“Daniela, if the day comes that I need to drag you to a jail cell myself, I’ll gladly do it. We both know that once the truth comes out, you’ll end up behind bars. And even if you sell your soul to the devil, you can never escape from your crime. That is if you have anything left to sell.”
Neil came into his sister’s office and found her going through the police statements files. He asked whether she wasn’t tired and Romina told him that she wouldn’t be able to move on untill it was finished. Neil then offered to help her out. Romina was surprised to find that Daniela had given a statement too, but even more angry with what she had said about her. Bernard told Robert that the documents were still being finalized. Robert was upset with the delay and Bernard asked why he was in such a hurry. Robert then told him that he needed to fix things and he needed those documents to do that.
“What are you talking about?” Bernard asked, still confused. “What do you need to set right? Tell me what’s really happening.”
“Just do what I asked you to.”
Daniela came into Robert’s office and asked to have a talk with him. Robert told her that it wasn’t an easy decision to make and he was doing everything to make things right. Daniela thanked him. Romina stormed in and greeted Danny girl with a dirty släp. “Tell me the truth! What was your role in what happened to me?”
Robert came in between them. “Wait, Romina. What’s going on.”
“I read the statement she gave to the police. She basically called me a loose woman. She even questioned whether I was really räpëd or not.”
“You know I was mad at you back then,” Danny girl argued. “I just based my observations of you back then.”
“You threw me that party I didn’t ask for, and all along you just wanted to ruin my life?”
Daniela held on to her father’s arm, silently pleading with him to back her up. Robert shook off Daniela. “Romina, let me handle this.”
Mina gave him a look. “Don’t tell me you’re siding with her.”
“No. What am saying is that this isn’t the right time and place to discuss this.”
“Do you actually expect me to believe you aren’t siding with her?” Mina stormed off, and Robert gave Daniela a look. At Maxwell, the Mean Squad congratulated Marga for taking the 1st position in the Maxwell Prime leaderboard. Nica mocked Cassie as she came over with her friends. Cassie congratulated Marga and she thanked her. “Have you visited your janitor father in jail?” Nadya mocked.
“Can you just stop, Nadya?” Marga said, much to Cassie’s surprise. “At least Cassie made it on the list. You couldn’t even crack the top 5.”
The Mean Squad stormed off in annoyance. Cassie smiled. “Thanks, Marga.”
“I said I’d be civil. Besides, my world would go back to normal once you leave. Consider it my farewell gift.”
Romina arrived home with Robert, still upset with the statement Daniela had made. Robert asked her to let him fix the issue but Mina was determined not to let her go free this time. Cassie came over and asked what was going on. Mina told Robert that she hadn’t forced him to choose between her and Daniela, and that Daniela was used to doing things without consequences.
“Just give me time,” Robert pleaded. “I’ll do what I can.”
“How long?!” Mina stormed off and Cassie glanced at her father before going after her. At the Bartolome house, Carlos was disgusted with the statement Daniela had made about Romina. Daniela went on to justify herself and Marga came in and asked whether they were arguing again because of her aunt. Daniela told her that they were just talking.
“I’m not a saint,” Danny girl said to Carlos. “But that doesn’t make me a bad person. I make mistakes too.”
“I’m trying to understand you,” Carlos said. “Romina is looking for all those connected to her case and because of this, she might consider you a suspect.”
Hector’s right-hand man told him about the summit Robert would be attending soon. “Find out how he’s getting to the summit, then we’ll make sure he doesn’t come back.”
“Yes, boss.”
Romina confronted Alvin in jail and demanded to know how he had been able to carry out everything. Alvin told her that he hadn’t done anything without her permission. Mina släppëd him. “You bästärd,” she hissed. “Did you have an accomplice?” Mina started pounding him as an officer tried to hold her back. “You couldn’t have planned this even if you used your head.”
“What accomplice?” Alvin said. “Why would I need one when I didn’t even räpë you.”
“What kind of animal are you?”
