“Why would he give the mansion to Romina? She doesn’t have any right to it. The mansion should rightfully be mine. This is ridiculous. They’re stealing my home! I will never let them have it! The company is mine! It will be a cold day in hell, Romina, before I let you take over my parents’ legacy!”
Some employees of Camila came to offer their condolences to Romina. Meanwhile, Cassie stood by herself on an upper floor. She recalled the day her father had given her the golden necklace on her sixteenth birthday and the moments and memories she had shared with him. Kristoff came over. “Cassie, how are you holding up?”
“I’m okay,” Cassie said.
“It’s okay to be weak sometimes. I shouldn’t have asked but… you’re not okay.”
“I still can’t believe that daddy’s gone,” Cassie sobbed. “I’m still hoping that this is all a dream, that tomorrow when I wake up, we’ll have breakfast and he’ll take me to school. But I have to be strong for my mamma. She needs me now more than anything.”
“But Cassie, if you need someone, I’m always here. Remember that.”
“Thank you. That means a lot to me.”
Hector came back home and didn’t find his daughter there. He texted her, asking where she was and Roxy replied, saying that she was at the wake. Cassie apologized to Roxy for how Marga had treated her earlier. Roxy said it was her fault since she couldn’t stop acting like a big fan, even forgetting that their family were grieving. “That doesn’t excuse what she did,” Cassie said.
“Are you really this nice?” Roxy asked, surprised. “You’ve lost someone, yet you still think of others.”
“Like you said. We’re sisters. I’m not only doing this for you but for daddy as well. Since he’s gone now, someone has to step up and keep Marga from hurting others.”
Hector arrived at the event and stared at Roxy and Cassie annoyingly. Romina took the stand and gave a speech, saying that she had not only lost her husband but her hero as well. “My savior. The man that I løvëd, who løvëd me completely.”
Daniela took the stand next and spoke about how much her father had done for her. “He never gave up on me. Not even at my worst.”
Cassie went next, saying that she was the proof of how good a father Robert had been to her. “My whole life, he treated me like a real daughter, even though we weren’t related. Dad gave me everything any girl could ever ask for.”
Marga spoke about how her grandpa had tried to make it up to her despite the differences between him and her mother. “He was always there for me and every single time, grandpa made me realize how lucky I was.”
“How do you say goodbye?” Romina said. “How do you let go of someone who løvëd you unconditionally?”
“I’ll miss you daddy,” Cassie sobbed. “You used to tell me that I’ll always be your princess. But I never got to tell you that you’ll always be my king.”
“I should have spent more time with you,” Marga sobbed. “I should have reached out right from the start.”
“And if you’re here, that means he touched your life one way or another,” Daniela wailed. “I know you’re also going to miss him. Thank you for that.”
Romina took the stand again. “In the back of my mind, I’m hoping that this is all a horrible dream. But I know it’s not what Robert wants. So even if it hurts so much, I’ll try to be strong. Because that’s what he wants. Løvë… you were my whole world. I løvë you so much.”
Alvin was examining the cufflink (suit button) he had found at the cabin some years ago, wondering whether the inscription on it was an A. Daniela barged in. “Alvin!”
“Hey, Daniela.”
“It was you,” Danny girl hissed, grabbing a kñifë from the table and pointing it at him.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Don’t you dare lie to me. You’re the only ones with a motive to k!ll my father.”
Alvin disarmed her. “I have nothing else to confess. I’m the one who’s supposed to be mad. You sold me out to the police.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m not scared but you should be. Once people figure things out, you’ll be in big trouble.”
“You think you’d go scot-free? We have DNA evidence that confirms you räpëd Romina.”
“That you yourself falsified,” Alvin countered. “I was in jail during that time, Daniela. It will be easy to claim you were behind it. And if that doesn’t work, I have another ace up my sleeves.”
Alvin gave her the cufflink. “Where did you get this?”
“In the hut where I left Romina. I’m certain that this belongs to the man who räpëd Romina.”
Daniela got home and Carlos asked where she had gone to and why she had suddenly left the wake. Daniela told him that she had gone to confront Alvin because she was sure they had a hand in her father’s dëäth. “I wanted to do something right for him,” Danny girl cried. “After so long, he took my side. He didn’t side with Romina. Even when you doubted me, he was there for me.”
“Is that why you wanted to leave?” Carlos asked.
“I’m sorry, Carlos. I was desperate. Daddy was caught between our fight. I didn’t want our family to suffer because of me.”
“I won’t let that happen,” Carlos assured. “I’ll do everything to protect our family. Just don’t do anything that’ll break my trust in you again.”
