The Song That Opened Up the Past
Her name was Elara. Her hands, even when young, were already rough from washing and cleaning. She is the newest maid in the De Alva mansion, a name as heavy as gold. He sent his wages to his sick mother in the countryside. Elara’s only treasure was an old oyayi that her mother had taught her—a tune that served as a blanket on cold nights and a cure for her loneliness.
Her husband, Liam De Alva, is a billionaire. Elegant, intelligent, but always with a trace of sadness in his eyes. From a young age, he lost his mother, and her memory serves as an inspiration and a cross for him to carry. Liam is set to marry Katrina, a woman as beautiful as a diamond, but just as hard and cold as she is. For Liam, the wedding was a business merger. To Katrina, it was a crown.
One night, they had a grand engagement party at the mansion. Hundreds of visitors, all from high society, attended. Elara was busy serving, moving silently to the side, a shadow in the midst of luxury.
Katrina noticed how Liam smiled politely at Elara as she reached for a glass of champagne. A small spark of jealousy and pride burst into Katrina’s heart. She needs to remind everyone, especially this humble maid, who the queen of the night is.
In the midst of the excitement, Katrina grabbed the microphone. “Wait a minute!” she announced, her voice sweet but tinged with poison. “We have a special number tonight. A hidden talent from our staff!”
All eyes were on him. Katrina smiled and pointed to Elara. “Dear Elaine, we will all be missed!”
The scuffle has become a shambles. Elara, who was busy picking up the plates, was stunned. The blood on his face seemed to be sucked up by the ground.
“Come here, Elara. Don’t be embarrassed,” Katrina said, commanding.
“Katrina, that’s right,” Liam reprimanded, feeling the cruelty behind the joke.
“Oh, darling, it’s just for fun!” replied Katrina, dragging Elara to the small stage. “Don’t ruin the night.”
Elara didn’t do anything. He stood in front of hundreds of pairs of judgmental eyes, knees shaking. What is he going to sing? He didn’t know any of the songs. Her mind was a blank piece of paper.
He closed his eyes. In his mind, he returned to their small cabin, in his mother’s arms. And there, he heard a melody. It was the only song he knew in his heart.
Shaking, she began to sing. It’s a simple odyssey. A song without words, just a melody that is tender and full of pure love. Her voice, unaccustomed to singing in front of people, echoed through the hall.
The laughter of the visitors slowly subsided, replaced by amazement. Elara’s voice was pure. Every note touches the heart. The melody is simple but has a unique weight.
Katrina, waiting for Elara to be humiliated, was stunned. It wasn’t what he expected.
But the strongest reaction came from Liam.
From the very first note of the song, he was stunned. Her breathing quickened. That tune… Familiar. With every note Elara sings, a door to her memory slowly opens. The image of her mother, sitting by her bedside, singing the same tune to her, suddenly became vivid.
This is the “Song of the Star,” the song that her mother herself composed just for her. It’s a song that only the two of them know.
When Elara finished singing, a deafening silence enveloped the hall. And then, the sound of a broken kopita. Liam let go of his grip.
He ignored the shocked Katrina. He ignored the visitors. She walked onto the stage, her eyes filled with tears that she couldn’t hold back.
“Where…” he asked Elara, his voice cracked. “Where did you learn that song?”
Confused, Elara replied. “That’s the song my mother used to sing to me.”
“What’s your mom’s name?” asked Liam quickly.
“Lita po. Lita Santos.”
That name is the final piece of the puzzle. Si Lita… She was her mother’s most trusted personal assistant and best friend. The woman suddenly disappeared after her mother died, with no one knowing where she went.
Liam recalled a letter from his mother before she died. “Liam, son, the Song of the Stars is for you. I shared it with Lisa as well. So that if I ever lose, someone will still sing it for you, to remind me of my love.”
The night didn’t end with the party. Liam and Katrina’s engagement ended that same night. Instead of celebrating, Liam immediately went looking for Which Lita. They found him in a small house in the countryside, already weakened by the disease.
The next few days were filled with silence and silence. Liam brought the best doctor for Which Lita. And by her bedside, with Elara, she listened to Lita’s stories about her mother—stories she had never heard, memories that filled the fields in her heart. He learns that Liam left out of fear of Liam’s father who doesn’t want anyone to remind him of his wife.
One afternoon, while they were together in the hospital garden, Liam asked Elara.
“Can you sing it again?”
Elara smiled. And as she sings “Song of the Star,” it’s no longer a mother’s oyayi for her son. It became a tune of three people bound together by the past, separated by fate, and reunited by a song full of love.
Katrina’s plan to humiliate Elara fails. Instead, it was that song that broke down the walls Liam had built in his heart for so long. He discovers not just a helper, but a lost connection to his past and a new beginning for his future.