𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐑𝐀 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝟏- 𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐇

CHAPTER 4

It was Saturday morning when the parents left. Maricar quickly called her friends to go to the mall. Knowing it was prohibited to be out late, she brought Mang Leo along as their driver and chaperone.

Meanwhile, Allie stayed home. She arranged the daisies in the garden and helped clean the entire house. During lunchtime, she happily shared a meal with Yaya Margie and Agnes, another housemaid.

After lunch and cleaning the table, they decided to relax in the living room while watching a drama on TV. Allie laughed as Agnes almost finished an entire box of tissue paper. Yaya Margie prepared a snack for them, and they continued watching.

Mang Leo and Maricar arrived just before dusk. Maricar immediately ordered juice from Agnes and went upstairs to her room with her shopping bags. She would likely spend the rest of the evening on her laptop until dinner.

Allie stepped out into the garage to greet Mang Leo and handed him a cold glass of water. His seemingly hot temper cooled down as soon as he took the glass.

"Thank you, Allie," he said, quickly finishing the water.

"Do you want some more, Tay Leo?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No thanks, Allie. You're so thoughtful to bring me water. Your sister, who often tires me out, hasn't even shown any concern." He chuckled. "Concern. That's an English word, you know," Allie replied, also laughing.

"We're having pizza, Tay. Let's have dinner together, okay?"

"Oh, of course, yes."

Allie said her goodbyes and went back inside the house.

❊╌──┈⊰᯽⊱⊰᯽⊱┈──╌❊

Maricar frowned as she saw Allie in the living room with the two housemaids and the driver. They were happily watching a movie while sharing three boxes of pizza.

"Where is my dinner?" she shouted.

Yaya Margie turned to her. "It's on the table, ready on the tray," she replied.

"Please bring it upstairs," Maricar commanded.

"We're busy, hija. Just take it up yourself," Yaya Margie replied.

Annoyed, Maricar marched into the living room, but they ignored her. "Urgh!"

With no other choice, she went to the dining room and grabbed the tray containing two slices of pizza and a can of diet Coke. A smile crept onto her face; she loved pizza. She didn’t look back at the others as she headed upstairs.

She couldn’t understand why Allie was so close to them. She figured it was because they didn’t know Allie's background and assumed her family must have been very poor, leaving her on their doorstep.

She knew Allie was just an adopted child. She had overheard her parents discussing it one time, unaware that she was listening. She felt pity for her sister, realizing that even her own parents didn’t want to acknowledge her. But she also felt annoyed that, despite being an adopted child, their parents favored her.

Allie was not only beautiful and intelligent, but she also got along with everyone—rich or poor, young or old. It was clear that many people loved her.

Meanwhile, all of Maricar's friends seemed fake. If not for how often she treated them, they wouldn’t stick by her side if she were poor. She was jealous of Allie. Since childhood, she had sensed that her parents loved Allie deeply. She was constantly compared to her, and it always hurt because she knew how different she was from Allie. She wasn’t as smart as her, nor as beautiful.

She didn’t have hair that shone like the sun or eyes with such a captivating color. Her skin wasn’t as fair and smooth. That’s why she felt irritated with Allie; she was jealous of everything Allie had that she didn’t.