The Hired Daughter

Chapter 3

After that chat with Mrs. Dela Francia, a couple talks happened. It was Friday now and I still have work yet I had to skip to meet Mrs. Dela Francia.

I was heading to the bathroom when I heard Dianne talking with her phone, her door was ajar why I could her a bit clearly.

"About Sheina? No, she doesn’t have chance now on going to college.." she laughed while talking to her cellphone. "Don’t know what she’ll going to do once I take again her next pay check under her mattress." another laughed.

I was halted by her sentence and gripped tightly on the towel around my shoulders. I was shaking hard, before I could think clearly I already pushed her door and it swung open wide. She moved from her bed to see her unexpected visitor.

"Why Dianne?" I asked her in anger. "Why did you do that? Why you had to steal my money? That money was for my education!" I shouted at her out of frustration.

"What the hell were you talking about? I wasn’t stealing anything from you! Get your news straight from fact, Sheina! I didn’t do anything wrong with you!" she rushed to me just to point finger.

"You didn’t? But I heard you clearly, you took my savings under my bed!" I pointed at her too and her phone.

Her mouth fell and swallowed hard before she’s got back to her composure. "It was just a small amount of money, only five thousand!" she rolled her eyes. I wanted to pull her hair right at the moment. "And that’s what you get, you’re so ambitious. Why just forget about your education and stayed being a servant! Don’t be too proud!" she smirked.

Before I could think again my hands were attached on her hair as I pulled it hard, I was really upset and angry because of her words and added that she was a b***h for stealing my things even before and now, she did it again.

"Ahhh!!" she screamed in agony. She put bruised on my arms by her long nails but I ignored them.

"What’s happening here? Sheina!! Let go of Dianne!!" Mario shouted.

"Sheina, Dianne, stop it!!"it was Barbara.

I was panting hard when I let go of her hair and she was crying now like a kitten. My eyes drifted on my bruised arms, she got me pretty bad here.

"Ma, Pa!! Sheina hurt me! She slapped and pulled my hair, when I told her that I did not know about her missing wallet! She was accusing me about her money!" she was crying hard.

I shook my head. "No, I didn’-"

My face turned to the side when Mario slapped me hard. I was shocked and still crying but I want to explain my side.

"You have the guts on doing that to my daughter? When you were just an orphaned and we sheltered you since your parents had died!" another hard slap.

"Mario! That’s enough!" Barbara stopped him from assaulting me again.

"What, were you deaf? She laid fingers on my daughter, in my own house?!" he shouted at my Godmother then he faced me again. "After what I have done to you, you’ll do this in return? How dare you!" he shouted in anger and strode at me but Barbara had stopped him.

"Enough, Mario!"

"Damn that b***h! Ingrata!" he spit at me that made me cry even more. "Get out of my house!! We don’t need you here!! You have work now, you can live by your own so get out and never show your face in my house ever again!!" he spat. "Dianne!"

"Pa-pa?"

"Pack her things, now!"

"Mario, please.. don’t do this to me! Barbara, please.. I have no one!" my eyes were blur of my tears. But Barbara just looked away.

"Dianne!! Make it fast and throw all her things out of my house!" he was still enraged as Dianne almost jumped following her father.

"Mario, Barbara, Dianne.. please, let me in, I have no place to stay.." I kept on crying calling their names from where I was standing. Some of the nosy people were looking at me or for what had happened to me, coz I still in my pajama and yet I wailed here like I was in some sort of drama film.

"If only you used your head before you laid fingers over my daughter!" Mario in his terrifying voice. "Leave, Sheina, and never ever think of going back, or else you will become a punching bag!!" he threatened.

"Barbara.. please, you are only my family.." I pleaded, even I could not see and heard her I knew she was listening now.

"Are you that dense, Sheina? You really asked for a body ache?" I heard the loud sound inside their house and my Godmother’s scream, perhaps halting him from going out.

I immediately picked up my bags and almost ran away. When I saw the upcoming ride I hailed it. I was still sobbing and wiping my tears when I decided on going to the meeting place, I had to see Mrs. Dela Francia.