Hector arrived on the scene and defended his brother and Mina promised to make sure that the true criminals suffer once the truth came out. Marga confronted Cassie at her locker and started ranting about Romina dragging her mother into her case because she couldn’t prove that she had been räpëd. Cassie told her that her mother had a valid reason for suspecting Daniela since she had claimed that her mother was a loose woman.
“Everyone’s saying it,” Marga said. “It’s time you accept the truth. I’m done playing nice with. Your mom is to be blamed.”
Back at the station, Alvin mentioned that Romina was really angry and Hector told him that was a good thing bacause she wouldn’t be able to think straight. Camila’s attorney told Romina that her case had been dismissed for lack of evidence and due to the testimony of some witnesses. Mina stormed off, upset and Robert went after her. Romina pleaded with the D.A (District Attorney) not to have Alvin released. The D.A said he was just following the law. Meanwhile, Alvin was being released from prison. Back at the D.A’s, Mina was upset and shattered that she had to prove that she had really been abused by the culprit. Daniela met up with Savannah and they celebrated the dismissal of Romina’s case. Savannah told her that all she had to do now was to find a way to get rid of Hector and Alvin.
“They’re a ticking time bømb,” Savannah warned.
“We’re in the same boat,” Danny girl said. “If they betray me, they’re going down with me.”
As Alvin was quickly packing his things at his place, he found a cufflink among his belongings. Flashback : Alvin abducted a disoriented Romina and carried her into an isolated cabin. As he started to undress her, someone suddenly batted him on the head, forcing him to flee. The next morning, Alvin came back to the cabin to search for anything he had dropped that could incriminate him. He then found a cufflink on the floor. Present : “Are you ready?” Hector asked over the Bluetooth headset.
“Hang on,” Alvin said.
“Don’t tell me you’re scared! We need to k!ll Robert. We can’t fail this.”
“That won’t happen, Hector.”
At the mansion, Robert talked to his PI on phone and asked him to send him all the original photos, videos and files relating to Daniela. Romina came in to offer him a cup of coffee. She noticed the photo of Daniela and Hector on Robert’s phone (the photo had been blurred to hide their faces). Later that night, Mina sneaked out of bed as soon as her husband fell asleep. She went through Robert’s phone and this time, she found the original unedited photo of Daniela and Hector. Mina was shocked.
She took a shot of the photo. Romina woke up from bed the next morning. She confronted Robert in his office at Camila with a developed version of the photo, asking whether Daniela was connected to Hector.
“Do they know each other?” Mina asked.
Robert nodded silently.
“Since when?”
“I don’t know. I’m still investigating.”
“Was she involved in what happened to me?”
“Romina, that’s what I want to know. I want to hear what Daniela has to say. I want to give her a chance to explain.”
“A chance? How can you say that? Did she give me a chance to get the justice I deserved? How could you keep this from me?”
“I was just waiting for the right time to explain everything to you,” Robert claimed. “I’m still investigating.”
“My case was dismissed,” Mina wailed. “Is that what you wanted? Are you happy now that your daughter is safe?”
“This picture doesn’t prove anything.”
“It does! You know how important this is to me. My life depended on that case, but you let them get away with it!”
Someone stood outside Robert’s office, spying on them from outside. Romina was crying now. She grabbed the family portrait on Robert’s desk and launched it. The portrait struck the wall and broke into pieces, and Robert got cut in the process. “You chose to protect Daniela!”
The spy disappeared. “I’m sorry,” Robert said.
“Go and do whatever you have to do. I need some time alone.”
Robert’s secretary came to inform him that his car was ready and he told Romina that they would talk once he got back. “Tell me the truth!” Mina cried out. “How are we going to fix this? Why did you do this to me? If I can prove that Daniela is connected to what happened to me, and if I have to make the both of you pay…I will.”
