Hello, Mr. Mayor!

She's my family

The couple have arrived at the party just on time, there's a delay because the host is waiting for a very important guest.

Meanwhile, Tristan proudly introduced her to his friends and colleagues but she could not deny the stares of the women there lalo na ang grupo ni Lianne.

She saw her went to her father and whispered something kaya naman napalingon sa direksyon niya ang gibernador and he looks not pleased.

"Tristan.. " pukaw ng gibernador sa atensyon nito, kasunod nito si Lianne at kaibigan nito

"good evening, Gov" he greeted

"I thought you will come alone" saad nito na diniinan pa ang pagbanggit nito sa katagang alone

"I will not be alone anymore since my soon to be wife is here" he said sabay titig sa katipan

"W-well, this is a charity event. I hope she got the money to donate later" sarkastikong sabi nito

"Fortunately, yes. Kung hindi dahil sa tulong niya baka hindi natuloy ang medical mission noon nakaraan linggo" pagmamalaki nito

"But she should know that she's uninvited" komento ni Lianne

"kung hindi dahil sayo ay baka hindi namin siya pinapasok, we can't just let a nobody in our event. Kung tinulungan ka niya, I hope hindi iyon illegal or anything" anang gobernador na tiningnan pa siya mula ulo hanggang paa

"please don't get the wrong idea iha. Hindi ka namin kilala and who knows what kind of family you are from. We speak politics and charity here iha and I don't know if you can keep up or even relate to" pagpatuloy nito and she started to feel bad but she could feel his arms snake around his waist and gently pulled her closer to him.

The conversation have gained some of the people's attention and Lianne seems so happy about it. Napansin naman ni Ari ang komosyon na iyon kaya naman agad itong tumabi sa kaibigan making sure that she's fine. She could also see how her cousin is trying to get a hold of himself.

"You're..." magsasalita na sana si Tristan pero may sumingit na isang tao which made his girlfriend feel surprised

"I didn't know the Sotto's could be this harsh and rude towards other people" komento ng isang lalaki mula sa likod ng magkasintahan dahilan upang mapalingon ang dalawa.

Agad namang napasinghap si Keighlanie ng makilala kung sino ito.

"P-please don't get the wrong idea Senator Degracia, it's just that there are some uninvited guests in my party" he said in a mocking tone

"is that so? By the looks of it she is someone's guest. I thought you're into charity and helping people. The last we talked during a summit you claimed that you love the people around you and wanted them to feel safe and respected regardless their status but I'm not seeing it" the senator said coldly then stared at Keighlanie

"w-well, i-it's just that...l-let me exp-plain" nauutal na turan ng gobernador. He was caught off guard by the senator's remark

"I don't accept explanation when my family is involved with it, governor" he said emphasizing the word senator

"hello, Keighlanie. I am glad that you're safe, muntikan ko ng ideploy lahat ng tauhan ko sa agency para hanapin ka buti na lang your mom called me. I guess this is your boyfriend huh?" nangingiting patuloy nito not minding the governor

"yes tito. Tristan this Ramon Degracia my mom's older brother and tito, this is Tristan my boyfriend" she said smiling

"nice meeting you senator" magalang na inilahad ng binata ang kamay sa Senador

"oh please, were family already, so, just call me uncle since you will be soon part of our family." her uncle answered habang magiliw na tinanggap ang kamay ni Tristan.

Tila nakabawi na ang gobernador kaya naman nagsalita ulit ito.

"s-shes..." the governor looked tensed

"she's my niece, my family and whoever touch my family in a wrong way is considered as my enemy. To be honest governor, pinag-isipan ko ang sinabi mo last time that you wanted to be part of our party. Your so called sympathy to people almost got me, dapat ngayong gabi ko sana gagawin ang desisyo but given what happened earlier be it my niece or other people, it made me changed my mind. Please know that you will never part of the party" her uncle said it calmly but in a very cold tone making the governor at lost for words

"I'm sorry but if you'll excuse me, I still have a lot of catching up to do with my niece" he said saka inayaya ang pamangkin.

