Chapter 2 2

"Hanni!" Mama rushed towards me, as soon as I entered the house. She immediately grabbed my shoulders and turned me to face her. "H-Hanni, is what Eloisa said true?" she tearfully asked me. I took a deep breath, holding one of her trembling hands that were still on my shoulder. I just nodded and hugged her tightly. "M-Mama," I cried.

"Sis!" Hazel came running up to me when she saw me, and she hugged me. "Everything will be alright," she softly whispered. I thought she was angry too. "I thought... you were... mad..." I started to say, but she hushed me. "Shhh... I'm not mad at you," she said with a smile before hugging me again.

We were all silently crying, holding each other, when someone cleared their throat behind me. "Ahem." We all turned our attention to Dad, who was looking at us seriously. "Dad," I called out to him, hoping he would hug me and comfort me like Mom did, but he just stared at me intensely. "Let's talk inside," he said gravely before leaving us outside the house.

Tears welled up as I realized he wouldn't hug me or comfort me. I looked back at him with a heavy heart. "Come inside, Hanni," Mama said with tears streaming down her face, urging me to follow them.

Once inside, Dad immediately slapped me, causing Mama to cry out and restrain him from slapping me again. "Alejandro!" Mama scolded him angrily, stopping him from hurting me further. He was furious. "You shameless child! You always bring humiliation to this family!" he yelled at me.

"Dad, stop it!" Hazel yelled, making Dad even angrier. "Shut up, Hazel!" he shouted at her. But Hazel just shook her head and held me tighter. "Enough, Dad," she pleaded.

But Dad couldn't contain his anger. "You!!" he yelled, and then he turned to Mama, who was like a dying candle, weeping beside him. "Y-you!!" he said, his voice breaking. I watched in shock as my father, for the first time, cried. "H-how can I move on, Hazel?" he sobbed. Hazel approached him and hugged him, and Mama joined in too.

"I'm sorry, Dad," Hazel cried, and she hugged Dad even tighter.

I just sat there, tears flowing freely, staring at a picture of Hannah on my bedside table. My father loved her so much. He made all her choices, and she followed his path. She studied law because that's what he wanted. He wanted her to become a lawyer.

Just four more years, and she would have graduated. But she died, and now I was pregnant with her twin's child, the man she was supposed to marry. I felt responsible for her death, for not stopping her from making the choices that led her to that horrible fate.

My father was a lawyer, the family lawyer of the Buenavistas. Mama was a university professor, and the university also belonged to the Buenavistas. Hazel was studying there now, just like Hannah and I did.

Maria Hannah Ramos, my father loved her so much. She followed in his footsteps. She studied law because he wanted her to, because he wanted her to become a lawyer.

***Flashback***

"Five students caught cheating in the Law entrance examination!" Dad shouted, throwing the newspaper on the table. I looked down, playing with my fingers. I wouldn't have done it if he hadn't forced me to take the law entrance exam. I tried to study some laws, but I just couldn't get into it.

"What a disgrace, Hanni! You haven't changed!" he yelled at me.

"Papa, calm down," Hannah calmly said, trying to soothe him while he pointedly glared at me.

"You keep getting worse instead of better as you grow older!" he angrily exclaimed.

"I told you, Papa! I don't want to be a lawyer!" I shouted back.

"And what do you want? To be an architect? You won't achieve anything by drawing! So, you will study law, whether you like it or not!" he yelled, making me stand up from my seat.

"No! I don't want to!" I shouted.

"I will talk to Errol to see if you can retake the entrance exam! This time, don't try to cheat again!" he yelled in frustration.

"I don't want to, Papa!" I yelled back.

"Leave Hanni alone. I'll study law, so let her choose her course," Hannah said, trying to calm him down.

"Fine, do whatever you want!" Dad yelled, then went upstairs to his and Mom's room.

I knew Mom was disappointed in me too. What parent wouldn't be, especially when they found out their child was caught cheating, and it made the news? Mom was a teacher, so I knew she was disappointed in me.

"Everything will be alright, sis," Hazel said with a smile, hugging me.

"Don't worry, Hanni. Dad will eventually accept that you're not meant for law," Hannah said, gently stroking my hair.

I looked at her hand touching my hair, her sympathetic expression, and I hated her for it. I hated her because she was a good daughter and sister.