Luz cries. "You already were. You just forgot to ask me what I wanted."
He doesn’t care. He and Luz reconcile. They plan a simple life — he will teach literature; she will give piano lessons to children. They marry in a small civil ceremony in 1953. 1955. A small apartment in Sampaloc. Luz cries
It is the beginning of a secret romance — stolen hours between his work at the Bureau of Justice and her piano lessons. They meet in libraries, on rooftop gardens, by the Pasig River. She plays Debussy for him; he writes sonnets on her sheet music. 1950. Malacañang Palace reception. He and Luz reconcile
Avelino hesitates. Luz is still his secret — but his family is struggling. His father is ill; his siblings need tuition. Luz’s family would never accept a poor poet. Let me be your sheath."
Avelino has gained a reputation as a sharp political writer. At a party, he meets , a striking widow in her late thirties. Her late husband was a governor. She controls a network of influence.
He is flattered, tempted, and guilty. He tries to tell Luz. But Luz — having sensed the distance — simply stops answering his letters. 1952. Christmas Eve. A small chapel in Quiapo.
For a year, he rides in her black Cadillac. She introduces him to power brokers. She laughs at his jokes, touches his arm too long. One night, after champagne and a speech he wrote that swayed a vote, she kisses him. "You are not just a poet, Avelino. You are a weapon. Let me be your sheath."