Lahat ng Kabanata ng Shadows of the Heart (Ethan Sierra): Kabanata 81 - Kabanata 83

ETHAN SIERRADays have passed and our school year has ended. I immediately went to Manila for the training. Pagkarating ko sa mansyon ni Lolo ay isang malakas na sampal ang natanggap ko.“You’re helping the Valencias?!” Sigaw nito na halos pumutok na ang ugat nito sa leeg dahil sa galit. Hinila ako ni Yael palayo kay Lolo. “It doesn’t mean he’s helping Gabriel Valencia, Lo. You know how close he is to his child. At walang kasalanan si Sera sa nangyayari sa mga magulang niya. She’s innocent!” “Yes, she’s innocent. But that doesn’t mean you have to help them. Baka nakakalimutan mo kung magkano ninakaw ng lalaking iyon sa’tin, Ethan. And now you’re investing in their company. Are you fucking insane? Sa papaluging kompanyang iyon?!”Nagtangis ang panga ko sa sinabi ni Lolo. He has the right to get mad. I invested his money in Sera’s Furnitures Company—but that money is from working hard as a trainee. Hindi naman ako basta-basta nag-iinvest ng gano’ng kalaking halaga kung alam kong hindi

ETHAN SIERRAI don’t like Darius’ plan. I despise it. Every part of me screams in protest, telling me this isn’t the right way—telling me there has to be another option.But I’m not blind. I know the reality we’re facing. There is no other way.And so, I’m left with no choice.I have to do this.Not because I want to follow some twisted plan he laid out. Not because it makes sense. But because I refuse to lose her.Because if I don’t act now, Sera will keep suffering in silence. She will keep enduring the torment, locked in a cycle of pain that she doesn’t deserve. And that thought alone is enough to make my blood boil, to make me feel like I’m suffocating beneath the weight of my own helplessness.Hindi ko na hahayaan pang mangyari iyon. Not anymore.She has suffered enough—been abandoned enough. I won’t be another person who walks away. I won’t stand by while she’s pushed further into darkness by the very people who should have protected her.I have to be with her.Not just until ou