“I’m sorry, but you want me to do what?” Iñigo balked. 

The very next morning, Iñigo found himself joining the Samson family for breakfast. On one side sat Iñigo, Javier, and Esther. On the other sat Javier’s and Esther’s parents, their faces twisted in consternation. From under the table, Iñigo held onto Esther’s hand, while Javier rested his hand on her back. Esther trembled under her parents’ gaze.

Earlier that morning, one of the helpers found the pastel blue baby clothes Esther had bought, tucked away in her bedroom. She reported it to Mr. and Mrs. Samson, which led them to call this impromptu family meeting over breakfast. 

“Mom, Dad,” Javier said, indignant. “Iñigo had nothing to do with this!” 

“We know that, son, we’re not stupid!” Mrs. Samson responded bluntly, taking a sip of her coffee as she furrowed her brows. “Everyone in town knows that Iñigo has been sleeping around with Kenji Yamashita!” 

This was news to Iñigo. He thought he had hidden his relationship with Kenji rather well. He took a nervous breath and took another sip of his coffee. It was going to be a long day. 

“But never mind that,” Mr. Samson continued. “What else are we going to do about our reputation? We can’t have Esther walking around like that!” He pointed to his daughter’s stomach, which had started to grow larger. She winced.

Iñigo couldn’t deny that they were the most powerful, most influential family in Divinagracia, a prominent political dynasty with their father as mayor and their mother as vice-mayor. A scandal could spell disaster not only for Esther, but also her family’s status as well. Reputation was everything, Iñigo had realized. 

Esther rested her hands over her stomach, caressing her child as if to calm them down.

“And so, your solution is to marry her off to Iñigo?” Javier continued, his voice becoming more exasperated. Mr. and Mrs. Samson shook their heads.

“What else are we supposed to do?” Mr. Samson said, setting his coffee cup down onto the table. “Our careers are what’s allowing us to have a comfortable life like this.” Javier rolled his eyes. Iñigo looked at him sympathetically. Javier never wanted anything to do with his family’s politics, yet here it was dictating his and his sister’s lives.

“And to lose it all because of that stupid child!” He pointed fiercely at Esther. Javier tightened his brace around her. 

“But sir, I can’t,” Iñigo tried to reason with Mr. Samson, but he was swiftly interrupted. 

“Iñigo Alcantara,” Mr. Samson cut in, his voice softening, a smirk forming on his face. He stood up and strode to Iñigo’s seat, placing a hand on Iñigo’s shoulder. Javier and Esther shot each other a glance. 

“I’d like to think you’re a nice guy, hell you’ve been friends with this idiot girl for so long.” Mr. Samson’s voice swayed in a sing-song style as he spoke, and Iñigo found himself sweating from the uncertainty of the situation. “So how much?” he cut in curtly, taking Iñigo by surprise. 

“Excuse me?” Iñigo asked, and Mr. Samson chuckled again. 

“Think of it like a payment, a dowry of sorts,” Mr. Samson patted Iñigo’s shoulders. Iñigo shuddered at the contact. “How much would we have to pay you for her hand in marriage?” 

“Dad, you can’t be serious!” Esther shot back, but her pleas were ignored. Iñigo shot her a look, a look that told her to stop talking for her own good, before he continued. 

“Thank you for the offer, and for believing in me,” Iñigo said, stammering nervously as Mr. Samson stared at him. “But as you are already aware, it seems, I already have someone I’m seeing.” 

“So?” Mrs. Samson had stood up from her chair and rested her hand on Iñigo’s shoulder alongside her husband’s, the look in her eyes domineering as she looked down on Iñigo. It was as if he was some strange being that needed to be fixed. “And what do you even expect from your barren relationship?”. Iñigo grimaced, and so did Javier. 

“Mom, please!” Javier tried to speak back, but Mrs. Samson shot him a look and stared straight back at Iñigo. 

“I mean how could you live with yourself, living in such a state?” Mrs. Samson scolded, her face mere inches from his as she wagged her finger, but Iñigo simply sat there in silence. “And for what?” 

“Stop it, Mom!” Javier tried once again to interject. 

“Stay out of this, Javier!” Mrs. Samson scolded, shooting him a fierce and condescending look in her eyes, and Javier too was taken aback. “Don’t think that I don’t know about you too! Your mouth may deny it, but your eyes speak volumes!” 

Javier couldn’t even move, as if he was left in shock. Iñigo felt for the guy. He reached out toward him, but just as he was going to lay his hand on Javier’s shoulder, he stopped himself from doing so. Mrs. Samson’s eyes narrowed as she turned toward her son in disappointment. 

“It’s like that, huh?” Mrs. Samson, upon seeing Javier stammer over his loss for words. She let go of Iñigo and strutted to her son, her arms crossed. She grabbed his chin and pulled his face so she could look down into his eyes. “Don’t forget what we have done to keep this out of public view!” Javier shuddered.

Esther gasped, while Mr. Samson himself tried to run over to her to control his wife’s temper, but Mrs. Samson was unperturbed. Her husband tried to pry her away from her son, who resisted his mother’s attacks, but this seemed to rile her up even more. 

“You ungrateful child!” Mrs. Samson screamed, “Look at you, acting so high and mighty when you’re nothing but a nobody! Nothing!” Javier winced at the insult, and Iñigo knew this had to stop.

“Enough!” Iñigo pleaded at the top of his lungs, slamming his palms on the table. The silverware clanged against the table. Shocked by his sudden outburst, the family let go of each other.

Esther, unable to take the tense atmosphere any longer, stood up and ran off to escape it all, leaving Javier and Iñigo face to face with Mr. and Mrs. Samson. 

“My apologies for that,” Mr. Samson stammered, although Iñigo could only stare down at his lap, unable to face Mr. and Mrs. Samson. “But do consider our, ahem, proposal” 

Unable to voice out his objections, Iñigo, defeated, muttered a soft “I’ll think about it” before excusing himself from the table, with Javier following him in turn. 

As soon as they were out of sight from the parents, they caught up with Esther, who was waiting for the two. No words were exchanged; they had just gone through a strained discussion. But it was then, and only then, did Javier break down into Iñigo’s arms.

Holding Javier, Iñigo felt as if he was brought back to the time his parents drove him out over his love for Kenji. How his father shouted and cursed him, how they slammed the door of his childhood home in his face, all of it lived in his memory. He had survived it. He knew what this pain entailed.

But he could not stand to witness the same happening to Javier. He couldn’t bear to see something so cruel, yet here they were, reeling from the aftermath of the heated conversation. Iñigo placed a steadying hand on Javier’s shoulder in tacit understanding. 

Soon after, they decided to regroup at Iñigo’s apartment. They had Kenji’s birthday party to worry about. But Iñigo felt that the joyous celebration planned ahead would be a bitter mockery of the morning’s events. He wondered if Kenji could forgive him for that.