“Let her think that she’s won the war. Daniela may have won this battle, but she’ll learn firing me was her biggest mistake. Now that I’m out of the company, she can’t target me. I will not stop until I get back everything Daniela took away from me. I swear to you, I will do exactly what she did to me, and have her crawling on her knees.”
Carlos received a call from Gino, telling him to come to the auto shop because they needed him there. A moment later, Carlos arrived with his father, and Gino told him about how they had been kicked out by some goons. Hector came out to gloat. Carlos argued that the car shop belonged to him, and Hector showed him the title deed which was now in his name.
“How did you get that?” Carlos asked in disbelief.
“Why don’t you ask your old man?
“I didn’t give him that,” Kulas cut in.
“Not to me, you dimwit. You gave it to one of my men while gambling.” Ironically, Hector threatened to call the cops on them if they didn’t leave his property.
At the diner, Mikoy asked that they take a quick breather before his head exploded from all the studying, adding that he was getting hungry. Marga told him to go order some snacks, but Mikoy went ahead to ask why they hadn’t studied at the mansion instead. Mini-Daniela spouted some crap as they talked about the enrollment into Maxwell. Myrna and Gino scolded Kulas for using the car shop Carlos had worked so hard to set up as collateral. The misëräble one-eyed-old man only got more upset. Jessa suggested to Carlos that he borrow some money from his rich wife to buy back the autoshop, and Myrna demanded that she shut her trap since it was her fault in the first place that Kulas had started gambling again.
Carlos refused to ask Daniela for help, even when Kulas also suggested it. Cassie arrived with Kristoff at the diner. Sir Wacky was excited to see her. He asked if she was ready to get back to work, and Cassie regretfully informed him of her resignation since the doctor had instructed her to rest. Sir Wacky asked her not to worry but prioritize her wellbeing. He then left for the kitchen to have special something prepared for the two. Mini-Daniela came over and started ranting about how Cassie wouldn’t be able to afford studying at Maxwell this school year.
“If there’s a will, there’s a way,” Cassie stated.
“You’re poor now,” Mini-Daniela bitçhëd.
“And who’s fault was that?” Kristoff cut in.
“Just ignore her, Tope,” Cassie added. “Marga, you may have taken everything my father left us, but there are things you can never have no matter what you do. My mother will take care of me, and I won’t let you take anything else from us again.”
The board mentioned to Romina about the leak of their project files. They brought up the job offer and secret meeting with Mr. Louie, accusing her of sabotaging Camila. Daniela walked in and added to the trouble. Mina was certain that Daniela was behind it. A flashback was shown of how Daniela and her bratty lapdog, along with Mrs. Galvez and Mr. Louie had orchestrated everything.
Hector was gloating over the stunt he had pulled on Carlos, mocking him about how he couldn’t even handle his personal problems. Roxy came over and announced the entrance exam and requirements for getting into Maxwell. Alvin tried giving her a reality check, but Hector however encouraged her to take the exams, promising to have her enrolled if she passed. Roxy was excited.
“Are you sure about that?” Alvin asked after Roxy left. “The tuition is no joke.”
“Cash isn’t the problem anymore,” Hector replied. “It will be good for me. Daniela’s daughter goes there. We’ll see each other more often.”
Back in the conference room at Camila, the board, Daniela and her lapdogs were still ganging up on Romina. Danny girl suggested that since the files had been leaked through Romina’s office, then they would have to sue Bonita, her secretary since Mina was insistent on her innocence. Mina eventually decided to step down on the condition that they leave Bonita alone since she had nothing to do with it.
“You won’t get any compensation,” a board member said. “If you get terminated, Romina, you’ll get nothing.”
“I started from the ground up,” Mina stated. “And I am not afraid to do it all over again.”
In her office, Romina revealed to Bernard, Bonita and Neil about the board’s decision to sue her for corporate sabotage, accusing her of leaking files to Mr. Louie. Camp Mina wanted to fight back, but Mina was reluctant since it was evident that the board had already fired her before even the meeting. Camp Daniela were celebrating their victory over Romina. Back in Mina’s office, Bonita and Neil wanted to resign on account of Mina’s termination. Romina however asked them not to sacrifice their jobs for her sake.
