“I’m glad you’re finally awake. No one can hear you in this basement. I guess criminals like you even feel fear. Why did you k!ll the person who saved me?! I know you and Hector are criminals. You’re the ones who could have murdered him. Admit what you and Daniela did. Tell me why you k!lled my husband!”
Bonita and Jepoy went to the clinic to ask about the DNA test concerning Daniela. The attendant told them that Daniela’s name wasn’t in their database. Meanwhile at the factory, Romina gave Hector another scolding for slacking off when it wasn’t break time. Mina asked him to get back to work and Hector walked away and made a phone call instead. Mina gave Hector a look and left. “Hello, call off our contact,” Hector said. “The guy with the smuggled goods came here earlier. Tell him to hold off or Romina might see him.”
“Okay, boss.”
Kristoff bumped into Cassie at the diner and apologized. Marga sat at a table with Nica and Maureen. She told them that she was there to make Cassie misëräble and no one could stop her. “She already won Maxwell Prime,” Nica said. “Would you let her steal Kristoff from you too?”
Marga shook her head. “Not going to happen.”
“So what’s your plan?”
Romina was making her rounds outside the factory when she noticed the smuggler standing nearby. Hector, who stood at a distance, signalled him to disappear. Mina approached him. “What are you doing here? Do you work here?”
“No I don’t,” said the smuggler. “Sorry. I just got lost.”
Mina stared suspiciously as the guy left. She then made a phone call. “Hello, Pauline. I’ll wait for the person you sent outside.”
Over the phone, the smuggler told one of Hector’s goons that he was leaving because he and his boss couldn’t stick to their plan. A young man approached Romina and she asked him whether he was the one sent by Pauline from HR.
“Yes, ma’am,” said the guy.
“Let’s talk in the office.”
The messenger stared at Hector who was still hanging around nearby. A flashback was shown of how the guy had been bribed by Hector’s goon to testify against Romina. In another flashback, the messenger spied as Romina argued with Robert in his office.
Flashback : “Yes sir,” said the messenger. “I heard her say she’d k!ll him before pushing him. He even got injured because of that.”
Alvin had a flashback of the cufflink he had found at the cabin years ago and how Daniela had told him not to give it to Romina. He then flashed back to how his house had been raided and the evidence stolen. “Is that why Daniela wanted the cufflink?” Alvin thought to himself.
Daniela was getting all worked up because Hector wasn’t answering her calls. Savannah suggested that she focus on making sure Romina wouldn’t be able to touch her since she had the biggest shares in the company. “You know how dangerous she is,” Savvi said. “How much more when she finds out that Cassie really is her father’s daughter and you knew about it all this time. There’s going to be hell to pay, Danny.”
“No one will ever know that Cassie’s my dad’s daughter,” Danny girl declared. “I will make sure of that, so you better shut it before someone hears you.”
“I’m just saying you should be prepared. You better have something against her.”
The messenger from HR brought Romina some documents in her office. Mina stared at him. “Have we met before? Or are you new here?”
“Um… ma’am. I’m just not the usual guy assigned to you to receive your documents.”
Mina frowned at him. Some workers ran in just then and told her that there was a problem at the production floor. Mina hurried out with them. Hector sneaked into the office a second later. “Follow me,” he said to the messenger. “Don’t act too suspicious.”
Cassie brought Marga, Nica and Maureen their order. Marga deliberately poured some food on herself and started bïtçhiñg about how it was all Cassie’s fault. She grabbed some cake on the floor and smeared Cassie’s face with it. Annoyed, Cassie snatched a cup of coffee from a waiter and poured it on Marga. “Wake up and smell the coffee so you’ll finally realize you’re not the victim between the two of us.”
Nica and Maureen ran off as both girls began pulling at each other’s hair, breaking a vase and some other items in the process. Sir Wacky rushed in. “Hey, what’s going on here? You broke the vase. Cassie, what happened? Why are you covered in cake?”
