Chapter 1

“Xandro, please don’t do this to us. Don’t leave us, please. We need you,” Maricris was begging to her husband.

Her eyes were already blurry, and she felt like her heart was going to explode because of everything that suddenly happened.

But instead of listening to her, Xandro pulled out her hand that was wrapped around his waist.

“Oh, please stop this. You can take care of them. You should know that I love someone else,” Xandro mumbled after he removed her hands from his waist and without turning his back, he went outside of the house.

He left her alone with her children.

The twins were quietly sleeping in their crib without knowing what was happening around them.

They were so young and innocent.

She followed with her eyes her husband who was coming out of their house.

She couldn’t imagine that their marriage would turn out like this.

Last year, she was impregnated by Xandro after a one-night stand.

She hated that night. It was the night that she wished had never happened in her life. She was invited by her best friend to go to a birthday party.

It was supposedly a fun night but turned out to be her greatest nightmare.

Xandro had been her crush since they were in grade seven. He was the son of their barangay chairman.

He was quite popular in their place because of being handsome on top of being the son of their barangay leader.

When they reached Grade nine, she was the happiest when Xandro courted her. Since she liked him, he became her boyfriend and when they reached grade twelve, that night at the party, Xandro forced her to make love to her.

Though she got pregnant because of that, she did her best to finish high school. Since they were still young, they didn’t get married as they were still underage.

But she was looking forward to the day that she would be married to the man. It would be her greatest dream. To be called his wife and him to be her husband.

Xandro was just a year old from her. She was seventeen while Xandro was eighteen that time.

After a year and their children were three months old, Xandro finally left them because he had a new girlfriend.

She saw her mother get inside at the door where Xandro came out.

“What happened? Why are you crying?” Her mother asked with curiosity in her face.

She could see the worry in her face while her eyebrows were drawn together because of

She was sobbing and she felt like it was so hard for her to speak up. She felt like she had lost all the strength that she had.

Her knees were softened like jelly.

“Mom, Xandro already left. He left me and my children,” she said between her sobs. Her mother pulled her into her embrace. “What will happen to me and my children?” She added.

Maricris broke down on her mother’s shoulders.

She only had love but why did it come with so much pain? She only followed her heart. And Xandro told her that he loved her too. So, what happened?

Why did the man walk out of her life? Why did he shut her out of his life including their children?

Did it mean that what they shared was just meaningless for him? And she and their children didn’t mean anything to him?

She felt like her heart was stabbed by a sharp knife.

She couldn’t believe that her story with Xandro would end like this.

“Shh… Don’t think so much. I am here for you. Just be strong for the sake of your children. You know that I am against this relationship because you are young, and you are still studying. Temptation is always there. But what else can I do? If I disown you that wouldn’t change a thing,” she said while she was rubbing her back. “I am already seeing this happen because you and Xandro are still young. You are just being carried away by your emotions. On top of that, sweetie, there’s nothing we can do about it because you are not married to him,” her mother added.

Maricris knew that everything that her mother said was right. She never failed to tell her that she was so young to be in a relationship, but she insisted. Because she felt like her love for Xandro was so strong and she couldn’t stop herself from falling in love with him every day.

And that night came, she got pregnant. She was still grateful though she had committed this mistake, her mother didn’t send her out of their house.

Instead, her mother made her feel love despite what she had done. It was true that a mother’s love was unconditional because of what she had seen from her mother.

She had accepted her without any questions even if she could see the hurt in her eyes when she learned that she got pregnant despite her reminders to her.

She knew that her mother was disappointed because of her untimely pregnancy but she didn’t say anything that could break her heart and she was thankful to her because of that.

Maricris was still living with her mother. When she got pregnant, she moved in with Xandro and they lived with the man’s family. Unfortunately, an incident happened, and her mother didn’t let her stay in Xandro’s family house.

It was still clear in her mind. She was a month pregnant back then when she almost had a miscarriage because Xandro’s sister pushed her in the staircase.

She obviously didn’t like Maricris. Xandro’s family felt like she had forced Xandro and she intentionally got herself pregnant so that she could be a part of their family. Xandro’s sister thought that she was ambitious, and she didn’t deserve to be her brother’s girlfriend.

