Is it not Love?

Chapter One - When you've found the one.

When You've found the one, but you didn't know they were the one who would break your heart, take everything from you, and leave you an empty shell.

This is where our story starts, where two scarred and crossed lovers suffer the fate of a broken heart—Francine Diaz, better known as Chin, ay isang third year med student. She comes from a humble background, from a big family where love mattered more than any money they could have. Ang motto ng kanilang pamilya ay ang Kasiyahan ay nagmumula sa simpleng buhay. Kaya't halos buong buhay ni Francine ay nanirahan siya sa kanilang bukid sa probinsya.

Pero ngayon, siya na ay asa Capital, nag-aaral ng medisina, dahil pangarap niyang maging doktor. Ikinalungkot man niya, iniwan ni Francine ang kanyang pamilya at lumuwas patungong maynila, kung saan siya ay nakakuha ng scholarship sa kanyang pag-aaral–at kung saan niya nakilala ang kanyang First Love. Si Kyle Echarri.

They met when Chin was just new to Manila, settling and adjusting to life alone spent in university then at the dorm then at the university again for her part time job, then back at the dorm to sleep for another day tomorrow–When Kyle came into her boring day, sunglasses on and strutting like he owned the damn school. A smirk on his face told Chin that he expected every girl to chase after him–Chin just scoffed. And it was this mistake that led to Kyle Echarri turning his attention to her.

Noong una ay ayaw talagang nakikita ni Francine si Kyle–sa palagay niya ay napaka presko nito at napaka yabang. Ibang-iba siya sa kinasanayan ni Francine sa kanyang mga kaibigang lalaki sa probinsya. Masyado siyang hyper, masyadong matangkad, masyadong nag-eenglish.

But Kyle was consistent. Everyday for the first eight months that Francine spent in Manila, Kyle was there. Trying to get to know her, annoying her, insisting on picking her up and driving her around the city to bring her home, when in reality her dorm was just a 5 minute walk to and fro the university. He was always there–distracting her, comforting her, til Chin just found herself entirely defenseless. He had torn down every wall that she had put up and sneakily creeped into her heart–making her utterly in love with him.

And it was perfect, after eight months of being courted by Kyle. Kyle followed true to his affections and they spent a year more together, full of friendship and love–but two years into their relationship, the cracks started to surface.

All of a sudden, Kyle wasn't as present as he was, nor was he as invested as her in their relationship. It made Francine feel like the ground she was standing on was swept away, feeling as if she was falling every second and Kyle wasn't there anymore to catch her.

She's always known that Kyle's parents disapproved of her, she was poor, and they weren't. Kyle stood to inherit his father's business, and what did Francine have compared to that?

And she thought it didn't matter to her, that is, until Kyle shared that view. Until he had gone and brought her with his elite friends and made her feel cast out, offered to buy her every branded thing in front of everyone–making her feel like he was buying her. Until he had forgotten their anniversary, forgotten their plans. Until he forgot that she even existed.

It made Francine feel the lowest she has ever felt. Never once has she hated being poor, but thinking that it was the reason she was losing Kyle, being poor made Francine's blood boil. She envied every other girl whom she thought was probably good enough for Kyle and for his family.

But the last thing that broke her was that Kyle fucking Echarri had left without even a single goodbye. Kyle always said he didn't want to go with his family back to America–but he did. He had always said that he wanted to stay in the Philippines with her, but he didn't.

Francine had tried her best to reach Kyle and get a hold of him, spending all her days looking for him and hoping he would show up in one of their spots–to the point that it had almost destroyed her standing with the school and her scholarship was almost rescinded.
That woke Francine up.