They arrived at the hospital with a gathering of several families who were already aware of the news of Terry's accident.Jessy and Tristan also came. The engagement that was already underway had to be finalized quickly with such heartbreaking news.Joshua was silent without saying anything. Because whatever he wanted to say, he had already told Clarice in the car.No one mentioned Terry's situation inside. They were all silent, waiting and looking tense.Clarice rubbed Joshua's shoulder, intending to give him strength. But she felt the tension in Joshua's body, which implied the fear of losing his mother.To Clarice, it didn't matter if someone who hated their parents so much was afraid of losing them. Joshua was one of them, but he was reluctant to admit it let alone show his sadness.Suddenly the doctor who was treating Terry came out and looked at the whole family waiting for Terry."Is there anyone here named Clarice?" the doctor asked.Joshua immediately stood up as Clarice tol
Terry's funeral was short and quick the next day. Everything went so quickly that even Clarice felt that there was nothing special about her mother-in-law. Some of her fellow attendees even had bad things to say about her, which Clarice overheard while she was talking to some of the other guests. Clarice sensed that Terry's life didn't really seem to be doing much good, in fact, it all seemed fake. Clarice sighed. She went back in time to when Terry was kind to her and she knew that it was because of Joel, Joel loved Clarice so much that Terry was kind to her in the end. And for Clarice, to remember someone well, she had to remember the best part of what that person had done. That's how Clarice remembered Terry, she had to go back in time where she could see and feel how Terry was kind to her. Clarice smiled, she then looked for a chair to sit her butt down as her stomach suddenly tightened. It was already the ninth month which meant Clarice would be giving birth soon. According
A week after the funeral, the atmosphere changed. Joshua's demeanor seemed colder than usual, which was a throwback to when Joshua first met Clarice at Joel's funeral.Clarice didn't ask about what had happened to her husband, but she kept track until she felt the change needed to be discussed, because Clarice felt that something was different and uncharacteristic.Until one morning at breakfast, Joshua asked for jam bread. Clarice made it while looking at him silently. When Joshua sat down in his chair, he looked at Clarice with a serious look."Did you want to ask me something, Baby?" Joshua asked.Clarice was immediately nervous and paused as she made the bread for Joshua. She was the one who wanted to ask but Joshua still seemed to know how to ask her questions."Errr, no," Clarice replied."You're always so obvious when you have something to ask, Clarice. Ask me while I can answer.""Promise you won't get angry?" asked Clarice before she got to the point."Yes, I promise."Claric
"WHAT? Are you crazy, Joshua? Making her pregnant?!" asked Tristan, who was shocked by Joshua's idea.When he arrived at the office, Joshua even bluntly told Tristan to make Jessy pregnant if he wanted all his work to come out in one. Because Joshua also said that he could not possibly provide these results continuously.The rules in the contract he had written would change at any time, according to the maker of the contract, and this was where Joshua took advantage of it.As crazy as it sounded, wanting Tristan to get Jessy pregnant meant he wanted Jessy to have a child from the man she loved. And Tristan really thought hard about the idea. He didn’t know if Jessy wanted to have children or not, because they hadn’t talked about anything like that. They just talked about their life together."You've slept with her, she should be pregnant already, right?" asked Tristan."We used protection, she took the pill," Tristan replied casually."Well, too bad. If I were you, loving Jessy, then
She pushed the baby slowly. Her breathing was labored, but with the support of the doctor and nurse who told her to keep pushing the baby out, she did so with great effort. Her hands clasped her husband's tightly as if to tell him how painful it would be when she gave birth to their child. Tears kept falling from the corners of her eyes. She didn't even make a sound when she cried, but she growled, sighed in pain, and continued to do so. Then finally the baby's voice was heard in the delivery room. Yeah ... the baby came out, a boy, just as the doctor had predicted during the ultrasound. Clarice breathed a sigh of relief. Her eyes closed intermittently due to the pain and sting she felt after delivering her baby. But she was both crying and smiling with joy. "You made it, Baby," whispered Joshua, in her ear. Clarice nodded with a smile. Her face looked tired and Joshua kissed her forehead and let the nurses and doctors take care of Clarice. "Congratulations, sir, ma'am ... you
Clarice opened her eyes as she felt her body start to give her the support to wake up from her long sleep. She, who had just given birth and had fallen asleep due to the energy she had expended, was awake and looking around for her son and husband.Unfortunately, there was no one by her side. The chair at the side of her bed was empty, completely deserted. And Clarice began to press the bell that was usually reserved for calling the nurse.It wasn't long before the nurse arrived. A female nurse named Susi whom Clarice could read on the name tag attached to her uniform."Oh, Mrs. Archer, you're awake. Can I help you?" the nurse asked."Where is ... my husband? My son?""Ah, your husband was getting coffee a few minutes ago. I'm sure he'll be here soon. So don't worry. And your son will be transferred here soon too considering you're awake, Mrs. Archer."Clarice nodded, trying to give the nurse a big smile. "Thanks ... Susi," Clarice said, saying her name.The nurse smiled and nodded he