Kristoff grabbed Marga. “I thought I told you not to come here again. Cassie, are you okay?”
Back at the factory, Romina walked in on some employees fighting. She asked what had happened and the guys started blaming each other and fighting again. Mina called out for order and told them that production would only get worse if they didn’t cooperate with each other. “Mrs. Romina, I saw the new maintenance head,” a worker said. “He instigated all this.”
Mina looked on angrily. “Where is Hector?”
“He left right after the fire broke out.”
Back at the diner, Sir Wacky was pissed off that the girls had caused a scene earlier. Cassie apologized while Marga offered to pay double for everything that had been broken as long as he fired Cassie on the spot. “And who said anything about paying for damaged items?” Sir Wacky said. “Call your parents here right now and I’ll talk to them.”
“What’s your problem?” Marga asked. “I already said I’m willing to pay.”
“You decide. Either you decide to make your parents come here, or I will call the police.”
Daniela had a phone call from her daughter, telling her about the incident involving herself and Cassie. She pleaded with her mother to come to the diner and settle it with the manager. As Daniela was hurrying out, some investors came into her office for an appointment schedule. Back at the diner, Cassie confronted Marga and asked why she was bothering her at her workplace.
“You ruined my life,” Marga said. “So I promise to ruin yours as well. I know you’re here to work for your tuition fee. And I will never allow you to steal another school year from me in Maxwell again.”
“You’re so selfish, Marga. My future is at stake here. And you’re willing to sacrifice one school year so no one will compete with you, huh?”
“You should have backed off when you had the chance.”
“You’ve already taken everything from us, Marga. I’m doing this because I don’t want to depend on the inheritance daddy left us so you and Daniela will stop criticizing us.”
“Oh, are you going to cry? Cry me a river. Just make sure you’ll drown in it.”
“You’re the one who should be crying here. You just gave me another reason to return to Maxwell next school year.”
“Go ahead, Cassie. But I will make sure you don’t succeed.”
Outside the factory, Hector told the messenger to keep his mouth shut before sending him away. One of his men called him on phone and told him that he couldn’t find the smuggler. Hector ordered the goon to track him down and retrieve the bag he had been carrying. Alvin arrived just then and told his brother that he knew who Cassie’s real father was. “What are you talking about?” Hector asked.
“The cufflinks, Hector. I saw Robert wearing them in one of his portraits.”
“What are you saying?”
“What if it was Robert who räpëd Romina? What if he’s Cassie’s real father?”
Hector sighed in frustration. “Of all the dumbest ideas to ever come out of your mouth, that’s impossible.”
“But it’s all clear to me now. Daniela wanted those cufflinks back because it was her father who räpëd Romina. I need to get them back.”
“And then what? You’ll get caught. Do you really want to go back to prison?”
“But Hector…”
“Shut up. Romina and Daniela are watching us closely, so don’t do anything that can get us in some kind of trouble. Let them go after each other.”
Romina asked one of the employees whether he had seen the messenger who had given her the folders earlier. The man told her that the messenger had left with the new maintenance guy. Romina flashed back to the police interrogation concerning Robert’s dëäth and the messenger she had met a while ago. She then made a phone call. “Hello, Bernard.”
“Yes, Romina?”
“What is the name of the witness who testified against me? The man who said he saw me and Robert fighting here in the office.”
“Uh… Patrick Tolop. What’s this about?
“He’s still working here. I want to talk to him.”
Mina then called Bonita on phone. “I need you to find an address from our files in the main office. One of our employees in Camila. His name is Patrick Tolop.”
Romina and Bonita went to Patrick’s neighborhood. Mina asked an elderly woman whether Patrick was home and she told her that he had gone out a few moments ago, all anxious and stressed out. “I need to talk to that messenger,” Mina said to Bonita after the woman had left.
