A MAN HIDES HIDES HIS CHILD BECAUSE HIS MOTHER’S FACE WAS “BURNED” — BUT INSIDE THE MALL, THE CHILD HUGS A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN, AND THE MAN COOLS WHEN SHE SAYS: “IT’S ME… THE FACE YOU BURNT, AND NOW I’M GOING BACK TO YOU”

Marco is a successful architect, but he has a dark secret. Five years ago, there was an “accident” in their house. His wife Elena’s face was burned.

The truth is, it wasn’t an accident. Marco was the one who did it. In the midst of a heated argument over Marco’s womanizing, he pushed Elena into the kitchen where there was boiling oil and the gas tank exploded.

Elena survived, but her face was disfigured.

Out of disgust and fear of being sued, Marco made Elena appear crazy. He sent her to a secluded facility in the province and said she was dead. He kept their son Bimby, who was only two years old, away from him.

“You don’t have a mother anymore, Bimby,” Marco would always tell his son. “She’s dead. And if you ever see her in your dreams, remember… she’s a monster. Her face is scary.”

Bimby grew up afraid of his mother’s ghost. But in his heart, he was homesick.

One Sunday, Marco took Bimby to a High-End Mall in Makati. Marco was wearing shades, feeling famous. He was with his new girlfriend, Stacy, a model.

While Marco and Stacy were busy looking at expensive shoes, Bimby got separated.

The seven-year-old boy walked around. Until he smelled something.

The smell of jasmine.

This was the smell he remembered from when he was a baby. The smell of his mother’s hug.

Bimby followed the smell. He saw a woman standing in front of the fountain. She was wearing an elegant red dress. Even the back of it was very beautiful. Her hair was long and wavy.

Bimby slowly approached. He pulled the hem of the woman’s dress.

“Mama?” Bimby whispered.

The woman turned around.

She was so beautiful. Smooth skin, a sharp nose, and red lips. She looked like an artist.

When she saw Bimby, tears welled up in the woman’s eyes.

“Bimby…” she whispered.

Bimby immediately hugged the woman’s leg. She didn’t know why, but her heart was sure. “Mom! My mom!”

The woman felt the tightness of the hug of the child she hadn’t seen in five years. She knelt down and hugged the child back.

At that moment, Marco arrived.

“Bimby!” Marco shouted. He saw his child being hugged by a stranger.

Marco ran and violently pulled Bimby away from the woman.

“Let go of my child!” Marco shouted. “Who are you?! Are you a kidnapper?!”

Marco blocked Bimby’s way. “Bimby, didn’t I tell you not to go near anyone you don’t know?!”

The woman stood up. She adjusted her dress. She was calm. People were already surrounding them because of the shouting.

“Miss,” Marco spat at the woman. “Thank goodness I won’t call the police! The next time you touch my child, I’ll have you arrested!”

Marco was about to turn around to leave.

“Marco,” the woman called. The voice was cold, full of emphasis.

Marco was stunned. He knew that tone.

Marco turned around again. “How did you know my name?”

The woman took off her expensive sunglasses. She stared Marco in the eyes.

“Don’t you know me anymore?” the woman asked.

“N-no. Who are you?”

The woman smiled. A smile full of bitterness and triumph.

“It’s me, Marco. Elena.”

Marco’s eyes widened. “Impossible! Elena is… Elena’s face is burned! She’s ugly! She’s a monster! You… you’re so beautiful!”

Elena approached Marco. Marco backed away in fear.

“Yes, Marco,” Elena said loudly for everyone to hear. “You burned my face five years ago. You left me in the hospital to rot. You thought I would die of infection and depression.”

Elena touched her smooth cheek.

“But you don’t know, someone helped me. A specialist in Europe fixed my face. I went through ten surgeries. I endured the pain of my skin peeling off, the pain of my bones being crushed… all of that, I endured for this day.”

Marco held Bimby’s arm like a shield. “Don’t come any closer! This is my son!”

Marco was about to pull Bimby away.

“DON’T TOUCH MY CHILD!” Elena shouted. Her voice echoed throughout the mall.

“I am his legal mother!” Elena continued. “And you? You are the man who tried to kill me!”

Suddenly, the mall’s security guards arrived. But they didn’t arrest Elena. They bowed to Elena.

“Ma’am Elena, are you okay?” the Head Security asked.

Marco was confused. “Ma’am? Why…?”

“Don’t you know, Marco?” Elena grinned. “The mall you are stepping on now? The land you are standing on? It is mine. I bought it with the wealth of the family that helped me in Europe.”

“Guards,” Elena ordered. “Don’t let that man go. The police are coming with a Warrant of Arrest for the case of Frustrated Parricide and Kidnapping.”

Marco let go of Bimby in shock. Bimby ran to Elena.

“Mama!” Bimby cried.

Elena picked up her son. “Mama is here, son. We will never be separated. And your father will never hurt us again.”

The police arrived and handcuffed Marco in front of a crowd of people and his girlfriend Stacy (who had already fled in shame).

As Marco was being dragged away, he shouted: “Elena! Forgive me! I am still your wife!”

Elena just looked at him, her face so beautiful but her eyes as hard as stone.

“The husband you knew died in the fire you started,” Elena replied. “What you are facing now is karma that you cannot escape.”

Elena left with Bimby, her forehead high, while Marco was taken to the place where he belonged—behind the bars, where no surgery could fix his broken life.