“They may have taken away my job,” Mina said. “But they can’t take away the reputation I have built over the years. This doesn’t mean Daniela has won. She will only win if I stay here and remain in her shadow. It’s better I find a new job and start over.”
“But, Romina…”
“Bonita, it’s best for you guys to stay here. Let her think that she’s won the war. You will both be my eyes and ears here inside the company.”
“But what if she targets us next?” Neil asked worriedly.
“She wouldn’t do that. Daniela is smart.”
“Don’t worry about them,” Daniela said back in her office. “If I managed to kick out their master, they’ll be easy. They will be my insurance against Romina. As long as they’re here, she can’t touch me.”
Camp Daniela toasted to that. “What we need to focus on is finding evidence on the expansion project,” Romina said back in her office. “That is the only way we can remove her from this company. And when that happens, I will come back here.”
“But it’s like you’re giving up, Romina,” Bernard argued.
“Bernard, Daniela started a war. We can’t just charge in without any ammo. Daniela may have won this battle, but she’ll learn firing me was her biggest mistake. Now that I’m out of the company, she can’t target me.”
Romina was staring at a portrait of herself and her husband when Bernard came to notify her that the car was ready to go. Bonita and Neil had already packed up her stuff. “I can’t believe you’re leaving,” Bonita said.
“And I’ll start all over again,” Mina stated. “I will do everything I can to take back my place here. I will not allow Daniela to destroy what Robert worked so hard to build.”
“But how are you going to do that?” Neil asked.
“I don’t know yet, but I will not stop until I get back everything Daniela took away from me. I swear to you, I will do exactly what she did to me, and have her crawling on her knees.”
Camp Daniela found out about the employees and the factory workers who had gathered at the lobby waiting for Romina. Danny girl was furious. Romina was surprised to see the crowd of workers in the lobby, commending her and declaring not to leave until her position was given back to her. Daniela stormed over with her lapdogs and ordered the workers to get back to work. They however refused and gave her a piece of their mind.
“Do something,” Danny girl whispered to Mrs. Galvez.
“Why are you trembling?” Mina taunted.
“Make them stop.”
“Am no longer your employee, Daniela. I won’t take orders from you anymore. Now reap the consequences of your actions.”
“What are you saying?”
“You only stripped me of my job, but not the respect of all the employees who have been with me from the start. If you were in my position right now, do you think they’d do the same thing for you?”
“They’re in no position to demand anything from me.”
“And that is why their support is for me and not you. I have the respect of the employees, and that is one thing they will never truly give you.”
“Go back to work or you’ll all get fired,” Daniela called out to the workers. They ignored her anyway.
“Are you really that desperate?” Romina taunted.
“I am the CEO of this company,” Daniela mentioned. “My word is law.” Another threat followed but the people ignored her yet again.
“Daniela, stop,” Mina said. “You don’t have to threaten them. You already got what you wanted.”
Romina turned to the workers. She thanked them for all their support and pleaded with them to go back to work and not sacrifice themselves. The workers took off their staff ID cards to show their respect as Romina was being escorted out by Bernard, Neil and Bonita. At the diner, Cassie found out about her mother’s termination from Camila. Meanwhile, Daniela was determined to teach the workers who had gone against her a lesson now that Romina was no longer there. She called HR and demanded for all the files of the workers who had been in the lobby earlier. Kulas went to see Hector and asked him to give him some time to pay up everything he owed him.
“You’re already old,” Hector teased. “You’d be six feet under by the time you paid even half of your debt.”
“Oh, come on,” Kulas muttered.
Bernard couldn’t understand why Romina had agreed to Daniela’s deal. Bonita and Neil stood outside the door. Romina revealed that Bonita would have been sued had she not agreed to it. Bonita walked in with Neil. “You shouldn’t have taken responsibility for something you didn’t do.”
“But you didn’t do it either, Bonita. We all know who Daniela is going after here.”
“But you should have told me about it,” Bonita sobbed. “If I have to sacrifice myself, I’ll do it. It’s nothing compared to all the help you and Mr. Robert gave me.”
“And that is the reason I didn’t tell you. I knew you’d do that. You need this job. Your family needs you. Besides, I’ll be fine.”
