saw some of the board members and of course our relatives. I kept my head up and my eyes straight. I made sure that I was showing them my poker face. I did not want them to notice any emotion on my face. No, I won’t let them win this time. “Good morning. Sorry for being late, I just had some important errands to do before coming here. Anyway, shall we start? My mom is here,” I said as
I didn’t bother to look back and just went straight to the express elevator already. I sighed and crossed my arms before leaning on the walls of the elevator. It was actually good timing that I was alone in there. I mean, at least I got to relax without the menacing looks that people might give me. I got my phone and texted Maia about their whereabouts. From: Maia We’re okay. We’re just about to get home. I was able to breathe properly when I saw that. I couldn’t help but bit my lip. I was about to put back my phone in my bag when my mom’s message popped up. My forehead creased as I clicked her message. From: Mom Where the hell are you?! Why did you walk out?! My gosh Felice! This is not good! You cannot just walk out like that! Your titas and titos are fumming mad! I couldn’t help but rolled my eyes upon reading those. I shook my head and just turned off my phone. Tsk. I don’t know if she’s just playing it or she’s just numb. I hate that she still listens to those guys when i
I was panting the whole time that I was heading out of our building. When I saw Gregory from afar, I immediately walked out. Hell, I cannot risk seeing Karrie again. I mean she’s like literally his tail. Tsk. I gritted my teeth as I texted Maia to get Flannel ready. I needed to relieve stress, and I don’t want my mother to come after me, so I need to move. When I got to our condo building, I almost run toward the elevator. Thankfully, there wasn’t any person there, so I immediately got in. I sighed and leaned on the wall. I crossed my arms as I waited for it to go up. When I got to our floor, I immediately went out. I got to my unit and I found my daughter twirling like a princess in our living room. “You like it?” Maia asked her, smiling. Flannel was all smiles as she nodded at her. She even giggled. I couldn’t help but smile upon seeing her so happy. I sighed. I will never let them take away that smile, Flannel. I won’t expose you to that toxic family. I will do my best to protec
I didn’t know what to do. I just felt like the whole world just dawned on me and fuck, he was nearing me! They were nearing me and he was holding Flannel’s hand! His eyes looked so stern and serious as he was eyeing me from head to toe. I saw how my daughter’s forehead creased as they were nearing me. I clenched my jaw as I was meeting Gregory’s stare. I could feel my heart beating so fast the moment they were already in front of me. I went back to my senses when Flannel tugged my hand. “Mommy, are you okay?” my daughter asked me sweetly. I blinked multiple times, unable to reply because I was still so stunned. Fuck. Oh gosh. This is not happening! Oh my gosh! “F-Flannel…” was all I could say in my trembling voice. Damn this. “Can we talk, Felice?” Greg’s voice was so cold that it sent shivers to my spine. I saw my daughter looking up at her. “You know my mom, Mister?” Her brows were furrowed as she was looking at him in confusion. Greg then turned to her. From the serious a
“Felice! Oh my god, what happened?!” Maia shouted when I went to them. I bit my lip hard as I was looking at my daughter who was obviously confused. I was still panting and I kept on looking back to see if Greg followed me or what. Shit. “Uhh, l-let’s go. Let’s go home!” Panicking, I grabbed Flannel’s hand and almost ran to the mall’s entrance already. “Mommy, my toys!” Flannel tugged my hand. I looked at her and she looked like she was about to cry already. I bit my lip and looked at Maia. She then sighed and nodded at me. “Go, I’ll get the toy.” I sighed in relief. “Thank you! Meet us at the entrance.” “Alright!” I carried Flannel and immediately run towards the mall’s entrance. “Mommy, Mommy, why are we running? Who was that man? I thought he was your friend.” I felt like my throat just tried up when I heard that. Oh gosh. I tried to smile at her while still running. We looked like we were chased by someone but I didn’t care anymore. Damn it. I need to get Flannel ou
All my life, I have been trained to be the best. I was trained to always follow the norm, the standard. I was little miss perfect. They turned me into one, and I had no choice but to be one. I didn’t have much freedom growing up because there were a lot of expectations from me. They were all watching me. I couldn’t move freely because every move that In make, they will always have a say about it. When college and Gregory came, that’s when I first got a taste of my freedom. It was forbidden, but every time we go out on our own, I just felt so free. I felt like I was spreading my wings and flying to wherever I want to go. I was out of the limelight. No one was giving a fuck about what I do and no one was judging me from head to toe. But then that freedom with Gregory has its perils. I was so much ready to fight for him, but it turned out that he was not worth to fight for. Greg is my first love and my first heartbreak. What he did to me and to my family was just so much that I couldn’t
“They will announce you already as the new CEO, hija, at the gala.” My mother said while we were in the living room. It has been days since that meeting with the family and currently, we are preparing for our departure two days from now. I just gave her a smile. “I know, Mom,” I answered before looking back at my laptop where I am reconnecting with my former boss and Flannel’s requirements for school next academic year. “Alright, you should bring Flannel to our designer, then. We need to look gorgeous in the gala, hija,” she said while smiling from ear to ear. I just rolled my eyes and nodded at her. I went back to making my Flannel’s requirements again. She didn’t bother me anyway. She just stood and went to my dad’s office. I shrugged and continued what I was doing. I want to finish everything before our flight to the US, so all I would think about once we get there will be just the house where my parents will be staying and how I will get back to work again. I was lucky enough b
I honestly don’t know if it is the right time to do this meeting with the family because of what is happening in the family, but then we have no choice as we were running out of time already. We need to do this now since we also need to go back to the US already. I don’t know but, I just felt like I needed to get away from this all ready for me to start over again. “Are you ready?” Mommy asked again when we were getting out of the car in front of the building. I looked around the lobby and saw that there were a lot of employees eyeing us. Mommy was walking with her head up. I was beside her and we were walking side by side as we went to the elevator. A lot of guards were with us. I didn’t even know why Mommy brought these guards with us. I mean, it's not as if we are going to war here, you know. Tsk. I shook my head and just walked with her though. When we reached the office, Atty. Lockheart was already there, waiting for us. Mom went immediately to our lawyer."How's your paper?"
