Pinilit ng asawa ang kanyang misis na ipalaglag ang bata para madali siyang makasama ng kanyang kalaguyo. Ngunit pinili ng babae na iwan ang lahat, tumakas sa Cebu at lihim na ipinanganak ang kambal na babae. Pitong taon ang lumipas, bumalik siya kasama ang mga anak upang iparamdam sa dating asawa ang kaparusahan sa bawat hakbang.

The husband forced his wife to abort the child so that she could be with her lover more easily. But the woman chose to leave everything behind, fled to Cebu and secretly gave birth to twin girls. Seven years later, she returned with the children to make her ex-husband feel the punishment at every step.

“I want you to abort the child. She is just an obstacle to my true happiness. You understand that, right?”

Those words from Adrian, the man Marites had been with for five years, were like lightning that cut the last thread of trust. She and the baby in her womb were now treated as nothing more than an inconvenience.

A rainy night in Tagaytay. Marites sat on the cold floor, hugging her slowly rounding belly. In the living room, Adrian was there, his voice low as he spoke to a woman who didn’t need to guess who. She no longer had the strength to ask questions—everything was clear.

She sacrificed everything: she quit her job, helped Adrian set up a restaurant in Tagaytay, humbled herself. But when it succeeded, the first words she heard were: “I don’t love you anymore.”

At first, she thought she would endure it. Because of the child. But when Adrian threw away the ultrasound paper and coldly said: “Let me do that, I’ll take care of the expenses,” she knew there was no going back.

She quietly put the few clothes and money she had saved in her backpack. Before leaving, she looked at the wedding photo on the wall, and whispered: “I won’t cry anymore.”

She took a bus to Cebu—a city big enough to hide in, far enough away that they would never see each other again, and peaceful enough to start over.

When she arrived, she was five months pregnant. No home, no family, no job—only the burning desire to live for her child.

She became a waitress at a carinderia near the pier. The owner, Aling Pilar, took pity on her and let her stay in the small room behind the kitchen. “That’s just how a woman’s life is, sometimes you have to be extra brave,” she always said.

In October, she gave birth to twin girls at a district hospital. She named them Amihan and Liway—hoping that their lives would be peaceful and stable.

Seven years passed. She became the owner of a small flower shop on Colon Street, earning enough for the three of them. The twins were both smart—Amihan was cheerful, Liway was serious—and both loved their mother.

One Christmas, while watching the news, Marites saw Adrian on TV—now a successful businessman in Tagaytay, with a chain of restaurants, and his wife, businesswoman Catriona, his former girlfriend. They held hands and smiled at the camera, like a perfect family.

But Marites’ blood did not boil anymore. The anger was gone, only disappointment and laughter remained.

He looked at the twins, who were now beautiful and vibrant. Children whose father once wanted to abort them, but who were now his source of strength.

That evening, he wrote on his Facebook account, which had been silent for seven years:
“I’m back. And I’m no longer the Marites of yesterday.”

The Return

After Christmas, Marites moved with the twins to Tagaytay. She rented a small house near the center, and used the name Mariel Santos.

She didn’t need Adrian’s recognition. All she needed was to see him feel the same bitterness of rejection and abandonment.

She applied to be an event manager at one of Adrian’s chain restaurants. With her new identity, she quickly became known as Mariel, professional, strong, and easy to deal with. Adrian didn’t recognize her—instead, he seemed to be obsessed with the new employee’s charisma.

– “You look familiar. Have we met before?” Adrian asked at a corporate party.

Mariel smiled, a cold glint in her eyes:

– “Maybe in a dream. But I’m the kind of girl who’s easy to forget.”

A certain nervousness entered Adrian’s chest.

The Discovery

A few weeks later, Adrian gradually fell in love with Mariel’s presence. But he, on the other hand, deliberately gave “hints”: an old song they used to listen to together, a dish he used to cook for Marites on her birthday, a line of poetry he used to whisper.

Adrian couldn’t keep quiet. Who really was Mariel?

He did a background check, and it came out: Mariel Santos, from Cebu, single mom of twin girls.

Twins? He was terrified.

One day, he went to Mariel’s house unexpectedly. When the door opened, two girls appeared. One looked and asked:
– “Tito, why do I look like you?”

It was as if cold water had been poured on Adrian.

Mariel came out, calm:
– “That’s right, you came. You’ve met your children.”

Adrian turned pale.
– “You… are you Marites?”

She nodded.
– “No. I am the mother of the children you forced to abort. The woman you dumped to be with your lover.”

Adrian was stunned. All the memories came flooding back—the night he rejected his child, the coldness of his words. Now, standing before him were two living children who were proof of his sin.

That same night, Adrian arrived at Mariel’s house, knelt in front of the door. He was crying:
– “Forgive me. Give me a chance. Let me be a father to them.”

But Mariel replied firmly:
– “You didn’t have the right to be a father. You didn’t choose them. When you should have fought for them, you abandoned us. Now you want to take revenge? My children are not trophies of regret.”

– “I just want to pay for the mistake…”

– “You will pay,” he interrupted. “Starting tomorrow, you will transfer 20% of your restaurant shares to the Foundation for Single Mothers. And you will write it yourself: as an apology.”

Adrian shivered: “Are you using the children to pressure me?”

Mariel smiled coldly:
– “No. I am using your sin to teach you responsibility.”

A few months later, Mariel and the twins left to return to Cebu. Adrian was left behind—thin, quiet, and visiting the foundation built in his name every day. He listened to the stories of women whose husbands had abandoned them, just as he had done with Marites.

One afternoon, Amihan asked her mother:
– “Mama, why can’t we call him Papa?”

Mariel stroked the twins’ hair, smiling:
– “Because he didn’t choose us before. But I, I didn’t leave you. So calling you Mama is enough.”

And there the story ends—not with a cry of anger, but with the silence of a strong woman. She chose to fight for honor, and she made her own strength her weapon.

She is the woman who was once abandoned, but in the end, she also rose and tasted justice.