21Lux returned to his office after dropping off his family at home, just as he mentioned. Funny how a billionaire like him lives in a two-story house, he thought, not as vast as his mansions and doesn’t contain fifteen rooms.That’s the home we built, he mused, reflecting on the indoor balcony, spacious living room and kitchen, two guest rooms downstairs, and four bedrooms upstairs. The expansive backyard, adorned with landscaping and trees, provided a refreshing feel of being in a province despite being in the city of Manila.There has been no change in Heart’s life even though they are living together. She works hard on her own, and Lux is truly impressed. She doesn’t indulge in million-peso shopping sprees for bags and shoes. Occasionally, she brings home a bag worth six hundred pesos only.When Lux buys her things worth millions of pesos, she says he must’ve just saved it for Lush’s future. But when it comes to expensive perfumes, she remains silent. Heart loves perfumes; that’s

C23Heart emerged from the tent after fixing Lush. Their child was already asleep, and now she headed towards her husband, who was sitting, immediately locking eyes with her. He had been smoking several cigarettes since earlier, and she was familiar with Lux’s behavior.It wasn't just a cigarette. There were days when she didn’t see him take a puff for quite a while, but today, it seemed like he had already had about three.She felt a strong emotion. She smiled at him, and he returned a faint smile. Instead of sitting beside him, she sat on his lap.He quickly embraced her waist. “What’s up? Can you handle it?” she teased, but she was afraid of what he might say. It could be her last laugh that night.He took something from the pocket of his shorts, a folded paper. “Open it, baby. I want you to see it,” he said, and she nodded, her lips slightly open as she took and unfolded it.At the top, she saw the doctor’s name, address, and contact number. What she saw next were names of women—

Lux took their son to an ice cream parlor after playing basketball. It was the child’s request, so he agreed to make him happier.“Daddy, why does Mommy keep on going to school?” Lush asked as they chose ice cream from the display.“Because her school isn’t finished yet.”“I want to go to Owa and Owo.”“We’ll go there. Don’t worry. The three of us will go to them this vacation.”“Promise?”“Yes, Daddy’s promise.”They high-fived, but his attention was caught by a child who ran and accidentally pushed the freezer, making it wobble.“Damn…! Can you pay for this if it breaks?” The angry vendor scolded the child, whom Lux estimated to be of Lush’s age.He saw the child flinch and seemingly scared of the man. Lush clutched his fists, looking puzzled.“Don’t curse like that in front of the kid. You can’t be a vendor with such a foul mouth and face. It’s too bad for the kid,” he retorted to the vendor, who quickly looked at him.“Why are you even meddling, sir? Can you pay if it breaks?”“Do

C27Heart blinked her tears as she looked at Her son. She continued to eat ice cream while crying. Lush wiped away her tears, smiling at her son’s effort.“Don’t cry,” Lush told her. “Daddy loves you. He won’t approach to that Manang again.”“What did he do?”“The child wasn’t well. He was like this,” he said, acting as if struggling to breathe.Heart nodded, sensing the child might have asthma, feeling sympathy. Although everything seemed fine, she couldn’t shake the thought that Silvana and Lux might reconcile for the sake of their child.“There’s a lot you don’t know yet, my baby. You’re still a baby,” She told Lush.“Aren’t we leaving him?” the boy asked, looking so sad.She shook her head and chuckled. Despite Lush found fear of leaving, she assured her son “We’re not leaving.”“We won’t leave Daddy?”“We won’t leave Daddy. Mommy loves Daddy. We may have misunderstandings, but we’ll discuss them for you, and we love each other,” she explained, knowing Lush’s understanding was

C29AFTER attending the six o’clock mass, they headed straight to the diners. Along with Elisa and Caleb’s family, they decided to go to a restaurant spontaneously, as her husband hadn’t made a reservation. Carmen didn’t like the Macho restaurant; she felt it had become monotonous and preferred somewhere else.Katy whispered to Heart as they got out of the car, “Ate Heart, there’s some content about you and a businessman circulating on social media. It’s gaining a lot of attention.”“I don’t know the rumors about that. I just went there because it was Charles’ free time and he was already there. I asked if his girlfriend really had a child from her previous relationship. I wanted to know who the father was, but he had no clue.”“Have you become the talk of the town? Well, 500k people already watched his vlog. He’s profiting off you.”“Who?” Lux sharply asked her sister.“Never mind. Maybe that’s where he earns. But me, I don’t know. These days, I’ve learned not to pay them any attenti