***A/N: This chapter is in Felix’s POV, so please forgive me because most of the parts have to be in English. ***

[Felix’s POV]

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Everything about her is so beautiful. Her eyes, her nose, her lips, her hands, but the best is her smile. This is the Alie that I adored, the Alie I liked, the Alie I loved.

She looked at me and frowned.

“I still hope na sasabihin mo sakin kung anong kalokohan na naman yang council meeting na yan.”

She then pinched my cheeks and said,

“And I still hope that you’ll try to smile more sometimes.”

It’s been a while since we last laughed about something. It’s because everything got serious after Nat started to avoid her. She became more uptight and lonely. And sadly, her brother is the reason.

Tonight will be the night that Alie will be able to know the truth about her family. It’s been a couple of weeks since she arrived but no one has ever had the courage to tell her who her parents really are. How I wish I could tell her that the reason why we called them is because she’s the only descendant of the real owner of Keila. How I wish I could answer all of her questions.

But it’s alright now. Earl promised us that he himself will tell everyone the truth.

“Alie, Felix? It’s time to go.”

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Eah told us. We’re just sitting there waiting for her to finally come out of her room. Together with Kiel and Ryan, we all walked silently towards the conference room. No one said anything; we just walked and walked and walked until we reach the front door.

Alie held my hand and I felt that she’s as cold as dead. I looked at her and asked her if she’s alright. She just nod and faked a smile.

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As we enter the room, different faces looked up and different expressions were shown. I’m pretty sure that everyone is nervous. Let’s just be clear here, no one knows what will happen tonight because, one, only Earl and our parents knows the truth about this resort. Two, none of us really cares. And lastly, this is the first time that we’ll be gathered in a single room.

We sat comfortably at the swivel chairs around the huge mahogany table. I looked around and I actually noticed that I recognize almost everyone here except for those who were a little older. Well I guess they’re my mother’s old buddies.

I also noticed that Kaye, the designer is also here. It’s official that she’s one of the Richardsons that we’re looking for. She glanced at me and to my surprise; she raised an eyebrow and rolled her eyes. This girl does have an attitude. I also rolled my eyes and looked at Alie who, unexpectedly, frowns at me. What’s wrong now? What did I do? I tilt my head on the side and smiled innocently. But all she did was to stick her tongue out at me. I pout my lips and she instantly covered her mouth to hide her face slicing smile. I need to savor these moments while it lasts.

 

Just a minute later, the conference room is filled of families that I have known my whole life, and families that I have not yet laid eyes upon. Well, not until today. Earl walked slowly towards the white board and Dexter, who lazily walks after him, sets up the laptop and projector. What is that for? Some kind of technical explanation?

  I glanced at the window behind me and saw that Nat is still outside. I automatically looked at Alie who was also looking at him. She frowned and turned her eyes on me. She’s obviously shocked when she realized that I have been staring at her. Yes, staring. When she came back to reality, she smiled at me warily. I return her smile and finally gave my full attention to Earl who was finally starting the meeting. The didn’t-get-enough-sleep-Nat walked in and sat beside Kaye who was sitting beside Eah who was sitting beside Kiel who was sitting beside Ryan who was sitting beside me.

 

“We are gathered here, not because of a nonsense project, not because I have nothing to do, but because I want and need to know everything about you guys. I know na aware kayo sa success na nakuha ng Keila Resort for the past few years. And this resort is the only thing in my life, besides my wife and family, which really matters to me. And knowing na hindi ako ang may ari ng lugar na ito, it really kills me. Kaya I want you all to know na technically, this resort belongs to 6 men. I want you to meet them one by one, they are our Lolos.”

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Just as Earl said the word, the AVP fired up and a photograph of 6 not-so-old men flashed upon us. Oh this is going to be the first interesting history class I’ll ever have. The next slide flashed and a man, who awfully looks like Kiel came grinning down at us.

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“This is Ernesto Alcantara. Siya ang lumikha, nagpasimula, at nagorganisa ng pagtatayo ng Keila Resorts and Hotel, which back then, is famously known as Drum Keila Beach Resort. At hindi na rin lingid sa kaalaman ng lahat na siya ang lolo namin ni Kiel.”

 

He then looked at Kaye who hasn’t changed her expression since earlier, just serious. Earl continued with the technical things that bored the hell out of me. Everyone seemed to be bored, well of course, not everyone. Claire never gets bored of whatever Earl says. Another slide flicked and a family picture appeared. A photograph of Ernesto Alcantara together with his wife and kids.

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“Ernesto and Mayumi had three kids.”

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Earl continued his AVP. The next slide is a picture of adolescent Tito Eric, Tita Bea and another young girl who I’ve never met. She’s not here too. But she looked awfully like Kaye the witch. Yeah, that’s her new nick name. That suits her attitude well.

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“Tito Eric, please tell us more about your family.”

Tito Eric stood up and joined Earl in front and told us more technical things like their birthdays, which came first, blah, blah, and blah. It bored the living shit out of me.

 

“I have two younger sisters, Bea and Irene.”

The ones who were in my age gasped.

“Yes, alam kong nakakashock. Pero para malamang ninyong lahat, Kaye here is the long lost daughter of my beloved sister Irene. And yes, she exist.”

We all looked at Kaye dumbfounded. She frowned and looked away from all of us. She looked at Nat and then suddenly, she started smiling again.

The next thing he told us is who’s smitten with whom. Some elderly (Including Mom), managed to not laugh though it’s visible that they really are amused. So here goes the love labyrinth:

Bea (Earl’s Mom) loves Henry (Earl’s Dad) who loves Irene (Kaye’s Mom) who loves Uma (my Dad) who loves Emma (my Mom) who loves Eric (Kiel’s Dad) who loved her very much too. The other ones were the parents of my friends; Eah’s parents: Maricar & Daniel, Ryan’s parents: Krissy & Ronald, Nat’s parents: Lora & Ace, and lastly, Cathlyn & Art.

Alie gasped. Everyone looked at Alie after Earl flicked Cathlyn & Art’s photograph. It is a photograph of a pale young curly haired girl grinning at the camera together with a shy looking boy who tried to smile despite of embarrassment. The boy, Art, with his short black hair and big black eyes and pale skin, has his hands on the girl’s waist. They both looked good together and they both looked like Alie.

 

And to my surprise, I was the last one to figure this out.

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Goddammit!

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They’re Alie’s parents!