"DAD, let's not involve the child!" Manuel immediately pulled the innocent child away from his father.
"What do you want to do, Manuel? That's the result of your sister's sin! Why do I still have a daughter?" His dad just shook his head and looked at the child being carried by Manuel.
"Give me that child." He said to him.
"Dad, please, not the child." He even shook his head in response.
"You're siding with your youngest, is that it, Manuel? Be grateful that you became the eldest son." His father even pointed at him.
Manuel couldn't say a word.
"Are you the one who will feed that child?" His father asked him with a stern look.
"I will do anything, Dad, just don't hurt this child—anything." Manuel's voice pleaded to his father.
"Come with me," was all his father replied, and he walked away. "Take that child with you."
"Where are we going?" Are we going to Mommy's?" the young Ellena asked him.
He didn't answer then; he followed his father. He immediately got into the car, carrying Ellena. She just quietly looked at him, her gaze shifting back and forth between him and his father.
Manuel saw the signal and told him to come down first and leave Ellena for now.
"We will erase her memories about our family and about her mother." His father ordered it from him.
"D—Dad." He shook his head, shocked at what his father was saying.
"Fredrick, I'll let you choose. I'll kill that child, or we will erase its memory. Choose." He's full of authority, and when his father does it, he knows his decision will be followed.
He couldn't answer right away; he looked at the child. He just nodded to his father's wishes.
Carmela, I hope you can forgive your brother. Manuel could only say it in his mind.
He took the child from the car, and they went to the private clinic, which was also owned by his parents. He didn't know what they were talking about, but he knew the outcome now.
"Will I be able to see Mom and Dad?" young Ellena asked him.
He just nodded. "We just need to have you checked up." Manuel smiled at the innocent child.
The child he is carrying did not answer. He just clenched his fists because he couldn't even defend his youngest sister, Carmela, from their father.
His father signaled him, and he made the child take the pill; he knew that pill was strong because it was forcibly erasing its memory. The child looked at them in silence; Ellena innocently gazed at the three of them and followed what the person in front of her said.
After a while, the little child lost consciousness. Manuel carried the child, and they returned to the vehicle. The driver was ordered.
"Leave that child." His father ordered Manuel again.
He was surprised by what his father said. "W—What?" he asked, wondering if he had heard correctly.
His father only sighed and stared at him intently. "Leave that child alone." He repeated his warning to Manuel.
They suddenly stopped at an abandoned lot; there were no houses in sight now.
"D—Dad, I thought we were just going to erase this child's memory?" He asked.
"I don't want a girl; it would be okay if it were a boy. Girls are bad luck in our family." He heard his father sigh.
"D—Dad, have mercy on the child." He pleaded again, wanting to save the innocent child, Ellena.
His father stared at Manuel intently, telling him not to question every decision he made. Even though it was against his will, he got out of the car; he placed it on the grass. He couldn't leave the child, but he followed his father's orders.
Manuel hurriedly returned to the car. The driver immediately started the car and checked his niece's condition. His father suddenly tapped him.
"Don't worry, the child will only remember her name; they won't remember who her parents are." Tapping his shoulder.
He didn't answer. Three years later, he returned to the town where he still hid his sin until he met Leah Martinez.
He saw the soul of his little sister crying, searching for her child in him.
He suddenly jolted awake from the dream he was desperately trying to forget; he looked at the child who was also imprisoned, and their eyes met.
Suddenly, he remembered the child he and his father had thrown away; until his death, he still carried that memory.
She was just quietly looking at him; she was waiting for her mother to return now. He scanned his surroundings; Leah's gaze met his.
"Was your dream nice, Manuel?" This question was insincere.
He didn't answer it. He saw the woman's mocking smile again.
"Do you dream about Carmela? Do you want to see her? She kept asking one after another. I used to believe you when you said your little sister died because of a severe illness, but it turns out she was killed by her kin." Leah whispered to him.
"You can't even defend your little sister, can you? Just like you did that suffer the same fate as my child." Leah even said to her.
"That's not my fault— that's not my fault!" Manuel denied it to the woman.
"Even if you deny it repeatedly, Manuel, your conscience and your past sins are still eating away at you." Leah weakly laughed at his situation.
"Are you wondering why Carmela is quiet now?" Leah just asked him mockingly.
He stared at the person in front of him. He didn't speak then; he stared intently at Leah. "Just spill it!" he ordered angrily.
Leah laughed at him again. "Ask Felicia, maybe—she knows what happened to Carmela." Leah simply looked at Felicia, who was listening.
Manuel noticed that Felicia was staring at Leah with anger.
"Maybe Felicia also knows where the child is now." Leah smirked at him.
"Leah!" Felicia angrily called out to the person in front of her.
Leah smiled. "Oops, I'm sorry about it; I shouldn't have interfered." She even laughed at them.
"Don't listen to that woman!" That's all he heard from Angely.
She didn't say anything more, but she still smiled at them mockingly. Leah sat on his throne, looking at them. She even waved her hand as if pleased with what she was doing.
"Felicia, do you know anything about my sister?" He directly asked his companion.
"M—Manuel, don't believe Leah."
"Yes, not just the answer, Felicia. Do you know anything?" He asked, intently staring at Felicia.
Manuel saw the hesitation in her eyes; he knew she was hiding something and that Felicia knew about his sister, as well as the child they had abandoned before.
"Felicia!" Manuel called out to her.
"I don't know anything, Manuel! I don't know anything!" Felicia denied it to him.
"Is what you're saying true?" Manuel asked his companion.
Felicia quickly nodded. "Leah is just poisoning your mind, Manuel. We are on the same side here." Felicia spoke, calming the irritation he was currently experiencing.
He strongly suspected that Felicia knew about it, but he just couldn't find a flaw. Leah was looking at them, smirking and shaking her head.