Alvin went to the mansion and asked to wait inside for Cassie since she wasn’t home yet. The guard however refused to let him in, saying that he had been instructed not to let anyone in while the owners were out. Savannah arrived at the diner and Sir Wacky asked whether she was Mrs. Bartolome. Marga told him that she wasn’t her mother. She asked Savannah where her mother was and Savvi told her that she was in a meeting with some investors. Savvi turned to Sir Wacky. “How much is the damage? I’ll pay double.”
“That’s exactly what your godchild said,” Sir Wacky grumbled. “This isn’t about money. This is about her behavior.”
“Maybe I could just pass on a message to her parents?”
“I would prefer them being here.”
“Alright,” Marga cut in. “I’ll call my dad.” She got up and opened the door.
Kristoff stood outside, piercing her with a look. “Marga, will you please stop coming back here? Just leave Cassie alone.”
Carlos launched his car shop and organized a party. As Jessa went over to his father, Carlos mentioned that he had noticed that she had been coming around often. “Doesn’t she have a life?” Carlos asked.
“Dad’s the only one who she talks to,” Gino replied. “Maybe they’re taking things to the next level.”
“What you talking about? They aren’t teenagers.”
“Look again. It’s pretty obvious to me that they’re flirting with each other.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
Alvin sneaked into the Mondragon Mansion. He made his way into the house through the door to the backyard. Grabbing a knife, he made it past Nanny Esther who went out to the backyard to check why the dogs were barking. Alvin stole past some maids and sneaked into Daniela’s room. He turned on the lights and started searching. Meanwhile in the living room, Esther was reminding a maid to collect the garbage in all the rooms when she heard a disturbance. “Is someone in Daniela’s room?” she asked.
“It’s empty,” the maid replied.
Esther went into Daniela’s room and found it empty. She turned on the lights, noticing the things that had been disturbed. Slowly, Esther made her way towards where Alvin hid behind a cupboard, the knife ready in his hand. The lights suddenly went out. “What’s going on?” Esther called out as she went out of Daniela’s room.
“It’s the circuit breaker, Miss Esther,” a maid answered back.
Alvin came out of hiding. With the help of a flashlight app, he went through the drawer, found the cufflinks and hid them in his shoe. As he made his way out of Daniela’s room, some maids were coming from the other side and he was forced to take cover in another room. Daniela was still in her meeting with the investors when Savannah called her and asked what was taking her so long. “Savvi, I’m still with the investors,” Danny girl whispered.
“Your daughter’s acting just like you. You know how stubborn she can get.”
“I’ll just tell Carlos to pick you up there.”
“Mrs. Bartolome…” began one of the investors.
“Sir, give me just one moment,” Daniela pleaded. “I need to make one more call. I’ll get back to you right away.”
Daniela called Primarosa and asked to speak to her husband. “Sorry but your husband doesn’t work here anymore,” the woman on the other line said. “He was fired from the company. Didn’t he tell you?”
“What?”
Romina arrived home and asked the guard why the power was out. He told her that there was a problem with the circuit breaker, adding that it was being fixed. “Cassie’s father came here earlier too,” said the guard. “He wanted to come inside but I didn’t let him.”
“Alright. Thank you.”
Nanny Esther opened the door to the study room Alvin had sneaked into earlier. Alvin hid behind the door, poised and ready to strike with the kñifë he was still carrying. Esther started going in. Romina entered the living. “Nanny? What are you doing there?”
Esther closed the door and came over. “I was just going to empty the trashbin.”
“Just do that tomorrow. No one ever uses the study room anyway. You should just rest.”
“You have a point.”
The power came back on and Romina glanced around suspiciously. Daniela went to Carlos’ new car shop and complained about how she had been trying to reach him all afternoon. Carlos apologized, saying that he had been busy and he didn’t know his phone was on silent. Daniela started ranting. “Is it true? That you’re jobless now?”
No response.
“Answer me. Were you fired from your job?”
