“There’s nothing you can do to get rid of me, Marga. Just seeing you now is enough confirmation that we’re both in hell. But that still wouldn’t stop me from graduating here. With flying colors. I won’t let you take anything else away from me either. And that includes my future.”
Mikoy made a phone call, only to hang up suddenly as soon as the person on the other line answered. Cassie went to the principal’s office with Kristoff to ask for another chance to talk to the board concerning her scholarship. The principal agreed to help. Hector was very upset that Roxy hadn’t been able to get into Maxwell International so she could always be with Marga. Roxy assured him that she would transfer from Maxwell Integrated as soon as the slots opened up next term.
Mikoy got ready for his first day at school, and Gino gave him a pep talk about making good use of the opportunity Maxwell had given him. He then gave him some money for transport and Mikoy thanked him and promised to make it up to them. Romina was making preparations beforehand to apply at a new company since it was a little bit far. Cassie asked her mother to be careful.
“I’m really sorry, dear.”
“It’s alright, mamma. What matters is that I’m still in school.”
“Whatever happens, just remember that I’m proud of you, because you never give up.”
“I’m proud of you too, mamma. Let’s give it our all today.”
Mini-Daniela made a show of an entrance into Maxwell. The Mean Squad congratulated her on getting rid of Cassie. Mini-Daniela wasn’t satisfied though. She kept spouting some crap about how the students had to bow down to her and acknowledge her as the queen. Maureen asked about Michael and Roxanne, and Marga claimed that Michael had changed his mind about studying in Maxwell. Cassie was surprised to see Mikoy and Roxanne at Maxwell Integrated.
As she asked Michael why he was there, a teacher entered the class and Mikoy asked that they talk about it later. The teacher then introduced the three new scholars to the class. Mini-Daniela and the Mean Squad were mocking the Maxwell Integrated School.
“What’s the meaning of this?” Nadya asked.
Marga turned to see Cassie having a talk with her friends. Mikoy and Roxy stood with them. Romina was running late for her job interview. She waited until the traffic light turned green before hurrying across the road. A man was driving toward her, busy on the phone, ignorant about the traffic light. He dropped his phone and reached down for it. Meanwhile, Romina had made it to the middle of the road when she dropped her files. She quickly picked them up, only to look on in horror as two cars were speeding in her direction.
Mina screamed. The cars collided, knocking her aside along with some glass bottles. The driver of the second car hurried out and pulled Romina back onto her feet. They stared at each other for a while. Romina thanked him and picked up her files. She then confronted the other driver.
“Are you nuts? The traffic light was red. You almost ran me over.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, it was an accident,” the driver said.
“Keep your eyes on the road next time. I’m a single mother.”
“What about these broken bottles on the road?” the other driver asked.
“I’m sorry, sir. I don’t have enough money to pay for them. My boss might fire me if he finds out about this. I have a family to support too. I’m really sorry.”
“Alright. You can go.”
Romina then had a phone call. As she fumbled for the phone in her bag, the second driver bent down and touched her leg. “Hey, excuse me. What are you doing?”
“You’re hurt.”
“Thanks, but I’m fine. I have to hurry for my interview.”
“Where are you headed? I’ll take you there.”
“No, thanks. It’s just around SikaTuna.” And off she went as the second driver looked on. He noticed Romina’s purse on the floor and went to pick it up.
Back at Maxwell Integrated, Mini-Daniela confronted Cassie and asked why she was still there. Cassie gave her a piece of her mind about how she always achieved her goals, adding that she was still enrolled in Maxwell despite how hard she had tried to keep her out. A flashback was shown of how Cassie had convinced the principal to grant her the Maxwell Foundation to study at Maxwell Integrated instead of in London.
“There’s nothing you can do to get rid of me, Marga,” Cassie stated.
“You do realize that you came back to hell, right? So don’t blame me if something bad happens to you.”
“Definitely, Marga. Just seeing you now is enough confirmation that we’re both in hell. But that still wouldn’t stop me from graduating here. With flying colors.”
“The school year just started. There’s still a lot of things that can happen to you. You might get kicked out.”
“Here we go again,” Cassie said, exasperated. “You didn’t grasp what I just said. I already told you that you can’t get rid me ever again. I won’t let you take anything else away from me either. And that includes my future.”
Romina was still on her way to the interview when she noticed her wallet missing. Daniela was happily cooking in the kitchen, glad that nanny Esther hadn’t gone with Romina. Esther said she went where she was needed most, and Danny girl talked on about how perfect everything was with Romina gone.
“I just hope they don’t bother us. I want to live in peace,” Danny girl claimed.