Joshua wanted to meet some of his friends to celebrate the birth of his son. He had to keep his friends away from his mansion. He knew what his friends were like who he rarely saw, always making noise and Joshua didn't want them to disturb his wife and son.And here he was now, in a café where he was meeting some of his friends without Clarice and his son because he didn't want them to be disturbed anyway. Luckily Joana had come along and was able to keep Clarice company until he returned."Well, enjoy the evening but I can't stay too long because I'm leaving my wife and son alone," Joshua said, slightly lying to his assembled friends."You really didn't throw a party at your mansion, Jo. We really wanted to meet them.""Next time. Because if you're there, you're just going to make a crowd that makes my wife and son unable to rest," Joshua replied, firmly.Some of Joshua's friends were also female and all knew very well how Joshua's journey with Clarice had gone. Yeah, they knew exact
At midnight, Joshua woke up when he heard Axcel whimpering. He immediately looked to the side where Clarice was still sleeping peacefully and he didn't want to wake her up either.It was also his chance to experience being a father when his wife was tired and asleep. And he had wanted to do this for a long time.He saw Axcel twitching and he checked whether he should change his pampers or not. Then he decided to change it when he noticed that Axcel's pampers were full.After changing him, Joshua picked him up and tried to put him to sleep with the bottle he had prepared filled with Clarice's breastmilk.Joshua was pleased to find that by being carried by him, Axcel fell back asleep peacefully. Joshua was even reluctant to put Axcel in his crib again, so he held him while he sat carefully on the sofa and went back to sleep.Early in the morning, Clarice woke up. She looked to her side where there was no Joshua, which immediately made her curious. Clarice got up and searched until
Clarice cried after she heard the judge's decision that Joshua's sentence could not be commuted or even reduced. Because Joshua committed a murder that left two victims dead, Joshua was sentenced to life imprisonment.Clarice immediately left the courtroom and chose to take a deep breath of air outside. Her body shook with unceasing crying. Her chest felt so tight that she couldn't bear to see Joshua in person forever.Then Darren came and touched her shoulder. Clarice immediately turned around and looked at him. "What?" she asked."He's waiting for you. Meet him, I think he wants to have you at a time like this. He needs you, Clarice."Clarice almost refused. Yeah ... she wasn't in the mood to meet her husband for now, but what Darren said was true. She just needed to strengthen her heart more to face her husband.A big part of Clarice also blamed herself because if she hadn't told Joshua that she would be relieved if he confessed at the police station, then the life sentence wouldn't
A month without Joshua in her life still leaves Clarice struggling to cope with new days. She continued to visit the prison and even the phone calls from Joshua came every day. Clarice always considered her visits to the prison as a form of encouragement for her even if it only lasted for a few hours, because she was honestly never satisfied with that limited communication.Her relationship with Darren was also still going on as it should. Clarice continued to think of Darren as her mentor while Darren always secretly monitored Clarice's condition when she was away from him because he thought that was what Joshua wanted from Clarice; to be safe when she was away from him.Clarice finally managed to understand some of Joshua's work after a month of learning from Darren. She was glad that she understood so quickly that she didn't have to keep calling Darren or meeting him because all she wanted to do was get away from Darren.Joana had even started living at the Mansion as well so they
Darren put Clarice on his bed. He took off her high heels and covered her with a blanket. Sighing and massaging the bridge of his nose, he stared at Clarice for a few moments. He felt that this was the first time he would have a special relationship with his best friend's wife. All this time he had been with other women who were different and single of course. Then fate made him have to have business with Clarice. Joshua's offer was tantalizing, any man who saw Clarice would immediately want to agree to the offer. But his little heart said it was difficult."How can you share your wife with me just because you're in jail, Joshua?" he asked as he looked at Clarice who had fallen asleep due to drunkenness. "What if I fall for her, Joshua? Doesn't that make our friendship break?"This time Darren restrained himself. He rolled out the bed cover on his couch and picked up a pillow. He lay down on it and closed his eyes to sleep.The next morning Clarice woke up, opening her eyes slowly. S
