Sinfully Angelic

Chapter 32

32 : someone got resurrected

Umupo kami sa sala nang makapasok ng bahay. Ipinaghanda kami ni Rien nang maiinom at makakain habang awkward kaming magkaharap ng aking ama. Surprisingly, he was also sobered up. He looked neat with his favorite polo and pants and no reek of alcohol from him. In fact ang bango niya. Iyong pabangong laging binibili ni mommy sa kaniya.

"Emerald, anak..." he called my attention in a soft manner. Nang marinig ko pa lang ang mababang boses niya ay ginusto ko nang maiyak.

He had no idea how much I longed for him to call me that way. The last time he called me like that was when I was still in primary school. I missed that... I missed him.

"Sana hindi ka galit kay daddy." The circles under his eyes were visible despite the clean haircut he got. "I'm sorry." His voice cracked. A tear rolled down his wrinkled cheeks.

Pinahiran ko agad ang luhang dumaloy sa pisngi ko, saka ko iniwas ang aking paningin sa kaniya. I was reminded by all the painful encounters we had.

Sa totoo lang ay hindi emosyonal si Dad. He always kept his emotions to himself like the man he was brought up to be. Kaya nang maalala ang kaniyang matinding pag-iyak doon sa ospital ay inakala kong hindi siya 'yong aking ama. Lalo na ngayon na umiiyak siya sa mismong harapan ko.

He hiccuped as if breathing difficulty from suppressing his grief. "I became the big reason for who you've become and your illness. Akala ko makabubuti iyon sa 'yo upang 'di ka matulad ng mommy mo. Patawarin mo 'ko anak..."

Biglang kusa na lang akong napahagulgol nang marinig iyon. All this time, all his reminders for me was to protect me from becoming like my mother. He taught me to suppress my emotions because he knew that I had the possibility of inheriting her illness.

Although being deprived of my emotions led me the same way.

He clasped his hands together and adjusted from his seat agitatedly. "Anak, sising-sisi ako. I remarried with the idea that providing you another mother would be best for you, upang mayroon pa ring maggagabay sa 'yo habang wala ako. I strictly instructed you to always listen and follow what she says. I had no idea about the evil things she had done to you. I'm a terrible father," tumigil sa pagsasalita si Dad at iniwas ang kaniyang ulo. Inilagay niya ang hintuturo at hinlalaki sa kaniyang nakapikit na mga mata habang pinipigilan ang mga luhang umaagos galing dito. "I made a huge mistake. Hayop ang babaeng 'yon!"

I couldn't do anything but cry in my seat when I recalled all the worse things Natania did to me and all the sufferings I endured from her.

"I would have killed her for you if not because of Rien," dagdag nito na ikinakunot ng noo ko.

"Ano po ang ibig niyong sabihin?"

Saka naman ang pagsulpot ni Rien galing sa kusina. Ibinaba niya iyong mga pagkain at inumin na hinanda niya saka siya tumabi sa akin at hinaplos ang aking likod.

Nang hindi na makapagsalita nang maayos si Dad ay si Rien na ang nagpatuloy, while I remained confoundedly looking at them. "The doctors informed us about the bruises and scars on your body which were discovered during your lab examinations."

Wala sa sariling napatakip ako sa bibig ko nang marinig iyon. So they already knew about it all this while.

"I told your father all the information I know and we decided to take legal actions against Natania Falgar. We asked help from Dominic and he did his job—the justice that you deserve." Rien held my hand. "I'm sorry we didn't tell you about it sooner. We didn't want it to add to your stress until we finally resolved it."