Part 51

51

She was genuinely curious because Carlos had mentioned names of people he knew well, especially Indri. She wondered about Carlos' intentions in arranging a meeting with his friend.

"Alright, I'll leave everything to you, and please handle it well if you want to get paid for all the work and effort you've put in," Carlos concluded his call and tossed his phone into the basket. Then, he continued preparing to go to the office.

As if not hearing anything, Chelsea quickly opened the door and greeted Carlos with a smile.

"Dad...," she said, hugging her husband.

"Are you ready, dear?" Carlos asked.

"I'm ready, Dad." Chelsea nodded. "Dad, if it's okay, I'd like to invite you for lunch because today I only have one class."

Carlos shook his head. "I'm sorry, dear. Today, I have an important meeting, so I can't join you for lunch. Maybe I can promise that I'll come home early, so for today, reluctantly, you'll have to have lunch on your own. But I promise we can have dinner together later, and we can eat out."

"Alright, if you're busy at the office, Dad." Chelsea acted as if she didn't know that Carlos had an appointment with Indri, not to mention gathering information about Kevin and Revan from someone he trusted.

"Dad," Chelsea whined again, helping Carlos straighten his tie.

"Yes?"

"I miss you." She hugged Carlos tightly.

"I miss you too, sweetheart." What could he do? Despite the pressing work, hearing his wife's whining voice like this made it impossible for Carlos to refuse her request for a hug.

"I'll definitely miss you, Dad."

"I miss you too, sweetheart." Carlos returned Chelsea's hug and guided her out of the room. Their hands were interlocked as they headed to the dining room.

As usual, they sat side by side. With Chelsea's hands that always play in Carlos's groin.

"Honey," scolded Carlos. The breakfast can't calm down because of Chelsea's pranks.

Getting Chelsea's reprimand didn't stop but instead, he only got worse. Because indeed this is one way he forgets all the problems that befall him.

"Dad, someone forgot, huh?"

"What?" asked Carlos, after finishing his breakfast.

"Morning kisses."

“Come here!* Patted his thigh. Looking at the clock on the wall, there's still enough time to accept u's offer

His wife.

Chelsea finished her hot chocolate and hurried to her feet. Sitting on Carlos' lap and facing him. Immediately crushed both lips of the husband. Without much ado at all. Even Chelsea brought out their circle. Like a young mother before going to work.

"So that Daddy can work hard."

Carlos suppressed a smile. "Why do you like it so much when it's squeezed or even sucked?" he asked before following Chelsea's wishes.

"I don't know why, Dad. But the taste is so delicious and addictive. What's more…” Chelsea was squeezing Carlos' hair, when the man slightly bit the end. This is what he has always wanted.

"Oh, Dad," he continued softly. When the ticklish feeling is mixed with pain, it makes him addicting.

“Chelsea!?”

Chelsea and Carlos were startled to hear Margareth greet them both.

"W-what are you doing?"

"What are you doing?" Margareth prepared to reach for Chelsea. She was also ready to push the girl away from Carlos's lap to see clearly what they were doing.

"Nothing." Chelsea quickly interrupted before Carlos could open his mouth. She was afraid that her husband might reveal their secret.

It's not that Chelsea didn't want to tell everyone that Carlos was her husband. But there was a grudge that needed to be settled before all of that was announced to the public.

Listening to Chelsea brushing off Margareth's questions, Carlos refrained from speaking. He let his wife answer Margareth's questions later.

"I was just helping Dad massage his head. Dad said he had a headache. Is there something wrong with that?" Chelsea tried to maintain her composure, not showing fear or panic in front of her mother.

"Why massage it to this extent? Can't you just do it normally?"

Chelsea shook her head, returning to her seat. "No, because the massage is quite special, and I feel tired from standing."

"Why not do it in the family room? After all, it's Mother who..."

"Mom, let's stop it, I don't want to argue at all. Moreover, Mom has no right to control my life because I am not your child. What's Mom going to do? It's none of your business, handle your own life as you used to. Isn't that what you said to me? Let's handle our own affairs, easy, right?"

"What? Did you say that I'm not your mother?" Margareth stared sharply at Chelsea, who casually said that she wasn't her daughter. Indeed, that was the truth, but Margareth had raised Chelsea to adulthood. Without her intervention, Tomas wouldn't have been able to raise the girl.

Now, Chelsea casually denied that she was Margareth's daughter. What kind of affection had Chelsea shown after everything Margareth had given her all this time?

"Is it true that I'm not your mother?" Chelsea asked. "So, you have no right to control my life. What do you want to do with it is none of your business. Deal with your own life as you used to. Isn't that what you said to me? Let's each handle our own affairs, it's easy, right?"

"Are you getting rebellious because you feel someone is protecting you here?"

