Part 40

40

"Thank you, Mom." Vano pinched Chelsea's nose before leaving the room. He looked much calmer now after receiving some advice from Chelsea.

Chelsea was younger than him, but Vano knew that the tough life she had before living with him had changed her mindset and made her much more mature. Just think about the immense pressure Chelsea had to endure while fighting for her father's recovery, working tirelessly day and night, and continuing her studies to bring her father to full health. Unfortunately, fate had other plans, and now Chelsea had no burdens, yet she still didn't take advantage of her father for her personal life.

Even though Chelsea was younger, her life experiences had shaped her into a mature person. Vano admired her for that.

Chelsea chuckled when she saw Margaret enter the house. The middle-aged woman looked extremely cheerful, and Chelsea couldn't help but wonder what was on her mind.

"You seem unusually happy this evening, Mom. Did you win the lottery or something? Share the good news," Chelsea teased, nudging Margaret to sit next to her.

"Well, yes, it's something like that. It's an adult matter, my dear. Little kids like you shouldn't know about it." Margaret playfully poked Chelsea's nose. "It's better for you to focus on getting closer to Vano because Mom and Carlos will be getting married soon."

"So soon? Are you that sure?" Chelsea asked in rapid succession, as her mother's words sounded more like a certainty than a plan.

"Of course. Tonight I will have Carlos completely, and soon we will be married. If you feel you can't win over Vano, it's okay. Because Mom and he have already done that, so you will have a little sibling. Well, once you have a little sibling, Carlos will definitely marry Mom, right? So starting today, you can relax a bit. Let Mom do the hard work." Margaret headed towards her room, unable to hide how happy she was after receiving a capsule from Kevin.

From where she sat, Chelsea watched Margaret carefully inspect something in her hand. She wanted to follow her, but refrained upon hearing the sound of Carlos's car engine parked in the garage. She hurried back upstairs to pretend as though she wasn't waiting for his return.

Chelsea had intentionally waited for Carlos in the living room just to make sure if her husband had already returned or not, as it was unusual for Carlos to come home at this hour.

Behind her bedroom door, Chelsea paced back and forth, her fingers interlocking, contemplating how to initiate a conversation with Carlos.

Although Carlos didn't appear too angry earlier, Chelsea knew there was disappointment in his heart. She couldn't greet Carlos's return as usual.

Of course, she would allow him to rest for a while before they spoke. She couldn't wait, but Chelsea had to restrain herself. She also tried to dispel the negative thoughts that had crossed her mind when she recalled Margaret's words about today, implying that she and Carlos would engage in such an activity.

As a wife, Chelsea was not at all calm at the moment. Especially since she understood the dynamics between two adults because she had experienced it herself. She couldn't wait, but Chelsea had to try to suppress her own ego and wait for Carlos to be ready to talk to her.

Throughout dinner, there was no conversation between Carlos and Chelsea. Even at Margaret's dinner table, she appeared comfortable approaching him. Chelsea wanted to observe Margaret's actions while also testing whether Carlos could keep his distance from her.

"Darling, try this. I made this especially for you," Margaret seemed to offer Carlos a glass of green tea. For a moment, he glanced at Chelsea, who was focused on her meal.

Unbeknownst to him, she was still glancing and closely watching every move Margaret made, as well as his own.

"You rarely make me green tea. You usually seem indifferent and preoccupied with yourself," Carlos remarked, but with a gentle tone, as he wanted to tease Chelsea.

However, without making Margaret overly confident, Carlos also postponed drinking the tea she had offered. If he immediately enjoyed the tea she had given him, Margaret would become even more self-assured.

"Of course not. I noticed that you were very tired today, so as a loving partner, I made this for you. Try drinking it; I'm sure it will bring you immediate peace."

Carlos nodded, reached for the green tea, and drank it all. Since Carlos was a big fan of green tea, it didn't take him long to finish the entire glass. Only then did he resume his dinner.

Vano and Chelsea exchanged glances as they observed Margaret and Carlos's closeness. Normally, Carlos kept his distance a bit, but now he let Margaret stick close to him. Vano nodded in Carlos's direction, and Chelsea responded with a subtle shake of her head. She knew that Vano was questioning the nature of her relationship with Carlos, which had now become strained.