Kulas glanced at them. “Yes,” Carlos snapped. Back at the mansion, Alvin sneaked out of the study room only to be knocked down heavily by a blunt object. Romina stood over his fallen, unconscious body, staring down at him in a bored, casual manner. Back at Carlos’ car shop, Kulas asked the Bartolomes whether they were fighting again. He told Daniela about the car shop Carlos had bought. Daniela was surprised that Carlos hadn’t told her about it before and Carlos told her not to embarrass him. Myrna came to drag her drunk husband away before he could start making a scene.
“You care more about what people think?” Daniela asked.
“I didn’t tell you I lost my job because I feel so ashamed of myself whenever I’m compared to you. You inherited a fortune. You have a high position in the company, and I’m just a worthless husband.”
Alvin lay bruised and tied up on the floor of the mansion’s basement. He regained consciousness and started struggling to free himself. Romina walked in and towered over him, dragging along a stick. “I’m glad you’re finally awake.”
“What did you do to me?” Alvin cried out. “Let me go. Untie me right now. Help! Somebody help!”
Mina sighed. “Alvin… You’re just wasting your breath. No one can hear you in this basement.”
“But what do you want from me? Why are you doing this?”
Romina laughed wickedly as Alvin cowered. Back at the car shop, Carlos complained about how Daniela had been spending more time in the company instead of with him and their daughter. “You should have told me,” Danny girl said. “I could have gotten you a job at Camila.”
“So you really think I’m that useless, that I can’t make it on my own.”
“Carlos, you can’t depend on this car shop. It’s not a good business nowadays.”
“Then I’ll work even harder to succeed. Let’s go home. You said Marga needs us, right?”
Back in the basement, Romina was still putting on a show. “I guess criminals like you even feel fear,” she taunted.
Alvin was hyperventilating. “Romina, don’t be mad at me because I broke into your house. I only came here for Daniela so please just let me go.”
“You think I’ll let you go that easily after everything you’ve done to me? I don’t care about your reason for coming here. What matters is I have you at my mercy.”
“What? You’ll get revenge? What you going to do? Stab me? K!ll me? I know you, Romina. You’re not capable of that.”
Romina bent down. “That was before, Alvin, before you and Daniela teamed up to have me arrested for k!lling Robert. You have no idea what I went through in prison, so don’t test me.”
“Drop your tough girl act, Romina. I know you can’t hurt me.”
“I’m giving you the chance to save yourself. Admit what you and Daniela did. Tell me why you k!lled my husband!”
“First, räpë, now you’re accusing me of mürdër? Why do you keep pinning the blame on me? Are you a judge?”
“Stop pretending you’re innocent, Alvin! I recognized the messenger who testified against me. And you know what your brother did. Are you guys scared, huh?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Stop accusing me.”
Romina pressed down Alvin’s throat with the stick, suffocating him. “I’m not an idïøt. I know you and Hector are criminals. Robert was always suspicious of the both of you. You’re the ones who could have mürdëred him.”
Alvin struggled to breath. “Enough. Please, Romina. You don’t have any evidence against us. Let me go.”
“Stop testing my patience, Alvin,” Mina hissed. “Just tell me the truth!”
“If you really wanted to hurt me, you would have done it right away. But you’re weak. You’re weak!”
Romina released her hold and smashed Alvin’s legs with the stick. Alvin screamed out in pain. In the living room, Neil asked Nanny Esther whether she had heard someone screaming. Esther told her to stop trying to scare her since it wasn’t Halloween yet. Savannah came in with Marga. “Good evening,” she said.
“You almost gave me a heart ättaçk,” Esther admonished.
“Didn’t you say it wasn’t Halloween yet?” Neil asked. “So why are witches here?”
“Why nanny?” Savvi said. “Did I surprise you with my beauty?”
“You terrified her with it,” Neil shot.
Marga went to get her bag from the car and Savvi blamed Cassie for the situation her godchild was in. “My niece is not the reason why your godchild’s a little troublemaker,” Neil stated. “You and Daniela helped sharpen her horns.”
“What did you…” Savvi tried going after Neil but then a strange sound stopped her in her tracks. Neil and Esther glanced at each other in shock and confusion.
