“This is really frustrating. I have no choice but to let that stüpîd hearing get in the way of my life. Instead of facing clients for the presentation, I have to face those bãstârds in court!”
Bea, Nico and Pogs start rambling about the recent discovery as soon as they get home. Karla, who clearly doesn’t get what they’re all trying to say asks them to go one at a time. Bea then states that her bashers are trolls who are being paid to ruin her reputation.
Nico has Pogs show Karla the order he had been given earlier. Dan mentions that the shady tactic is used by politicians against each other. Karla wonders who could be behind it and Bea hints at the likely culprit.
Axel has a few exchange of words with Kyle over the latter’s opinions of the project. As he gets literally closer to Rica, Kyle shoots him an irritating look and has the team redo their work. He tasks Rica with the duty of presenting it, and Axel couldn’t agree more. Kyle asks if she’s up for the challenge and Rica replies in the affirmative. Challenge accepted, that is.
Audrey makes her appearance to check up on the stuff for donation. In one of the boxes, she finds a handbag identical to hers, with the color being the same and all. Girl doesn’t look happy. A moment later at home, she confronts her husband in the presence of their daughter, ranting about how Troy had bought all of Karla’s bags just to save her business.
“This was all your fault!” Troy shôöts back at his wife. “You hired a troll farm just to destroy Karla? How can you stoop so low? You think I didn’t know that?”
“So what?” Audrey jeers. “Why do you care anyway?”
“What you’re doing is completely wrong.”
“What you’re both doing is completely wrong,” Raven butts in. She then starts blabbering and takes her dear mother’s side.
Bea catches up to Pogs as he’s headed home and expresses her appreciation for telling them about what the trolls were doing to her mom, as well as not selling her out for thirty thousand. Pogs says he could never do that because Karla is also like a mother to her.
As he blabbers about not wanting to be a troll because of his principles and conscience, Bea gladly hugs him, leaving him stunned. Rica arrives home to witness the stated scene and when she questions them, Pogs pushes Bea away and starts acting all nervous.
Bea says it was just a thank you hug, but Pogs can’t seem to stop smiling as both sisters head inside. While attorney Dizon receives a phone call from an unknown number, Rica excitedly tells her family about the presentation she would be doing in three days to come at the country club.
Pogs passes an incorrect remark and Bea disagrees with him, smiling. Karla asks why she’s smiling and if there’s something wrong with her mouth. As she turns to Pogs, a phone call comes in from attorney Dizon. Once off the phone, Bea asks who she had been talking to and Karla scolds her for not paying attention when she had been standing right by her.
“Where’s your head at, huh? You’re smiling like a büffõon.” She then points out Pogs. “Is he distracting you?”
Dan cautions Pogs to be careful, and Karla announces that the arraignment has been scheduled for the case they had filed. The family is glad with more good news, until Karla woefully reveals that it would be on the same day as Rica’s work presentation. Meanwhile, attorney Dizon meets up with Troy and chastises him for using his influence to speed up the anti-voyeurism case.
Troy argues that that he can’t play fair when his family plays dirty. The argument then shifts towards Audrey’s outbursts, which Laura blames Troy on account of the affair he had had. “I’m becoming ãbüsive?” Troy asks in disbelief. “It is Audrey who is not…”
“And she has all the right to be,” Laura cuts him off. “You had an affair. And that’s something she had to live with every day. It’s not like you’re doing anything to reassure her that the affair is over. You may not have ãbūsed her physically, but mentally and emotionally, she’s definitely battered.”
Audrey angrily cuts up the identical bag with scissors at home, hailing cûrsës at Karla. Enter Bobby, who tries to calm her down in his own way. Meanwhile, Karla proposes to attorney Dizon that she and her husband be allowed to attend the arraignment on their daughter’s behalf, but Laura makes it clear that it would be best if Rica attends.
Recalling what had been done to her, Rica decides to attend and Karla asks if she would miss her presentation. Kyle runs into Mr. Perez at the coffee shop and the guy taunts him again, this time, about his upcoming presentation.
Rica arrives at work to meet an emergency meeting where a moody boss Kyle charges the team to put things in place and prepare adequately for the presentation because Mr. Perez had made it clear to him that he doesn’t want their proposal to get approved.
“So for the next two days, I don’t want anyone showing up late. No more distractions. I need all of you to be focused.”
