The Song That Opens the Past
Her name is Elara. Her hands, even at a young age, are rough from washing and cleaning. She is the newest maid at the De Alva mansion, a name worth its weight in gold. She sends her salary to her sick mother in the province. Elara’s only treasure is an old lullaby that her mother taught her—a song that serves as a blanket on cold nights and a cure for her loneliness.

Her employer, Liam De Alva, is a young billionaire. Elegant, intelligent, but there is always a trace of sadness in his eyes. He lost his mother when he was young, and her memory serves as his inspiration and the cross he bears. Liam is set to marry Katrina, a woman as beautiful as a diamond, but also as hard and cold. For Liam, marriage is a business merger. For Katrina, it is a crown.

One night, their grand engagement party was held at the mansion. Hundreds of guests, all high-society, attended. Elara was busy serving, moving quietly to the side, a shadow amidst the splendor.

Katrina noticed how Liam smiled politely at Elara as she reached for a glass of champagne. A small spark of jealousy and pride flared in Katrina’s heart. She needed to remind everyone, especially this lowly servant, who was the queen of the night.

Amidst the festivities, Katrina grabbed the microphone. “One moment!” she announced, her voice sweet but with a hint of venom. “We have a special number tonight. A hidden talent from our staff!”

All eyes turned to her. Katrina smiled and pointed at Elara. “Our dear Elara, let’s all sing!”

The murmur turned to laughter. Elara, who was busy picking up the saucers, froze. The blood on her face seemed to have been sucked into the ground
“Come here, Elara. Don’t be shy,” Katrina said, commanding.

“Katrina, that’s enough,” Liam reprimanded, sensing the cruelty behind the joke.

“Oh, darling, it’s just for fun!” Katrina replied, pulling Elara onto the small stage. “Don’t ruin the night.”

Elara was helpless. She stood in front of hundreds of pairs of judging eyes, her knees shaking. What was she going to sing? She didn’t know any popular songs. Her mind was a blank sheet of paper.

She closed her eyes. In her mind, she went back to their little hut, to her mother’s arms. And there, she heard a melody. The only melody she knew by heart.

Trembling, she began to sing. A simple lullaby. A song without words, just a melody that was melodious and full of pure love. Her voice, not used to singing in front of people, echoed throughout the hall.

The laughter of the guests slowly subsided, replaced by amazement. Elara’s voice was pure. Every note pierced the heart. The melody was simple but had a strange weight.

Katrina, who had been waiting for Elara to be embarrassed, gasped. This was not what she had expected.

But the most intense reaction came from Liam.
At the very first note of the song, she was stunned. Her breathing quickened. That melody… familiar. With each note Elara sang, a door in her memory slowly opened. The image of her mother, sitting by her bed, singing her the same melody, suddenly became clear.

This was “Himig ng Bituin,” the lullaby her mother had composed just for her. A secret song that only the two of them knew.

When Elara finished singing, a deafening silence enveloped the hall. And then, the sound of a breaking goblet. Liam let go of his grip.

He ignored the shocked Katrina. He ignored the guests. He walked to the stage, his eyes filled with tears he couldn’t hold back.

“Where…” he asked Elara, his voice cracking. “Where did you learn that song?”

Confused, Elara replied. “I-it’s the lullaby my mother always sang to me.”

“What’s your mother’s name?” Liam asked quickly.

“Lita. Lita Santos.

That name was the last piece of the puzzle. Lita… his mother’s most trusted personal assistant and best friend. The woman who suddenly disappeared after her mother passed away, with no one knowing where she went.

Liam remembered a will his mother had left him before she passed away. “Liam, son, Himig ng Bituin is for you. But I also shared it with Lita. So that if I ever disappear, someone will still sing it for you, to remind you of my love.”

That night didn’t end with the party. Liam and Katrina’s engagement ended that same night. Instead of celebrating, Liam immediately sent for Aling Lita. They found her in a small house in the countryside, weak from illness.

The following days were full of revelations and healing. Liam brought the best doctors for Aling Lita. And by her bedside, with Elara, she listened to Aling Lita’s stories about her mother—stories she had never heard, memories that filled the voids in her heart. She learned that Aling Lita had left because she was afraid of Liam’s father who didn’t want anything to remind her of his wife.

One afternoon, while they were together in the hospital garden, Liam asked Elara.

“Can you sing again?”

Elara smiled. And as she sang “Himig ng Bituin,” it was no longer a mother’s lullaby for her child. It became the melody of three people connected by the past, separated by fate, and reunited by a song full of love.

Katrina’s plan to humiliate Elara failed. Instead, that song brought down the walls that Liam had built in her heart for so long. He discovered not only a helper, but a missing connection to his past and a new beginning for his future.