“They’re not the ones causing trouble,” Esther pointed out. “If you really want to live in peace, then stop trying to make things harder for them. You already got what you wanted. I hope that’s enough for you.”
“I just took back what was rightfully mine.”
Danny girl spouted some more crap I chose to ignore. The Mean Squad figured out the fact about Mikoy not being as rich as he made believe, much to Mini-Daniela’s horror. They talked some trash as Cassie and Roxy joined them.
“Nica, there’s nothing wrong with being poor,” Cassie said. “As long as you work hard.”
“You’re saying that cause you’re both penniless,” Nadya mocked. “Who wants to be poor?”
“You’re right, Nadya,” Mikoy cut in. “No one wants to be poor. But at least, I know my friends are loyal, and not fake. Get real. If your parents lost their wealth, do you think your friends would still be around? Money can’t buy everything.”
“Whatever, Michael. If what you’re saying is true, then why did you pretend to be rich?”
Realization dawned on Nica. “Gosh, Marga…did you just lie to us? Did you know Michael was poor all along?”
Mini-Daniela glanced at Mikoy and slapped him. She then spouted some nonsense about how she wouldn’t forgive him for ‘lying’ to her before storming off with the squad.
“Are you okay?” Roxy asked.
“I’m fine,” Mikoy replied. “I expected that to happen. Let’s go.”
Romina arrived at SikaTuna, only to be denied the interview since it was way past her time. She approached a big shot there, told him about the ordeal she had suffered earlier and pleaded for a second chance. Mina was all smiles as the man asked that she be given another slot for her interview.
Kristoff asked Cassie about life in Maxwell Integrated, and Cassie assured him that everything was fine. She noticed Fatima and LJ’s demeanor and asked if there was something wrong. The girls were sad that they weren’t in the same class with Cassie anymore.
“We can see each other anytime we want,” Cassie stated. “We’re one building apart. No matter what happens, we’ll always stay friends.”
LJ cracked a joke and Cassie laughed along with the others. “I’m happy I can still see you everyday, and that’s what matters,” Cassie added, glancing at Kristoff.
Jessa suggested to Myrna that they leave the place so they could have some peace and quiet. Myrna told her that her family needed her there, and she wouldn’t stop her if she wanted to leave. Jessa stormed into her room a moment before Kulas, who had been sleeping in the couch, startled awake, yelling out Jude’s name.
Kulas told Myrna about the dream he had just had and how he wanted to bring their son’s k!ller to justice. Carlos got upset and traded words with Daniela as she woke him up and started nagging him about taking over Romina’s vacated position in Camila.
Carlos was amused, not ready ever to be taking orders from his wife at work since he couldn’t even stand her at home. He reminded her to fulfill her part of the deal by getting him back his car shop from Hector. Some big shots of SikaTuna brought up the fact that Romina had been blacklisted by the current CEO of Camila.
Mina told them that Daniela was just worried about her sharing her knowledge with other competing companies, adding that the fact she had blacklisted her was a testament of her own capabilities.
“Just give me one week,” Mina said. “To demonstrate what I can do for the company. An entire week without pay. After that, you can decide whether to hire me or not.”
Mikoy was sour over the way his puppet master had treated him earlier. Cassie asked whether Mini-Daniela had threatened him into pretending to be rich, and Mikoy started with his speech about how there was more to Marga than met the eye. Crazy fan Roxy was was all smiles. Some other students entered the class and Cassie made the mistake of going to introduce herself to them.
And she was surprised with the crap they spouted. Back at SikaTuna, Romina was excited and grateful to be given the chance to prove herself as the company’s operations manager. She promised to make good use of the opportunity and make SikaTuna even greater than Camila.
At Camila, Team Daniela gave some employees some gift bags, excluding the obvious allies and supporters of Romina. Daniela started spouting some crap about how the gifts were only meant for ‘loyal’ employees of Camila, adding that she wasn’t going to let anyone endanger the company like how Mina had done.
She then promised incentives to people who could help identify those who wanted to ‘sabotage’ Camila. Bernard tried talking some sense into her, all to no avail. Bonita stopped Neil from giving Daniela a piece of his mind, knowing how Danny girl was looking for a reason to get rid of them as well.
Mini-Daniela and the squad walked into class to hear a student discussing with another about how she missed having Cassie around. Mini-Daniela started spouting some nonsense about making her mom ruin her family’s company so she would have no other choice but to join Cassie in Maxwell Integrated. More crap came out of her abominable mouth.
The board voiced out their disappointment over the gifts Daniela had given to some of the employees, instead of focusing on the company. They then mentioned the bad luck they had been having currently, how some of their clients had cancelled their orders because they hadn’t been able to deliver on time.
