The car entered within the gates of the mansion, they have arrived after a long journey of nothing but silence. Until now ay tahimik padin sila.

Manong Kaloy stopped the car right in front of the main door, at agad naman sila bumaba. They were just in time.

Imee was about to knock when the door suddenly opened, revealing Irene. She looks as if she's been waiting for them, but that was not possible considering parang wala naman siyang pake sa plano kanina.

"Oh, welcome back. Why are you both so quiet?" She asked, eyes shifting back and forth from Imee to Catrina.

But they ignored her and instead went inside. Irene was stunned, hindi siya sang-ayon na tahimik lang ang kaniyang Manang, usually she was very talkative when she comes home, pero bakit ang tahimik?

She just watched as her sister sat on the couch, eyes closed while rubbing her temples. Bakit naman siya nastre-stress?

That's when she noticed something, Catrina tried her best to hide it but kitang-kita ni Irene at napakunot ang kaniyang noo.

"Bakit may pasa siya? Nakipag-bardagulan ba kayo or what?" Irene tried to joke, but seeing as Imee wasn't in the mood, she just received a glare from her sister. Catrina immediately hid her arm behind her back, and as much as Irene wanted to hate this kid, nahihirapan na siya mag-panggap.

She can clearly tell that Catrina cried, her cheeks were red and her eyes were puffy. Parang siya kapag umiiyak din. That made Irene worry. Sino naman ba ang hindi magwo-worry eh, halos tahimik ang dalawang magkasama and not to mention, they looked like they've been through hell and back.

"Did you cry?" Irene pointed towards Catrina, her voice coated with the utmost doubt.

"Ah, hindi po. Napuwing lang po ako." Sagot ni Catrina while avoiding Irene's gaze as much as possible. Meanwhile, Imee frowned at that. She exchanged looks with Catrina, telepathically telling her that she knows what happened and was upset that she lied.

"Irene, can we talk? Catrina stay here muna, I'll go and get the medical kit." Imee pulled Irene from the living room, leaving Catrina on the couch as Irene followed her sister to where the med-kit was stored.

"Why? What happened Manang?"

"You know she's lying, right?" Imee looked at her sister, face rather grim and tone unwavered.

"What do you mean?"

Imee sighed and went to open the cabinet and grabbed the med-kit, "nandoon ako kanina, I saw what happened and how she got that bruise. And yes, umiiyak yung bata. I don't understand why she would lie about it though eh, alam naman niya na I was there kanina."

"What happened ba? Ang tahimik niyo kanina eh, nakipag-bardagulan ba talaga kayo?"

"No, it's not like that." Imee hesitated, "Irene. . ." she knows her sister can be trusted but she also knows na magagalit si Catrina sa kaniya kapag sinabi niya ang nangyari. 

"Spit it out na kasi Manang, you know I'm not that patient."

". . .ano kasi," with a sigh, she blurted it out. "Sinaktan siya ng papa niya."

"—what?!"

"Keep your voice down! Magagalit 'yon sa akin kasi sinabi ko sayo." Imee hushed, but Irene still wasn't able to process what her sister just said. "Lasing 'yung papa niya kaya mainit ang dugo. But it just made me think eh. . ."

For a moment, they were quiet. But realization hits them and they both face each other with something in their eyes.

"Do you think he does it often?" Irene softly asked, slowly sinking in the information.

"Yan na nga ang tinanong ko kay Catrina kanina, but her mood changed tapos she just kept quiet and avoided my gaze."

. . .

The two women slowly went back to their living room, immediately spotting Catrina with her head down as she quietly traced the bruise with her fingers. She only looked up when she felt someone sit beside her. It was Imee, her hand clutching the medical kit.

"Come close and give me your arm," Imee muttered, gently placing Catrina's arm on her lap while she carefully unfastened the Betadine's lid. 

Si Irene ay nakatingin lamang, observing how her sister lightly pat the mark that decorated Catrina's arm.

Catrina slightly winced at napatigil naman si Imee sa pag-lagay ng Betadine sa kaniyang kamay. Imee had a worried look, "sorry, sorry. I'll be more careful."

Napa-ngiti si Catrina while watching Imee softly caress her arm with the cotton. "Maraming salamat po talaga, Ma'am Imee."

"Ano ka ba, it's nothing. Thank you as well," with that, Imee disregarded the cotton as she finished treating Catrina's arm.

"Para saan po?"

"For not taking another second to get in between me and your dad. That was very brave of you."

Another wave of silence washed over them. And then Imee decided to try again.

"Cat?" Hinarap siya ni Catrina, eyes looking puzzled.

"Po?"

"I'll ask this again," Imee began, glancing eagerly at her. "Sinasaktan kaba ng papa mo?"

Bumagsak ang ngiti ni Catrina at agad-agad iniwasan ang tingin ng dalawang babaeng Marcos. Imee, on the other hand, shifted her gaze towards her sister and then back at the young girl who started chewing the insides of her cheeks.

"Come on sweetheart, kailangan kong malaman. It's for your own good."

But Catrina stayed quiet. Irene became impatient and decided to take matters into her own hands.

"Sagutin mo si Manang, Catrina." 

Her name sounded so foreign coming from Irene, it was the first time she called her by her name. Imee had a warning glare on her face, informing Irene to not scare the young girl. Tiningnan ni Catrina si Irene and that's when they noticed the tears dripping down from her cheeks.

Imee and Irene began to panic, frantically glancing at each other while figuring out what to do. 

"Hey, hey. It's okay. Hindi na kita pipilitin pa, I'm sorry. Tahan na, Cat." Hinaplos ni Imee ang buhok niya para kumalma siya, but Catrina can't stop her tears now. She silently cried, looking distant while Imee kept rubbing her back in an attempt to soothe the child.

Biglang tumingin si Catrina kay Imee, and then she slowly nodded.

Parang binagsakan sila ng langit, they had suspicions but hanggang doon lang talaga. Hindi sila makapaniwala na totoo pala ang hinala nila.

Irene slowly went towards Catrina and wiped away her tears using her own handkerchief. But she backed away when Imee tenderly hugged Catrina. Tuloy-tuloy na ang pagdaloy ng luha nang bata and Irene felt her heart twinge.

Catrina could hear Imee whisper against her ear, "It's okay. . .it's okay. Safe kana dito, no one can hurt you anymore." Then Catrina suddenly pulled away from Imee's hug, leaving Imee confused.

"Ma-ma'am. . .kailangan ko pa po um-umuwi. Kailangan pa h-ho ako ni ta-tatay. . ."

But Imee shook her head. "No, Catrina. Hindi ako papayag na saktan kaniya ulit."

"Pe-pero—" she was about to reason when Irene interrupted her.

"—'wag nang matigas ang ulo. You'll stay here with us from now on." Irene firmly stated, "ako na mismo ang nagsabi. So stop refusing and just accept the offer." She continued, looking at the young girl rather stoically.

Walang magawa si Catrina and so she just nodded and started to blank out, not noticing Imee tucking a stray strand of hair away from her face.