Giving In

Chapter 10

               It was Saturday and Liam was staying in again. He has yet to go home to his parent's house. Mari was wondering kalian maghahasik ng lagim ulit ang nanay ni Liam. Their entire week was live in relative peace pero alam ni Mari di pa tapos ang nanay ni Liam sa kanya. Napaliguan at nabihisan na niya ang anak kaya hinayaan na niyang maglaro kasama ang tatay nito.

Since she had nothing to do, she grabbed her phone and went through her social media accounts. She rarely ever opens facebook anymore and alam niyang wala ng laman iyon so that's what she opened first.

She saw pictures posted by some of her college and high school friends. Mostly travel pictures. She went as far back as reaching posts from about three or four weeks ago nang madaanan niya ang picture na nakatag si Liam. He was in formal attire and hanging on his arm was Sophia Torres, in an exquisite gown, smiling from ear to ear. There was more than one picture. Yung iba ay group picture pero mas marami ang picture na silang dalawa lang. But only Sophia was changing poses or faces. Liam had a resigned look in his face. She wanted to click like para malaman ni Liam na nakita niya ito but that would so petty. And she wasn't like that.

When she was done with facebook, she tried going through her instagram. When she reached posts from about three weeks ago, may nakita naman siyang post ng isa sa mga finafollow niya. It was a group picture and Liam, again was in it, with Sophia Torres. They were in the same clothes as the ones in the facebook pictures. Its caption was about the event of the night. A local gathering of the city's elite and other business owners. The event gathered old money and new money people.

Biglang nasampal ulit kay Mari ang dahilan ng disgusto sa kanya ng mama ni Liam. She was basically nobody and in the circles Liam moved in, who your parents were and what the family business is was everything. It sounded extremely discriminatory, but it was reality. Mayaman sina Liam. Their property development business was inherited just like other old rich families. Sophia Torres is the kind of woman everyone expects him to end up with. Hindi ang tulad niya. No wonder the old, cocky and arrogant Liam thought of her as a gold digger and social climber. Di isang tulad niya ang sineseryoso ng isang tulad ni Liam.

The peace didn't last long, just as she expected. Natapos na siya sa pagstalk kay Liam sa faceboo nito at instagram. What she saw just made her more apprehensive. She was about to grab a few vegetables from the fridge nang bumaba si Liam, hawak ang anak at ang cellphone sa bakanteng kamay.

He had this scared but resigned look on his face and she already knew what happened. "My parents wanted us to have lunch at their house at exactly twelve noon. Okay lang ba?" tanong nito. He didn't want to expose his daughter or Mari to his mother's venom. Even he himself couldn't stand to be alone with his coldblooded mother for a few hours. "I know what she said to you, you know. Sinabi ni Victoria. Pero kahit di niya sinabi, di naman mahirap hulaan. I just didn't expect her to do it so soon or to do it with no subtlety at all."

Tumango si Mari. She never got the habit of procrastination. Gagawin na lang rin niya, might as well get it over with sooner than later. "Pakakainin ko lang muna ulit si Kara. She's used to having lunch at around eleven, and then I'll change."

Tiningnan ni Liam ang suot na relo. It was already eleven. "Ako na magpapakain sa kanya. Mauna ka na magbihis. Pero iwan muna natin si Kara, Lina can handle things around here for a few hours." Tumango si Mari. They both knew it wouldn't do their daughter any good to be in the same room with his mother.

They drove in silence going to his parent's house, their energy dissipating as the minutes went by. Lunch, or any other meal, in the presence of his mother, wasn't something anyone would look forward to.

They came in and gave the appropriate responses to the helps' greeting. Dumeretso sila sa engrandeng dining room at nandun na ang kumpletong pamilya ni Liam. "Where's Kara?" Katrina asked, looking disappointed. The answer was pretty obvious.

"I thought it better to leave her home," Liam answered his sister. He pulled a chair out for her and when she was seated, did so for himself.

Mari didn't bother talking. She only gave the appropriate answers though when directly talked to and gave agreeing grunts and sounds. She was too old for this kind of plastikan. And she wasn't the type of person to suck up to rich people to win favors. It was all a waste of energy and emotion. No one in this room was under any kind of idealistic illusion anyway.

"So, we all know bakit tayo nanditong lahat ngayon," panimula ng nanay ni Liam. Kanina pa irap ng irap ang sariling mga anak nito sa kanya. "Did you to make arrangements for the DNA Test?" she asked Liam.

Liam lost count how many times he sighed. It makes him wonder how the hell he survived living in this house. Di naman lingid sa kaalaman nila na pareho naggagamitan mga magulang nila. "Ma, I know Kara is my daughter, end of discussion."

"Liam, I am only looking after your interests. Paano kung pineparehan ka lang ng babaeng to," galit na sabi ng nanay ni Liam. If Mari was a weaker woman, she would've wept, or gave in to hysterics, or tried to defend herself to get Katherine's approval. But she wasn't up for it. It's better to let Liam do the talking.

"Katherine, stay out of my son's affairs," galit naman na sabi ng tatay ni Liam. But it was only Mari who was surprised. He seemed to take pleasure in deliberately going against his wife.

"Wag mong itulad sayo ang anak ko Victor, na madaling mahumaling sa magandang mukha," galit naman na sabi ng nanay ni Liam. Well, at least she considered Mari pretty.

"Oh for the love of God! Tumigil nga kayo!" It was Victoria this time to have her outburst. "We don't care about your messed up relationship. Si Liam at Mari ang pinag-uusapan dito. Buhay ng pamangkin nakasalalaya dito. Why are we having this conversation in the first place?" Victoria was in a rage. Mukhang di lang kaligayahan ng kapatid nito ang pinaglalaban nito. "Ma, you better stay away from Liam's family or mawawala din sayo ang panganay mong anak."

Everyone in the room was silent. No one expected Victoria to talk like that, then walk out. Mari just shook her head. Ang raming baggage ni Liam.

Author's Note:

So I'm gonna end it there muna kasi naman yung laptop ko, di nakikisama for long. And I know some of you are waiting for updates on Conveniently Married and The Boss' Babies pero hintay hintay muna haaa. Wala pa akong clear plans for them. Sorry hahahaha

COMMENTS PLEASE HAHAHA