"Grabe ha, may kinuha lang ako, kinuyog ka na ng mga reporters. Iba din! Ano ba 'yang mga 'yan, naghahabol ng quota? Nakakaloka!" reklamo ni Micha, panay ang lakad sa cabin na nirerentahan ni Kristine at ng mga co-artist nito under the management of Mrs. Cabral.Doon siya pansamantalang itinago ni Kristine nang hilahin siya nito palayo sa mga reporters kanina. Until now, she still doesn't understand why those bunch of reporters are there. She'd understand kung paisa-isa lang. But there were at least 5 or 6 reporters in the area all from different tabloids when not even NTS' own reporters are there to cover the shooting. Something's really not adding up.She huffed, still confused. She watched as Micha looked over the window. Nasa labas pa ng cabin ang mga reporters but Xavier was standing there now, guarding the place.Maya-maya pa, lumapit si Kristine sa kanya at inabutan siya ng bottled water."Uminom ka muna. Your cheeks are flushed," anito.She just smiled at the woman, nodded her

Lauren's hands were trembling as she typed in the passcode to her house's door. Hindi niya kasi alam kung paano siya sasalubungin ng kanyang tiyahin. Noong huling punta nito sa bahay niya, sinalubong siya nito ng sampal at bugbog. She doesn't want that to happen. Not when she has a contract signing event tomorrow. A day-old bruise would be too hard to cover even with make-up.Marahan niyang tinulak pabukas ang pinto. Her house was silent subalit nagkalat ang ilang laman ng ref sa may kitchen island. Bukas din ang TV sa may sala kahit walang nanonood. Maya-maya pa, nakarinig siya ng yabag sa second floor. Not a second more, her aunt came to her view, holding two big travelling bags containing only-god-knows of her things."Oh you're finally here!" anang tiyahin, nakangiti, mabilis na bumaba sa hagdan. Tumigil ito sa mismong harapan niya bago ibinagsak sa sahig ang bitbit nitong travelling bags na kanya ring pag-aari.There she saw her luxury bags, which were mostly given by fans, and h

Malalim na ang gabi subalit hindi pa rin makatulog si Lauren. The lights on the hospital suite were dimmed, to help her sleep better. Her body is tired after what her aunt did to her but her mind was awake. Still awake because of the things she had learned today.She bit her lower lip as she withheld a sob. She was pregnant. Was. Muling nangilid ang luha niya. There are things she would've done should she had known she was pregnant. She would've taken good care of herself more. She would've protected herself better... She should've fought Tita Lileth's abusive ways and...Shs released a slow heavy breath as tears began to pool from her eyes again. Masakit na ang mga mata niya sa ilang oras na pag-iyak. Subalit tila hindi maubos-ubos ang luha niya hindi lang sa sinapit niya sa tiyahin niya kundi lalo na sa kanyang anak, na bunga man ng isang gabing pagkakamali nila ni Kiel, ay alam niyang kung sakaling nabigyan ng pagkakataong mabuhay, mamahalin niya nang lubos-- higit pa sa kanyang bu

Agad natigilan si Lauren sa sinabi ng tiyahin. "Mistress? My mother is not a mistress!" she protested. Muli, humalakhak si Tita Lileth. "Oh, you didn't know? Lorainne was the mistress of your father Daniel Salvador, that poor married guy from San Ildefonso. Why do you think you are an Ortega and not a Salvador? Ganyan ka ba katanga, ha, Lauren?" Hindi siya nakaimik. It was the truth. Noon pa man, may kutob na siya sa totoo niyang pagkatao. It wouldn't take a genius to know why she does not carry her father's surname, she is an illegitimate child. Subalit, ni hindi niya nakitang umalis nang matagal ang kanyang Papa sa bahay nila habang lumalaki siya. Tuwing umaalis ito, kasama rin sila parati ng Mama niya. And what does her Tita Lileth mean when she said they were poor in San Ildefonso. She grew up there in a decent house with at least two housemaids and a gardener, if she remembered it right. They also had cars. They were living a quite comfortable life in San Ildefonso. How come...

"F-fiancee? I thought she was supposed to marry her husband now even before..." Lauren's voice trailed off, confusion was clearly written on her face."Well, yes. Everybody knew that, at least in the elite circle. Nicole was promised to the Sys. I don't really know what happened why Kiel believed that he can have Nicole and worse, marry her! You may need to ask him about that. But to make things worse, Nicole led Kiel to believe that she can marry him. Naghanda si Kiel ng isang intimate wedding but she stood him up. Kiel looked everywhere like a mad dog. He even asked me to use my connections. But Nicole went under the radar for two weeks, and then next thing we knew, she's already married into the Sy family. Kiel asked for an indefinite leave at Ace Logistics after that and then... you two met in the most interesting way."She released a slow heavy breath. What Ana said was a lot to take in. She needed a few seconds to collect herself. No wonder Kiel was still on edge every time anyt