LAW OVER LOVER

Chapter 20

Rina's POV

It's good to be back. Madaming nangyari, madaming nagbago.

Simula noong bumalik ako sa UK, naging okay naman ang mga unang linggo. Malungkot kase kailangan ko na namang iwan ang Pilipinas, natalo ako sa kaso ko, at naiwan ko si Matthew. Right before I left, nag-iwan ako ng sulat sa kanya, saying how much he means to me and how much I love him. I even posted sa Facebook ko na mahal na mahal ko sya, but, as soon as it was made known to many na nakabalik na ako at natalo ako sa kaso ko, matinding bashing ang naranasan ko.

All those people na hindi ko naman kilala, who celebrated with me when I graduated sa Cambridge with honors, sila din pala yung mangba-bash sa akin. They were sending me messages na, how come I graduated with honors pero yung kaso ko di ko naipanalo blah blah blah.

I was hurting that time. I don't know how to continue. I graduated with honors for nothing! No one wants to hire me! Walang law firm sa UK ang gustong kumuha sa akin.

I feel so pathetic! Everything started to crash for me. I wasn't myself for months, I barely eat, I don't go out, everything bad is going back to my mind and I can clearly remember everything from the past.

Alam kong alalang-alala sa akin si Mama noong mga panahong yun. Alam ko pakiramdam nya napabayaan nya ako, but it was all me. Napabayaan ko ang sarili ko. I was flooded with bad thoughts and everything went down. I was supposed to be strong, I'm a lawyer and my life experiences made me stronger. I'm not going to be defeated by their words.

I started visiting a psychologist. I need someone to help me ease my mind. I remember Dr. Clarisse telling me this one quote, "The struggle you're in today, is developing the strength you need for tomorrow."

I just can't give up. Masyado nang madaming nangyaring masama sa buhay ko para sumuko pa ako ngayon. I need to stand up and take little steps to regain what I lost.

Day by day, naghahanap ako ng mga taong walang kakayahan magbayad ng abogado, and I took their cases pro bono o libre. As much as possible I'm helping women, because like me, they need someone to stand up for them.

After a year, I'm back with vengeance. I regained what I deserved, no one's hating me anymore. Naipapanalo ko lahat ng kasong hinahawakan ko, at mas madami na akong clients.

Slowly, I started my own law firm – Isabel Arevalo Legal Co., oo, pinangalan ko ito kay Momsy. We specialized in rape cases. We also do corporate legal actions and still helping those who can't afford to defend themselves in court. I personally train my lawyers, and treat my employees really well because I know, I can't do this alone. My company became known in the UK, I even heard we're also making news locally here in the Philippines. 

I came back for a conference. International Lawyer's Conference. I was invited to talk about my law firm and to give inspiration to others, since hindi lang mga lawyers ang pupunta doon, pati na rin mga law students from all over the country.

I was very excited. I brought Angelo with me, he's one of my partners sa IALC. He's one of the company's shareholders and a good friend of mine. He's half Filipino, half British, but he spent most of his years sa UK. Sa Cambridge din nag-aral si Angelo but he's ahead. He's a great lawyer and became really interested in getting to work in my firm. He really admired daw my bravery of putting up my own firm, empowering women, and empowering people in general. I can still remember how he patiently sends his application to me and it turns out, he's from a really well of family and ended up investing in my firm. That's how we became partners.

"It's really humid in here, huh?" Angelo said.

I laughed. "I told you several times Gelo, it's not like in the UK here. We're in a tropical country! It's not even that hot, you should be here during summer."