If before I was thinking twice about her proposition, now.. I was sure about it. I never dreamt of living on the street, her offer was much better. I never bothered on checking my appearance also, coz when I arrived in our meeting place, I already spotted Mrs. Dela Francia.

She left her chair looking at me, obviously she was alerted of my two bags on my hands while in my pajamas. I actually wanted to change but then I was a bit late, and now she saw me like this.

"What happened, hija?" she asked me in a worried tone.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "I got no home.." my voice cracked.

"What happened to your lips?" she checked on me. "My God! You got bruised!!" she got more panicked when she saw the bruised from the long nails of Dianne.

Yeah, I got busted my lips and I think my cheek was swollen too, it’s because of the slaps I got from Mario. I even got my arms with this dried blood from Dianne’s attacked.

"I-I’m fine." I tried to hide it. I stopped crying right now coz we were in a public place. It was too obvious for literally having coffee with my pajama’s on and with my two bags of clothes, well, no genius to deduct what happened to me.

"Come on, let's go, hija." Mrs. Dela Francia walked with me.

She looked over her shoulder and someone rushed to us. Caloy took my bags on him, I knew his name since I started meeting Mrs. Dela Francia.

My jaw was gaping when we entered a hotel, Mrs. Dela Francia told me that we had to wait for a few days before we could get home to her house as I had to wait for my wounds and bruises to be healed, coz her husband might be asked about it.

"You okay here, hija?" she asked me again.

"More than okay, I like it here.." I smiled at her and looked over the window. I had a good view from those Skyscrapers. It was late afternoon now, we drove here to Manila from Nueva Ecija earlier.

"Make your stay here comfortable for the meantime, hija, although it is only a suite. But two days from now we’re going home, I think that time all your wounds are already healed.." she touched my face and smiled a little.

"Thank you, if not because of you.. I might end up sleeping on the street." my voice quivered.

"Are you sure you don’t want to file a case?" she told me about it, that I could file a case against them.

"No, Ma’am.. " shaking my head. "It was not that serious.. and beside they’re the people who helped me when my parents had died.. I lived with that family for almost five years." I looked down, honestly this one was a serious thing for me coz for the very first time I got hurt physically. But then I owed my Godmother and I did not want to break her heart.

"Fine, if that's what you want.. Anyway, we need to buy some new clothes for you tomorrow. I'm not saying that I don't like your taste, but then you need a little make over.." she tilted her head looking at me. I looked down at my clothes, I was wearing my pants and sleeveless top.

"I'm not changing you, if that's what you were thinking.. No, hija, I just want to pamper you.." she smiled warmly.

I cleared my throat. "About your proposition? I.. I have to pretend as your daughter? Only to your husband and son?" my brows furrowed.

"About that.. yeah, you need to act as my real long lost daughter. And don’t worry about your papers, I will take care about it, just in case.. but you have to be careful. And you need to start calling me Mommy now.. then Daddy to my husband, his name is Michael Dela Francia and Cast, the name of my son, he’s my eldest and his name is.. Cast Eulises Dela Francia."

I nodded at the seriousness of her tone. But to all of this, I had to tattoo in my mind.. like the real thing about the accident, that had happened to my parents. She found me at the day of my Graduation and it was started from there, and she would take care also about the probability that her husband would ask about my DNA test, to prove that I'm his real long lost daughter.

Mrs. Dela Francia was like the answered to my prayers. She’s like my guardian angel from heaven above, I lost my Godmother but I found her. And this time, I did not need to work hard like doing all the house chores just to sleep under a roof.

Not that I was thinking of living like a princess and would never helped her in the house. But like what Mrs. Dela Francia had told me, she has a bunch of house helpers. I might offer a hand if necessarily. I could give a hand if she would allow me, but I was firmly told that I needed to act as her long lost daughter. Why I doubted if I had to do house chores.

I had slept better that night, and even dreamed of my new upcoming life as being Sheina Dela Francia.