Sayang

Chapter 3: Closely guarded secret

"Thank you," I told the young maid when she gave me my bathrobe. I even caught her looking away shyly when I stepped out of the bathtub with nothing on me. She'll get used to it eventually. I grabbed the towel she was holding and walked to the large mirror to the side, where I'm currently drying my hair with the small towel I got from the sink.

After a few minutes, I walked out to the hallways and was about to head upstairs when I heard voices in the hallway near our grand staircase. I turned around and went back down. I walked back confusedly and tried to listen in on their conversation, but my hearing has failed me today, and I am unable to understand what they are saying.

"Oh- Mira!!!" I immediately stood up straight and smiled at the girl who was looking at me with a happy expression, despite the fact that her eyes were clearly filled with anxiety.

"Jebette!" I exclaimed joyfully with the hope to alleviate the anxiety she was experiencing. Instantaneously, she exhaled deeply and dashed over to embrace me. Oh, she's the same as she always is. I was about to say something when I noticed Kuya Basti leaning at the wall, looking at us with affection... Maybe he was looking with a loving gaze, but I wasn't the one he was looking at.

"Kuya Basti!" Prior to releasing Jebette and approaching Kuya Basti to give him a hug. I exclaimed loudly and was immediately dragged away by an unknown force from behind.

"Y- You're wearing just a Bathrobe, Mira... Let's go to your room." Jebette said this without even looking at me, and then she pulled me up the grand staircase by the forearms. When I waved to Kuya Basti, he simply snickered at me and waved back.

"What's wrong with you? We've been taking a bath together until we reached fifteen. What's wrong with hugging Kuya Basti while I'm in my bathrobe?" I asked her while I'm inside my walking closet, picking up a skirt and tank top before going outside.

"Well, Kuya Basti was now grown up... we all are. You should stop being so- Mira! Stop flaunting your naked body around and just change. Jeez." She exclaimed as I stripped my Bathrobe off my body and was about to walk over to the full-size mirror in the bathroom to check my appearance when she said that with a flushed face.

"Ok, geez. It's not like you're not appreciating yourself in the mirror once in a while," I spoke in hushed tones, but it appeared that she heard me because she turned to look directly at me. Take a look at this lady. With our arms linked together, Jebette and I walked down to the dining room after I had changed.

"Oh, is our princess already awake?" My Lola said lovingly to Jebette that when she saw Lola approaching, she immediately let go of my arm and dashed over to embrace her. Due to the fact that Jebette and I are the only women of our generation, we are the most important members of this family.

Sebastian Avergonzado, also known as Kuya Basti, was the oldest of the Avergonzado current generation and the older brother of Jebette, with Adan Avergonzado, the youngest, as the youngest in their family. Lola had three sons and a daughter. Anthony Avergonzado was Lola's second son and Kuya Basti's father. Tito Anthony was the owner of a large law firm with a few hundred branches all over the world.

Ridge Avergonzado- Adan was the same age as me and Jebette, and he was the was the only child of Emily Avergonzado, the third child, and the only daughter of Lola. Tita Emily was left to raise Ridge on her own after her husband was killed in action while serving in the war zone.

Aziel Storm Avergonzado is the second-oldest member of our generation, whereas his brother Zyair Lev Avergonzado was the youngest member of our generation. They are the son of Lola's fourth Child, who is the owner of a few five-star hotels in both the United States and the Philippines, among other things.

While I, Miraya Fe Avergonzado was the only daughter of Lola's eldest son, Amadielle Avergonzado, and the one who inherited the majority of Lolo's wealth. As a result, I was able to claim that I was the wealthiest person of my generation.

Kuya Basti was already twenty-seven years old and had established his own company; of course, my entire family assisted him in this endeavor, but he was able to achieve success on his own. Kuya Azi was twenty-five years old and the heir to hundreds of resorts all over the Philippines, which he inherited from his mother.

Ridge, Jebette, and I were all in college at the time, and we were still trying to put our lives back together after a string of heartbreaks and failures.

Adan and Zyair were still in high school, and they were two years younger than we were at the time. They are still in the stage of life where they experience their first heartbreak and begin to rebel about everything.

"Wow, you didn't welcome me like that when I arrived," I said something in hushed tones while looking at my Lola with a bitter expression on her face, and she just rolled her eyes at me.

It was always Lola's question as to why I was such a brat, a snob, and Icy, when in fact, that is exactly how she raised me because that is how she always acted around me when I was a child. Perhaps if I had stayed with my father when I was younger, I would not have taken on so many of her characteristics.

"Sit down. I'm still angry at you," she said something, then turned away from me. I looked at her with a bitter expression on my face and shook my head as I made my way to the seat beside Kuya Azi.

"It's good to see you, princess." Before hugging me, he said something in hushed tones. I returned his hug and smiled before turning to look at the man beside me with disdain.

"What? I thought. No hugging, Ate! You're so dirty, right now." I mimicked what he had said to me earlier in the day. He pouted at me and slumped in his seat like a child, and I couldn't stop myself from laughing. We all fell silent as soon as the food was delivered because that is how this family operates. When there is no food in front of you, you can talk.

When I noticed Jebette, who was sitting across from me, flinching in her seat and giving Kuya Basti, who was eating peacefully, a simple glance, I raised my eyes to him. I smirked to myself and carried on with my meal as usual.

You might think I have a perfect, happy family if you were to read about my life right now, and you would be right. Everything is wonderful; everyone treats me and Jebette like princess, and most importantly, we are wealthy and powerful.

Yes, I do, in fact. Every family, however, has a secret, and ours was revealed by the person who sat directly across from me and had a flustered expression. Jebette Avergonzado is the closely guarded secret that we must keep hidden at all costs.