Many of us have probably found ourselves teary-eyed or even bawling our eyes out while watching “Saving Grace: The Untold Story,” as we’ve begun to follow the journey of the titular character Grace, compellingly portrayed by fast-rising child star Zia Grace, who is rescued by her kindhearted and selfless teacher, Anna Sarmiento, impeccably portrayed by top Kapamilya actress Julia Montes, from her abusive mother and stepfather.

As we look forward to seeing what’s going to happen next in Grace and Anna’s great escape, let us revisit five of the most tear-jerking scenes of the poor battered little girl that absolutely melt our hearts in this episode of Friday 5!

Even though she has nothing but unconditional love for her mom, Sarah (Jennica Garcia), Grace apparently never received the same kind of love from her. Thus, she couldn’t help but be completely touched when Teacher Anna didn’t only defend her from her classmates' false accusations against her and handed her a hygiene kit that she could use in taking a bath every day, but also combed her long hair and wiped the dirt off her body. This prompted Grace to cry and embrace Teacher Anna, who saw the bruises on her arms afterwards.

Right from the very beginning of the story, we knew how Grace loves her pet chicken, which she named Pipo, so much. That’s why she was absolutely devastated upon seeing the feathers and blood scattered outside its cage, more so when he chanced upon her stepdad, Chito (Christian Bables), enjoying his grilled chicken as she came inside their house. 

Despite being small, Grace vehemently attacked Chito and bit hia hand, which was caught by her mom, who came home drunk after being fired from her job as a waitress. Just when Grace assumed that her mother would save her from Chito’s anger, Sarah instead lashed out at her, leaving Grace severely wounded and bruised.

Fortunately, Teacher Anna was able to take Grace to her apartment after spotting her inside a sack where Chito put her to keep her from Teacher Patty (Lotlot Bustamante) and the social workers who arrived at their house the following day. As Anna offered to take her to the hospital, Grace declined and assured her that she’s okay. 

Grace also refused to be turned over to the social workers since she’s scared to be taken back to her abusive mother. She instead requested Teacher Anna to accompany her for a while before flying to Hong Kong to pursue ornithology, which the latter graciously granted. 

Hearts were certainly shattered, and a lot of tears were probably shed in Anna and Grace’s scenes at the breakwater, where the little girl called the flock of birds that she and her teacher watched flying in the sky to take her along with them. Grace then asked Anna in between tears, “Teacher, bakit nila ako nilagay sa sako? Bakit nila ako tinatapon? Basura po ba ako? ‘Yong nanay ko ba hindi ba ako mahal?”

The cryfest continued as Anna’s time to bid farewell finally came, with Grace telling her she would terribly miss her, as well as she would be fine, so she had nothing to worry about. Although it was difficult for her to leave Grace in that condition and situation, Anna initially chose to go forth.

Did these tear-jerking scenes of Grace also break your heart and reduce you to tears, Kapamilya? Watch out for more scenes like these in the upcoming episodes of “Saving Grace: The Untold Story,” weeknights on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live (KOL), A2Z, and TV5.