"You go first, susunod ako" Tristan said calmly

"I'll go with you too, Keigh" saad ni Ari eyeing Lianne and her father.

Tristan walk closer to Lianne's father leaving only a ver short gap between them.

"Look governor, if you still hold a grudge towards me because of what had happened before well, you are free to vent it all out on me kagaya lang mg bigla niyong pag-atras sa medical mission. You can disrespect me and I won't give a damn but what you did to my girlfriend is a a whole other thing. The business that you wanted with our family? Consider it cancelled at kahit di ako magsabi my family will surely know about this and I guess you already know the consequence and I know your family won't be able to handle it" he said then whispered to the governor

"It's a nice party though given your family is facing bankruptcy" he said mockingly then turn his back and walk out of the room.

Hindi tuloy maitago ng gobernador ang galit at inis sa nangyari

"what? Is it true dad?" maarteng wika ni Lianne

"shut up you idiot. Kahit na kailan tonta ka talaga" galit na bulong nito sa anak

"why didn't you tell kung sino ang girlfriend ng Tristan na iyon ha? Hindi mo ba alam na si Senator Degracia na lamang ang tangi kong pag-asa? My office is under investigation dahil may nagreport ng anomalya and he is the only one who could help me. You don't know how much I went through just to invite him tonight and great! You blew it up"naiinis na wika nito sa anak

"I-i..." gaya ng tatay niya kanina ay nauutal na rin ito "mom" tawag nito sa mama niya

"what happen? Aren't we starting the party?" she said not minding Lianne

"this party is ruined" saad ng gobernador habang hawak ang sintido nito

"why? What do you mean?" maarteng wika nito

"tanungin mo sa magaling mong anak. I went so much just to organize this. I sold our three cars just to make this happen but it's over kahit kailan talaga Lianne wala ka ng ibang gawin kundi ang gumastos at maglakwatsa" nanghihinang sabi nito saka umupo sa upuan na naroon.

Patuloy pa rin ang bulung-bulungan ng mga taong naroon. Nagtataka ang mga ito sa biglang pag-alis ng senador at ng mayor at mas lumalala pa ito ng animoy nagtatalo ang pamilya Sotto

"w-what do you mean by selling our car?" nalilitong tanong ni Lianne

"are you that dumb Lianne? It means were broke darling. Kaya hindi ka nagustuhan ng lalaking iyon eh, maganda ka nga pero, yeah, ganda lang ang meron ka" balewalang tugon ng mama nito saka umakyat sa maliit na entablado na naroon sa harap

Sinundan lamang ito ng tingin ni Lianne, umupo siya sa tabi ng papa niya. She's trying to process what her mom is saying hence she still refused to believe it.

"I'm sorry for the delay but anyways, it's nice seeing you here tonight. I guess you all know how our family wanted to help everyone. For the past years all of you have helped children, the elderly and a lot more and tonight we wanted you to witnessed this victory with you. Please roll VTR" mahabang litanya nito. She then step aside so everybody could see video clip that they prepared.

Given their family's situation, Lianne's mother Rowena put on an act. She would cry on some part of the video and she's quite great with acting it out.

"That is our journey for the past yearrs, we are able to do it successfully because of your generous help. We wanted to make sure that your donations will never go to waste that is why the Sotto Foundation will continue to work harder for the benefit of the people. To those who wanted to extend their help, you may inquire at our table near our entrance for or you can transfer it to the following platform flashed in our screen at sa boung gabi the donations will be flashed on the screen so everyone would know how much our donations have come so far. Please enjoy the party and good evening" ani Rowena saka pumunta sa kinarorornan ng asawa at anak.

Lumipas ang halos isang oras ay hindi man lang umabot sa six digit ang donations, people became quite concerned with what happened earlier at ayaw nilang mabangga ang pamilya ng mayor nila.

"fix this Lianne" mariing sabi nito saka tumayo at umalis doon.