Once a Wife [English Version]

Chapter 26

The car slowed to a stop in front of a high-end resort hotel in Antipolo. The view was breathtaking—rolling hills, the city lights beginning to flicker from afar, and a gleaming banner stretching across the grand entrance.

Build Forward Summit 2025
Innovating the Skyline

Below it, surrounded by sponsor logos, was one that made her chest tighten:

Javerde Construction Group.

Maricar inhaled deeply. She adjusted her blazer, glanced at her reflection in the car window, and steadied herself.

"Don't change the plan," Delia reminded from the passenger seat. "Focus. Remember why we're here."

Wena, in the driver's seat, glanced back. "We'll check in later. Just text us if anything shifts. You got this, girl."

Maricar nodded. "Thank you... for everything."

Then she stepped out of the car like she belonged there.

Like this wasn't a setup.

Like she wasn't carrying the ghost of a baby girl in her chest.

Yes, their baby was a girl.

She walked past the registration booth, confidently wrote her name, and stepped into the exhibit hall.

And there he was.

Dominic Delaverde.

Suited. Polished. Talking to guests. Smiling—

Until his eyes met hers.

He froze.

"Maricar?" he blinked. Disbelief coated his voice.

She smiled—softly. Not too wide. Just enough.

Two weeks ago, this moment was just a whisper over coffee. Now, it was happening.

⸻

Two weeks earlier.

They were tucked in a corner booth at a quiet café. The air was cool from the earlier rain. Outside, puddles mirrored a somber sky. Inside, something darker brewed.

Delia stirred her coffee, eyes fixed on Maricar who had been unusually silent.

Wena glanced between them before setting her cup down gently.

"Car," Delia said casually, but her tone cut sharp, "I noticed... you've been asking too much about how I did it."

Maricar looked up.

"Like—step-by-step. You don't even blink when I joke about getting even. You just... ask more."

Wena leaned in. "So... what's your plan?"

For a moment, Maricar stayed quiet.

Then something in her face cracked.

"I'm angry," she said, voice low. "Furious."

Neither woman spoke. They waited.

Maricar's breath caught. "I lost a child. A child who never even saw the world. Never got held. Never got saved. And now I'm supposed to... move on? Smile? Pretend nothing happened?"

She shook her head, eyes beginning to glisten.

"I want revenge," she admitted. The ugliest truth she'd been hiding.

"Dominic?" Wena asked gently.

Maricar nodded. "And Cynthia."

"Car, no matter how badly I wanted to kill them, I didn't," Delia warned.