The Wrath Ablaze (Buenavista Series #2)

Chapter 25

Chapter 25
Bait

If I just wallow in fear, it's only valid and fair. To just stay here in Champagne, manage our business, and live peacefully. I could easily do that. In fact, that is what I have been trying to achieve these past few years. Peace. I have tried to live the life Nana wants for me. However, behind all the pretence, I knew I wouldn't ever live my life peacefully. Not after what happened to me back in the Philippines.

I couldn't betray my mother and Lola Esme's memories by just forgetting and leaving how things badly ended for us. It's selfish of me that after everything that has happened, I choose to let everything end the way it did in the Philippines. I know that forgetting was never going to be the answer to my healing. But recognising the past, I will correct it by giving my loved ones the justice they deserve. And I couldn't achieve that from here, locked up in fear... cowering. Kasi ako lang ang may kakayahang magbigay sa kanila ng hustisya.

Hawak-hawak ni Nana ang magkaparehong kamay ko. She handed me a key that would open the door in front of us. The treasured room of my late father, which has remained closed until now. And what lies behind this room shall be revealed to me finally.

Nanatili ang tingin ko sa susi, nagtataka kung bakit paghihintulutan niya nang mabuksan ko ito. Nag-aalinlangan kong inakyat ang tingin sa kanya.

"Are you sure? Like really sure?"

She nodded and urged me to open the door. "Yes. Go and open it. You have every right to see what is behind that door. It was important to your father, so it must also be to you."

Niyukom ko ang kamao at dinama ang susi sa palad bago ipasok iyon sa susian. Unti-unti kong pinihit ang solid wood door. Lumangitngit ang pintuan nang itulak ko iyon upang mabuksan.

Ngunit hindi pa ako tuluyang nakakapasok ay agad akong naluha sa mga nakikita ko. Binuksan ni Nana ang ilaw at mas lumiwanag pa ang silid. The room was filled with various portraits of my mother when she was younger.

Naninikip ang dibdib ko nang lumapit ako sa isang portrait na hindi pa halos tapos lalo't nasa painting stand pa. I dusted the dirt away from the surface of the painting and traced my index finger on my mother's face.

I missed her so much.

"Ton amour a sauvé mon monde." My voice cracked reading what my father wrote on the bottom of his last portrait.

My father loved my mother. There was no doubt about that. Still, my parents' story is complicated for me to understand. I couldn't say for certain if Mama loved my father back, knowing she had an affair with Tito Eres. But based on the facts I know, she used my father to get away from the trouble she caused herself back in Buenavista.

Pinalis ko ang luha sa pisngi bago nilingon si Nana. Nagkatitigan kami bago siya suminghap at nilapitan ako. She rested her left hand on my waist while her gaze was directed at my mother's unfinished portrait.

"I can still remember the day Don Pierre brought your mother here," she trailed off. "It seemed to have only happened yesterday. Indeed, all of us were shocked to know they were married. Especially your grandparents. But all was forgiven when Tara gave birth to you. She was... relentless."

Hindi ako nakasagot.

"I wished for you to be found before your father passed away. And it was my life's greatest regret to have not done so." Her tone was filled with regret. "I am apologizing for not finding you sooner, dearest. All the pain you are enduring could have been prevented if only we had found you way sooner."

Naninikip ang dibdib ko sa lahat ng binubunyag niya.

"And I thought... the best way to continue ensuring your safety was to hide you here. I know now that that is cruel and selfish of me to do. I refuse to be the guardian who doesn't trust your decisions." Nana cupped my cheeks. "Child, you are not a barrel of wine that I can keep in the dark forever!"