Chapter 4: Rough Road

“How dare you do this to us! You already took everything. What else do you want?” Laura angrily shouts.

The commotion downstairs has woken up Celine. She can hear the yells and cries. So she hurriedly got up and ran downstairs.

As she reached the receiving room, Celine saw her evil aunts — Tessie and Rita.

Looking at them, they exactly look and dress like those heartless rich old antagonist women in Film or TV Dramas.

Tessie now holds the CEO position of GG Group. Since she took office after Celine’s father’s death, she changed how the company runs — there’s no heart. She is known to be a cold-hearted woman - who is one of the influential personalities in the Ilocos Region. Rita, on the other hand, holds governorship in Pangasinan province.

“What is happening here?” Celine asked.

“These bitches, these thieves are so hungry for money and power,” Laura madly answered while pointing her fingers at the two women.

“I’ll call Atty. Ruiz.”

“He’s not going to pick it up.”

“Why?”

This time Celine is puzzled.

“He’s one of them now.”

Tessie rolled her eyes and said, “Stop with the drama. We are so sick of it!”

Rita butted in, “Good thing you’re here, Celine. Finally, someone, we could talk sense with.”

Celine calmed her nerves down.

“Manang! Please accompany my mom to her room," Celine asked their most trusted native Aeta house-helper who has been with them for 17 years already.

Celine took a deep breath and firmly approached her aunts, “Have a seat. What do you want?” She said.

Tessie and Rita sat down and confidently crossed their legs.

Celine took a deep breath and firmly approached her aunts, “Have a seat. What do you want?” She said.

Tessie and Rita sat down and confidently crossed their legs.

“Well, it seems like you still don’t know. But we’re here to inform you that we are going to take Laura’s perfume. It has come to our attention that your parents kept a cash fund, and your mother, later on, used it to establish it. And such fund happens to be a fund sourced out from GG Group," Tessie said.

Rita laid down a document on the table.  “All the answers to your questions are written on this document. Should your mother refuse to transfer all the rights and ownership of Laura’s perfume and all the properties, even the cars, acquired by the company, we’ll have no choice but to file an action against her. We could also sue her with embezzlement.”

“So if I were you, I’d talk sense to your mother,” Tessie added.

Then, Tessie and Rita got up and left. Celine was left dumbfounded. She’s confused, terrified, and hopeless — all at the same time. Celine feels like the world is falling apart and cannot do anything. She felt the same hurt from the past; she remembered all the hardship their family faced after her father’s death. It was only two years ago when they were able to stand up. But this time, it seems like the fall is going to be higher.

Gabriel, Celine’s brother, just arrived from a business trip. He found Celine spacing out.

“Celine,” he called her. “Hey, Celine. Celine!” He shouted.

“Oh! Yes, I’m sorry. What is it?” Celine answered.

“What’s happening to you? Is everything okay?”

“I don’t know. It’s just that I don’t know what to do anymore. Aunts Tessie and Rita came here.”

Celine told everything that happened and showed all the documents their aunts left.

“So what are we going to do now? We’re going to lose everything that we have except for this house," Celine asked.

“I’m sure there is a way. And I don’t believe this,” Gabriel said while holding the documents. “We know them. They will not stop until they made sure that we have nothing so we could not claim back what’s rightfully ours. I’m sure they went through hoops just to make all these up," He continued.

“But where are we going to start? How can we get the evidence? They’re much powerful than us.”

“Always remember this, no one could ever be above the law. And that’s where our power lies. We just need to find the right person to help us with it.”

Gabriel asked Celine to take good care of their mom for now. He left to secure enough money for the family.

Celine went to Laura’s room and found Laura curling up on her bed, crying.

“Mom. I know that it’s not okay. But we have to be strong,” Celine comforted her mother. 

“Celine, I can’t afford to lose everything. We haven’t got back your dad’s company and his inheritance yet, and now, they’re going to take what we have left too?” Laura said while crying.

Celine is speechless. She hugged her mother tightly and secretly teared up.

“We struggled for seven years. That’s seven years of uncertainty whether or not there would be food on the table. Each day we wake up, We don’t even know if we would be able to eat on time or if we are going to eat three meals a day. I don’t want you and your siblings to experience that ever again. Every day for seven years, it pains me to see you all struggle. You all don’t deserve it.”

Laura completely broke down. She started crying even louder.

“Do you remember the time I asked our relatives and my friends for help? Everyone turned their backs on us. Until today, I cannot forget it. I swallowed my pride to make ends meet. I don’t think I could handle our fall this time," Laura said while sobbing in between every word.

“Mom. Please calm down. We can’t lose you," This time, Celine cried in front of her mother.

After some time, Laura calmed down.

“Mom, can I ask something?” Celine asked.

“What is it?” Laura replied.

“Where did you get the money to start Laura’s perfume? Is what they’re saying true?”

“Yes. It’s the money your father and I kept. But it’s not true that it’s an embezzled money. Please believe me.”

“How come? I mean, why did you only use it two years ago? We could have been in a better situation seven years ago.”

“It was escrowed, under a trusted friend’s name. Somehow, your father is brilliant. He has foreseen the worst scenarios that may or may not happen. Unfortunately, his hunch is correct. That is the reason why he decided to keep the money first. If it were not well hidden before, probably they would have taken it too.”

“But I still don’t understand. Why does it have to be kept for seven years?”

“Listen up, honey. Your father had limited time to secure everything for us — he was dying. His health suddenly deteriorated without warning. That money is a backup plan in case that his siblings will aggrieve us. Your father believed that if we are going to use the money earlier, they would have taken it from us too, assuming that it’s part of their claim. So, he planned to get it released two years after your Kuya Gabriel’s graduation — to make it believable that it’s your kuya’s hard-earned money.”

“Then why so? How did they find out?”

“It’s because of Atty. Ruiz. I told him where I got the money. He asked it casually — turns out his fishing. It was my mistake. I let my guards down. I trusted him so much that I forgot what your father advised; to never trust anyone except our family and Atty. Franco. I hate myself for that. I’m not as smart as your father.”

“Wait, Atty. Franco, Madrigal? Dad’s best friend and the whole clan’s family lawyer?”

“Yes, but he’s not the clan’s family lawyer anymore. He quit two years ago. He’s someone that we could trust.”

“How did you say so?”

“He knows the truth, and he did not speak against us. Another thing, when your father died, he asked the clan to assign him on business matters as he doesn’t want to do anything to his best friend’s family. He has his reason why he did not quit — he also has a family to support. So I understand it.”

“Okay, mom. Now everything’s clear to me.”

“Okay, For now, we’ll wait for Atty. Franco’s arrival from the States for a few more days, and we’ll go to him.”