Prologue

"I will believe in you, even if no one else does. Even if you don't believe in yourself." He said.

Those were his last words before I left, before "us" just disappeared.

"Selena, we'll have a family dinner later, fix yourself up and wear something elegant. You need to look presentable." My mom shouted.

My parents are both doctors. Our family, Santiago, is a well-known family in the Philippines. My great grandfather is the owner of almost all the hospitals in our country. That's why my Kuya (older brother) became a doctor too. I'm the middle child, so they don't expect anything from me, but I always do my best not to degrade our family.

I took a bath and put light makeup on my face. I chose a white fitted dress. It's above the knee, and it embraces the shape of my body. I put on the necklace that my brother gave me and let my hair fall. I grabbed my silver stilettos and went downstairs.

"You look perfect." My brother smiled.

"You look ugly," I replied.

We laughed and did some picture taking. I know my brother wanted to be a photographer, but it's the law in our family that the first born be a doctor. I feel bad for him. If I could take that responsibility, I would just to make him happy.

"Ate (older sister), do I look cute?" Gino, my baby brother, giggled.

"You look so cute. The cutest person I've ever seen." I smiled.

"You hear that, Kuya? I'm the cutest, and you're the yuckiest." He laughed.

My brother was about to tickle Gino when our parents called us. It's already 8:00 in the evening, and we're getting late for the family dinner.

Dad drove the car while Mom and Gino were in the front seat. Me and Kuya are busy talking in the back seat.

"Who's that girl?" I asked.

Lately, I always catch Kuya talking to someone on his phone, and today I just saw a beautiful girl as his wallpaper.

"Secret, no glue." He laughed.

"No glue? What the hell? It's no clue." I laughed as I teased him.

"That's my baby. She's beautiful, right?" He whispered.

I nodded and smiled at him. Whoever this girl is, she's making my brother happy, and I want to thank her for that.

"Aren't you going to introduce her to our family?" I asked.

"I already introduced her to our parents. We got caught." He scratched his head.

"I'm going to introduce her later. You know Lolo will ask everyone." He shrugged his shoulders.

He's right. Every family dinner, my grandfather will ask everyone if we have a special someone. The good thing about that is he accepts everyone, even if your past is bad or your financial state is not so good. Lolo will try to understand everything, and I'm proud because of that.

"How about you, Selena, still single at your age?" My dad joked.

"As if someone will choose the wrong path and love Selena." Kuya laughed.

"Ha-ha, that's funny." I rolled my eyes.

They don't know anything about Ciro. They don't know anything about my ex-boyfriend. I kept everything secret. I wonder where he is now. It's been 5 years, and still, I'm stuck as hell.

"Don't rush everything, darling, ok? Everything will fall into the right place. You'll find your soulmate." Mom smiled.

"How about me, mommy? My soulmate, where is she?" Gino giggled.

"You're too young for that little boy. When you're like your Kuya, Anthony, you will meet your soulmate." Dad replied.

"Go down, sweeties, don't forget to greet your uncle and aunties," Dad said as he carried Gino.

Kuya held my hand, and we walked upstairs. My grandparents' house is so huge, there's a huge gate at the entrance. The left side was the pool area, where there are two pools. The right side was the garage. I saw 3 cars parked there, maybe my cousins are already here. The front door was big and stunning. There are 10 bedrooms on the second floor, but it would take me a day to describe how lovely this house is.

When we reached the dining table, I saw my grandfather sitting at the end of the long table, smiling. I sat beside Kuya, and he gave me a thumbs up.

"We're complete!" My grandfather said.

The maids started to serve the food. I felt like my mouth was watering; there were so many kinds of seafood and Filipino foods.

"Wait, where's Hazel?" My grandmother asked.

My cousin. Are they still together? Are they already married? Maybe.

"She will arrive, just checking the hospital, Mama." Tita Sophia said to her mother.

Kuya Tristan lead the prayer, and everyone clapped their hands. We are all ready to eat.

"My question, over and over again, is—"

"Anyone here who have a special someone?" We laughed as we cut off our grandfather.

Kuya raised his hand and stand up. Seems like everyone is surprised.

"Reigh Ashley Trexso, grandpa. We've been together for months now." Kuya said proudly.

"What a nice name. Bring her here next family dinner, ok? I bet she's beautiful because you're handsome." Lolo smiled.

"She is."

"Anyone else except for Anthony?" My grandfather asked again.

"Me, Lolo!"

Hazel shouted and ran towards our grandfather. She's so beautiful, her yellow dress embraced her body like she's a supermodel. It's noticeable that she became mature after 5 years. Her stilettos are shining, her smile is stunning.

"You're late, Iha (daughter), but your relationship doesn't count. We already know." Grandpa said.

Hazel giggled and sat in front of me together with her boyfriend, fiancé rather, Ciro Privino. I looked at Kuya, and he noticed that my eyes were watering.

"Are you ok?" He whispered.

"H-he's, Kuya, it's h-him," I said.

Kuya handed me his handkerchief and signed for me to go to the garden to breathe for a while. I know he didn't understand my connection to Ciro, but he felt something was wrong.

"Lolo, can I excuse myself? I just need to use the bathroom." I said while frowning.

"Are you ok, Iha? Do you have allergies? Your eyes are getting red." My grandmother noticed and sounded so worried.

"Nah, I'm ok, Lola, just need to pee," I said and excused myself.

Instead of going to the bathroom, I went to our garden and sat on the swing there.

I thought I was ok, I thought that everything was fine, but when I saw him with her, my heart just broke itself. That should be me, I said to myself while wiping my tears.

"Selena, fix yourself. Everything's ok," I said comforting myself.

"You're still wearing the ring that I gave you." A familiar voice whispered at my back.

I looked back and saw him, his beautiful eyes turned into deep black ones. He grew so fast, even his voice changed, everything's changed.

"I just forget to remove it," I said.

I immediately stand and walk upstairs.

"Why do you always leave me?" He grabbed my arms.

"Because this is the right thing."

He released me and left me at the staircase. When I went back to my seat, everyone was busy with their own business.

I stare at him, and he's happily talking to Hazel. It looks like nothing happened, like he didn't hurt me at all.