"Not because someone is protecting me here, because I have been living alone all this time. I even put my father on my shoulders and bear everything. Compared to living alone, of course, my life in the past was much more difficult, working hard to earn so much money just for my father's medical expenses. For Mother's food, and now I have to struggle for myself. So, it's not difficult for me to take care of my own needs. Both economically and mentally, let's deal with our own affairs."

Chelsea got up from her seat, grabbed her glass, and finished her drink. Only then did she get up, without saying goodbye to Carlos or Margareth.

"Carlos, please explain what the relationship is between you and Chelsea?" she asked, not getting an answer from Chelsea. Of course, Margareth had to seek answers from Carlos.

She hoped that he would be honest, unlike Chelsea, who seemed to be hiding something. It was impossible for a young woman to live with a widower like this. Face to face and just giving him a head massage? Margareth wasn't a child who could be fooled with such lies.

Carlos sighed deeply and finished his mint tea. He wiped away any wet traces on his lips and got up. Just like Chelsea, he showed a stubbornness in hiding their relationship.

Even though he knew Margareth was only his stepmother, Carlos didn't want to answer carelessly. He was afraid Chelsea would get angry and misunderstand if he openly revealed their relationship to Margareth.

Carlos was also afraid that his honesty might disturb the peace in his marriage with Chelsea. Rather than losing Chelsea, Carlos preferred to comply with all her wishes.

"Carlos, can you respond to my question? Instead of just leaving like that. Don't you consider me your lover again?"

Carlos put down the pen in his hand and took off his glasses, framing his eyes. He looked at the two men sitting in front of his desk.

It seemed that both of them were representatives sent by Carlos to handle various tasks outside the office.

"Kevin," one of the men handed over a green folder. "He is a student at the same campus as Mr. Vano, as well as your wife. The same goes for the man named Revan." He handed over another folder he was holding.

"Revan is the second son of a lecturer who works at the same campus as your son."

Carlos nodded, finding the identities of the two individuals provided by his representatives quite interesting.

"Kevin has a very bad reputation as a male escort. He has received warnings from the university twice, and it's almost certain that he will be expelled for the third time."

"Bad reputation, meaning he's selling himself, right?"

"Exactly. Although his reason for doing so is to finance his education, the university certainly does not approve of such behavior. Besides tarnishing the university's reputation, Kevin could apply for a scholarship and study well to get financial assistance for his tuition fees. However, he ignored this offer and continued with his activities."

"And what's more distressing is that, as we traced where Kevin worked and the places he used to serve his clients, we found the name Margareth, your wife's lover."

In this part, Carlos didn't really have to be surprised because Margareth often tempted him and said she couldn't hold back anymore. She could easily satisfy her desires by seeking pleasure elsewhere. However, he was still taken aback because Margareth's gigolo was a university student of the same age as Vano and Chelsea.

Certainly, it made him even more disgusted with Margareth. As a hungry woman, she shouldn't be seeking satisfaction from someone the same age as her daughter.

"Alright," Carlos loosened his tie slightly, which had felt tight around his neck. "So what's their connection to Indri?"

"There isn't any. So far, we've seen that Indri is just a regular friend. She goes to the same campus but has the same job as Kevin."

"I already know that because my wife was set up and almost sold that day, if I hadn't taken her to Indri's house. So, is this all the information you found about Indri?"

"That's correct."

"Okay, I'm more interested in Revan. He's my wife's ex-boyfriend and the one who spread rumors that my wife was selling herself. I want to know how far this rumor has spread on campus. Have you found anything?"

Carlos looked over the information about Kevin, briefly noting the names of Kevin's parents. When he reached the identity of Kevin's father, Carlos twitched one corner of his lips. He knew very well who the lecturer mentioned by his representatives was.

It would be very easy for Carlos to talk to this man and ask him to teach his son some manners at the university, as well as issue a first warning to both Revan and his father, who were responsible for their son's behavior.

"We can arrange a meeting with Revan's father. When are you available so we can confirm with him? Regarding the news about Mrs. Chelsea, there hasn't been any spread so far. She still has the status of a high-achieving student. There's nothing unusual about her; perhaps it's just an empty threat. You don't need to worry about it, but we promise to keep an eye on Revan's movements."

"Besides Revan's parents, I also want to meet Kevin. Please schedule a meeting before office hours end. However you have to bring that kid here, whether willingly or forcibly. Anyway, I don't want to hear that the conversation with them isn't finished by the end of today."

"Understood." One of them nodded and took their leave from Carlos as their business was already concluded.

They couldn't stay longer as Carlos's secretary informed him that Indri had arrived.

Carlos welcomed Indri to enter and sit in front of him. He also took out a brown envelope from his desk drawer.

"Here's $5,000. Please use it for your mother's medical expenses. I believe this should cover the operation as well as medications during her hospital visits."

Indri was taken aback and looked at Carlos. She remembered very well who this man was, the same person from the chatting app and now the man being serviced by Chelsea.