"Your Dad?" asked Clarice who was quite surprised to hear Joshua's answer.Joshua nodded his head without speaking again. Clarice was eager to ask more questions but if Joshua didn't continue the conversation, then she didn't think there was anything she needed to ask Joshua more clearly.The car stopped at a fairly quiet but classy restaurant. It didn't come as a surprise to Clarice that Joshua was taking her to a fancy, well-known restaurant. Moreover, she also knew that they would be meeting someone older than them.Joshua looked around the car park. He sighed and took Clarice's hand. "Looks like he came earlier than me." They entered the restaurant and Joshua's eyes were already fixed on the old man who was still looking vigorous, sitting at a corner table and waving his hand at Joshua. Clarice was silent as she watched what was happening to them."Son!" said Harry. He stood up, about to extend his hand to shake Joshua's, but Joshua refused. Then Harry looked at Clarice and inte
"No! You're lying! You're the one who cheated on her, Harry!" Joshua stood up from his chair while Clarice tried to hold him back in his seat. "I'm not forcing you to believe me, son. Because I knew you'd believe what you believed all along. And besides, I was only close to Flora at the time, not cheating on your mother. I started getting close to Flora because I knew your mom had cheated on me first. But in the end, she divorced me herself."Joshua pounded on the table. He then left without Clarice. Clarice tried to chase him until he stopped."I want to be alone," Joshua said."Jo–Joshua! Please, don't go!""I know you and my dad have been pretty close for the last few minutes. You can ask him to take you home. Sorry, Clarice."Clarice stayed silent with her body feeling shocked by Joshua's sudden attitude toward her. She didn't even think that Joshua would leave her with someone he hated so much.While Clarice was still petrified in that place, Harry appeared from inside. "Clarice
"Joshua ... you know his name?" "Tell me correctly, who's cheating, Mom? You or him?" Joshua didn’t even reply to her question so he asked another question to her. Terry looked shocked by the question and everything that had happened in the last few minutes with Joshua. Questions and topics like this had never been brought up by her or even Joshua. This was the first time Joshua brought it up out of the blue, which made it difficult for Terry to give a proper answer. "Hard to answer, huh? At least I know who is right. I was wrong to follow you, Mom." Terry held back his hand as Joshua was about to leave her. "Please, listen to me first, Joshua. It's not what you said and—" "Then tell me!" Joshua yelled, flinching, and seemingly not caring if it was his mother. His eyes even widened at her, without feeling sorry for her. "I did have an affair! But it's because your father was close to another woman!" "No! You're the one who started playing with fire until he started getting close
There was a knock on his door and Joana walked in with some important news for Joshua. "Sir," Joana said. "What?" Joshua was busy reading a bundle of proposal documents seriously without looking at Joana. "I have news that probably will make you curious." "Then speak." Joana seemed to roll her eyes because Joshua didn't look at her when she was talking, which to Joana was rude, no matter if Joshua was the boss. After Joshua waited for Joana to speak while he was reading a document on his desk, he closed the document and looked at Joana. He knew what his secretary needed, attention for every word she said. "Okay, tell me now." "Mr. Tristan Penn, he's outside, wants to talk to you and it's about business." Joshua's eyes opened wide at the mention of the man's name. "He's here? How come? I thought I would never see him again. Ck!" Joana nodded. "That's why I didn't call you to inform you of this. So, what are you going to do?" "Bring him in. I'm curious about what he'll talk a
As Joshua was about to return to the mansion, he got a message from Clarice that she was going to Joel's grave. His steps stopped as he read the message slowly. His breathing was so heavy when he pulled it out. Perhaps because he hadn't noticed the last time Clarice hadn't been to the grave, he assumed it had been a long time, even though it had only been a week ago that Clarice had been to Joel's grave.Her mood to see Clarice quickly dissipated when he learned the news. But he had to follow her to the grave without Clarice knowing. He would pick her up and do whatever he wanted.When Joshua arrived at the cemetery, he told the driver who accompanied Clarice to leave and return to the Mansion. He then leaned against the hood of his car with his arms crossed over his chest. For a long time, Joshua waited with his sunglasses covering his eyes, then Clarice appeared and was surprised to see Joshua waiting for her instead of the driver."Joshua?" called Clarice, as she approached.Joshu
Joshua turned his body around, looking at his father after saying something that made him wonder what he meant. "What do you mean?" he asked."Joshua," Clarice called out suddenly.Harry, who was about to open his lips to answer Joshua's question, was interrupted and closed his lips again. His and Joshua's eyes met meaningfully."Are you done helping her?" asked Joshua to Clarice.Clarice nodded her head. She then felt reluctant towards Harry and Joshua now that she knew she had shown up while they were talking about something Clarice didn't know about."Am I interrupting you?" she asked."No, you're not. Come on, let's go home. Thanks for the lunch," Joshua said as he thanked Harry and Flora who was beside Clarice.He took Clarice by the hand and got into the car without them making many conversations with Harry or Flora. Joshua seemed to sigh after his tense encounter, making Clarice look at him with curiosity."How was it?""Bad.""Joshua, meeting your biological father and Flora w
After Joshua left, Clarice felt alone again. She was so upset with what Joshua had done. She was disappointed and she was angry. But unfortunately, she didn't know how to express it to Joshua since he would probably scold her back if she became bossy.Her tears fell. At that moment, Clarice grabbed her bag and some clothes and left the mansion. She didn't ask Joshua for permission, for once. She needed air or a place that could accommodate her pain.What was the point of being a wife if the man who married her seemed to be making her a sex slave who could be used at any time?Clarice was fed up that during her pregnancy she felt something she hated about Joshua. And she thought she hated her own husband, who should have hated him from the start, not obeyed him even more.She had nowhere to go but to Harry and Flora's house. She knew it would make Joshua feel embarrassed that Clarice had come to Joshua's biological father's house, and Joshua would think that Clarice was embarrassing hi
He waited for hours in the bedroom in the dark where the person he was waiting for was away with his stepmother. When he arrived, it turned out that his stepmother had taken his wife on a trip to the shopping center to relieve the stress she was under. He knew because his father had told him, and since he was going to give his wife a nerve-wracking surprise, he hid his car and chose to wait in the bedroom. His face tightened with a seriousness that couldn't disappear. He waited for three hours until he heard footsteps coming into the room where he was waiting. As the door opened and closed then the lights turned on, Clarice was startled to see Joshua, her husband. "Jo–Joshua." "So this is how you get mad at me, huh? Running from me and hiding in my Dad’s home?" asked Joshua, looking at her with a flat stare. Clarice's breath caught and she couldn't leave because Joshua's gaze locked her out of his presence. She had hoped to calm herself down and hoped that Joshua wouldn't find her
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