She had to open her eyes as the barrage of memories came crashing in waves through her brain. All the hurt, the pain and the suffering she had gone through returned to her in full force that caused a dull ache at the base of her skull.
Maine remembered exactly where her mood swings between being shy to being headstrong stemmed from.
She was nineteen when she met Erwin. He was one of the cool kids driving flashy cars and throwing money carelessly. Having been raised in a strictly conservative family, she was a timid girl. But underneath her façade lies a rebel who just wanted to be free from her parents' scrutiny and high expectations.
Mesmerized by his confidence, she got attracted and they were in a relationship in no time. It was a volatile relationship even from the beginning with Erwin being ostentatious and possessive and Maine being mutinous. When her parents found out about her relationship which she fought hard to keep secret, they decided to uproot the family and move to Britain as soon as she graduates.
It was supposed to be their last meeting. She planned to tell him of her plans to break up with him two months before she and her whole family were supposed to leave. He was livid, of course. His controlling and dominating attitude getting the best of him.
She woke up with Erwin having his way with her body. Much as she wanted to fight back, she cannot even move a finger, the date rape drug still flowing through her blood stream. He'd make sure she can't leave him, he said.
She contemplated how best to take her life when she found out she was pregnant. She told her parents of her condition in hopes of getting help. Through tears, she recounted what happened but her laments fell on deaf ears. Her mother just looked at her in disdain, shaking her head as if to dismiss the sight of the disappointment that was her daughter.
They still left for Britain but leaving Maine behind. Having no choice, she ran to the only person who she could blame for everything that happened.
Erwin accepted her, of course. This was what he wanted after all.
To be sure that she won't run away, he moved her to Mindoro where she didn't know anyone. She was practically a prisoner for she was not allowed to leave the house. She couldn't even go beyond two blocks from their house without having men following her around. It was when she lived with Erwin that she learned of what he does for a living.
He started out as a runner but his ingenuity in monopolizing the metro's party drug trade allowed him to climb up. He was right there almost at the top of the drug trading hierarchy, thus the ability to afford having men to watch over her.
She named her daughter Athena after the goddess of wisdom in the hopes that she'd possess enough knowledge to compensate for her mother's lack thereof. But bringing forth her daughter into the world could have been the biggest mistake she has ever made because now, she has to look out not just for her own but also for her child's safety.
She has forgotten how many miscarriages she has had after giving birth. The sexual and physical abuse that she suffered in Erwin's hands, especially whenever he was high was excessive. Much as she wanted to give up and just die, there was her daughter that she needed to protect.
At first, she attempted to reason out to him to stop the abuses but her explaining only led to him hitting her more. She soon learned to fight back but since Erwin was much, much bigger than her, she only got beaten more.
Things turned for the worse when her husband started using their daughter as collateral. If she refuses to whatever he wants, he threatened her of hurting Athena.
That was when she started sleeping with a knife underneath her pillow. She was just waiting for the right moment but the opportunity has not presented itself yet.
Hope came in the form of her old nanny who apparently also lived in Mindoro after Maine's family moved overseas. Since her primal concern was Athena's safety, they planned on how to smuggle her out before the men watching her found out what she was doing.
Her yaya will be taking Athena to Manila as Maine tries to escape by herself before Erwin returns. With the assurance that her daughter was safe, she ran away in haste, riding on the first ferry that would take her to Visayas.
It was aboard the ferry that Erwin tracked her down. Choosing to die than to fall into his hands again, she fought back. Amidst the pain from her freshly broken leg, she jumped off the vessel, willing the waters to finally take her.
She was still reeling from the flashback when she heard Richard's question again.
"Tangina, Maine, sino sabi si Erwin?!"
Through her parched throat, dried after her screams of pleasure from just a few moments ago, she answered as she closed her eyes, "Asawa ko. Tatay ng anak ko."