Karla confronts attorney Dizon, asking if Troy was the one who had ordered and bought all of her bags. Laura comes clean and apologizes, saying that she had already made it clear to him that she wouldn’t lie for him again. At Balai Akitektura, Rica informs Rose about her situation and the latter says that she can’t miss it because it’s the start of her quest for justice.
Rose urges her to notify Sir Kyle about her reason for taking a leave, and Rica worries about how to go about it. Kyle checks up on the team as they work and literally invades Rica’s personal space. He announces that they would be working overtime tomorrow to practice for the presentation.
As he turns to leave, Rica hesitantly informs him that she wouldn’t be able to attend the presentation. Kyle asks of her reason and when she’s unable to spill it out, he insists that she attend if she can’t give a valid reason. Rica turns to see her coworkers staring at her questioningly.
The workers of Balai Akitektura interrogate Rica on the matter and she explodes, saying that she can’t tell them the reason. Mrs. Gracia then begins criticizing her. At the coffee shop, Kyle runs into Raven and offers to pay for whatever she orders. Raven is all smiles as she probably thinks the gesture means something.
Upon her arrival home, Rica informs her mother about her dilemma, particularly how her boss had refused to grant her leave until she tells him the truth.
“Your boss is unbelievable,” Karla grumbles. “And here I thought he was a good person.”
“He is,” Rica says. “Sometimes he’s moody, but he’s always professional. It’s me who isn’t.”
Karla offers to attend the arraignment on her behalf with her father if she can’t tell her coworkers about her reason, and for the second time, Rica explodes, saying that she would be there. Karla is surprised but for a moment.
“This is really frustrating,” she wails. “I have no choice but to let that stüpid hearing get in the way of my life. Instead of facing clients for the presentation, I have to face those bãstârds in court!”
Karla then consoles her and urges her to muster the same courage to face her coworkers and tell them about what she’s going through. She likens the situation to treating a wound, saying that when it’s time to remove the bandage, she has to do it quick so it’ll only sting a little, adding that it would be more painful if she’s going to take the bandage off her wound slowly.
Kyle can’t seem to concentrate on account of how he had turned down Rica’s request. He’s joined by Axel and Chino who come bearing pizza and some drinks. Axel begins making assumptions about Rica’s situation and Kyle annoyingly tells him to go and ask her personally. Axel says he just wants to date her and not get committed to ‘that chick’. Kyle takes offense and grabs his dear friend, and Chino restores order and urges Axel to come clean already.
“I knew it,” Axel declares. “You like her.”
“What?”
“I’m not interested in Rica. I said I was because you didn’t want to confess.”
Kyle is in disbelief. “So it’s all a game to you? What if she fell in love with you?”
“I don’t think she’s the type to get sappy and heartbroken…”
“You don’t know her, man! Stop assuming you know a person if you have no idea what they’ve been through in their life!”
Axel assures him that he would stop messing with her, and Kyle beats himself up for being so hard on her when she might be going through something that’s too difficult to talk about. Meanwhile, Rica has a talk with her father about her assumption of how her boss and coworkers hãte her. Dan offers to talk to them but Rica says she can’t really blame them for getting mad.
Dan asks if she’s thinking of quitting her job but Rica states that that’s not an option since it was her dream since childhood to work at Balai Arkitektura. “The longer I keep my secret from my colleagues, the more distant they act towards me. I bet they’re already calling me a prima donna.”
Dan seems confused by that statement, and when Rica clarifies that it means someone with an attitude, they both laugh at that. Rica admits that she doesn’t want to keep lying to her colleagues or have things change yet – to be stared at, judged, disgusted or pitied.
As Karla approaches, Dan points out that she’s also judging them because she would never know what their reaction would be beforehand. He then gives her a similar advice to that of her mother’s.
At Balai Arkitektura the next day, Rica and Kyle take turns glancing at each other. Sitting in his office, Kyle urges himself to go and talk to her. As Axel observes from his office, Rica also inspires herself to go through with her parents’ advice. She gets up from her desk and walks into her boss’ office.
As Kyle and Rica stare at each other, Raven shows up out of nowhere and shocked to see her estranged half-sister, she asks what the hëll she’s doing there. Axel, Rose and the other workers observe as a face off ensues.
