“Look Damian, your bastard top the bar!” Lucia with tremor threw the newspaper to the man she prided herself in calling husband but could not actually be hers. They are not married. Lucia has been married to someone else. She has two sons from her real husband.
“What is there to be surprised of? He is my son; of course, he will inherit his father’s intelligence.” Damian looked at the newspaper and saw the face of Wilgreg; his abandoned and neglected son. Deep in his heart, he regretted neglecting himself and his mother. But he was a jerk during his younger years; jerk in choosing Lucia, who is a married woman with two children, who are not even his. His action was out of necessity, selfishness, and irresponsibility, and most probably out of fear of what Lucia’s crazy mind could do. One thing he is sure of is he was an idiot and a coward and still an idiot and a coward until now. He has no courage to face his son and his mother, Carolina. He is shrewd and brave when it comes to business, well respected but in facing his only son and his Mom, he is the most coward, to say the least.
“Hah, so you are proud of your bastard now, wow!” Lucia’s sarcasm is overflowing. The birth of this bastard Wilgreg, made her life uncomfortable. She swore to make his life and his mother like a living hell, which she did and will do if needed again.
Damian narrowed his eyes to Lucia with full disgust, “Stop it, Lucia! He is my son, my only son, my flesh and my blood, and my only heir!”
Lucia’s mouth was hung open in total surprise at what Damian just fully uttered. With confusion and hate, she asked, “What do you mean?”“Lucia, you know for a fact Wilgreg is my sole heir. Your children are not my children. I did not even adopt them. We are not married and you know why, you are married to somebody else until now.” Damian replied with a hint of a little insult. He regretted being with this woman, who manipulated him at the onset; but it is too late to regret it. He is old and he is sure, his son and his mother Carolina might have been cursing him and hating him for a long time already.
Lucia tones down as she came near and tried to embrace the man from his back. “Damian, you know why I cannot annul my first husband. It would be a great scandal, especially since I am at fault. It was because of you that we separated, remember?”
“Yes, and I was aghast that time because I did not mean to ruin a family. You seduced me and then you blamed me, hit my conscience; worst you tried to commit suicide to wrap your fingers around me. You even threatened to kill my son and his mother. Satisfied now Lucia? You have me until now and I neglected my son!” Damian stood up and left the stunned woman, who could not mutter a single word.
Lucia’s heart bleeds. All throughout those years that they were together and up until now, did Damian ever love her? She lost herself loving and adoring him like a God while he, on the other hand, was just being forced to be with her because of everything that she did. Did she really win over Carolina? Did she really get the happiness she wanted? Lucia’s heart answered yes because Damian is with her, but her mind knows better. She lost! She lost her family, she lost herself, she lost her dignity and she actually lost her mind. For what? Up until now, she cannot even say frank enough that Damian is hers.
II
“Congratulations my Unico Hijo, you never fail to make me proud of you!” Carolina Monaro embraced her son with so much happiness. She will never regret standing firm to raise him, even alone. Yes, Carolina Monaro is a single mom. A fierce yet loving Mom as her son Wilgreg would always describe her.
“Because you never fail to make me admire you Mom; my fierce yet loving Mom.” Wilgreg embraced back her Mom and with much endearment kissed her forehead and top of her nose. Since childhood, that was already his endearing act to his Mom. His act would always take away his Mom’s anger and even sadness.
“You top the bar Wil, what’s next?” Carolina asked her son with a smile on her refined aura.
Wilgred winked at his Mother, “Secret Mom, you’ll see.”
“Wil!, there you are!” A loud voice of a woman made the mother and son turn their heads to check who was calling Wil like there was an emergency.
Wil’s eyes rolled when he saw who was calling him. “Lulu, what’s up?”“Congratulations Attorney Wilgreg Monaro!” Her voice is full of energy.
Wilgred rolled his eyes again and shook his head. Lulu is a woman who seems to never run out of energy when it comes to him. “Thank you Lulu; same to you, you made it too.”
“I was inspired you know hahaha. Hi, pretty Tita Carol you are such a wonderful woman to be able to raise a top-notch son.” Lulu then gently got Carolina’s right hand and kissed the same as a sign of full respect.
Carolina laughed at the jolly woman’s joke. “Congratulations Lulu, your parents must be so proud of you too. They have their lawyer in the family now.”
