"What happened, hija?" Eve asked them.
Schina and Aicko stared at each other and chuckled, then turned to them. "Nothing happened, Auntie. You don’t have to worry," Schina says.
"I don’t believe you. Why do you guys seem shocked if it was nothing?" Eve suspected the two.
Aicko moved closer to Eve and whispered something to her, "really?!" Eve shifted her gaze to Axel, then glanced at her niece, "she has a crush on Fabian?!" She gushed.
While all of their attention shifted to them, Schina was glaring at her friend for spilling the tea about her secret crush. She spotted the sour face of her boyfriend at that time.
"Hey, Axel. Don't take it too seriously; it was only a simple crush," Aicko encouraged her cousin when she saw him.
Schina and Aicko's eyes darted across the room, looking for&nbs
A month after graduation, Schina landed a well-paying job. She became a game developer in a reputable company in Manila while still striving to be part of a Philippine swimming team. This has been her biggest dream since she was a child, and now she wants to pursue her career.Aicko left the country after graduation to make her parents proud; she turned down her cousin's offer to work for him because she wanted to prove her value, especially to her father, whilst Axel continued to support his girlfriend's desire and help her discover her mother."Hun!" Schina ran towards him upon seeing him again after one month of staying in Manila. The lovers got separated when the manager of HGCI resigned and needed to take over for a month while the new manager was training to do his task. Schina hugs her boyfriend tightly, "I miss you.""I miss you too, hun," he softly replied, while caressing her hair.
The night had arrived in a resort, and Marie was dressed in a thin, floral orange swimsuit that complemented her delicate white skin and a pair of simple slippers. The gathering that Gwenn had informed her about piqued her interest. She proceeded to the pool area where the party was being placed. As soon as she arrived, her eyes scoured the throng for Gwenn, but she hadn't seen her yet. The first thing that caught her eyes was the sparkling lamp post that lit up the night. Her gaze landed on the long table that had a lot of food. She continued scanning the area and spotted the white curtain that hangs on the side. It has a greeting saying, "happy 15th wedding anniversary." "I can still remember the day when I first saw you…" They all heard the deep, husky voice of a man, which made everyone curious about where he was. The crowd was searching for the speaker, but they hadn’t seen him.
"Hun, let’s talk tonight. I need to say an important thing to you because I don’t want to hide it from you anymore, I have been thinking about it lately, but I always end up thinking of you. I hope you can forgive me after hearing me out. I will be waiting for you in your place."She read the message glued on the lunch box she received this morning, Schina got nervous after hearing the message written on the paper."Is he breaking up with me?" She was worried. She noticed that he had been avoiding her for a week. He hadn’t even texted or called her lately, but he never failed in asking some people to send her a meal."Is he pushing himself just to send it?" she wondered, her gaze fixed on the dish she was carrying."How long do you intend to gaze at your food?" Clarissa inquired."Until all the doubt I feel inside my heart passes," she grumbled.&nb
"Marie, where have you been? I have been looking for you lately, but I didn’t see you around," Stephen asked a tanned Marie."I'vebeenonvacation!"sherespondedcalmly,herkneescrossedandhergazefixedonhim."That’s cool! You have been rested for a long time. Are you refreshed now?" He inquired."Yes, I am." She had been grinning since the time she arrived at the restaurant."You have been away for a month, I bet you haven’t heard the news around?""What news?" She curiously asked, grabbing the glass of juice she ordered and sipping it."If you can make sure that you will be calm once you hear it, I am willing to tell you openly," Stephen stated."No news could ever spoil my mood, sweetie, since I am so happy right now," she
Axel arrived at the location of the jewelry design competition in Taguig, City. As the lifeless faces of the crowd surrounded him, his gaze swept the area.He recognized the front desk and noticed one of the workers organizing the list of candidates, so he approached it and faced her."Good morning, sir! How may I assist you?" the lady asked, smiling."Good morning, Miss. May I inquire as to whether Mrs. Gwenn has arrived?" he said."Let me check in my computer for a moment, sir," she quickly browse on her data and search on the checklist, she raised her gaze at him when she found it. "Yes, sir. She’s already inside, but I am afraid you can’t talk to her because she is busy preparing for the contest.""It’s alright, I am willing to wait for her," Axel is decided to talk to her. The lady saw that it would take too long for Gwenn to talk to him. 
Marie raises her head from her seat and nervously smiles at Gwenn, "hello!" she says, embarrassedly greeting her. "Hi! Would you mind introducing me to this good looking man next to you?" Gwenn drew Stephen's attention, causing her husband to look at him as well. Stephen smiled and rose, "It’s nice to see you in person, uncle!" He sounded friendly, but they looked questionably at him while Marie was glaring at him. "You must be Mr. Hodreal, am I right?" Stephen was being chit-chatted with. "Yes, I am. May I know how you knew me?" he said, as Marie and Gwenn were merely listening in. "Who would not know the tycoon businessman?" Stephen reminisces. "But that was long ago, I couldn’t know that someone might still notice me," he was laughing as he shifted his gaze to his wife. "Yes, it is! But my best friend has kept on talking
"No… I will still do it all over again." Gwenn cried her heart out when she muttered those words while her daughter was trying to hold back her tears but she couldn’t stop herself from crying.She laughs even though her tears are streaming down her face, "so... you are telling me that you will keep on abandoning me! You are an evil woman. You don’t deserve my forgiveness." She coldly mumbled."Schina, please listen to me first; I—I'd want to tell you that I will continue to make the same mistake I did before, because... I can't live with him any longer, and... this decision makes me love myself more." Her teary-eyed mother looked at her sincerely while her daughter was crying and decided to not grant her the forgiveness that she wanted."Love?? Love yourself more? Have you heard what you were saying?! But how about me? How about our family? Did you ever think of me before making tha
"Schina, I heard to my cousin that you already found your mother? Why aren’t you talking with her? I thought you always wanted to find her." Aicko whispered to her to not let Eve hear their conversation."Yes, I always wish that, but when I met her, I couldn't help but blame her and question her about the past," her voice became sad.Aicko sighed, "I am sorry to hear that, dear." She cuddle her best friend, "but you know what, even though Axel hates to see his parents he wished you to be on good terms with your mother." Aicko murmured.Schina removes her arm from her friend and faces her, "why?""Just like he used to say, he wants you to be happy. You didn’t know how sad he was seeing you sad too but if you still can’t forgive her for what she did to you, you can still get mad at her and when your heart gets light, don’t forget to forgive those who harm you becau