They were sitting comfortably on the first row of seats on the plane. The aircraft was accelerating fast – nearly a thousand feet in the air – and Scarlett Haley felt the nauseating effect of airsickness.

She was a lovely girl of thirteen, with wavy, dark-brown hair that matched the color of her eyes. Although slimmer than average and petite for a girl her age, there was a mesmerizing quality about her that could put any boy into a trance.

It wasn't just the soft, selfless look in her eyes or the glamorous way she riffled her hands through her hair every few seconds or so; there was a charismatic maturity in the permanent adoring expression and the sweet smile that settled playfully across her thin pink lips.

From the moment the plane had launched itself in the air barely five minutes ago – though it felt like an hour – Scarlett's nervousness had turned worse.

She was sitting next to her mother, Victoria, who was staring out the window admiringly. Scarlett adored her mother in every way, for she was beautiful, well-respected and wealthy beyond her imaginations. They both had heart-shaped faces and delicate white skin, but Victoria's hair and eyes were of a shiny, shimmering black. She was the social icon in their town – a woman of countless connections, money, and power.

Scarlett didn't know exactly how wealthy they were, but she knew enough to say that they had enough to buy everything they wanted, or would ever. They had lived all their life in the prosperous province of Cebu, amidst the watchful eyes of the media and the people. Victoria was Cebu's former mayor, and it was the biggest break of her political career. Everyone came to her for help, and she gave them what they desired.

In her term as Cebu's mayor, the city had prospered and progressed enormously. She took part in big real estate projects that populated the metro with shopping malls, orphanages, schools, and commercial establishments.

She was, they say, the only mayor who has done so much for the good of the people and their town. When Victoria's term ended, she delightedly stepped down and decided to take full control of their family businesses.

Scarlett's father was never mentioned, not even in their own house. All she knew was that he had left them three years after Scarlett was born due to another woman. He was an American, and years later when Scarlett was old enough to think over her family history, she realized that these 'broken family' cases happened all the time, especially when the father was a non-Filipino.

Scarlett knew that her mother despised him, so she never asked or talked about him when she was around. In Cebu, they lived in a big, sprawling mansion with thirteen rooms, a library, a maid's quarters, and a swimming pool.

The lush gardens surrounding the pool was almost always alive with dozens of people – socialites, press people, celebrities and alike – during one of Victoria's regular parties.

Scarlett's friends would come too, and they'd treat her as though she was their goddess. She felt that it was very unnecessary, and it troubled her. She'd tell her mother about it, but Victoria would only say, “This is what we are. They respect us.”

But Scarlett thought that it wasn't good enough; she doubted whether any of her friends actually treated her as a 'friend' rather than what society treated her and her family.

She was the only child, and though Victoria gave her everything she wanted and needed, Scarlett grew up in her nanny's care. Victoria was always too preoccupied to even spare her daughter a glance.

Her nanny, Marietta, was a forty-year old woman who had virtually raised Scarlett and considered her more than her own child. Victoria owed the woman so much, so she promoted her to handle the family's other businesses in Manila when Scarlett was eleven.

Scarlett missed her, and she was happy that she was coming to live with her now. When she had graduated from elementary school, Victoria decided that she should transfer permanently to Manila, where everyone was 'in the know.' She wanted her daughter to experience the 'real' social life – the limelight.

When you were rich and you lived in Metro Manila, you had everything. Scarlett was more than happy with the news, but it slightly terrified her. She'd been to Manila a couple of times when she was a kid, but it was years ago. Plus, she was too young back then to really appreciate the beauty of the place and the people residing in it.

She'd seen and heard too many issues about how people in Manila lived their lives. She was afraid that she might not live up to her mother's expectations, and the Manila people intimidated her. It was all too childish, she knew, but she focused her thoughts more on what good was in store for her than what was not.

Victoria was only going to accompany her in Manila for a couple of days to check on their business (a small shopping mall and two convenient stores) before she returned to Cebu.

The plane ride took an hour. When the aircraft touched down on Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Scarlett was practically trembling.

It took another twenty minutes before they were safely ushered out of the plane and into the cavernous crowded terminal. When they had retrieved their bags, they hurriedly stepped out into the area marked 'arrivals' where a family driver sat waiting for them in a large SUV.

Finally, when they got in and the car started to move, all of Scarlett's anxiety ebbed away. It was like seeing the city for the first time. She was awed by the tall buildings, the numerous people crowding the streets, and the countless commercial establishments – bars, restaurants, hotels, enormous shopping malls.

“Isn't it wonderful?” Victoria said when she'd noticed her daughter's hushed silence.

Scarlett nodded vigorously. It wasn't just wonderful, it was breathtaking. She caught sight of the famous tourist spot Rizal Park, and wondered how in the world the guards protecting the monument could survive hours without moving an inch.

The traffic was unbearable, but the excitement that had so suddenly ruptured in her was too much to handle. Her dull life in Cebu had finally come to a change. A big change. This was Manila, the country's capital, where life was classified into three: the underprivileged, the average, and the high class. She and her mother fell into the latter category, and she realized that she had nothing to be scared of.