Not Your Ordinary Cinderella Story

Chapter Twenty

Jesse

Mom slapped me real hard.

"You imbecile! How could you do this!? Huh! Pinahiya mo ang papa pati na ang daddy mo! Wala kng kwentang anak!!" Umiyak si mom matapos akong hampas hampasin at kalmutin sa panga. Wala akong maramdaman.

Kasalukuyan akong nasa mansyon ni lolo. Lahat ng kamag-anak namin ay naririto maliban sa pamilya ni Jay. Nasa Manila pa ang mga iyon sa oras na ito.

Nahuli kasi akong tumitira ng shabu. It's my first time kagabi. Napagkatuwaan lang namin ng bagong barkada ko. Pero malay ko bang nakaset up pala ang lahat bago ko pa naging kaibigan ang mga gagong iyon. Pakana ng mga kalaban ni Dad sa pagtakbo bilang Governor ng Lumar City.

Napatingin ko kay dad. Malungkot itong nakatingin sa amin ni mom.

"Napaka malas ko. Kung alam ko lang na lalaki kang ganito ka-gago ay sana pinagsundalo nalang kita. Dibale nang mapasabak ka sa gera doon sa Mindanao kesa naman makulong ka sa bilangguan. Don't you know how much trouble we faced to  red by the police?! Nabahiran na ang figure ng dad mo to save you from imprisonment! You're nothing but a trash now! Where is my brilliant son!? Who are you!? I don't know who you are anymore, Jesse. You're pathetic—"

"Luderica! Stop it!" Lolo came in.
He looked at everyone.
"Leave us alone. All of you." Maotoridad na utos ni lolo.

Nang kaming dalawa nalang ay naupo ito sa harap ko.

"I know what happened. The Montezars do play dirty. Forgive your mom. She doesn't understamd politics that much." Sabi niya.

"Alam ko hijo na ay pinagdadaanan ka, pero sana ay ayusin mo ang buhay mo. Ikakasal na ang bunsong kapatid mo. You should be a good brother to her. Instead of pagmumukmok, why don't you live your life to the fullest. Try to work your profession or mingle with nice girls? Stop rebelling against yourself. Nothing will change." paliwanag nito sa akin. Kahit kailan naman ay si lolo lang talaga ang nakakaunawa sa nararamdaman ko. Naiiyak na yumuko ako.

"Lo, sorry po kung nadisappoint ko kayo. I promise not to do this again. I'll try to fix my life."

Tinapik lang nito ang likod ko.

"Stay with me here for a week. Let your moms anger disappear then go home. Get yourself back my boy. You deserve non of your mom's wrath." I noded and then I sighed.

Manila, Philippines

Priscila

"Hey!! How are you!!" It's aunt Marga!!

"Hey there!" I waved back. She was my favorite model before I made Rafaela clothes. She's so pretty despite her age, I think she's in her early or mid fifty's now.

"Hi tita! I missed you so much? Did mom send you my gift? Where's mom?" Rafy started talking gleefully so I smiled. They have the same attitude, both of them looked so elegant yet sometimes, they act so childish.

"Sweetheart, you're son's tired. I guess we should go to a hotel first." Donatello took my attention away from them.

"Yeah, let's go." I agreed.

I bid my farewell to aunt Marga and Rafy then we ride the rented car Donatello rented for our three day stay here Manila. Mr. Pascua drove for us and our other guards followed in another car. Those other guards will leave and go back to US after some time, by the way.

My son really looks tired.

"Mom! It's so nice here. It's like we're back at Vegas!" Yelled Marcus.

We are currently here in Resorts World because he begged us to go out on a family date. Since he was a spoiled son, we granted it.

I am playing poker while they are watching. I'm quite lucky in this game and that made my son proud. I laughed.

"Son, next time, we'll go back to Vegas and I'll let you play. Okay?" He nods while Don shakes his head.

As I won seventy-eight thousand pesos, we went on a food trip next. Good thing about us is that we don't get fat. That's a bonus for our physical looks. Donatello himself looks like a greek god. Only, he's a pure American.

While I, on the other hand, is a Mexican-American..that explains my look and my body. My face is perfectly freckled and I am a brunette. Looking at Filipinas here, I may pass as one of them, if only not for my freckles and eye color of course.

By midnight, we decided to go back in our hotel. We need to rest for we are going to my client's city tomorrow morning already. I hope it's a nice place so that my son will enjoy our stay. Mr. Pascua escorts us outside to the parking lot. Donatello is holding my hand while his other arm rests on my son's shoulder.

I smiled while looking at ourselves. We really looked like a family.