Hector was very upset that his daughter had disobeyed him and gone to the wake. Roxy apologized and asked him to calm down and Hector told her that she wasn’t allowed to leave the house anymore without his permission. Daniela was sitting by herself at home, recalling her recent encounter with Alvin. Flashback : Daniela walked into her father’s office with a plate of cake. “Happy birthday, daddy. Make a wish.”
Robert blew out the candle. “Mommy and I have a gift for you.”
“What’s that?”
Daniela gave Robert a small package. Robert opened it, revealing some cufflinks. “Oh, wow.” (They were identical to the one in Alvin’s possession. It had an R inscribed on it).
“Do you like it?”
“Yeah. This is so sweet of you.”
Daniela hugged him. “Happy birthday, dad.” Present : “No,” Daniela thought to herself. “That’s impossible. Why did Alvin have that cufflink?”
Neil was helping his sister to pack up the stuff in Robert’s office. Mina was struggling, crying over a portrait of Robert and Neil offered to put Robert’s things away by himself. “No, I have to do this,” Mina sobbed. “I have to move forward. Not just for me and Cassie, but for the company as well. I can’t pretend he’s still here. There are people depending on me.”
“Can you manage, Romina?”
“I have to. It’s what Robert would have wanted if he was still here.”
Bonita came in. “I’m sorry, Romina. But all the employees are ready for the normal assembly.”
“Okay. I’ll be right there.” A moment later, Romina addressed the employees, telling them that they had to move forward even in Robert’s absence. “Nothing will change. Robert treated you like family. That won’t change, even though he’s gone. I know this is difficult for everyone but if Robert was here, he would want us to move forward together.”
The employees nodded and voiced out their approval and went back to work. Bernard stayed behind and told her that he needed to talk to her about something. “You mean the kidñäppers?” Mina said in disbelief back in her office.
“That’s what Robert suspected,” Bernard confirmed. “He thought that they were connected to the accident too.”
“It doesn’t make sense. The reason they kidñäpped the girls was for money Robert had access to. What would they gain from k!lling Robert?”
Danny girl’s bratty lapdog passed by Mina’s office. “I don’t know, but that’s what Robert suspected.” Bernard then recalled Robert’s last words – Go to the police station. I’ll meet you there. I hope that after you learn the truth, it won’t affect our friendship. “Robert told me to meet him at the police station before the accident,” Bernard said. “Do you have any idea why?”
Some board members came to the conclusion of choosing Romina as the next president of Camila since Robert would have agreed to it. Mrs. Galvez didn’t seem pleased though. At Maxwell, Fatima told Cassie that they would lend her their notes so she could catch up with school work. LJ added that they were there to listen if she wanted to talk.
“Thank you,” Cassie said. “But don’t worry about me. I shouldn’t bottle all the pain that I feel inside so I can move forward, even if it’s just one step at a time.”
“Are you sure you’re really okay?” Fatima asked.
“I need to be strong. My mom needs all the support she can get.”
“You also have us, Cassie,” LJ said. “If you need anything, just tell us. We’re here for you.”
“Thank you.”
Maureen stopped Marga and asked her where she was going since it was time for lunch. Marga said she was going to the library because she wasn’t hungry. “I need to catch up on school work,” Marga said.
“You just got back,” Maureen stated. “I’m sure the teachers would understand.”
“I have to do something. I have to move,” Marga cried. “I need to do something. Anything. Just let me be, okay”
“I’m sorry, Marga.”
“I have to focus on something because if I don’t, I’ll remember grandpa’s really gone.”
“Do you miss him?”
“I just don’t understand why all this had to happen.” Marga kept on crying and Maureen comforted her with a hug. Cassie asked LJ and Fatima to go ahead for lunch while she dropped off some things at the principal’s office. Kristoff came over as soon as the girls left and offered Cassie some lunch he had packed for her.
“Thank you, Tope,” Cassie said. “But I’m not in the mood to eat. I need to be somewhere.”
“Okay.”
Mrs. Galvez told Daniela about how most of the board wanted Romina to replace Robert as president of the company. “What?” Danny girl said in disbelief.
“Yes.”
“I will never allow that woman to run this company.”
“That’s how I feel to, so we need to act now.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll make sure that woman doesn’t get anything. Neither will her bästärd daughter.”
Romina told Bonita about how Robert had wanted to tell her something before his dëäth. Bonita insinuated that Robert could have known the person who had wanted him dëäd. Romina received a delivery and when Bonita asked what it was for, she told her that she had requested for Robert’s phone records from his service provider. “Why?” Bonita asked, confused.