“Oh my gosh,” Savvi said. “Now I know why Danny’s so misëräble. She’s leaving in a house full of evil spirits. Just. Like. You.”
Back in the basement, Romina was still giving Alvin the brutal beating of his misëräble life. She struck his hands with the stick, grabbed his neck and squeezed. “Tell me right now, Alvin. Why are you doing this to me? It’s bad enough that you ruined my life. Why did you have to k!ll my husband?! Why did you k!ll the person who saved me?! Why? Answer me!”
Alvin struggled. “Look at me. All I’m asking is that you admit what you did, because I don’t know what I might do if you don’t. I said look at me, Alvin! Tell me!”
“Hector and I have nothing to do with Robert’s dëäth,” Alvin said. “You gotta believe me.”
Romina grabbed a kñifë and raised it in midair. “Then who k!lled him?! Who?!”
“It was Daniela! Daniela k!lled Robert.”
“Daniela could not have done that alone.”
“But there’s a lot you can do with money. I’m sure Daniela paid someone to k!ll Robert.”
Romina’s eyes misted over with tears. “Daniela!” she yelled.
“That woman’s insane, I tell you. I’m on your side. I’m not the enemy.”
Romina glared at Alvin. “But that does not mean that you didn’t try to k!ll my husband. You were the one who räpëd me and now, you will pay. You’re going to pay for everything.”
“Stop,” Alvin pleaded. “Don’t. I already told you everything. Please stop, I’m begging you.”
Romina cried out and plunged the kñifë deep into Alvin’s leg. Alvin yelled in pain. At the dining table, Cassie asked where her mother was and Neil told her that he hadn’t seen her for a while even though she was home. Jepoy offered to keep an eye on Cassie so Marga wouldn’t start any trouble again. Cassie told him that there was no need because they were going on a trip out of town, adding that Marga wouldn’t be able to follow them. Daniela arrived home with Carlos and she started mocking them.
“What happened, Cassie?” Carlos asked.
“If I tell you what happened, uncle Carlos,” Cassie began. “Will you do something to help Marga change?”
“What do you mean?”
“Daniela’s not doing anything to help.”
Danny girl took offense. “What the hell?”
“It’s the truth,” Cassie stated. “You know how Marga behaves and treats me, but not once did you even try to correct her. In fact, you always support her.”
“Because she’s my daughter.”
“And I’m your sister.”
Danny girl scoffed. “You’re not my sister. You’re adopted. My father just took you in with that criminal you call a mother.”
Cassie stood up to Daniela and her uncle came to stand behind her protectively. “But we both consider the same man as our father, Daniela. If there’s one thing I learned from daddy, it is that I should always be kind toward others. But I’m curious. Why can’t you teach Marga that? Better yet, why can’t you do it either?”
Daniela tried to släp Cassie but Carlos held her back. “Go ahead,” Neil dared. “That way, you’ll be in jail before this night is over.”
“I could tell you why but I wouldn’t do that,” Daniela hissed. “I won’t give you and your mother that advantage. So the little hardships you’re experiencing, deal with it. Because this will last. For. Ever.”
Daniela and Carlos went to Marga’s room and asked to talk to her. Marga told them not to bother apologizing because they weren’t there when she needed them. Daniela tried sweet-talking her all to no avail. Marga complained about how her parents had been neglecting her. “I promise we will make it up to you,” Daniela said.
“Give us one more chance,”Carlos added. “Your mom and I will make it up to you.”
In the master bedroom, Romina turned on the tap and washed the blood from her hands. She looked possessed. The sound of the running water woke Cassie up and she got out of bed and headed towards the bathroom. “Ma?”
Romina finished up quickly and wiped her hands clean as Cassie came in. “Hey, Cassie.”
Cassie hugged her mother from behind. “Are you okay, mamma?” Mina smiled. “Of course. I’m fine dear. Go back to sleep.” After Cassie left, the smile on Romina’s face turned into a resolved, vengeful and sadistic look.