“Small thing Tita compared to what you have achieved.” The young new Attorney even made a gesture, making her thumb and next finger touched each other, like demonstrating the word small.
“Where are your parents by the way?” Carolina made her eyes around the premises, trying to search for Lulu’s parents.
A moment of sadness passed through Lulu’s face but she immediately lightened up, “Ahh they are outside the country Tita, you know checking our hotel’s problem in Indonesia.”
Carolina saw the sudden sadness on Lulu’s face, which the latter immediately covered up with a smile. “I see, would you want to come with us, we will have dinner after this oath-taking ceremony.”
“Yeah, come with us Lulu, only me and Mom anyway.” Wilgreg saw also Lulu’s sudden expression of sadness and in his intention to lighten up what she felt, he invited her. Lulu is a good friend to him and nothing more, although he knows very well that the woman love him since their first year of law school.
“No thank you Wil and Tita, I have a booked flight this evening going to Indonesia, Daddy called this morning, saying he needs my legal expertise there.” Lulu smiled apologetically. She was sad deep inside because when her father called; he did not even congratulate her or said he is proud of her. He just said that her secretary booked her a flight tonight going to Indonesia to help him with some legal issues in their Hotel.
“I see, that’s great Lulu, your practice of law is now starting.” Wilgreg winked at Lulu with the hope to lighten up her mood.Lulu’s mother is the youngest daughter of an Indonesian wealthy hotelier. His father, a Filipino, once worked as a Hotel Supervisor in one of the hotels of her mother’s family. It must have been fate that Lulu’s mother saw him and fell in love with him at the onset. That’s why Lulu always believed in love and first sight. It happened to her also, with Wilgreg Monaro.
IDamian Lincuja, remembers the time that he first held in his arms his only son. He was only two years old at that time. As many said, his son was his little replica. They were actually happy way back then. Caroline did not force him to marry yet even if they have a son. He was still struggling then with his small Engineering firm and getting married was not yet in his plan. Until he met Lucia. For him, it was just a play, a momentary sexual urge, no string attached. Lucia is a married woman, so what the heck; she cannot demand anything from him. She offered herself to him, so why not give her the pleasure she wanted. But that was his greatest mistake. Lucia is not the woman he thought she was. She never accepted rejections or defeats. She is one hell of a crazy, desperate woman. She clung to him and left his husband; brought her children to her parents and asked them to take care of them temporarily. She said, it was him that she deeply loves and she can never live a happy life with
IWilgreg has something in his mind. If he would take his father’s offer, he will be getting the best revenge ever on the woman who took his father away from them and who mistreated his mother. At the same time, it will be his time to let Damian Lincuja realize the biggest mistake in his life for neglecting them and for almost forgetting him as his son!The next morning Wilgreg approached her mother who was then in her workroom “Mom, can we talk about these documents please?”“Of course son, come in.” Carolina removed her eyeglasses and motioned to her son to sit down.“Mom, I will take Damian’s offer,” Wilgreg stated without beating around the bush anymore. Carolina was stunned.“What brought you to that decision Wil?” she intently looked at her son. She knows her son well. He will never decide on something without good reasons for doing so.Wilgreg decided not to let her mother know his ulterior motive for his decision. He knows very well that she will disagree. “Mom, I realized, it
IThe announcement of Damian Lincuja has been scattered all throughout the social media including in newspapers. This caption “THE NEW CEO OF LINCUJA REAL ESTATE IS DAMIAN LINCUJA’S ONLY SON AND SOLE HEIR, THE RECENT BAR TOP NOTCHER” became a piece of trending news not only in the Philippines but also worldwide.Such trending news almost made Lucia Raguya’s head burst out in anger. She tore into pieces the newspaper and threw her mobile phone. Whenever she browses her Facebook account, Twitter, Google, and even Youtube, the news about Damian Lincuja’s announcement was there. “The hell with you Damian, how could you do this to me?!” Lucia shouted.The maids in the living room who are starting to clean the area were frightened. They knew, just like before, this old woman will turn her wrath on them. She is like a crazy violent woman.Lucia out of the blue called her driver and commanded him to drive her going to Damian’s office. Although hesitant, the driver could not do anything but fo