Romina called her daughter on phone and asked whether she had finished packing with her uncle. Cassie said they were almost done. She asked her mother whether they really needed to go ahead with it and Mina said she had already given her father the chance to choose their family, and yet, he had still chosen to protect Daniela. At Camila’s parking lot, a guy walked away from Robert’s car and made a call. “It’s done, boss.”
“Good,” Hector said on the other line. “Get out of there, and make sure you don’t get caught.”
In her room at the mansion, Romina stared at the developed photo of Daniela and Hector. After staring at her wedding ring for a while, she took it off and placed it on the photo. Mina then made a call. “Hello, attorney. We need to meet.”
Later at Camila’s parking lot, Daniela noticed the bloodstains on her father’s dress. She asked about it and Robert told him that Romina had seen the photo of her and Hector. “Did you tell her the truth?” Danny girl asked. “Is she trying to k!ll you now?”
“No, no. It was just an accident. Please don’t do anything. I’ll take care of everything.”
At the mansion, Esther pleaded with Romina to talk things out with her husband first. Mina told her that she was done talking because it was much more serious for that. “Mamma,” Cassie cried as Esther pulled her and Neil into a hug.
“I’m sorry, Cassie,” Mina said. “But I need to do this. Let’s go.”
Esther hugged Neil and Cassie goodbye, crying as Romina drove off with them. Robert was on his way to the business summit when he had a phone call. “Esther?”
“Mr. Robert,” Esther began. “Mrs. Romina, Cassie and Neil left the mansion with their things.”
“What?”
“I tried to stop them, but Mrs. Romina insisted on leaving.”
After the call, Robert ordered Jude, the driver to turn the car around and drive back to the house. The driver couldn’t turn though since the breaks weren’t working. “Jude, watch out!” Robert yelled as the car collided with another car which had come out of nowhere. Marga was ranting on about how Romina was accusing her mother of being involved in her case and how Cassie has been defending her. Carlos tried to talk some sense into her, telling her to leave the matter to him and focus on her studies instead of starting fights with Cassie again.
“Sometimes I feel helpless,” Marga said. “I want to protect myself and mommy.”
“I’ll protect you both,” Carlos assured.
During the drive away from the mansion, Neil asked Romina whether Robert knew about them leaving. Cassie asked what was going on and Mina told her to forgive her because she needed some time to think since things were complicated between her and her father. “Can’t you talk it over with daddy?” Cassie asked.
“We can’t,” Mina said. “It’s not that easy, so please let me do this.” Mina then received a phone call. “Hello, Bonita.”
“Romina,” Bonita said frantically. “Mr. Robert was in an accident.”
“What?”
“He was rushed to the hospital.”
“Which hospital?”
“Loreno Memorial.”
“Okay, okay. We’re going there.”
Cassie asked her mother who was at the hospital and Mina told her that her father had been in an accident. At Camila, Bonita told Daniela that her father had been involved in an accident and he had been taken to the hospital. Daniela left hurriedly. At San Loreno hospital, Romina rushed in with Cassie and Neil and asked about her husband. Robert called out to her, saying that he was okay. Mina and Cassie went to hug him, and Robert consoled Cassie as she cried.
“What happened?” Mina asked.
“The car’s break failed,” Robert replied.
“How could our car’s break fail. We only bought it recently.”
“I don’t understand either, that’s why the police took it to the motor pool to find out the reason the breaks suddenly failed.”
“Daddy, I was so scared,” Cassie cried, hugging her father again. “I thought I’d never see you again.”
“It’s okay, baby,” Robert consoled. “Daddy’s fine.”
Cassie left with Neil for the cafeteria. “Am thankful nothing bad happened to you,” Mina sobbed. “Robert, in our last conversation, we were fighting.”
“I’m fine. I’m okay. I’ve been given another chance to make things right.”
“I don’t know what I would have done if it had all ended like that.”
“It’s okay. You have every reason to be upset with me. I’m the one who did you wrong. I’m sorry. Just give me a chance. We’re going to fix this.” Robert hugged her. “Don’t ever leave me.”
