She didn’t lose her slipper

Juan Elias Mondego

He didn’t just heal hearts—he built a family from one egg, one kiss, and one undying love.

Dr. Elias Mondego

A single Dad's dilemma

I remember the first time I saw her in the hospital. My daughter was fighting for her life—this was a matter of life and death. We were running out of time, scrambling for a rare blood type: RH null.

Then she walked in. Ella. Dressed simply, like she accidentally wandered off a movie set and straight into my existential crisis. There she was—confident, calm, and totally unaware that she was about to become the plot twist of my lifetime. The plot twist I didn’t even know my PhD could handle.

They said she was a donor match. Same blood. RH null. Which was already rare beyond belief—but that wasn’t the shocking part.

Then came the mic-drop moment: her DNA matched Aliyah’s. Not a whisper. Not a rumor. A direct hit. Mother. And. Daughter.

The Binondo Girl who looked like my daughter

I froze. Stared at Ella. Then back at Aliyah. Then back at Ella. My brain practically rebooted mid-stare. Same tilt of the head. Same 'don’t mess with me unless you want a side-eye so sharp it could slice ham' expression. Same way of blinking like the world was a little too noisy.

And my science-trained, logic-worshipping, DNA-decoding brain? It couldn’t compute. Error 404: Rational Explanation Not Found.

I spiraled. Was this woman hustling us? Kung siya talaga ang nagbenta ng egg, bakit ganito ang itsura niya? She didn’t look like she just cashed out from a fertility jackpot. Kung may egg money siya, dapat naka-Vespa siya sa Italy, hindi nagpapawis sa Ongpin. She looked like someone who sold five types of longganisa and six types of attitude before lunch.

Aliyah and Ella

Elias, Ella and Aliyah

Bb. Binondo meets the dashing Doctor

But she was clueless. Genuinely. And Aliyah? Aliyah gravitated to her like plants lean toward sunlight. There was no faking that. Even my inner skeptic took a deep sigh and muttered, "Dude. This is real."

And I couldn’t stop staring.

But before that...

She was the pride of Binondo—Queen by pageant, tindera by hustle. She ran a small but fierce Chinese herb shop and managed pre-orders for their family’s now-famous ham. Her mouth was faster than any QR scanner in Luzon. And that attitude? Lord, help me. Sharp as her winged eyeliner and sassier than a tita on a sale rack.

She wasn’t just beautiful—she was untouchable. Walang pasakalye. Kung ayaw mo, edi huwag. Pero kung gusto mo... brace yourself.

But beneath the sass and that mataray Mutya ng Binondo crown was a young woman, longing—silently, achingly—for the love of her mother. And I saw it. In between her sarcastic smirks and those perfectly timed eye rolls, may lungkot sa mga mata niya na hindi marunong magsinungaling.

She didn’t lose her slipper. She lost her DNA.

I didn’t know then how much she would change me.

I thought I was the one holding it together, but every time she smiled, every time she showed up without knowing how much she was already ours—ako pala yung binubuo niya.

It started with confusion. Then curiosity. Then I spiraled into mild obsession, light stalking, and a totally rational decision to run a full DNA panel like a lovesick Sherlock Holmes.

And then...

Well.

The rest? That’s our story.