Vano realized that all of this was happening because Chelsea had tried to obtain his and Celine's blessing earlier. This was the risk Chelsea had taken. Carlos seemed indifferent to her and clung to Margaret instead.

Vano was a bit annoyed by Margaret's behavior, but Chelsea signaled to him with her eyes to hold back and not interfere in their household affairs.

Unlike usual, after dinner, Chelsea didn't immediately change her clothes and rush to Carlos's room. Instead, she sat quietly in her room, occasionally checking her phone in case Carlos called and asked her to come over.

Chelsea couldn't simply go to him all of a sudden. She was a bit offended by Carlos's behavior at the dining table, so she was going to play hard to get and wait for him to come to her.

If Carlos didn't come to her, it meant that they would be sleeping separately tonight.

"Why is Mama still here?" Vano entered Chelsea's room. As usual, he was very comfortable coming in and out of Chelsea's room because he felt that there were no boundaries between them.

If Chelsea had become Carlos's legitimate wife, that meant she was like a mother to him. Not just a friend or a future wife. So there was no awkwardness for Vano if there was any intimacy with Chelsea.

"I don't understand what's going on in your father's mind. He acts like a teenager who's heating things up with his girlfriend. But I'm his wife," Chelsea complained, expressing her discomfort.

"Maybe because Daddy has just entered a serious relationship with a woman, that's why he's acting like this. Believe me, now he's thinking about you too." Vano reached into his pocket. "Hold this, in case you can't resist asking about what happened at the dinner table earlier." He handed a key to Chelsea.

"What's this key for?" Chelsea was puzzled as to why Vano gave her a key among many other items meant to cheer her up. It raised a big question mark in her mind.

"This is the key to Daddy's room. If you can't wait, just go in. I'm sure Daddy locked his room now, so you won't be able to enter. You can use it anytime you want."

"I don't think I need this key, Van. I'm actually trying to make your father realize that he was wrong by heating me up with your mom earlier." Chelsea returned the key to Vano.

Chelsea wanted to be a bit selfish tonight and let go of all her longing for Carlos. If he could act like that, she could too.

"Anger, if met with anger, will never end, Mom. So it's better if you take this key and see Daddy when your patience runs out or if you don't want to. Just hold onto it in case one day Daddy gets sick but ends up locked in his room. Because now Daddy is married and has a wife who can take care of him and worry about his condition, so I'm passing on the task I've been doing to you."

"Task? What task?"

"Tasked with guarding and monitoring Dad. Afraid he'd be like back then," Vano faced Chelsea. "You know, when my mother passed away, Dad was deeply shaken, didn't want to do anything. He even had a tendency to contemplate suicide several times to join my mother. That's why since that incident, I deliberately hid one of Dad's room keys, so that when there's no sound of Dad or anything similar, I can enter to check on him. So, because you've all been here, I've burdened you with this, Chelsea.

Because I believe you genuinely care for Dad, with no ulterior motives. Because my marriage to Celine feels unimportant now, and it's time I wait to see how far she's willing to fight for our relationship," Vano said as he rose from his seat and patted Chelsea's head. "Sometimes Dad is like that, he sulks and needs some coaxing to return to his usual self.

It might seem excessive to others, but that's Dad. He's very spoiled and hungry for attention. Not having a daughter, I think, is the main reason he's like this. Moreover, our relationship has been strained for the past five years, so both Dad and I were busy with our own affairs."

Chelsea forced a smile. Letting Vano go. If she thought about it again, what Vano said was true. It's natural for Carlos to be like this now because he hasn't received love and attention for a long time.

There are many reasons, but the man is busy spending time with Celine and neglecting Carlos in his life.

After an hour passed, Chelsea couldn't hold back anymore. She opened the door and peeked inside. She looked left and right to see where her mother was; it wouldn't be funny if she was caught by her mother.

That was Chelsea's goal, to destroy Carlos and Margareth's relationship, but not today, and not this quickly for the woman to know that she and Carlos were in a relationship.

"What's Mom doing there?" Chelsea mumbled, her gaze catching Margareth pacing in front of Carlos's room. It's as if she was waiting for something, but Chelsea didn't know what Margareth wanted.

She quickly thought, reprocessing her conversation with Margareth and the events at the dining room. It seemed to be related to the green tea Margareth had given Carlos earlier.