Semua Bab Guilty By Appearance: Bab 11 - Bab 20

A high-profile funeral in Manila is not just about burying the dead. It is a social event. It is a big show. When a member of the Ford family dies, the sadness must be carefully planned and controlled, like the hotels, the land assets, and the public relation profiles.The wake lasted for five long days in the grandest chapel of the Heritage Memorial Park.For five days, the room was filled with the heavy, sweet smell of thousands of expensive white flowers. The air conditioning was turned down so low that the guests had to wear thick jackets over their expensive black clothes. In the middle of the room sat the coffin. It was made of solid white wood with silver handles, matching the perfect, clean look of our family's brand. Above it hung a huge picture of Scarlet. She was smiling, her hair was perfectly styled, and she looked beautiful and untouchable. Behind the glass of the coffin, she looked exactly like me.Every time I stood up, people would gasp. They would turn their heads,

The three large wooden boxes arrived right at ten o'clock on Friday morning. The delivery men wore clean blue uniforms with the logo of a high-end German medical supply company. They pushed the heavy boxes down the narrow, yellow-painted corridor of the Charity Wing, their metal wheels clicking loudly against the old linoleum floor. Nurse Grace ran out of the medicine room, her mouth wide open in surprise, holding a bottle of rubbing alcohol in one hand and a stack of patient charts in the other."Dr. Snow!" she shouted, her voice echoing across the noisy ward. "They're here! The new incubators! They're actually here!"I stepped out of Bed 14, where I had been checking the skin temperature of a premature baby girl born at just twenty-eight weeks. My heart gave a strange, unfamiliar thud against my ribs.I walked toward the front of the room as the delivery men used crowbars to open the thick wooden boxes. Inside, shining under the bright basement lights, were three brand-new, state-o

The morning after the car ride, the warmth of the arroz caldo turned into freezing panic. I woke up at four o'clock in the morning with my heart pounding. The sun was not even up yet. The small bedroom of my Valero Street condo was dark, filled with the blue-grey shadows of the early dawn. I sat up on the bare mattress, my skin cold and covered in a light sweat.I looked at my hands. They were shaking.I was terrified. I was absolutely terrified of how safe I had felt in Blake’s car the night before.In my life, safety was an illusion. It was a beautiful trap designed to make you lower your head so the blow could hit you harder. When I was a child, my dad's praise was always followed by a new rule, a new expectation, or a sudden, cold silence if I failed to meet his standards. My mom’s hugs were only given when the photographers from the society pages were looking. The moment the cameras were turned off, her hands would drop away, leaving me cold.Scarlet had taught me the ultimate

My breath caught in my throat. I had never seen Blake look like this. The absolute, unshakeable confidence that he always carried had faded away, leaving behind a raw, human vulnerability that felt incredibly real."What happened, Blake?" I asked, leaning forward, my heart aching with a sudden, deep empathy.Blake let out a long, slow breath. He gripped his tea cup, his knuckles turning slightly white."Ten years ago, I had a younger brother," he began, his voice dropping into a quiet, rhythmic tone that sounded like he was reading from an old, painful diary. "His name was Matthew. He was the golden child of the Buenaventura family. He was artistic, kind, and incredibly sensitive. My parents adored him. He was the one who was supposed to inherit my father's old estate and carry the family flag."I listened intently, my chest tightening. The description of Matthew sounded so much like Scarlet—the artistic, fragile twin whom everyone loved."Matthew had a dark side, though," Blake conti

On Saturday night at exactly seven o'clock, the lobby guard called my intercom. "Dr. Ford, your guest is here."My hands shook as I applied a small amount of tinted lip balm—the only makeup I owned now. I let my long black hair fall loose around my shoulders, the dark waves contrasting against the green fabric of my wrap dress. I took a deep breath, grabbed a small black clutch bag, and walked down the hallway.When the elevator doors opened into the lobby, Blake was standing near the glass doors.My breath caught in my throat. He looked absolutely beautiful. He wore a crisp, tailored navy-blue blazer over a white linen shirt, no tie, and dark trousers. The style was casual but impeccably elegant. When his eyes found me coming out of the elevator, his entire face softened. A look of pure, unedited admiration flashed across his features, so intense that it made my knees feel weak.He walked over to me, his long strides closing the distance between us in seconds."You look absolutely be