One Summer with the Sinner (Monteverde Series 5)

Prologue

Prologue

VANE JASON

Madrid, Spain

"The media is speculating that you are cheating on your soon-to-be wife! Qué chingados? People will have to be crazy to believe that!" My manager looked annoyed as hell as she paced back and forth inside her office, while I was sitting calmly on the chair in front of her desk looking as unbothered as I can be.

According to the telecast earlier, I was seen in a party with Rosalina, the leading lady on the latest movie I have been working on. Photographs of the two of us were circulating over the internet and people assumed that I was seeing her behind my fiancée's back. To state the obvious, Rosalina is gorgeous and has a body to die for. The thing is, she is secretly married to one of the camera men on set, Diego.

I don't have any romantic ties with her, and I have no plans of going between her and her husband.

"How absurd!" my manger hissed exasperatedly.

"Luciana, calm down. I can do a press conference to clear things up." Her movements are making me dizzy, so I grabbed her arm to keep her in place. She has been in the industry long enough to know that rumors are part of show business. I don't understand why she seems so rattled right now.

"I don't think that's the best option, Vane. Some people will believe whatever news comes their way, with or without solid proof. I think you have to lie low for a little while. A press conference while the rumors are still fresh will only add fuel to the fire."

"Disculpe! Puede repetirlo?"

"I said you have to lie low. Let it die on its own." She finally eased herself on the leather chair and reclined. Taking a deep breath, she folded her arms across her chest. The stress became more visible in the way she heaved a sigh. But even with that, Luciana still glows with grace at fifty.

"People will think that I'm guilty."

"Let them think what they want to think for now. We can clear your name once the issue has died down. We don't want to make any rash actions here."

"Alright."

"The media has been targeting you ever since you released that statement against Lucio. Let us not fall right into their trap."

My temper ricocheted the moment I heard the name. Lucio Mercado is a famous reporter who loves to do unnecessary digging on the lives of celebrities. Most of the time, the information he gets are not accurate and it makes me question why the general public still believes in his shit.

A month ago, he reported that I was a product of a broken family. That part is true. What I didn't like was when he further stated that my parents had broken up because my father was a gambler and my mother could no longer contain the debauchery.

Truth is that they broke up because they fell out of love and my father later on discovered, or finally admitted, that he is gay. They talked to me about it and never made me feel excluded. Even when I was still young and can't fully comprehend the complexity of genders, I understood that regardless whatever he associates himself as, he is still my father. And deep down I know that he would still love me all the same.

Three years after the divorce, he was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer. My mother and I, who were already residing in London that time, quickly flew back to Manila to take care of him. Four months and two failed operations later, he passed away while holding my grandmother's hand.

On the day of his burial, I stared at all the faces in the crowd, knowing full well that in the next couple of days, they will no longer be sad over his passing. Bitterness filled me because unlike them, I would have to live with the heaviness for a very long time.