Cassie arrived home with Kristoff and asked her mother whether Daniela was also behind her termination from the company. “It’s just my job I lost,” Mina said. “There’s nothing to worry about.”
“But mamma…
“Listen, Cassie, this is for the best. I’ll no longer have anything to do with Daniela, and now that I’m no longer part of the company, we can finally live peaceful lives and I can keep you away from her. Just trust me. Someday, we will get back everything that we have lost.”
Daniela arrived home to celebrate the Mondragons’ downfall with her mini product, glad to be finally rid of them. Nanny Esther looked on. Kulas told Carlos about how Hector had turned down his deal of paying back in installments. Carlos told him to leave it to him to get the car shop back since whatever he did only made things worse. Kulas tried to convince Carlos to go back to Daniela since she was the only one with the money to help them, but Carlos didn’t want to hear any of it.
“It’s not just the car shop we have to worry about,” grumbled the misëräble one-eyed-old man. “What about our daily expenses?”
Myrna came over. “I’ll look for a job. Family members are supposed to help each other, right?”
“You’re making me look bad,” Kulas muttered.
“Get your act together, Kulas. Our family’s in all sorts of trouble because of your stüpïd decisions, as well as Jessa’s interference. You collateralized the shop for her.”
Gino joined the party. “What is it this time? Can’t you guys settle things without arguing?”
“Gino, just stay out of this,” Carlos admonished.
“No, let him butt in,” Kulas said. “He’s got an opinion, right? Gino, it’s not like you’ve done anything to help this family. You’re just adding to our problems. You two are basically the reason why Jude died. You left him unattended.”
Myrna was exasperated. “Why, Kulas? Was his life in my hand?! Was I his doctor?”
“We were all together in Jude’s room,” Gino pointed out. “But the nurse asked mom to leave before Jude had a heart ättaçk. Now tell me, how’s that our fault?”
Romina was preparing her resume for a job hunt, and Cassie commended her as an amazing manager in Camila, sure that all other companies would want to hire her. “They might even fight over you,” Cassie teased.
Romina was amused. “You think so?”
“Yes, ma. Of course, you’re the best.”
“Thank you. This is only temporary. I will find another job and get us back on our feet.”
“And I’ll do my best to help you, mamma. I’ll perform better in school. I already scheduled an appointment at Maxwell to arrange my scholarship.”
“Very good, dear.”
Neil barged in just then with Jepoy in tow, announcing that Daniela was outside with some Camila employees. Romina went to confront Daniela, who spouted some crap and demanded for the return of the company’s car since she no longer worked at Camila. Romina took the keys from Jepoy and handed them to Daniela. “You can have it. Do you think my world would crumble if you take my car away? I have both of my feet. I can still walk.”
“I’m only starting, Romina,” Danny girl declared. “And I won’t stop until you’re crawling on the ground.”
“Crawling is fine if I know my destination. I will keep moving forward to spite you. But I’m not sure you can say the same. Even if you had all the cars in the world, you wouldn’t budge an inch.”
“I can see you have a lot of free time, so if you’re going somewhere, you better start walking.”
Marga was surprised to learn that Roxanne wanted to study in Maxwell as well. The Mean Squad came over and asked whether Michael was going to apply for the entrance exams, and Marga said that was so. The girls then discussed about the new senior high school building that had replaced the old one. Nica asked about Cassie, and Mini-Daniela happily announced that she would no longer be studying in Maxwell since she couldn’t afford it anymore. Roxy and Mikoy were awed as Mini-Daniela kept spouting more crap. Back outside the apartment unit, Romina apologized to Cassie for the incident earlier.
“Just let me deal with Daniela by myself, okay?”
“Ma, we’re still one family,” Cassie said. “That faces our problems together. Besides, a car isn’t that important to us.”
“She’s right, Romina,” Neil cut in. “I’m used to commuting. We can save up on gas.”
“Daniela just gave me enough reason to work harder,” Cassie added. “And I’ll keep studying hard for our family’s future.”
Romina pouted. “Hmmm. I think that calls for a hug.” The episode ended as Romina pulled Cassie, Neil and Jepoy into a group hug.
