Chapter 9 Bargain With Me

Serena’s POV

I don’t want it to seem like Tyler can order me around and dominate me whenever he wants to but I know I need to go home and talk to him personally for this to be clear. Threatening him on the phone won’t work and will only trigger a more chaotic argument between us.

I ended the call and looked into Catherine’s eyes. She was gripping her phone so tight while looking at me as if she’d lost her cool.

I pulled myself up and grabbed my bag while not taking my eyes off of her. “I need a paternity test, Catherine. If you cooperate with me, you can finally give your son a complete family.”

She let out a sarcastic laugh, “And you think I’ll cooperate with you? It will only make it difficult for Tyler and that’s the last thing I want to happen. You do know that your husband always calculates things. He won’t let things go beyond his control. Why would I even get a paternity test when Tyler isn’t asking for it? Tyler and I are in a good relationship and I never want to disappoint him or hurt him in any way.”

A sarcastic laugh escaped my lips after she said those words as if she memorized every single word in that sentence. She didn’t think she could finally push me to my limit, right?

I pressed my palms on the table and bent forward a little as I stared into her eyes. “How noble!”

I left her after that. With pride on my face, not want to lose the ounce of dignity left in me. Tyler has broken my heart so many times and I feel like he continued breaking me into tiny pieces. He likes women he can dominate anytime he wants. He likes someone who would follow his rules. He likes someone who can make him feel that he’s in charge of anything and that’s probably one of the reasons we didn’t click. All because we’re opposite. I don’t like being dominated. I don’t like being controlled. I don’t like it when someone tells me what to do. I don’t like it when…someone is hurting me.

Tyler’s sentiments visited my mind again. He always complained about me being domineering and cold toward him.

I was never at peace ever since I caught Tyler cheating. There were nights I would fall asleep thinking about where it went wrong. There were even sleepless nights because the information about him cheating was enough to keep me awake and unhappy. But seeing peace on Catherine’s face…I guess he assured her too much that she never felt like something would go wrong even when they were just having a sinful affair.

I have feelings for Tyler but that won’t make me degrade myself and beg for his love. I’m not a beggar and will never be.

The house was dark when I came back. I pressed the switch and I saw how messy the house was when the light flooded the whole living area.

The coffee table was broken and the sofa was upside down. Even the antique vase under the staircase didn’t get spared by the anger of the man sitting on the stairs.

His hair was totally disheveled. His tie was loose and the first two buttons of his white dress shirt were open. His eyes were sharp and his jaws were clenched.

A devil could be seen in the shape of him. Now I realized. Millie is his only trigger.

He lifted his face and his sharp eyes bore at me. He pulled himself and rushed to me. I gasped and groaned in pain when he grabbed my shoulders and pushed me against the closed door. It hurt my back and arm which made me squeeze my eyes.

“Where is she?”

I slowly opened my eyes to see his eyes darkened with rage.

“When she was here, you never go home early. She was always waiting for you, Tyler. You can only see her when you realize she’s hurting.”

He let go of my arm and took a step forward. His eyes sharpened even more.

“And you think you’re great because of that? You are a fcking manipulative woman, Serena! You’re poisoning our daughter’s mind and now you took her away from me! You talk like you’re perfect but the truth is you are the worst! You’re cruel!”

I pushed him and hit his chest as my lips trembled in anger. I was so close to exploding in anger but I sucked my breath and held everything in.

“How can I let her stay with you when you can’t even come to her side when she needs you? Where were you when she got injured? Huh? Can you blame me for doing this? You were always missing, Tyler. You always disappoint our daughter and all you do is apologize to her. She doesn’t need your sorry, Tyler! She needs her father!”

He was taken aback. He stared at me in shock as he took a step back as if hearing the truth from me weakened him.

He grabbed his hair and swallowed hard. “Catherine called me that day. There was an emergency and I couldn’t ignore them because they had no one by their side—”

“So what about Millie?”

“I didn’t know she got injured—”

“Because you didn’t answer even one of my calls, Tyler. You didn't know because you were busy.”

He gritted his teeth. “Then I’m sorry.”

