Chapter 4

Caleb...

I went to Tagaytay with Tracy to visit my family there, the Criebo family.

Upon arrival, my grandparents welcomed me. It had been a long time since I had seen them, and I knew they missed me a lot. They prepared food and even insisted that I stay the night there. They thought Tracy was my girlfriend. I was happy to see them again, but I didn't reveal the truth about myself, partly because they were old, and I didn't think they needed to know.

"I'm sorry if they mistook you for my girlfriend," I said to Tracy as we were in the car, driving back to Makati.

"It's okay, Sir. I think that's how grandparents are."

"What about you? Do you have no family left, not even grandparents or cousins on both sides of your parents?"

She fell silent and shook her head. Her situation was even worse than mine. I felt we both had experienced similar hardships. My father had left us when I was a child for another woman, and that's why my mother cried every day. One day, she couldn't take it anymore, and she sent me to stay with my grandparents. They found her dead in her room that night. They didn't tell me when I was a child; I kept asking where my mother was and why she hadn't come back. Not only that, but they would always say she had gone away, and it wasn't until I was older that they told me the truth. It was too painful because I had been waiting for someone who would never return.

I had so many questions back then. Wasn't I enough for my mother to stay and take care of me? But no matter how many questions I asked, I couldn't get answers, especially since my father, who had left us for another woman, was also dead. I wasn't angry at the Simonne family because they had become like a second family to me. The parents of Jay and Gael, as well as Gael and my other cousins, had become like siblings to me. They were the reason I could continue with my life, as they were always supportive. I couldn't imagine what it would be like without them.

I looked at Tracy again as the traffic light turned red. How had she went through all of that on her own?

I remembered when I went to New York and lived there alone to get away from all the gossip and rumors about my family. Our family was always in the headlines, like a magazine that people read and then forget, only to release a new issue later. After one news story died down, it would be replaced by another, focusing on the case. It got to the point where my school life was affected, and sometimes the media even chased me because the school I attended was accused of leaking information about me. My family sent me to a distant place where I couldn't be followed by all the chaos, to a place where I could live normally and quietly. It was tough at first, but I adjusted and eventually liked it.

"Sir, the traffic light is green now," Tracy said, bringing me back to reality, and I immediately started driving.

Occasionally, I still looked at her, thinking about how I had managed to live alone in New York with financial support, but her situation was different. How had she done it?

"Is there something you want to say, Sir? You've been staring at me for a while."

I glanced away and focused on the road. "I'm just wondering how you live with no family."

"What do you mean?"

"I was just thinking. Isn't it difficult? I lived in New York on my own, but I had financial support. How did you do it without a family?"

"It's quite simple, really. I worked. I forgot to mention earlier that I lost my mother when I was young because my parents separated."

"Didn't I tell you not to call me 'Sir'?"

"Sorry, Sir. Well, as I was saying, my parents separated when I was young, so my father raised me after I finished college. Then he passed away, and I continued my education. We had some savings, and we had a small piece of land in the province, which I sold to pay for my schooling. That's how I ended up in Manila because I thought I could find better work here."

"Ah, your mother. You mentioned she left, when your parents separated. Did you ever try to find her, or did you assume she was dead because she left you?"

"I found out that she tried to look for me, but it was too late. I found her because some people who knew my father told me that she had come back several times to look for me, and they gave me information about her."

"What happened next?"

"That's also one of the reasons I came here. I searched for my mother, but I couldn't find her. There was a caretaker of a house I talked to, and she said my mother had worked for them. She also mentioned a man who promised to help her find me, and my mother trusted him. But in the end, he deceived her, and she died because of that."

"I'm sorry if I'm asking you such personal questions."

"It's okay, Sir. If that's what you need to know to get to know me and realize that I'm not a spy for the Cysco family."

I chuckled lightly. "Don't worry; I'm not thinking about that anymore. Besides, I know you've been through a lot, and in a way, I feel like we're similar despite our different life statuses. It's just showing that no matter how much money one has, life can't be controlled. We're all humans, and being rich or poor won't shield us from the problems, tragedies, and sorrows life throws at us. Just because you're wealthy doesn't mean you're safe from disasters. We all experience problems; it's just that we deal with them differently. I think it's amazing that I've met someone who seems to understand me because we've both experienced similar pain. It's like fate, don't you think?" I looked at her and she smiled.

"Maybe that's it," she replied.

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I didn't answer it right away since I was driving, but Tracy took her phone out of her bag and checked it.

"Sir, the Simonne family is looking for you."

"Why?"

"They said it's an emergency."

I was taken aback and immediately hit the brakes of the car. I stared at Tracy to see if she was joking, but her expression was serious. I took my phone out of my pocket and read the text messages. Ivan and Neon were texting and calling me urgently, so I quickly turned the car towards Hotel Simonne, where Ivan said he would be waiting for me.