“I need answers,” Mina said. “I need to know the last person he spoke to before the incident.” She went through the document and found the last number Robert had dialled. Mina dialled the number on her phone, and stared at Bonita in shock. “It’s Daniela.”
“What?”
“She’s one of the last people he talked to. She never told me any of this.”
Marga joined Kristoff at the waiting area and teased him with the lunch he had packed. “It’s for Cassie,” Kristoff said.
“Right. I almost forgot you liked her. So why didn’t you give it to her?”
“I tried, but she didn’t accept it. I really wanna help her but I don’t know what else to do.”
“You’re doing your best, Kristoff. It’s not your fault if she doesn’t appreciate it. She doesn’t even deserve the things you’re doing for her.”
“Marga, please. She’s going through a lot right now.”
“I know løvë is blind, but in your case, it looks stüpïd. She doesn’t appreciate your efforts, so just wake up.”
Romina was waiting for Daniela at her house when she came in. She confronted her and asked about her last conversation with her father before his dëäth. Daniela played dumb and Mina threatened to shove the phone record down her throat. “What did you and your father talk about?” Mina demanded. “He told me that he was on his way to the police station to reveal the truth. He told me to meet him there. We both know why he was going there. You knew he was planning to rat you out, that’s why you called him.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Danny girl said. “Spare me your ridiculous accusations.”
“Just tell me the truth. What did you talk about with your dad that day?”
“First, you blame me for what happened to you back then, and now this?”
Carlos came in as they were still arguing. He asked Mina to stop and Mina told her to stay out of it. “You’re harassing my wife,” Carlos grumbled. “I can’t stay out of it. You better go. Can’t you see that we’re all grieving?”
Alvin was worried that Daniela might come after them if she figured things out. He told her brother that Daniela suspected them and he wouldn’t be surprised if they got arrested the next time the police came there. “That’s if Daniela figures it out,” Hector said. “If her güñ is aimed at you, you have to point her to another target. Do you understand?”
Daniela was crying her heart out to her husband, saying that Romina just wanted to use her dad’s dëäth to get back at her. Carlos asked her to calm down but she went on with her ‘cry-fest’. “I’ll talk to Romina,” Carlos decided. “We’re just starting to bring our family together. I won’t let anything ruin that.”
Romina was in her office recalling her recent encounter with Daniela when Bernard came in and asked to have a talk with her. He told her that they couldn’t start any business transactions until the reading of Robert’s last will. Mina didn’t want to get into it at the moment. “I’ll let you think about it,” Bernard said. “The sooner, the better.”
“Okay. Let’s get this over with.”
“I’ll confirm with Daniela and let you know when everything is settled.”
At Maxwell, Nadya and Nica offered their condolences to Marga. They joined her at her table and asked what her plan was. “What do you mean?” Marga asked, confused.
“We all know your grandpa’s the richest in your family,” Nica began. “But now that he’s gone, I’m sure you’ll be getting a big inheritance just like I did when my grandfather died.”
Marga looked horrified. “How shallow can you get, Nica?”
“Come on, Marga,” Nadya said. “We know you. You’ll be back to being the princess because your inheritance wouldn’t be as much as Cassie’s. She’s not legally adopted, right?”
“Go to hell, Nadya,” Marga hissed before storming off. Savannah told Daniela that she had seen her ‘step-monster’ and her dad’s lawyer talking earlier. “I didn’t hear anything but it looked very serious. I’m guessing Romina is planning to take over everything. I wouldn’t be surprised if your dad’s lawyer is making changes in the will in Romina’s favor.”
“Like hell I’m going to let her do that.”
“Well, you better act fast. Do you have a plan?”
Daniela received a phone call just then. “Hello.”
“Hello, Mrs. Bartolome. Can you come over to the police station? We need to clarify something about your dad’s dëäth.”
At the station, an officer interrogated Daniela and asked about the last time she had spoken to her father. Daniela told the officer that her father had called her before the accident. She then recalled the conversation she had had with him.
“What did you both talk about?” the officer asked.
“I asked him why he left the mansion,” Danny girl began.
“What was his answer?”
“That he’d explain everything once he got back.”
“What was your relationship like with the deceased?”
“We had our differences but we always settled them. I løvëd my father, and he løvëd me back.”
Carlos confronted Romina in her office concerning what had happened at their house. “You’re not the only one mourning. You shouldn’t throw accusations like that because it just shows that you’re not seeking justice.”
Mina looked on angrily as he left. Back at the station, the officer asked Daniela whether she could remember anyone who had a feud with her father before the incident. “He received a dëäth threat not long before,” Daniela said. “Before the first accident, I saw a bloodstain on his shirt. He had a wound and I asked where he got it. He said he and Romina fought. It must have been physical.”
