Rajah Benicio had always wished for a son, but he was disappointed when he discovered that his child with his wife Leila was a woman; he could not accept it since he believed that a male could better rule a town than a weak woman.
"From now on, you will never come to San Isidro with us; instead, you will stay in our house and not speak to anybody as a punishment, and by the time I find out you have defied my command again, I may forget you are my daughter." Before he eventually left the woman's room, the Rajah said one more statement.
"Leila, let her be alone."
"I can't, she needs me—"
Lakambini hadn't completed his sentence when his husband reappeared and dragged her out of the girl's room. Leticia's world came to a halt as she heard what her father said, as tears welled up in her eyes, and she clutched herself tightly in the grief and emptiness she felt.