I let out a sarcastic laugh. That’s what he’s good at. Apologizing. I can’t believe he will only apologize. I couldn't imagine if Millie had a bigger accident. Would he come to see her or he’ll go to Catherine again if she calls him?

I stared into his eyes with nothing but coldness. “I could give you what you want, Tyler. You can freely go to her whenever you want and I will not be there to call you desperately. Divorce. That’s your pass to see her whenever you want—”

“I SAID!” He growled and punched the wall on his right. He turned to me with deadly glares as his chest moved up and down rapidly.

He sucked his breath and squinted his eyes as his jaw clenched. “I already told you my answer, Serena! Over and over! No matter how hard you tried to end this fcking marriage I will not allow it! I will never allow it because your accusations are baseless and absurd!”

Wow! Now I don’t know how to calm myself down. He still has the guts to say that after I caught him so many times? Damn him!

“Of course you will never admit your mistakes,” I said with a hard tone.

He was about to speak again when his phone rang. He fished it from his pocket while not taking his eyes off of me.

I glanced at the screen of his phone and I laughed again when I saw the name of the person calling.

He gripped his phone and stared at me, “We’re not done talking, Serena. We’ll talk again.”

I gritted my teeth and glared at him when he answered the call in front of me. Without saying a word, I walked past him, hitting his shoulder as I walked out and went to Millie’s room.

The empty bed made me pause by the door frame after I turned the light on. I saw a picture of my daughter lying on the bed while I was reading her favorite bedtime story.

I sighed and walked towards the bed. Caressing the bed, I fished my phone out and called my uncle’s number.

[Serena, I’m going to Millie now.]

I nodded. “How is she uncle?”

[She’s fine here. She’s happy.]

I bit my bottom lip and waited for my daughter. She’s happy there. Sending her away was the right decision.

[Mommy!]

I smiled sweetly right after I saw my daughter’s face. She looked very excited while looking at me. Oh, how I miss her already.

“How is my baby?”

She giggled. [Mommy, look! I’m at the beach!]

I stared at her face. Seeing that beautiful smile makes me sad and happy at the same time. I suddenly felt the urge to leave and follow her.

She turned to me again and I was confused when she lifted her hand and her finger touched the screen as if she was touching my face. [Did Daddy make you sad?]

I gasped and shook my head. “Of course not!”

Her eyes suddenly looked sad. [You’re crying, mommy.]

I caressed my cheeks and realized she was right. I shook my head and looked at her again.

“I just miss you. Daddy did not do anything. Why would you think like that?”

[Because Daddy makes me sad too.]

Her answer broke my heart. What? Her father makes her sad? How…I mean…

“W-Why?”

[Because I feel like he's mad at me. He doesn't come home because he’s mad at me, right?]

I gasped and shook my head again, “No! No, sweetheart. Daddy’s not mad at you. I told you he will never get mad at you.”

Tyler’s an asshole but I’m not heartless to ruin his relationship with our daughter. Millie shouldn’t be involved. Thus making him look bad to his own daughter is not a good choice.

Finally, she smiled again. [Will you come here with Daddy? I like it here, Mommy. Please come here with Daddy.]

I nodded, “Soon, sweetheart. Mommy is just busy with work. I just need to save someone and I’ll follow you there.”

She completely forgot about the tears she saw on my face. She then started telling me about the activities she did today and what she wanted to do tomorrow. I was happy while listening to my daughter and when she bid goodbye, I felt loneliness in my heart again.

Right after Millie ended the call, the door swung open revealing Tyler. He paused and stared at me realizing I just finished talking to someone.

“Was that Millie?”

He’s late again. He didn’t get to talk to his daughter because of Catherine.

Without taking my eyes off of him, I nodded. He seemed calm and I felt bitter thinking he calmed down just after he talked to Catherine. I wonder what they talked about.

“Bargain with me, Serena…”

My forehead creased. Is he…

He took a deep sigh and walked towards the bed. He stood in front of me and looked down at me with emotions I couldn’t name.

“I’ll agree to what you want. I’ll…sign the divorce papers but in return…you will save Catherine’s son. Operate on him in exchange for the divorce.”