“He fought with his wife?”
“Yes.”
Cassie stood by her locker, crying over her father’s dëäth as she stared at the necklace he had given her on her birthday. Marga noticed her and came over. “It will get better,” she said, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
“I feel like I never had enough time,” Cassie sobbed. “He should have been here longer. I miss him.”
“You’re still lucky. At least you were with him for a long time. If I only knew this would have happened, I would have tried to get along with you. I would have been nicer to you. Grandpa wouldn’t have gotten upset with me.”
“Marga, he wasn’t mad at you. He tried to understand you even though we always fight. I miss him too.” Both girls hugged and cried. Daniela met up with Savannah who was worried about the police finding out about Robert’s plan to turn Daniela in before his dëäth. “They can use that as a motive. Not only will you be charged with his dëäth, you’ll also be implicated in Romina’s case.”
“I know that more than anyone. That’s why I’m looking for concrete evidence against Alvin. I’ll be able to get justice for dad and cover up Romina’s case.”
The Mondragons and the Bartolomes were seated at the conference room at Camila for the reading of Robert’s will. Bernard announced that the trust fund Robert had set up for Cassie and Marga amounted to 50 million pesos each, and that the girls could claim it when they reached the age of 18 with all the accumulated bank interest.
“Robert also made sure that both girls would get support until the age of 21,” Bernard went on. “Worth 75,000 pesos monthly. Just like the trust fund, Romina and Daniela are authorized to handle it.”
Daniela started mocking Mina and Cassie. Mina asked her to stop and Daniela said she wouldn’t protest Cassie’s trust fund. Bernard passed some documents around. “And now, for the last will and testament.”
“Do they have to be here for that?” Daniela argued. “Only relatives have the right to be here.”
Bernard looked frustrated. “Romina and Cassie are his legal wife and daughter. They have every right to be here.”
Some officers went to Alvin’s place and asked him to go to the police station with them to answer some questions about Robert’s dëäth. Back in the conference room, Bernard read Robert’s last will and testament. “I give and bequit to my daughters Cassandra Andrada-Mondragon and Daniela Mondragon-Bartolome personal jewelries valued at a 100,000,000 pesos to be divided equally between the two of them.”
Bernard then told Daniela and Carlos that the house they were currently living in would be transferred under their names. “I give and bequit to my wife Romina Andrada-Mondragon the residential lot and property at 143 Menano Villas of Quezon city.”
“What?” Daniela said in disbelief. “Why would he give the mansion to Romina?”
Bernard gave Daniela a look, readying himself for the tantrum she was about to throw. If there was one thing he knew, it was that Daniela never disappointed. “That mansion was bought by my parents,” Danny girl barked. “She doesn’t have any right to it. I’ve had enough of this. She doesn’t deserve it. The mansion should rightfully be mine.”
Bernard looked exasperated. “I’m sorry to remind you – that was one of the properties you liquidated from Robert before you left for Taiwan. Sad to say, you already got your share of that property.”
“What I got was my share of my inheritance from mommy. This is ridiculous.”
“If you feel wronged Daniela, then contest it,” Carlos reasoned. “Don’t make a scene here.”
“A scene? They’re stealing my home! I will never let them have it!”
“We aren’t stealing anything from you,” Mina finally said. “Seriously, Daniela? Are you really questioning Robert’s decision?”
“You’re only saying that because you’re benefiting from it.” Danny girl turned to Bernard. “What the hell is this?!”
“This was all Robert’s decision,” Bernard pointed out. “There’s nothing you can do about it.”
Marga pleaded with her mother to stop, and Daniela listened and calmed down . Well for now, at least. “And finally, I give and bequit to my wife Romina Andrada-Mondragon 50% of my shares and assets in Camila Sardines.”
Romina and Daniela both looked shocked. “The remaining 50% will be equally divided between my daughters Daniela Mondragon-Bartolome and Cassandra Andrada-Mondragon.”
Danny girl sprang up to her feet. “Are you kidding me? No! The company is mine!”
“Daniela, calm down,” Bernard pleaded.
Daniela shoved him away and started pulling Mina’s hair. “Like hell I’m going to calm down.” Carlos and Marga tried holding her back as she went after Cassie too. “Stop it!” Mina yelled, facing off with Danny girl. “Don’t you dare hurt my daughter!”
“It will be a cold day in hell, Romina, before I let you take over my parents’ legacy!” Daniela hissed. Carlos dragged his wounded wife away while Mina comforted Cassie as she cried. Bernard looked like he had been hit with a freaking freight train, the look on his face as if he was saying ‘Why, Robert. Why?’
