”fuck.. fuck! Isabel.. What am i going to do!! I don’t want to be with this man for the rest of my LIFE!”

Rita’s voice trembles with panic as she confides in her cousin, who also happens to be her maid, her hands trembling around a pregnancy test—positive. Pregnant by the cold, unfeeling Carlo Castillo.

Isabel: “Sweet-“

Before Isabel can finish, Rita cuts her off with an irritated flick of her wrist and a frustrated sigh. She shakes her head and walks away, seeking solitude.

Worry eats at Rita; the thought of this child feels like a chain that could keep her from her ambition—the goal of marrying Carlo, collecting his wealth, and securing her future once he’s gone.

---

——Fast forward a few years——

Rita has given birth, and despite her initial fears, she adores her child more than anything. Carlo may be distant, hardly involved in their lives, but Rita is present, fully devoted.

The moment she held her baby, everything changed; this was her heartbeat, her world.

Just now, while outside the Garden Club, she witnesses her child take a little tumble. Panic surges through her as she rushes over, kneeling to embrace her little one.

“Oh my baby! What happened?”

She scoops the child into her arms, grateful that Carlo isn’t around—he would surely criticize her for being overly affectionate.

“Where does it hurt, sweetheart?”

Rita asks gently, her fingers soothingly rubbing her child’s back. Surprisingly, even the usually stern garden club leader softens in the presence of Rita’s concern, showing warmth that none would expect from her.

Onlookers are taken aback as they see a side of Rita that contradicts the coldness of her situation. While they are all too aware of Carlo’s treatment toward both his wife and child, they keep their thoughts to themselves, respecting the fierce love that is blooming here, one that even Rita thought was impossible.