Married No More [#Wattys2019 Winner]

Kabanata 18: The Proposals

Dedicated to RedBeen95

"Hindi na ako magpapaligoy pa Christopher. What's with all this news going all around the internet and even in the television and radio?"

Halos matuod ako sa kinatatayuan ko dahil sa sinabi ni daddy. Hindi ko inaasahang didiretsuhin niya si Sir Christopher pagpasok palang namin sa office nito. Halatang galit talaga siya.

"Dad..." pagtawag ko sa kanya at saka ko siya nilapitan. Pero hindi ako pinansin ni daddy, na kay Sir Chris pa rin ang tingin niya.

"Answer my question Christopher! Girlfriend mo ba ang anak ko?" muli niyang tanong rito.

I want to answer dad myself pero dahil sa ipinapakita niya ay hindi ko magawang magsalita. Natatakot ako sa hindi ko maipaliwanag na dahilan. Kuya on the other hand is keeping his silence habang diretso rin ang tingin sa presidente ng M-Dez. Kaya hinayaan ko na lamang na si Sir Chris na ang sumagot kay daddy.

"Sir, Khiana and I don't have that kind of relationship. Hindi ko po girlfriend ang anak niyo..." sagot ni sir na ilang beses pang bumuntong hininga. He's really stressed out because of this issue.

"Then why did that article came out? And that picture...bakit mayroong picture na kumakalat kung saan kasama mo ang anak ko?" Tumataas na ang boses ni daddy kaya hindi ko mapigilang kabahan. Nakakatakot talaga si daddy kapag galit siya, it reminds me of that time na nagalit siya sa akin...it was 9 years ago.

"Dad!" Sumingit na si kuya. Hinawakan niya ang braso ni daddy as he tried to calm him down. "Calm down, we're here to talk things out at hindi ang makipag-away. Let Christopher explain, huwag natin siyang pangunahan."

Nakita ko ang paghinga nang malalim ni daddy. Mukhang nakatulong nga sa kanya ang mga sinabi ni kuya. Nang mahimasmasan ito ay doon pa lamang siya nag-angat ng tingin kay sir Christopher. Hinayaan na niya itong magsalita without forcing him to answer.

Napahinga muli nang malalim si sir Chris bago ito nagsalita. "The picture was taken yesterday when we were having lunch from a business meeting we went into. Pero hindi lamang po si Khiana ang kasama ko kahapon, my secretary Nancy was with us. But when the picture was taken, Nancy was in the comfort room. The one who took the picture put a different meaning with what really happened."

"Who do you think is responsible for this?" tanong ni kuya.

Napailing si sir Chris. "We don't know for sure. It can be a curious paparazzi na gustong pagperahan ang issue na ito. O maaaring isa sa mga gustong pabagsakin ako o ang M-Dez."

"I don't like having this issue Christopher especially that my daughter is involve. Do something about this."

Tumango si Sir Chris. "Yes sir. We will do everything to stop this!"