She thought she left me with nothing.
But she didn’t know Ernesto very well.
When I got home, I went straight to my room, opened the dresser… and there it was.
I opened the envelope slowly.
What I found inside changed everything.
There were legal documents—titles, bank certificates—and a handwritten letter from Ernesto.
My eyes filled with tears as I read his words.
“My dear Lourdes,
If you’re reading this, I’m no longer by your side.
Forgive me for keeping this secret, but I only wanted to protect you.”
Inside were seven property titles—not just the Tagaytay rest house.
A condominium in Makati.
A townhouse in Quezon City.
A commercial lot in Cavite.
And—my breath caught—the entire apartment building in Manila where Marissa and Carlo lived.
Ernesto had owned it quietly for the last ten years under a company name I had never heard of.
And according to the documents—I was now the full owner.
There were also bank accounts I had never known existed.
