Pariah's Wrath

Prologue

How far will you go for you to not go back to the past that you came from?

That was the same question that has kept me awake for days on end. The past few years have been nothing but bliss, my adoptive parents were able to fill my longing for a family. I just couldn't lose this love, and for the first time in my life, I wanted to be selfish. Selfish for a family I ached to have, and now that it's in my hand I will not let it go even for someone who's wrongly accused. Truth be told, I only remember snippets of the incident because most of the time I was unconscious, delirious, and out cold.

A little exaggeration wouldn't hurt someone whose life belongs to the street, wouldn't it? He's bound to get caught anyway. Right?

I try to reason with myself about what I'm about to do.

Slowly, I stepped towards the stand and looked straight into the eyes of the man I have always loved.

"Your Honor..." Words got stuck in my throat as my conscience hindered me from speaking. Tears begin to blur my sight but I hold them in. For some, it may look like I'm crying for what happened to me, but the truth is I'm crying for the life that will be lost and for the lies that I'm about to spill.

I'm sorry.

That's what I want to say to the man standing behind the wooden table who looks so messed up. He looked so roughed up. He looked like he hadn't had a proper shower for days, and he probably hadn't had a good sleep for a while.

Then my eyes wandered toward my adoptive parents, papa senator Delos Santos, and mama Maria Delos Santos. They both filled my longingness for a family, they showered me with love that I never thought I'd be able to have.

These people wanted me. These people wanted everything of me, every piece of me. These people love me. These people chose me among all the orphans. I know that what I'm going to do will strengthen my adoptive father's image to the public and it will be a great help for his campaign for the presidency of this country.

I looked at the man again, as tears rolled down my cheeks.

I'm sorry

I wanted to say out loud but bit back my tongue. All my life I was the one letting go for other people's sake even if it breaks me, but now even if my soul would rot in hell and my heart shattered into thousand pieces for what I'm about to do but I will not give up the family that I now have, especially for someone I thought loved me truly. But it was all a lie. His love was a lie.

For the last time I looked at the man I once bound my life with, his eyes were pleading with me. Pleading, to tell the truth, pleading to save him. He knows that my words would make or break him. I know that with my words his life will either remain as it was or he'll never have a life to go back to.

I'm sorry.

Guilt is eating me up, but I can't do anything. We are all victims of circumstance.

I closed my eyes and remembered how his eyes looked at mine with comfort when I first regained consciousness after I thought I had drowned when the convoy I was riding was ambushed and it was the same eyes that were now pleading with me to be his savior.

"Yes it was him who I saw when I regained consciousness," I said truthfully. "When I opened my eyes, nakita kong tinatanggal niya damit ko." I choked a sob at what I'm about to say.

"Bull fucking shit!" The man shouted. The police who were beside him restrained him. The veins in his neck and forehead protrude, and his face grimed with anger. "You fucking knew what happened Luci!" he continued to shout.