IThe first thing Atty. Wilgreg did when he arrived at his new office was to call the Director for Human Resources. She is an old, strict-looking woman; most probably around the early fifties.After greeting her back, he started to give instructions. “Ms. Salvacion, here are the things that I want to see today. Please list them down; Company policy, an actual organizational chart with names of staff per position; a list of all employees with each corresponding important information and salaries, the Company’s list of benefits, team building activities, and civic and social activities. I want that on my desk before one o’clock in the afternoon. By the way, look for an Executive Assistant for me. I will do the final interview before the contract signing. That’s all for now. You may go.”The next one who entered the office of the CEO is the Finance and Accounting Director. He is in his mid-forties. A licensed CPA as he previously learned.He looked at him in the eye and stated, “Mr. Sore
IAt the Lincuja’s mansion, Lucia is marching back and forth, thinking about how she could be able to change the situation now. Her eldest son, Marco Raguya, who is currently the Executive Vice President of the Lincuja Real Estate Corporation, should have been the new CEO of the Company, where if not for the bastard of Carolina!Lucia all of a sudden got her mobile phone and dialed Marco’s number. “Hello, Marco how are you? Are you in the office now?”“Hello Ma, yes, I am here and trying to finish something as required by the new CEO.” Marco’s voice has no enthusiasm.“So how’s the bastard?”Marco laughed a little and answered his fuming mother. “Well, trying to terrify everyone here on his first day.”“Hah! He will have his downfall, soonest!” Lucia is too furious to notice the Mayordoma, who was able to hear her words.After putting off her cell phone, Lucia changed her clothes, got her bag, and called her driver.“Bring me to Lincuja’s Real Estate Corporation!” she ordered to the d
IAtty. Wilgreg, opens again the 201 files of Atty. Ninia Salamera. From grade school until she finished law school, she has been at the top of her class. “Wow, excellent! Sobra Saliente!” he whispered.Atty. Ninia’s father was a farmer. Was because his father died already two years ago. Her mother is an elementary teacher. Basically, Atty. Ninia Salamera came from a poor to a middle-class family. No wonder, she is very simple. As far as he knows, she does not even have yet her own car. Atty. Wilgreg called Rowell through their Company’s internal landline phone and asked him to come to his office.“Rowell, I am just wondering what was the cause of the death of Atty. Ninia’s father? The HR department failed to take note of that in their summary of interviews about her.”Rowell secretly smiled upon seeing the interest of the new CEO in the newly hired lawyer of the Company. “Sir, I am not so sure about my info, but I heard that his father had a heart attack upon knowing that a land grab
IIn his yahoo e-mail, Atty. Wilgreg, saw information about Atty. Ninia Salamera. It was from Atty. Ferrer. The old lawyer had already found out who grabbed the farming land of Atty. Salamera’s father.He immediately called Atty. Ferrer. “Atty. Ferrer, Sir, another favor, please. Just bill me with the expenses and costs. Can you please send the best lawyer in your firm to the land grabber’s home? The land should be returned to the rightful owner as soon as possible. Either he will be threatened with a lawsuit or worst offered to buy the land from him at a minimal cost.”“Got it Hijo. Don’t worry, I know what to do. I will let you know in a few days' time of any development.” Atty. Ferrer is smiling. He smelled something. Damian’s so much interest in the Company’s new lawyer is something that cannot be set aside. It will be such big news if it will develop into something greater in the coming days.“Thank you, Atty. Ferrer.” The young CEO’s appreciation of the old lawyer’s help is sinc
IThe Finance Director visited the office of the Executive Vice President of the Lincuja Real Estate Corporation. He has some documents in his hands.“Sir Marco kindly takes a look at this report. The new CEO already noticed the unexplained Millions of expenses. I hope you are ready now with your liquidations for these expenses.” The Finance Director laid down the financial report over Marco Raguya’s executive desk.“Just put it down there, I will take check it tonight.” Marco Raguya retorted.The Finance Director nodded, “Sir, I hope you have your answers tomorrow. The next day would be our special meeting with the new CEO; all directors including you. I hope you know it already.”“Yes, thank you. You may go now.” Marco Raguya said trying to dismiss now the Finance Director out of his office.He checks the financial report and his knees weaken. How can he explain these expenses? He has even no receipts to support these expenses. He lost these tones of money in the Baccarat and Blackj