La Fleur Maudite

PROLOGUE

Envy, revenge, and an endless desire...

Where there is love and light, there are all Pandora's curses.

Lahat sa mundo ay lumalaban, dahil may rason sila upang lumaban, but... What if that reason completely vanished? Will they still fight, or will they fight for revenge? They say love always wins but from my perspective... Love is the reason for everything.

Everything.

Dito nagsimula lahat, dahil sa pag-ibig.

My eyes burst into tears while running.

The reminiscences of Chandler and I were racing through my head as I ran in the pouring rain.

I wanted to tell him that what he had seen was erroneous and to explain everything to him.

The minute I spotted their house, I stopped running.

"Chandler!" I'd been holding back for a while, but the moment I saw Chandler's battered and unsympathetic face, I fought the impulse to rush over to offer him a final, embracing hug.

"Look who's back in the flesh!" In the little moment that I stood there feeling Chandler's mother's palm against my face, I witnessed his brother preventing his mother from feeling the same palm against me once more.

"Get off the ground you're treading on if you don't want the mess to get worse." Chandler expressed it to me in a dispassionate and icy manner.

His words caused me to tense up even more in my posture. How, without having heard my explanation, could he have said?

"I may try all I want, but why are we not the chosen ones by fate? Why not simply give it to us?" My thoughts keep returning to it.

I want to fight for you, but what good will it do if I can tell by the look in your eyes that you are no longer willing to fight for me?

People in my immediate vicinity no longer matter to me. My daughter is all I can think about—our female child. I did what I had to. I kneeled, and even though it was unbearable, I did it for us.

I sobbed while looking at them. "Please, Chandler, listen to me first before I leave! Hinding-hindi kita kayang saktan sa gano'ng paraan, mahal." Nangangatal na saad ko.

I could see the terror and wrath in Chandler's mother's eyes as she quickly ran to his side and urged, "Don't listen to her. The evidence you have to witness is enough."

Kasinungalingan...

Chandler's mother's gaze immediately shifted to me. "Get up and leave, and don't try to come back here again. You're just tarnishing your family's name!"

With tears streaming down my face, I just stood there, hoping that Chandler would protect me from them.

"Layas!"

"You're such a disgrace, Hazel!"

They continued to yell at me as I allowed them to hit and shove me, treating me like I was a curse that had entered Chandler's life.

"Vous n'êtes qu'une fleur maudite à la recherche d'un remède!" I turned when I heard a voice. Those words were enough to grab my attention. Puno 'to ng galit, lungkot, at pagkabigo.

Dad...

It passed through my head swiftly. My own father's words stung me, and I felt compelled to stop. Was it because I had battled so hard in my relationship with Chandler or because I was damaging the name of our family?

I'm just a cursed flower looking for a cure?

Walang pag-aalinlangan na binigkas 'yon ng sarili kong ama?

How?

I shifted my gaze to Chandler.

An expression of worry and melancholy replaced his icy stare. I gave him a stern, furious look since all he did was watch as his family mistreated and dropped me.

I stood up, straightened myself, wiped away the tears that kept falling from my eyes, and acted bravely. "Is it wrong for me to think that maybe you do like me? Is it w-wrong for me to hope a little, Chandler?" But my voice betrayed me and my eyes started to flood up with tears once more.

"Kung pinakinggan mo lang sana ako, pero hindi e." Huminga ako ng malalim dahil alam ko sa sarili ko na rinig sa boses ko ang sakit.

"Y-you chose to watch me and kneel down while I begged you to listen to me while your family was hurting me!" Sumbat ko.

Filled with rage and despair, I glanced at each of them before turning to run away from where I standing. It doesn't matter if it pours a lot of rain. My tears fell, and I let them cascade down my face.

Napangiti ako ng mapait habang tumatakbo at dinadama ang ulan. "Tama lang 'yan, Hazel. It serves no purpose to think back on a vague memory."

I only feel pain and betrayal now. I didn't realize I was on the road, and while I was running, I closed my eyes to the pain of a car hitting me.

"Fuck" I thought of nothing but my daughter...

There was a face I recognized in the car before I fell. She appeared relieved that she had managed to kill me, judging by the smile on her.

The life of my daughter.

Chandler's mother...