*Who's My Eternal*
*Haynes House — Two Weeks Later*
It started at dinner.
Cherry was quiet. Always quiet. Helping clear plates. Saying thank you too much.
Mrs. Jennie watched her. Then set her fork down.
"Cherry, _anak_," she said soft. "Who hurt you?"
Cherry froze.
Mr. Nicholas looked up. Nicklaus stopped eating.
"You don't have to," Nicklaus said quick. "But… we found you in the river. You've been jumping at shadows. We just want to help."
Cherry looked at them. These people. These strangers who gave her a room. A toothbrush. A name that wasn't _dead_.
And she broke.
Not loud. Not screaming.
Just words. Falling out.
About Papa. The sickness. The burial.
About the men. The gun.
About Mama. On the floor. Not getting up.
About the cliff. The water. The dark.
About Lola Anna. About Noa.
About Cindy.
About Elian.
"I have no one," she whispered at the end. "Everyone's gone. Or they think I'm gone."
Mrs. Jennie was already crying.
Mr. Nicholas stood up. Walked out of the room. Came back with his arms open.
Cherry didn't move.
He hugged her anyway.
"Then you have us," he said. Voice rough. "You hear me? You have us now."
Nicklaus didn't say anything. Just reached over. Took her hand. Squeezed it.
That night, Mrs. Jennie tucked her in. Like she was ten.
"You're our daughter now, Cherry," she whispered. "If you'll have us."
Cherry nodded into the pillow.
Because what else could she do?
*One Month Later*
Cherry worked.
Mrs. Jennie got her a job at her friend's flower shop. Downtown Batangas.
She learned to make bouquets. To smile at customers. To count cash.
She came home to dinner. To movie nights. To Nicklaus teaching her how to drive.
She stopped checking over her shoulder.
Stopped waiting for the phone to ring.
Elian became a name she didn't say.
A ache she buried under receipts and roses.
_, she told herself. _He's fine. He's better off._
She focused on now. On here.
On being _Cherry Haynes_.
*Vancouver — Same Month*
Elian missed her.
Every. Single. Day.
He'd be in a board meeting. Steve would be talking about stocks. Acquisitions.
And he'd see her.
Muddy boots. Rolling her eyes. Saying _"You're stupid, Elian."_
He'd be in his new car. Driving through the city.
And he'd think _She'd love this. She'd hate this. She'd call me mayabang._
He wanted to go back.
God, he wanted to.
Book a flight. Find her. Grab her face and say _"It's you. It's always been you, Pink."_
But Steve was watching.
Contracts were signing.
Millions were moving.
"Focus, Arthur," Steve would say. "The bay will be there later. Your empire won't."
So he stayed.
He learned.
He worked.
He invested.
And every night, he'd stare at his phone.
At her blocked number.
And whisper:
"Where are you, Cherry? Please. Just be okay."
He didn't know she was okay.
Didn't know she had a new job. A new family.
Didn't know she'd stopped waiting for him.
Two people.
Two lives.
Both thinking they were protecting the other.
Both breaking.
---
*Manila Bay*
Lola Anna stared at the water.
"Are you safe, _anak_?" she whispered to the waves. "Are you eating? Are you warm?"
No answer.
Only the sea.