Miss Astig

Fifty Four

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Laman ng tabloids at broadsheets ang nangyari.

Pero ang headline? Nakakatawa lang.

Business Tycoon reveals his daughter after 16 years.

 

Hindi ko din alam na malaki pala ang naging epekto non. Mabuti na lang at nandyan ang mga tauhan ni Papa para kahit papaano ay makontrol ang sitwasyon. Alam nitong ayaw na ayaw ko ng public exposure. Ayaw kong ma-televise. Ayaw kong masangkot sa mga kontrobersiyang may kinalaman sa pamilya niya.

Nandiyan din sina Mama para suportahan ako all through out. Nakakapagod ang mga pangyayari dahil halos wala ka ng privacy. Minsan, nakaantabay na sayo ang mga reporters sa labas ng school at gate ng bahay. If it weren’t for my father’s influence baka pinagpiyestahan na ang buong buhay ko. Hindi na lang nila ako pinapanood ng mga balita sa TV at hindi rin ako nagbabasa ng broadsheets para hindi daw ako ma-trauma.

Funny right? Ano pa ba ang ito-trauma ko kung tutuusin?

Pero isang gabi, while I was randomly clicking channels ay nahagip ng paningin ko ang isang particular na newsflash. It was my father who was chased by a persistent reporter habang palabas siya ng gusali ng kompanya niya.

It was an interview that actually changed how I see my father.

"Is it true that you have a daughter?" Determinadong tanong ng babaeng reporter habang sinusundan si Papa sa mabilis na paglakad.

 

Nakita ko ang saglit na pag-alala sa mukha ni Papa nang marinig ang straight to the point na tanong na iyon sa kanya bago siya sumagot. "Yes."

 

Nagulat man ang reporter ay mabilis pa rin itong nakahuma bago nagbigay ng follow-up question.

 

"That was quite a revelation because we all thought that you only have a son. You've kept her in public for 16 years. We heard she’s a year older than your son, Lloyd Hiro who’s currently in critical condition after the kidnapping incident. It also came to our knowledge that it was she who saved Hiro against his kidnappers. Is she your illegitimate daughter?"

 

Nakita ko ang pagkairita sa mukha ni Papa sa tanong ng reporter bago mabilis nitong sinagot ang reporter. "No. She's my daughter from my first wife. I'm a businessman. And you know how dangerous my life is because of that. I wouldn’t risk my daughter’s life, for goodness sake! She’s a very private person. Keeping her identity is a way of protecting her. It's what her mother and I had talked about before we parted ways."

 

"Mr. Kwok—"

 

Hindi na nakapagsalita ang reporter ng hablutin ni Papa ang mic nito at pinakatitigan ang video bago malungkot pero seryosong nagsalita.

 

"If there's one thing I regretted my whole life… it’s for not being there when she needed a father… I was never ashamed that she is my daughter..."