Everything was chaotic. We were the talk of the business world for I think weeks. Yes, the issue was that long. Aside from the chaos outside, we also had inside fights of course, but then unlike before, Mommy and I didn't make Flannel available to any of our relatives. They can lash at us all they want but they are not touching my daughter.I've heard the worst things from them. They had their presscon and we just stayed silent because we didn't want this to grow like wildfire. May they want to? But then I won't give them their satisfaction. The important thing is that my daughter knows my truth and I have already explained to her what happened and why this is happening. It took me a lot of courage, but I was just so blessed that she was able to understand and that she didn't make it hard for me to explain. She understands why I needed to do it for her and she also understands why she cannot see her father yet. It's been four weeks and during those times, I did nothing but make sure
"Let's go, Felice!' I wasn't able to say anything and I just let my mother dragged me out of that cafe already. I was still so stunned because of what happened. My mom was ranting while we were on the way to the car. My daughter was asking me questions but I couldn't answer them because I was still so preoccupied with what happened. All the things that my mother was saying in the car were like air that passed by me. I couldn’t comprehend what they were saying and I felt like I was floating and everything around was just background noise. All the way to our house, I was just staring at outside blankly. I couldn’t believe what just happened earlier. Everything was chaotic when we got home! I was so shocked to see a lot of reporters outside our village and even outside our house. Shit. What the hell is happening?! “Get Flannel inside now! Secure everything inside and outside the village, am I clear?” I slumped my back on the couch. I saw Maia getting Flannel out of the living room, w
“Shall we talk about our setup, then?” I asked Greg as I watched him looking at Flannel who was enjoying her ice cream. He has been silent for the last few minutes that we were here. I sighed again and just looked at him. I saw him gulp and then he cleared his throat. "Uhh, yeah…" he said and looked away. I raised a brow on him. I don't know why he couldn't look at me, to be honest. I just didn't dwell on it and started talking. "We will be going back to the States," I started. That's when I got his attention. His eyes widened and looked at me confusingly. "What?" he asked unbelievably. I sighed. "You know that Flannel's school is in there and my decision in managing the company remotely is final, so we will really need to go home, Gregory. Plus, my parents are going with us, too."I saw how his lips parted when I said that. He gasped hard. "But what about me, Felice? How can I be with my daughter?"I let out a sigh again. "That is why we need to talk about it. We can have an a
“Are you ready?” Maia asked my daughter as she was getting her ready for later. “Yes, I am! I am!” she said excitedly. I quickly avoided her gaze. We were on the couch in the living room and I was watching her as she was getting dressed by Maia. She was wearing a pink dress and cute white doll shoes. She looked like a princess twirling around. I was staring at my daughter who was all smiles already. I couldn’t look at her. My heart felt like it was about to go out of my chest already. I don’t know what to feel. My body was trembling already and I could feel the cold embracing my whole body. I took a deep breath again, trying to calm myself. I closed my eyes for a bit. “Felice,” I froze on my feet when I heard my mom calling me. I let out a sigh before slowly turning to her. “Mom,” I called. She gave me a different kind of look. I couldn’t tell what she was trying to tell me. I find it hard to read her face at that moment. In the end, she gave me a small smile. She then went ne
Ever since the incident five years ago, I have always taught myself to be very careful of the decisions that I will be making in the future. Being careful means choosing whom to be with. When I gave birth to Flannel, I vowed to myself that I will never be near my relatives again and I will never introduce her to Greg. But really, life is just so unpredictable, huh. I mean, just when I didn't want to come back to the Philippines when my father got sick leaving me with no choice but to come back anyway. Then, I was able to fix my family which I thought to be so impossible already. Now, I am just not sure if I am willing to let destiny decide whether I should let Flannel meet her father. I don't know. I am just so confused right now. "Felice…" Maia called. I closed my eyes and covered my face with both my arms. I bit my lip and looked down. I was on my bed in an indian-sitting position. My head was aching and my mind was haywire. I couldn't think straight, honestly. Flannel was with
After that exhausting meeting and commotion, I went home to our mansion already. We were supposed to have a meeting in the afternoon, but after all the drama, I just couldn't take it anymore. I needed to rest already and I needed to relax first. I needed to see my daughter. She's the only one that could calm me now, to be honest. I sighed and closed my eyes. I took a deep breath before going out of the car. I held onto my shoulder bag and went inside our house. It was already 3 in the afternoon and the living room was so quiet. It made me wonder then if Flannel is taking a nap or something. All I saw were our helpers. They were doing their chores. I sighed and decided to go up already. I went to my room but it was empty. I was about to go to Flannel's room. When I bumped into Mommy on the way there. I immediately arched my brow on her. "Mom, is Flannel sleeping?" I asked but instead of answering she hurriedly went to me and held both of my shoulders. "Oh god, what happened?! Are y