I Love You, Prof.

Chapter 40 : Unsaid

Three years later..

Sheiia

"Hey, where are you? I'm already here!"

Damn, wala pa din ang sundo ko. Nakakainis naman kasi, matraffic na naman siguro dito sa Pinas kaya late ang babaeng iyon. Well, hindi pala siya totally babae sabi niya kasi she likes girls daw. Natawa tuloy ako sa naalala ko.

"I'm here already. Yan, nakikita na kita. I'll go there."

Sagot ng nasa kabilang linya. I waited for her to arrive.

Welcome home, Sheiia. Nasa Pinas ka na ulit, after three long years.

Maya-maya pa ay nakita ko na ang sundo ko. Well, as usual she's wearing her hair short and that playful smirk on her face. And of course, gwapo pa rin tulad ng madalas niyang sinasabi sa akin. Gwapong babae.

She hurriedly kissed me on my cheek and gave me a warm hug nang makalapit siya nang tuluyan.

"I missed you, Sheiia Lerise."

Ngumiti ako nang malapad sa sinabi niya. Syempre, sobrang miss na miss ko din ang taong ito. Three years din akong nawala sa Pinas at ilang beses lang niya akong dinalaw sa San Francisco.

"I missed you too, Max."

Yeah. That was Maxine Montalban. Ang dakilang sundo at alalay ko since next week pa ang flight ng Mommy ko papunta dito. My real mom. Karissa Riego. The twin sister of Katheen Ricafort.

Yeah, I know magulo. Kahit ako naguluhan din sa mga nangyari. Three years has passed pero sariwa pa rin sa alaala ko ang lahat. Kung paanong nalaman ko kung sino ba talaga ako. Kung paanong natuklasan ko ang bahagi ng pagkatao ko na ninakaw sa akin.

I was in Boston nang maabutan ko sina Dad at Mom na may kaaway sa sala. It was no other than my real mother, Karissa. She's been looking for me for so long. Pinalabas nilang patay na ang anak ni Karissa Riego at huli na nang malaman niyang buhay pa ito at ako iyon. It took her twenty one years of suffering.

I was a product of rape. Yes, Gideon Ricafort raped Karissa when his wife is away for a vacation. My real mother's a psychologist and a writer. Walang asawa. Walang boyfriend. And she was raped by my goddamned father.

Yes. I hate him. I hate him for what he did to my life. I can still remember the last fight that we have.

"How could you do this to me, Dad?! How could you hide things from me? How could you keep me away from my real mother? You robbed me of my identity!"

Iyak ako ng iyak nang sinabi ko iyon. All my life, wala akong ginawa kundi umasa na mapansin niya ako hindi lang dahil sa may ginawa akong mali kundi dahil sa anak niya ako at proud siya sa bagay na iyon. I did my best for him to appreciate me. But instead, he manipulated my life. He even forced me to marry Nataniel, which I'm very thankful kasi dumating agad si Mama Karissa bago paman mangyari iyon.

I left their house right after that at sumama ako sa tunay kong ina. Pati sina Kuya at Ate ay nadamay sa galit ko. Because they knew from the start that we have a different mother, but they kept their mouths shut.

I lost contact to all of my friends when I went to San Fancisco with my mother, including Vera. I isolated my self because I'm so broken that time. I feel incomplete and ripped off to pieces. Sunod-sunod lahat ng sakit na dumating sa buhay ko.

I accidentally met Maxine as I was having my Master's Degree. May pinsan kasi siya na kaklase ko sa isang subject. Then we became close after that. So close na lahat nasasabi ko sa kanya. I never imagined na magiging ganito kami kakomportable sa isa't isa.