Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 31 - Chapitre 37

KABANATA 30The elevator doors closed, and I knew.. this time, I wasn’t coming back.When I stepped into my room earlier that evening, I didn’t pack much. Just enough to fill a medium suitcase—a few maternity dresses, my sketchbooks, my laptop, and all the things that actually belong to me. The rest I left behind.I took a last glance around the walk-in closet, the shelves of designer shoes and gowns. They were beautiful, expensive.. but none of them felt like mine.As I zipped my suitcase shut, my other hand instinctively went to my belly. The baby shifted, not quite a kick, more like a ripple—as if reminding me they were there. I whispered, “We’ll be okay.”I knew exactly where I was going.Ang nag-iisang lugar that had always been mine before all of this, my mother’s old house. I hadn’t been there in years, not since she died, not since my father made it clear he wanted no reminders of her. But it remained under my name because of one woman, Tita Livia, my mom’s closest friend sinc

KABANATA 32Mula madaling-araw ay hindi pa tumitigil ang ulan.It was the kind of rain that clung to everything—light enough to blur the air into a constant haze, but steady enough to seep into the bones. Every drop against the roof was a soft percussion, a heartbeat for the quiet day.From my bedroom window, the world looked muted under a curtain of gray. The sampaguita vines drooped with beads of water clinging stubbornly to their petals. Even the distant hum of the road was muffled by the weather, as though the town had chosen to breathe slower.Umupo ako at yumukyok sa armchair na malapit sa bintana, a wool shawl draped loosely over my shoulders. Hawak ko sa aking dalawang kamay ang umuusok pang tasa ng salabat, ang init nito ay tumatagos sa aking mga daliri. My daughter shifted lazily inside me, as if restless from the weather. I rested my palm against the swell of my belly, feeling the faint push from within.Tita Livia had gone early, mamimili raw siya sa palengke ng mga sariwa

KABANATA 34Maliwanag.Hindi ‘yung nakakasilaw na liwanag ng ospital o ng araw sa tanghali, kundi ‘yung banayad at malambot na liwanag na bumabalot sa ‘yo na para bang niyayakap ka.I opened my eyes to find myself standing barefoot on soft grass—the kind that feels like velvet under your skin. The air was warm but crisp, carrying the faint fragrance of sampaguita and newly fallen rain. Somewhere in the distance, I heard laughter.Before me stretched an endless garden. The flowers glowed as if kissed by sunlight from a gentler world. The sky was pale gold, like morning caught forever in its first breath.Naglakad ako. Wala akong naririnig kundi ang mahinang hampas ng hangin sa mga dahon, hanggang sa may marinig muli akong tawa—magaan, musika sa tenga, pamilyar sa paraang hindi ko maipaliwanag.Hinila ako ng tunog na ‘yon. Tinabig ko ang mga bulaklak na halos kasing taas ko hanggang sa bumungad ang isang hardin. Sa gitna nito, may isang babae.She looked to be in her early to mid twenti

KABANATA 36Nang bumukas ang pinto, hindi na ako nagulat. Hindi ako nagtanong. Hindi ako kumurap.Alam ko na.Even before I saw his face, I already felt it—‘yung bigat sa dibdib na parang biglang gumaan, ‘yung hangin na naging mas mainit, mas buo. ‘Yung presensya na kahit gaano ko pa pilitin noon na kalimutan, hindi kailanman nawala sa mga bitak ng puso ko.Draven.He stood there in silence, as if afraid to take a step forward. Sa gilid ng pintuan, nakatayo siya na parang pinipigil ang sarili niyang huminga. His dark hoodie clung to him in places, the edges damp, as if he’d run through rain. May mga gasgas sa braso at kamay niya, hindi halata kung galing sa pagmamadali o sa galit na pilit niyang tinatago.But none of that mattered, because his eyes—those dark, searching eyes—were locked entirely on one thing.Sa amin.Sa akin.At sa maliit na nilalang na nakadikit sa dibdib ko, mahimbing na natutulog, balot sa pink na kumot.Draven’s gaze softened in a way I’d never seen before. Walan