The Hidden Past (ENGLISH)

Gerald is stopping the slap that is about to hit Charles. He didn't know it would escalate to physical confrontation.

"Gerald, don't stop him." That's all Charles said to him.

"Calm down, Ericka." He said this calmly.

"Let me go!" She struggled and immediately broke free from his grasp. 

Ericka gave them a fierce look; he could feel her anger.

"I can't believe that everyone I was with knows about the organization, and what's worse, they are part of the organization where my close friend Jasmin died." She could only shake her head at them.

William stopped him from letting Ericka go for now. 

"What's worse is that you let my friend die!" Tears fell from her eyes.

"Demons, demons are the ones I am with. You didn't tell me, Chesca—you didn't tell me the truth so I could know if my decision to be with you was right!" Said this with a voice full of sorrow.

Chesca just clenched her fists; she didn't speak; she was hurt by the decision to keep it a secret.

"Sorry—Ericka, I—I didn't mean to." Chesca weakly said, her face clearly showing guilt.

She heard Vince just sighing.

He scratched his head and looked at Thalia.

"I didn't know that the one who would help you would actually be weak-hearted, Thalia." He then turned to Thalia.

"Brother, can you stop your companion?" He even told his brother, William.

This caught Ericka's attention, and she looked at Vince with anger.

"What do you know? You were involved in the murder of my friend! You did nothing! Despite being a member of the organization, you did nothing." Ericka even said her voice is full of anger.

"You even said that you would bring down Fuego." Gerald saw her smiling, with tears falling from her eyes as she processed the truth she was hearing.

Ericka also needs to know the truth before she gets embroiled with the enemies.

Be strong, Ericka; we all—each and every one of us—are going through something, and all of us here have anger towards the Fuego.

Please, refrain from further hurting yourself by continuing to speak in this manner. He clenched his fist at that moment.

"If only, if only you had done that earlier! My friend's life wouldn't have ended like that! You don't know what it feels like to lose someone dear to you!"

"I'm leaving; I will find a way to avenge Jasmin! I won't join people like you!" She even said.

Gerald understood the anger Ericka was feeling right now; losing someone in life is difficult to accept.

"Stop it, Ericka!" That's all he heard from Thalia. Her hand was trembling, and she stared intently at Ericka, her face also filled with anger.

"Don't blame everyone here! We are all victims of Chesca's father's greed! We are all suffering at the hands of that person!" Gerald felt the weight in every word Thalia uttered.

"Victim? Are you a victim, Thalia?" She even laughed at the person she was talking to. "You are not a victim; you don't understand me."

Just now, a loud slap shook the room, startling Gerald. He saw Ericka just holding her slapped cheek.

"Thalia!" Chesca restrained her then. 

"I'm not in a position to talk about what I'm going through, what my family is going through. If you, with your parents still with you," 

He saw the tears Thalia was trying to hold back as she spoke.

"In our case, I never got to see my parents or my youngest sibling again, so don't speak as if you know everything, Ericka. Understand the situation, the situation of why we are here now. We each have our reasons for being here today, Ericka." Gerald stared intently at his childhood friend.

"What's your story, Thalia? I apologize for not being like you and for not allowing anger to consume me. This was her reply.

"You are traveling, aren't you?" Felix asked Ericka.

She turned to the man who had bumped into her. 

"Why do you care if I'm traveling? Do you believe in my abilities? Do you also believe that your sibling travels?" She asked defiantly.

Gerald caught sight of the teasing smile from Felix.

"If you're traveling, do you find out who the people you see on each journey are? Or do you not care?" He asked Ericka further.

"Given your pre-existing connection to this mess and your desire to understand why your close friend died, why are you delving deeper? Could you please clarify if your primary goal is to gather information? Or is your focus just on Jasmin?" This was followed by another question directed at her childhood friend.

"Brother," that's all he heard from Thalia.

"No, Thalia, I'm just asking her how much she knows about the Fuego family. What do you see on your journey?" 

Ericka fell silent as she watched Felix, gauging each question thrown at her.

"I know you have many questions, and you can talk to the siblings, right?" 

Ericka simply clenched her fist. "During my journey, I saw someone helping Jasmin escape back then," she said.

"Do you know who helped her?" Felix asked.

"He's the man digging something up; he's hiding something, isn't he?" asked Ericka.

"Yes, do you know him?" he asked her again.

"They killed and massacred him," Ericka said. Ericka stopped and looked at Thalia.

"Is your cousin the one who helped Jasmin?" she asked back then.

"Yes, Fernan, he was part of the organization back then, and he died because of the betrayal that freed the so-called demon you are talking to now; he sacrificed his life just so her two siblings could escape, and in exchange, his sibling also died." Gerald saw the challenging eyes.

Ericka was surprised by what she heard.

"I know you also kept secrets from my sister back then," Felix said to Ericka.

"Hidden?" Ericka asked Felix.

"Missy, you can't fool me; I can see everything that's about to happen. I've known you for a long time, Miss." Felix smiled mockingly at Ericka.

"You saw the death of our parents, didn't you?" Felix asked Ericka directly.

Thalia simply turned to her childhood friend.

"Do you know what happened?" Thalia asked back then.

"Thalia, you'll see what really happened. I'll return the question to you: how can we not understand what you're feeling?" He asked.

Ericka didn't say anything after that.

"You're not the only one who has suffered; for all we know, someone in this room might have suffered even worse than you and is trying to rise up to fight against life's challenges, Ericka."

"Brother, that's enough!" Thalia glared at her older brother.

Felix just sighed and didn't say anything more. Ericka sat down and didn't say a word.

His brother William tapped him and signaled him to sit beside Ericka first. He immediately went to where Ericka was sitting; she didn't speak.

They were both silent then; the surroundings became quiet after the commotion that happened earlier.