Chapter 4: Catherine's Bestfriend

It's already late at night, and I still can't sleep. I've been moving from place to place on the bed to see which part is the most comfortable. It's a good thing that Cailen didn't wake up at my action. She was already sound asleep. We will wake up early tomorrow to go to my friend's wedding. It was the reason we are here now. No matter what I do and think, I can't get out of my mind what happened to us earlier at the shopping store. It was as if we were fated to meet there. The second thing that made me nervous was, what if we bump into Joseph? It was not possible to happen, but still, I will believe in my luck not to experience that.

I feel so guilty, yes, but it will hurt me more if I confess that he is Cailen's father and he rejects her right away. That's unlikely to happen because, first, I didn't tell him about my pregnancy. It definitely had a significant impact on my daughter's mental health. So while it's still early, I won't do it. I'll tell him everything later when Cailen's mental health is stable. Second, he was not the father I wrote on my daughter's birth certificate. It was Joseph since I was married to him. This is another issue that I need to settle.

After taking a deep breath, I turned to her. She moved slightly when I stroked her head gently and combed the strands of her curly hair using my finger. Looking closely at her, everyone can see a remarkable resemblance between her and Cohen. But if not, no one would notice even that one of her features looks like him. Only I can say who she looks like.

"I'm sorry, Cailen, if Mommy treated you like that earlier. I don't want to wound you more deeply. I'm sorry if I raised my voice and didn't give you whatever you wanted."

I lay beside her and hugged her tightly, even though she didn't know it. After kissing her on both cheeks, I closed my eyes to force myself to sleep. While shutting my eyes, I couldn't help but return to the night where it all began. It was just a simple night out with Hailey because she wanted to go out and forget about the quarrel between her and her boyfriend.

"What's up, Cathy? Did Joseph let you go with me? We won't stay there for too long. Just a little while, and we will come back."

"Wait a minute, Hailey. He hasn't even replied yet. I don't want to leave first because he doesn't want me to. For sure, we're going to fight."

Joseph has been my boyfriend for almost a year.

"Just tell me if you don't want to come with me; I can go there alone. Honestly, I don't need you to accompany me, Cathy."

Really, Hailey?

Why does the tone of your voice now sound hurtful, it making me feel guilty, and sound manipulated to me?

I didn't voice that, because she might get angrier with me and walk out suddenly.

"Are you mad and in a hurry? Just a moment. Don't worry. Maybe he's busy and hasn't seen my message yet. It's still early, Hailey."

"It's good that we got there early so we can get drunk quickly! Isn't that our goal? We got drunk and went back home after that. With that, we can get home and rest immediately, Cathy."

"It was just you; don't involve me in going drunk. I can't drink too much. I'll go with you to accompany you. That's it, Hailey. I'll go with you, so don't force me to drink so much if you don't want to leave alone."

"You're not sure about that, Cathy. Maybe when we get there, you'll be the first one to get drunk. I know your capacity, girl!"

"Don't talk like that, Hailey! You might jinx it, and it happened to me!"

"Gosh, is that true? Are you not going to drink with me? Let's see if you can resist the smell of the liquor when we get there."

"I will drink, but only a little."

She just grinned and didn't speak anymore.

Hailey has been asking me to leave for a while and to go to the bar. She has called me several times as she and Brent are said to be quarreling. She said she caught him talking to another girl online. Although that was just a typical chat with her boyfriend, Hailey made it a dramatic one. Brent and Hailey fight in front of many people, which is a public scandal. According to them, their relationship is called off now as a punishment for what she did to offend him. If I were Brent, I would also humiliate her.

"What took him so long to reply? Can you call Joseph? I want to leave right now!"

"Calm down, Hailey. It looks like you're going to run out of liquor by the way you hurry. This is it; oh, Joseph already replied to me."

"What did he say? She allows you to go with me. Come on, Cathy, quick. Answer me!"

"Yes, but we shouldn't stay there too long, and I still have work tomorrow. When he has time later, he will follow us so we can have a driver going home."

"Really, Catherine? You, of the two of us, are the one with a nearly perfect boyfriend and potential husband material. What if you had already asked him to marry you? Propose now. You can't lose him. Regret is always the last thing—"

"Are we going to leave, or will you interfere with my love life all night? Just tell me so I can change my clothes right away."

"Of course, we'll leave—"

"Then, come on, let's go! Don't mimic me and compare me and my relationship to you when you're the one who always messes up your good relationship with your boyfriend because you're bored. Brent was okay too. I can see that. He is a nice guy, and I guess you are compatible. You're just really jealous for nothing, and you must mobilize yourself with that. Try not to be envious of his chat friends so your life can be peaceful. He sleeps with you every night, right? But still, you have so many complaints about him. That's why he is getting tired now because of that."