“Mom, have dinner here this afternoon—I’ll be home early.” I smiled, comforted by my daughter’s cheerful voice, never imagining that this very day would turn my world upside down.

Now, Maricel and I live in a small Quezon City apartment, trusting each other completely. People ask if I regret calling the police. I just smile:

“If I had stayed quiet, my daughter wouldn’t have been safe. My son-in-law would have been the one crying in jail.”

I still remember that suffocating moment in the closet—the day I discovered the truth, the day my heart broke and yet I became stronger as a mother.