As per Xandro’s sister, she was so ordinary to belong in their family. It hurt like a thousand needles were inside her chest, but she kept her mouth shut because of the love that she had for Xandro. She would accept everything that they would say just for her to be with him.

Maricris was glad that the staircase was just three steps high before the floor, if not, probably, she already lost her children. Though she had an injury to her ankle that time.

When her mother knew about it, she rushed and took her back with her to their house even if she said that she was okay.

Xandro’s family made her like their housemaid. She did all the household chores. Everything that they had done to her came to her mother. So, she took her away from Xandro’s family house.

She hated the fact that they had made her like their slave. She was willing to do anything that they asked because she wanted them to accept her as Xandro’s future wife but no matter what she had done was never enough for their family.

She didn’t do anything right. And everything was simply not enough for them to be pleased with her.

She was glad that she was already out from them because her hardship had ended. She patiently endured everything because she loved Xandro. She had loved him unconditionally because even if they were living together, it was not beyond her knowledge that he was courting another woman in their school.

It was as if the man was even showing off to her that he could still flirt with another woman even if they were already living together and already have children.

She had endured and let herself suffer in silence.

Because of her love for him, she acted blind with everything that the man was doing. Since she gave birth to the twins, she was unable to attend college while Xandro was taking a business management course in one of the prestigious schools in town.

Her family was not rich or poor. She could say that they were in the middle class. She was an only child of her parents. Her mother was a plain housewife while her father was an OFW (Overseas Filipino Workers) in Saudi.

His father’s earnings were enough for her to go to a decent school and for her mother to buy what she needed.

Maricris’ parents were against the idea that she was living with Xandro. The man had a reputation of being a playboy and that was not hidden from her parents but what could they do? She was blinded by her love for him.

Just after a week, they received a letter from her father that made her, and her mother’s heart shattered into pieces. It was a letter of apology from her father.

In his letter, he made a confession that he was living abroad with another woman. He shamelessly admitted that he got the woman pregnant. She felt like her whole world was on her shoulders, especially seeing her mother hurting.

She had failed her and now she was betrayed by her father.

Maricris felt guilt because she was a part of her mother’s pain.

Her mother was sitting in the corner crying while staring at her children. She felt like she totally disappointed her mother.

She was a single mother to her twins at a very young age. And her mother was already getting old, and she couldn’t even do anything to make her proud of her.

Maricris hugged her mother and then she whispered.

“Mom, I am sorry,” she said in a cracked voice. She apologized for everything as her mother had suffered from everything that happened to her and then her father added up to this.

She knew that her mother’s heart was broken into pieces.

If only she could take her heart and put all her pain inside her chest, she would have already done it. She was so good to be in such pain like this.

She knew that her mother didn’t deserve what her father had done. She wanted to get angry at her father because he was unable to control himself. How could he cheat on her mom when he said that he went there so that their lives would change? So, was this even the change that he was talking about? She wanted to shout at him for being so weak and failed to keep his promise.

There were a lot of questions inside her head and she felt like she was going to lose her mind but she had to be strong not only for her mother but for her children. No one else would do that except for her.

“It’s okay, sweetie. We cannot do anything about everything that is happening. We can never control how other people act but the only thing that we can do is to stay strong,” she said and then she looked at her.

She saw the pain in her eyes and that was like making her heart feel like it was being squeezed.

Maricris failed to fight the tears that were already in the corner of her eyes.

“You have to be strong and think of your children. Please, I am begging. Don’t be stupid. I hope this is the last time that you will be making this kind of mistake. Focus on your children. Do not just think about yourself and about your emotions like your father. When you give birth to your children, you should know that you are not living your life anymore for you, but you live because of them,” her mother said and then she sobbed on her shoulders.

It was heartbreaking to see that her mother was crying because of her and her father. She had been a good mother and a responsible wife. And she couldn’t imagine that her father would be able to do this to her mom.

There’s only one promise that she made to herself. She would be strong like what her mother asked for the sake of her children and her mother.