Romancing Dominance [BL][COMPLETED]

Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 - Wind Beneath My Name

Standing alone on the balcony, bathing in the soft embrace of the summer air, I found myself lost in a thought that refused to go away:

What if I had grown up here?

Would my life have been the same? Would I have turned out different?

Parang ang hirap lang isipin. Me, a bratinela, thriving in a place this quiet... this pure.

Here, there was no media circus. No paparazzi flashing cameras at every slight misstep. No fake smiles masking sharpened tongues. No whispered scandals in every hallway.

Everything here was simple. Gentle. Real.

A place ideal for a home. For peace.

And weirdly enough, I didn't hate it.

Somewhere deep inside me, something was stirring—a tiny whisper saying maybe Dad didn't just send me here para takasan ko ang gulo. Maybe, he wanted me to see something. Something important. Something I had been too blinded to notice in the city.

Maybe Dad had been planning this for a while.

Maybe he knew I needed saving... from myself.

Am I happy about this marriage?

Of course not. I'd be lying if I said otherwise.

But as much as I hated it, I was slowly starting to understand.

Maybe all those years of him drilling me into perfection—into mastering restraint, poise, and diplomacy—were not to build me into a Sandoval heir alone.

Maybe it was also to prepare me for... this.

A bitter smile crossed my lips. Ugh, ang drama ko minsan.

But deep down, I knew it was the truth.

The small town of Maraya—especially the secluded, sleepy village of Luningning—was beginning to dig its roots into me.

It's quiet here. It's safe. It's almost painfully simple.

And for once in my life, the smiles I received from strangers were real. Genuine.

People here didn't look at me because they wanted something. They looked at me because they were curious. Because they simply saw me.

If settling here is the price I have to pay to rebuild myself, then maybe, just maybe... it's worth it.

I'm not going to lie and say I'm jumping into it wholeheartedly.

Let's not get carried away, please.

But I'm willing to try. Willing to be present.

Willing to breathe this life in, one cautious step at a time.

It's too early to get sentimental, I know that.

But real talk?

In two weeks, I've learned more about life than I ever did during my years in the city.

I grew up being "aware" of my role—of the heavy Sandoval name weighing on my shoulders.

Since I could remember, my life was never mine to control.

Media. Politics. Family.

All of them dictated how I should live, what I should say, what I should feel.

And when they discovered I was a carrier?

I became a commodity.

An asset.