His Ruthless Ex-girlfriend

The Ruthless Dr. Elle (Prologue)

I am Elle Demeter Perez Santillan. I am known in my field as the ruthless Dr. Elle. I'm not the typical bitch that's born as an heiress. I worked my way to get to where I am standing now. They say that if there are most sought bachelors in our industry, I'm their female version. But even bachelors gets intimidated by my presence, so we usually end up being friends.

I started my humble beginnings in a university in my hometown. I finished my bachelor's degree as Cum Laude, and it became my ticket to pursue my masters in Russia. I studied in one of the prestigious university in Moscow and after 3 years, I decided to pursue my doctorate degree as I was offered another scholarship again. At the age of 25, I'm already a holder of doctorate degree in the field of immunodiagnostics for plant diseases. 

Things and experiences from my past made me who I am now. After studying in Moscow, I decided to come back to the Philippines. As they say, "home is where your heart is" and I always believe in that. And on top of that, I want to make a name for myself, show to everyone who questioned my capabilities and prove them wrong. I came back because I want to show to them that the girl they used to treat unfairly is no longer the same weak girl she used to be.

I am glad that the Russian waters made me hot and cold at the same time. I learned how to camouflage and adapt quickly in any environment. I can be a FRIEND in an enemy's territory and an ENEMY in a friend's territory. Now I am more vocal and I can already say what's on my mind without minding if he/she is older than me. The old version of Elle Demeter is a timid girl that keeps her thoughts to herself, now she is long gone.

Aside from learning and speaking the Russian language, I also studied Spanish during my stay in Moscow. So it is safe to say that I can speak fluent Russian and Spanish, aside from English. My language skills isn't only limited to those three above as I have learned basic French, German and Portuguese from my foreign friends.

As I've said, I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth. My family is the poorest in our clan. Though Santillan's are known for being rich, we'll excuse my father for being the black sheep. During highschool, my Mama had to go abroad and become a domestic helper, for the reason that Papa had no stable job and their earnings are not enough to support the family anymore.

When Mama left, that's the time I had to experience a lot of burden, being the eldest I have to be a responsible Ate to my only sister. At a young age, my relatives from my father's side made me feel that I will never fit in the family, but the irony of it, I didn't get their point in hating me, while they like my sister. My early years were always filled with tears and heartaches, because no matter what I do, I'm always the SECOND BEST in the picture. No matter how I ace my exams, my grandparents would not bother about my achievements. They prefer to play with my cousins who did nothing in school compared to me.

I can still remember when they knew I was going to study Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, they were against it. They even told me that it was not a blue-collar profession. Like yeah! The hell they care. Besides they are not the ones who's gonna send me to college. I want to prove to them that after I finish this course I will become someone far better. And thank the heavens above and His grace, I think I did it well.

I may be bitter in life now, but believe me when I say that I put God in the center. I only have 5 persons I cherished the most. It's my Papa, Mama, Krae (my sister), Appa and Umma (my grandparents from Mama's side). By the way Appa was an agriculturist, he's my idol, but he passed away when I was still in 3rd year college. But when I lost Appa, someone filled his spot. 

He was a good friend since college, and a year after I lost Appa, we took our friendship to the next level. I was a hopeless romantic person back then. I believe in happy ever after. He was my first boyfriend and I thought we are bound to share forever. He was not the perfect boyfriend, neither do I. But we had a strong foundation for our relationship, and that's "friendship".

Well, our story was not a fairy tale, so there was no happy ever after. His memories are already in the past now. The past that I don't want to remember again. What he did to me, became a kindle and now I am in fire. I became the fearless, cold-hearted and ruthless Dr. Elle Demeter Perez Santillan.

And now I only have 3 important people in my life, Papa, Mama and Umma. The rest of my relatives I don't care anymore even my aunts and uncles. I also don't have a best friend, because I used to have one, but since I got a traumatic experience, I ditched the idea of finding a new one. 

It's been 2 years already since I went home and I'm happy with my work here Merci's Agriculture Foundation. Five months ago, I was appointed next in rank to the Executive Director because my former boss already retired. I am the youngest in this managerial position in the entirre foundation. When I took the position, I was head of the Farm Operations, Research, CSR and sourcing of funds, but last month I discovered the anomalies made by the education program manager, so I was the reason of him getting fired. And since there's no one to replace him, I'm also spearheading the education program temporarily.

Our executive director is such a kind and warm hearted person, aside from having a brilliant mind. He told me once, that our field of work is not a mere agriculture thing, but it involves business too, so he advice me that for me to enjoy, I should be resilient and learn to camouflage. My work does not only evolves in corporate events, board meetings, conventions and the likes, but it also includes farm life. There are some days of the week, that I have to be the "farmer Dr. Elle", not only the terror Dr. Elle in the office. I have a heart for teaching, so aside from being a lady boss, I become a mentor once in awhile. I teach my favorite subject to our scholars. Well, too bad because most of my students don't like when I turn ON my "bitch-strict-professor mode".

In my 27 years of existence in this Earth, I thought I already mastered the art of masking my true emotions. I thought the walls I've built for several years were sturdy and strong. I thought I was invincible, but just like Achilles, I also have an "Achilles heel". I am no Superwoman, but I have my own kryptonite too. I maybe ruthless and cold-hearted, but after all I'm still HUMAN.

and this is how I live my life today.