“Romina ran a tight shift so the company didn’t have any problems,” one said. “We need someone of her caliber to replace her soon.”
“The company’s sales are at stake here, Daniela,” another added.
“Then we should just accept more orders.”
The board member was amused. “And how about the production? We’re really struggling to reach our quota for the day.”
“Then the factory will have to work twice as hard.”
“Daniela, the factory wouldn’t be able to handle that,” Mrs. Galvez reasoned.
“Daniela…” the other board member began.
“Then they should find a way. And don’t you ever compare me to Romina. She’s not part of this company anymore. I will run this company my way.”
Romina walked out of the office premises of SikaTuna, only to run into the other driver she had encountered earlier in the day. She started drawing back and brandishing a pen as a wëäpon as the man kept approaching her. “What are you doing here? Are you a stalker or something?”
The man shook his head in amusement, still advancing forward. “Don’t come near me. I said don’t come near me. Guard. Guard!” Mina shut her eyes tight as she was cornered against a pillar.
“Your wallet,” the man finally spoke up.
Romina opened her eyes and stared as if she was having trouble solving algebra. “I also bought you some meds. Treat your wound before it gets infected.”
The man hanged the bag he was carrying on the pen Mina was holding up before walking back to his car. He stopped and glanced at Mina for a second, smiling before carrying on. Hector walked in on his brother discussing with some agents about the new, bigger house he wanted to buy and move into. He sent the agents on their way and started lecturing Alvin about how they couldn’t just buy anything they wanted since their neighbors and the police might be suspicious of where they were getting their money from.
“Look over the balcony,” Hector said. “See if those women left already.”
Alvin glanced at the floor below. “I think someone’s watching us.”
“I’ll find out what you’re hiding, you bast*rds,” Kulas thought to himself as he sat in a cab near the Mangubat house.
Hector came over and dragged him out, and a battle of words ensued. Kulas punched Hector and Hector told his brother to call the police so they could make the old man experience what his son had put them through before. Cassie met up with Kristoff and apologized for being late. Kristoff teased her, saying that, for her, he could wait forever and a day. Cassie thanked him for being so sweet, despite being a building away.
“That’s because there’s no wall that can ever separate us,” Kristoff said. “Besides, it’s kinda romantic, right. You and me, different worlds?”
Cassie was amused. “What are you talking about? I bet you’re just hungry. Let’s eat. What did you buy?”
“It’s your favorite. Something cheesey.”
The little lovebirds laughed together. Savannah tried to reason with Daniela concerning her sudden decision for the employees to work double time, reminding her of how the department of labor and employment had been at the company before. Daniela said she’d base it on their job description and Mina wasn’t there anymore to defend them so they had no choice but to do what she wanted.
Daniela then had a phone call from Kulas, telling her about how Hector had reported him to the police Mikoy was walking along the streets when the car Marga was riding in pulled over. Marga asked him to hop in, offering him some snacks she had brought along. Mikoy refused and gave her a piece of his mind, telling her that she didn’t have to pretend anymore.
“But, Mikoy…”
“I know, Marga. I know you never really saw me as a friend, cause you’re rich and I’m poor. But I guess it was my fault for hoping you’d actually see me as a friend. I get it. We don’t need to pretend to be anything to each other.”
“Fine,” Mini-Daniela barked. “It’s not like I’m going to force you.” She threw the snacks at Mikoy and off she went.
Mikoy picked them up, smiling to himself. “I knew it. You still wanted to talk to me.”
Daniela arrived at the precinct and asked Kulas to be calm while she handled things. Kulas however charged at the Mangubats. Alvin ran from his seat as Hector raised up a leg protectively. “Bast*rd. If you think you can stop me, you’re wrong.”
“Calm down, Mr. Kulas,” Hector admonished. “I’m the victim here, and you’ll talk to me like that?” Hector turned to an officer. “Sir, he trespassed. He even punched me. Someone talk to him.”
“You’re a liar!” Kulas yelled as some officers tried to keep him in check. “You egged me on to put me in jail. Tell them the truth.”
“Mr. Mangubat has already filed a restraining order against you,” an officer mentioned. “Your charges might pile up if you keep acting like this.”
“I’m the one who should file a restraining order here, because they k!llled my son.”
“Woah, Mr. Kulas, that’s harsh,” Hector taunted.
“And I won’t stop until I prove it.”
“Dad, please just let them be,” Daniela admonished. “You might get yourself into more trouble.”
“I can’t just let them be, Daniela.”
“Let me handle them, that way you won’t get in trouble, okay?” The Mangubat brothers looked on in amusement. Hector winked at Daniela like a mischievous, high school troublemaker. Danny girl glared back at him as Kulas fumed.