Clarice drove her car to the prison where Joshua was. She had the desire to visit Joshua every day when she finished work or when she was free. Unfortunately, she didn't bring Axcel this time as she went straight to the place. She smiled to herself just thinking about seeing Joshua. She even tidied up her appearance and wanted to show off a little to Joshua that she was now a career woman. Even though Clarice was still upset with Joshua about the talk about Darren and her, she was still going to see him.Clarice waited in the meeting room with her body sitting up straight and her heart beating fast."Hey, gorgeous," greeted Joshua who Clarice had been missing for the past day.Clarice stood up and hugged him immediately. She even aggressively kissed him blindly, not caring about some of the other visitors.Joshua then pulled away realizing that Clarice's lust had peaked. "Hey, are you alright, Clarice?" Joshua asked. They ended up sitting together, side by side with Clarice's head on
"Alright, Clarice ... based on the expression on your face, I think Joshua told you about you and Darren things. Is that right? I mean, no offense because I was told by him too so as not to be surprised if something happens between you two," Joana said quickly in one breath.Clarice's eyes widened in shock. "He told you that too?! What the hell is he doing?! I got so upset when he said things like that to me. I mean ... How could he—"Clarice chose not to continue because she was honestly embarrassed and didn't know what to do. Just the thought of her being with her husband's best friend made her shudder with horror because it was tantamount to cheating on her."Look, Clarice ... I've been in the position of not being able to have sex a few times. So sometimes I choose to have one-night stands with other men on different nights. I mean, I just want to say that staying horny is not fun."Clarice sighed as she rolled her eyes. Her hands were clasped around her waist and she seemed to be
Accompanied by Joana and Darren, Clarice entered the police station and began to meet Joshua who was now wearing an orange suit which means he was now a prisoner. Clarice, Joana, and Darren stood tensely as they waited for Joshua to appear. Although there were chairs and tables, they were not interested in sitting down until they saw Joshua in person.Joshua arrived shortly after they had waited. Handcuffed and then released to meet his friends and family, the warden left him behind."Boss … I'm glad you okay," Joana said, sounding sad."Joshua, I'm going to try to get you out of here as soon as possible," Darren said without any reply.There was only Clarice who didn't say anything but remained silent with her body trembling and her eyes filled with tears.Joshua looked at her with a smile that was so strange to Clarice's eyes. Yeah ... they looked at each other but Clarice saw a different smile from him. A sad smile that Joshua had never shown in his life."No hugs for your now con
Her eyes flickered as she sighed looking up at Joshua. And Clarice knew the meaning of that look, that Joshua wanted her to talk about what she was feeling. "So," Joshua said with a sigh, then sat back in his chair, "what haven't you told me about how you feel lately, Baby?"Like she was in a game where she had to choose one or the other, Clarice really couldn't choose. She was so reluctant to even tell him what was bothering her that her tears came, falling.Joshua quickly stood up and his burly hands touched her wet cheeks and wiped them. "Hey, what have I done to make you cry, Baby?"That was the problem. Clarice's lips were almost closed and she couldn't open them. She couldn't say it because she didn't want to hurt his feelings."Look, if something is bothering you lately, you should tell me immediately. And if it's because of me, I'll be prepared to listen.""That's the point, Joshua! I can't! I can't tell you how I feel these past few days!" responded Clarice quickly. "I can't
The year of Axcel's birth was the biggest celebration Clarice has ever had in her life. She didn't even expect that her son's birthday would be celebrated as big as her wedding with Joshua But she's happy that it was the celebration he deserved.Although Clarice initially told Joshua that there was no need for a big celebration, Joshua made their son's birthday celebration a big one with the help of Joana who was always ready whenever Joshua needed her."So, what about all this? Do you like it?" asked Joshua, whispering at her side.Clarice smiled without looking at him but at the festivities of Axcel's birthday."It's too much. But I'm happy. Well, I don't even know if Axcel understood his birthday or not because he's only one year old."Joshua put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed gently. "It doesn't matter if he understands or not, the important thing is that we try our best for him, Clarice, and we made a picture moment with him.The smile on Clarice's lips was always ther
They returned to the mansion just the two of them. This time they again left Axcel at Harry and Flora's house because Joshua felt that he and Clarice needed to rest without interruption.Actually, Clarice had never minded Axcel's presence at the Mansion even when she was tired. But she knew that she couldn't defy Joshua's orders which sometimes she really couldn't refuse."Would you like a warm bath? I'll prepare it for you, Clarice," Joshua said, looking at his wife with a tired face."Hmm, yeah. I think that's a good idea. I'll rest for a while until you finish preparing the warm water," Clarice said.Joshua watched her until she lay down on the bed and then he went into the bathroom and started preparing the bathtub for them to soak in together.When Joshua came out of the bathroom, he saw Clarice already asleep on the bed, snoring softly. Joshua didn't have the heart to wake her up because Clarice looked so peaceful in her sleep.Joshua then decided to take a shower first to clean