Hector was very very upset that Robert had survived the car crash. Alvin feared that they could be exposed and Hector told him that he wasn’t stüpïd enough to let any traces lead back to them. Back at San Lorenzo, the doctor told Robert that both of his companions (the driver and his secretary) were fine and that the driver had only suffered some fractures. Daniela arrived, glad that her father was okay. She asked her father what had happened and Robert told her about the breaks failing and how the police were now trying to find out the cause.
“I have a strange feeling that it wasn’t an accident,” Robert said.
Daniela broke down in tears and started making a fuss. Robert assured her that he was fine. “I was worried sick,” Danny girl cried. “I can’t lose another parent. Please don’t do that to me, dad.”
“It’s okay,” Robert consoled. “Daddy’s fine. Don’t cry. I’m okay, baby.” Robert hugged and consoled her some more as she cried. Romina arrived on the scene with Cassie and Neil and they all watched the moment silently. At Kulas’ house, Carlos told his family about Romina accusing Daniela of being involved in her case. Kulas told Carlos not to believe anything Mina said but Jude and Gino were certain that Mina wouldn’t accuse anyone without having reason to.
“Daniela can’t do what Romina’s accusing her of,” Carlos declared. “She has an attitude but she’s not a bad person.”
“That’s why you shouldn’t believe Romina,” the misëräble old man grumbled. “She wants to get back at us.”
Carlos then had a phone call. “Hello, Daniela.”
“Will you and Marga be able to go to the mansion?”
“Why? What happened?
“Dad was in an accident.”
“What? How is he?”
“He’s okay. But I wanna stay with him right now. We’re about to leave the hospital.”
“Okay. I’ll pick Marga up, then we’ll head to the mansion.”
Carlos relayed the information to his family after the call. Myrna came in and Gino went to hug her happily. Kulas asked what she was doing there. Carlos ignored her mother and went out as she called out to him. Jude left for his room. “What are you doing here?” Kulas demanded.
“I want to talk to my sons,” Mryna said. “And you. I want to ask for forgiveness for everything I did.”
“You’ve already føøled us twice, Mryna! It would be stüpïd of us to give you another chance.”
During the drive back to the mansion, Cassie asked her father whether he had made up with her mother yet. Robert said they were yet to talk and reconcile. “I was so scared,” Cassie sobbed. “When mamma and I left the mansion, I thought I’d never see you again.”
Robert took his daughter’s hand in his. “Whatever happens between I and your mother, the mansion will always be your home. I worked hard for it and I only want you and your mother to have it.”
“Daddy…”
“There’s something I need to do to set everything right. I’m doing it for you and your mother. Promise me that no matter what happens, you will never leave the mansion.”
“But daddy, what is going on?”
“I’ll explain everything when I come back. Just trust me.”
At the mansion, Esther told Romina that she was glad she had come back. Mina said she was Robert’s wife and she had sworn to never leave him no matter what. “Don’t worry,” Esther assured. “You’ll sort things out soon.”
“I hope so.”
Daniela came into the kitchen as Esther left. “I heard you left,” she began. “Why did you come back? You would have done us all a favor if you’d stayed away.”
“You’re really senseless, aren’t you? Your dad just had an accident.”
“You’re the one who left. After everything my father did for you, and this is how you repay him.”
“Who do you think started this whole thing? He sided with you and even though it pains me, I can’t do anything about it because you’re his daughter. But that doesn’t mean that I’ll stop looking for evidence that you are involved in my case. Daniela, if the day comes that I need to drag you to a jail cell myself, I’ll gladly do it.”
“Are you threatening me?”
Mina scoffed and showed her the photo on her phone. “As you can see, I’m not bluffing. We both know that once the truth comes out, you’ll end up behind bars.”
“That doesn’t prove anything,” Danny girl argued. “I can explain that.”
“Save your explanations, Daniela. I’m here to stay this time around. And even if you sell your soul to the devil, you can never escape from your crime. That is if you have anything left to sell.”
