Claire International Airport, P Country
"Over here, Eunice!"
"Aunt Lhyn!" Eunice smiled upon seeing the forty-year-old woman waving at her in the exit lounge. She strode at a hurried pace and hugged her aunt tight; the two immediately became emotional as moments passed.
"Let's go," says Lhyn, ending the heartfelt hugs after five years of not seeing each other. She wipes her face and tells her niece, "We're blocking everyone's way."
Eunice giggled and dried her eyes as well. Her aunt led her to the parking lot and helped her put her luggage in the car.
"Your grandma is missing you so much already." Lhyn is now in front of the steering wheel, maneuvering the car from the airport. Frequently, she would glance in her niece's direction.
"Aunt, you should focus on the road. I have no plan of leaving Earth at such a young age," she joked, then swept her head to look at the lady.
Lhyn chuckled and said, "You look even more beautiful as the year passes."
"Who do I inherit the good genes from?" Eunice smiled smugly. A moment had passed before the car filled with crisp laughter. After settling down, she inquired, "How have you been, Aunt Lhyn?"
Lhyn shrugged her shoulders, replying, "I'm okay. There is nothing new to share about me except these tall buildings erected over the past three years and the real estate-inspired Rice Terraces in the city."
Eunice lowered her gaze and pursed her lips. She didn't press on the topic, as she was aware of her aunt's tough life at the hands of her siblings. Therefore, Eunice changed the subject, asking random questions regarding the country's recent progress, particularly the Claire region.
"I was hoping you would bring Jillian with you. I haven't met him yet. He is turning five soon, right?"
Eunice's eyes lit up at the name mentioned. She nodded and said, "Why don't you and Granny come with me to Switzerland so that you can meet him?"
"That's a brilliant idea! I will talk to Mama about it." Excitement creeps into Lhyn's heart as she imagines leaving this country for good.
However, her siblings are the problem. They don't permit their mother to leave the mansion or the country.
"Grandma needs a new environment. Spring is just around the corner, and the temperature in Switzerland will go up soon. Granny will like it there."
"I'm sure of that... Then leave it to me! I will convince Mama to leave this f*cking hell of a family. I don't understand why she puts up with how my older siblings treat her."
Lena Lhyn Tsui is Eliza's younger sister, Eunice's mother.
When her grandmother's first husband died, she married her first love, and together they had a daughter—Eliza Tsui.
The Dela Cruz family is opposed to the second marriage. Thus, her grandma was forced to divorce and abandon her first love for the second time to please her first children and ex-in-laws, not knowing she was pregnant with her fourth child.
Hence, the siblings mistreated Lhyn the day she was born into the Dela Cruz family. They couldn't accept that Mirasol was married to someone other than their dad.
Lhyn wants to find her older sister, Eliza, who resides in Switzerland. Lhyn can leave the family. However, she cannot abandon her mother, who falls into a deep depression after the death of her first love and is forbidden from attending his funeral.
When she suffered a mental problem, her children didn't give her a nurse but placed the responsibility on Lhyn.
Lhyn is qualified to hold a position in the family business. However, she was only treated like a maid instead.
The saddest part is that Lhyn hasn't found a man to love or someone who would care for her.
"We've arrived," Lhyn announced happily.
Eunice snapped out of her thoughts and looked at the majestic mansion. The place had changed a lot; she almost didn't recognize it.
'I am back and will not spare any of you!' She clenched her jaw, exerting self-control as she checked on her emotions.
Lhyn took Eunice to the pool area—the passage toward the backyard. Since Mirasol was mentally disabled, her elder daughter built a small guest house where Lhyn lived with their mother.
As they had to walk through that area, the people having afternoon tea there had surprises on their faces.
"Lhyn, who is this?"
Upon seeing Lhyn bring in an outsider to the mansion, Miranda, the eldest daughter, begins interrogating the sister she didn't recognize as one.
"Don't you recognize Eunice?"
"Her? She's Eliza's bastard? Bah! What is she doing in my house? She is not a family!"
"Your house? This house belongs to our mother, and she's still alive for anyone to claim it as hers!" Lhyn could no longer tolerate her siblings' treatment toward their mother, who did nothing but sacrifice her life and heart for them. "Mama Mirasol requested that Eunice visit her. Hence, no one could stop her from coming home."
"The blood running in her veins is not Dela Cruz! She is not welcome here!" Bernard chimes in, the second child.
"She's our mother's granddaughter, big brother. She's also your niece!"
"She's not! And when we said that, we meant she had no right to return!" Bernard argued.
Lhyn wanted to defend Eunice, but her niece stopped her.
Eunice placed a hand on Lhyn's shoulder, persuading her, "It's okay, Aunt Lhyn. I can stay in the hotel. I'll come again to see Grandma some other time."
Eunice didn't want to make things difficult for her aunt and grandma.
However, Lhyn insisted. She gritted her teeth and clenched her palms on her side. "No, Eunice! Mama, keep your old room tidy as she hopes for your return."
"No!" Both Bernard and Miranda protested. The latter didn't stop despising Eunice and called her names.
"Leave now, bastard!"
"What is going on here?" inquired a woman's voice.
Then, a tall, graceful man wearing a tailored navy blue business suit and a beautiful woman exited the living room as they argued.
Eunice turned her head and felt her world stop spinning.
'Jullian Lopez?'
[Next Scene:]
"Hey! Why are you looking at my fiancé in such a way?"