POISON IVY

PROLOGUE

"Please ate, you are the only person who can help us," sambit ng kapatid ko habang nagmamakaawang tulungan ko sila sa kanilang problema.

"Pero..."

"Please, please ate. Marry Ignacio, marry my boyfriend, be his wife." At mas lalo akong napailing sa pagkadisgusto sa hinihiling nito sa akin.

"No. I can't do that. It's not right, Beatriz!" sagot ko sa kapatid ko sabay tayo sa aking pagkakaupo at hahakbang na sana papasok sa aking kwarto.

"Ate! Please... I love Ignacio so much, and I can't just afford to be away with him. Please ate, just this once, agree with me, marry him, he needs your marriage to make him stay here for good with me." Lumuhod ito habang nakahawak ng mahigpit ang kaniyang kamay sa aking braso, na nagpatigil din sa akin sa paghakbang kaya napalingon ako sa kaniya. And she's begging and crying in front of me.

And I can't take it, seeing my dearest sister, sad and hopeless when I can make something to ease the pain she was about to feel when the VISA of her boyfriend will end this week.

"But—"

"Ate, you are the only one who can help us. So please, just 3 years ate, be his legal wife for 3 years, and after that you two can have a divorce. Easy as that ate, and when that time comes, I am already graduate of my master's degree and Ignacio will be a permanent resident here also. And we can get married, have a happy family. And of course, you –you will also find the man for you, ate. I will make sure of that!"

"It's not that easy, Beatriz. Pero mas mahirap namang makita kang malungkot at nangungulila. That's why I decided... to do the favor you were asking me." Nasabi ko na lamang sa aking isipan. At inilalayan patayo si Beatriz, I looked at her.

Oo, para sa kaligayahan ng kapatid ko, I will marry Ignacio Benidez, her boyfriend –a marriage for convenience.

"Okay. Just for 3 years..." and I said it, like it was the easiest answer of all the answers in the world, na ikinangiti naman ni Beatriz at niyakap ako ng mahigpit.

She was very thankful to me; I can feel it in the tightness of her embrace.

--But could she still be thankful, if I will become the poison of their love story?

Magpapasalamat ka pa ba, Beatriz kung maging lason ang legalidad ng aming kasal sa inyong totoong pagmamahalan?

Lasong ikakasira ng inyong matibay na pagsasama?

Can you still be thankful if I become the mistress in your happily ever after?

"Ako ang legal na asawa ngunit bakit ako ang naging kontrabida? Bakit ako ang naging kabit sa larangan ng larong pag-ibig na ito?Kasalanan ba itong maituturing sa mata ng nasa itaas at sa mata ng ibang tao kung kasal kami sa ilalim ng sanguniang batas ng US government?"

-Ivana Ylonzo

a.k.a Poison Ivy