Chapter 1 — The Man Who Died Twice
At 58 years old, Bryan Fernandez was still working like a young man.
Every morning, long before the sun rose over Manila, Bryan would wake up, wash his face, prepare a simple breakfast, and get ready for work. His body was no longer as strong as it used to be, but he had no choice.
He needed the money.
Bryan worked in a factory and often accepted overtime whenever it was offered. He knew he was already old for such tiring work, but he kept going.
His two children, Edgar and Sheila, already had families of their own. They were both busy raising their children and dealing with their own problems.
Bryan did not want to become another problem for them.
That was why he continued working.
Every evening, Bryan would travel home through the heavy traffic of Manila. Sometimes, it took him hours to reach his small house.
By the time he arrived, his body would be exhausted.
But despite his tiredness, Bryan would sometimes smile when he received a message from his children.
“Papa, we’ll visit you this weekend.”
Those simple words were enough to make him happy.
Whenever he had free time, Bryan would visit Edgar or Sheila. He loved seeing his grandchildren running toward him.
“Lolo!”
The moment he heard that word, all his tiredness seemed to disappear.
He would bring them small gifts, play with them, and listen to their stories.
But when he returned home alone, the silence would welcome him again.
Bryan had been living alone for fifteen years.
His wife had died many years ago.
Since then, the house had never felt the same.
There were nights when Bryan would sit outside his house with a bottle of beer in his hand. He would stare at the empty street while remembering the woman he had loved for most of his life.
“Kung nandito ka lang sana…” he would whisper.
Sometimes, he would look at an old photograph of his wife.
He missed her terribly.
But Bryan never told his children how lonely he had become.
Instead, he worked.
And worked.
And worked.
Overtime became his way of escaping the silence.
For three years, however, Bryan had been hiding something from everyone.
He had been sick.
At first, it was only a small pain in his stomach.
He ignored it.
Then the pain became more frequent.
Still, he continued working.
He told himself that it was nothing serious.
But one morning, while preparing for work, Bryan suddenly felt a sharp pain.
He held the edge of the table.
His breathing became heavy.
“Aray…”
He sat down and waited for the pain to disappear.
But it did not.
That was when Bryan finally decided to see a doctor.
After several tests, the doctor sat quietly in front of him.
The look on the doctor’s face immediately worried Bryan.
“Mr. Fernandez, I need to be honest with you.”
Bryan slowly nodded.
“What is it, Doctor?”
The doctor took a deep breath.
“Your liver cirrhosis is already severe.”
Bryan stared at him.
For a few seconds, he could not speak.
The doctor explained that years of heavy drinking had badly damaged his liver.
Then came the words Bryan never expected to hear.
“You may only have a few months left.”
The room suddenly felt very quiet.
Bryan looked down at his hands.
They were the same hands that had worked for decades.
The same hands that had carried his children when they were small.
The same hands that had held his wife’s hand before she died.
Now, those hands were shaking.
“How long exactly?”
“We can’t say for certain,” the doctor replied. “But you need to prepare yourself.”
Bryan forced a small smile.
He thanked the doctor and walked out of the hospital alone.
On his way home, he thought about calling Edgar and Sheila.
He wanted to tell them everything.
But he stopped himself.
He knew his children.
They would worry.
They might even stop working just to take care of him.
“No,” Bryan whispered.
He shook his head.
“Hindi ko sila guguluhin.”
He decided to keep his illness a secret.
As the days passed, Bryan became weaker.
But he continued going to work.
He continued accepting overtime.
He continued pretending that everything was fine.
Until one morning, Bryan never woke up.
His house remained silent.
His phone stayed beside his bed.
His work clothes were still hanging on the wall.
And Bryan never made it to the factory.
That same morning, Sheila decided to visit him.
She wanted to invite her father to dinner.
“Papa?” she called as she knocked on the door.
No answer.
She knocked again.
“Papa, ako ‘to.”
Still nothing.
Sheila tried calling his phone.
It rang inside the house.
But nobody answered.
A terrible feeling suddenly filled her chest.
She asked some neighbors for help.
After several attempts, they managed to open the door.
“Papa!”
Sheila rushed inside.
Then she stopped.
Her face turned pale.
Bryan was lying motionless on his bed.
He was already dead.
Sheila screamed.
The neighbors immediately called for help, and Bryan was rushed to the hospital.
But it was too late.
“Dead on arrival,” the doctor said.
Sheila broke down.
Edgar arrived shortly afterward.
Neither of them could understand what had happened.
Their father had always seemed strong.
He had never told them he was seriously ill.
It was only after checking his medical records that they discovered the truth.
Their father had been sick for three years.
And he had known that his time was running out.
“Why didn’t Papa tell us?” Sheila cried.
Edgar could not answer.
He simply stared at the floor.
For the first time, both of them realized how much their father had hidden behind his smile.
The following day, they prepared the wake.
Relatives came.
Neighbors came.
Friends from the factory came.
Everyone had a story about Bryan.
“He was a hardworking man.”
“He never complained.”
“He always helped others.”
For one week, people gathered around his coffin.
But every night, when the crowd became smaller, Sheila would sit beside her father’s coffin and quietly cry.
“I’m sorry, Papa.”
She held his cold hand.
“Sorry I didn’t notice.”
A week later, Bryan was buried.
His children stood beside his grave as the soil slowly covered his coffin.
The rain began to fall.
Sheila looked at the grave.
“Goodbye, Papa.”
She did not know that those would not be the last words spoken to Bryan.
Because somewhere far away, something impossible was about to happen.
Several months later…
A baby’s cry suddenly filled a small delivery room.
“Waaaah!”
The nurses moved quickly.
A woman had just given birth to a healthy baby boy.
His mother, Alice Ferrer, was exhausted but smiling.
Her husband, Norman Ferrer, stood beside her with tears in his eyes.
“It’s a boy,” the nurse said.
Norman smiled.
“Our youngest son.”
The baby cried louder.
But then, something strange happened.
The moment the baby opened his eyes, he stopped crying.
He looked around the room.
The nurses.
The lights.
His mother.
His father.
Everything was unfamiliar.
But inside his tiny body was a mind that remembered everything.
He remembered Manila.
He remembered the factory.
He remembered his wife.
He remembered Edgar.
He remembered Sheila.
He remembered his grandchildren.
He remembered the doctor.
He remembered his death.
And most of all…
He remembered the grave where his body had been buried.
The baby slowly moved his tiny fingers.
Inside his mind, one thought appeared.
I died.
Then another thought followed.
But why am I alive?
The nurse smiled at him.
“Welcome to the world, little one.”
The baby’s eyes moved toward her.
He could understand every word.
He could think.
He could remember.
But he could not speak.
His new mother gently touched his cheek.
“Welcome, Cedrick.”
Cedrick.
That was his new name.
Cedrick Ferrer.
Unlike his previous life, Cedrick had been born into a wealthy family.
His father, Norman Ferrer, was a successful businessman.
His mother, Alice Ferrer, came from a respected family.
Cedrick was the youngest of three children.
His eldest brother was Brandon.
His second sibling was Shayne.
Everyone in the room was celebrating the birth of the newest member of the Ferrer family.
Everyone except Cedrick.
Because while they were celebrating his birth…
Cedrick was silently remembering his death.
And deep inside his newborn mind, one question kept repeating.
Why was I given another life?
He did not know the answer yet.
But he would soon discover that his second life was not given to him by accident.
Something had followed him from his first life.
Something that had been waiting for him to return.
And this time…
Bryan Fernandez was no longer the man he used to be.
He was Cedrick Ferrer.
And he had been given a second chance.
Next Chapter on Tuesday