Maricar stepped back, her voice sharp and irritated.
“He’s just a neighbor. He’s crazy,” she said quickly. “Hey, old man! Go away! You’re filthy!”
Mang Pido froze. The smile vanished from his face.
“But Ikay… I’m your father…” he said softly.
“I don’t know you!” Maricar shouted, tears welling up but held back.
Ryan stood stunned. Something felt terribly wrong.
Mang Pido trembled as he held out the plastic bag.
“It’s a wedding gift… for you,” he said with a fragile smile. “I saved for it for a long time.”
Maricar snatched the bag and threw it into the mud.
“That’s trash! Everything you touch is trash!”
The surroundings fell silent. Her aunt turned away. Ryan was frozen in place.
Mang Pido knelt down, trembling as he picked up the bag, tears dripping onto the ground.
“Twenty years, Ikay…” he sobbed. “Twenty pesos a day… every day… just for you.”
He opened the bag.
Inside was a stunning white wedding gown—sparkling, beaded, exquisitely crafted. A price tag still hung from it: ₱150,000.
Maricar gasped. It was the exact gown she had once dreamed of—the one she had admired in a bridal shop in Manila.
“The shop lady said it’s a designer dress,” Mang Pido said proudly. “For my princess. Try it on, my child.”
Maricar’s world collapsed.
She fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around the father she had just rejected.
“Dad… I’m sorry… please forgive me…”
Mang Pido gently stroked her hair with his rough, calloused hands—hands worn by years of sacrifice.
“Don’t cry,” he whispered. “As long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters.”
Ryan stepped forward, tears in his eyes. He bowed deeply.
“Sir… Dad… I’m Ryan,” he said. “I promise—this is the gown she will wear to walk down the aisle.”
THE WEDDING DAY
Maricar walked down the aisle wearing the gown her father had bought. Under the lights, she looked radiant—like an angel. But what truly moved everyone to silence was the man holding her hand.
Mang Pido.
His hands were rough and trembling, yet they held his daughter’s hand with unwavering love.
After the ceremony, a woman approached them.
“Are you Mang Pido?” she asked gently. “I’m the owner of the bridal shop.”
Maricar’s heart raced.
The woman revealed the truth.
Mang Pido hadn’t been able to pay for the gown all at once. But every single day, he came back. Sometimes with twenty pesos. Sometimes with just a few coins. Sometimes hungry. But he never stopped.
“For my daughter,” he would always say.
“In the end, I didn’t accept the remaining balance,” the shop owner said. “The dress was my gift—to a father who truly knows how to love.”
Maricar broke down in tears.
She hugged her father tightly as applause filled the air.
At that moment, she finally understood:
Her father had never been a source of shame.
He was the greatest treasure of her life—a treasure she nearly lost because of her blind pride.
And in the midst of the applause, she held tightly the hand of the man she once pushed away—the father who loved her all his life, even when she was too ashamed to acknowledge him.