Chapter 19

I turned on the water faucet and let it run while soaking my hand in water and using it to cleanse my mouth.

“Blech!” I blurted faintly as I wiped the saliva and nasty splashes of vomit from my chin.

I feel like I'm going to pass out from exhaustion when I feel I've already purged the meals that have been trapped in my throat.

“I hate you, Gunther.” I murmured with a trace of annoyance in my voice.

As the cramp from throwing up began to sting, my hand gradually crawled back on my stomach and gently rubbed it.

Overeating must have given me indigestion. I kept swallowing the leaves and stuffing them into my stomach without chewing them so I could finish it quickly. And this is what I ended up with.

I continued to rub my tummy while holding my gaze fixed on my reflection in the mirror. My attention silently wandered to the two women as they entered the restroom.

“Really? I regret not attending their meeting earlier. Are you sure of that though?”

“Of course, I am!” The other woman exclaimed. “Besides, we aren't the only ones who are talking about it. The entire department is literally debating right now on how everything happened so quickly. And who cheated first!”

“Eh? Who was the cheater? You mean they already sp-”

She couldn't continue what she was about to say when the woman with her seemed to signal her to stop talking by grasping her arm. They quickly shifted their gaze to my stance and I was caught off guard when they suddenly bowed to me.

Both of them looked very uncomfortable as they abruptly stopped talking and just kept on avoiding my stares like scared cats.

“U-Uh, hi…” I murmured as I tried to look at their eyes.

I feel like my cheeks are starting to flush since I was embarrassed when they bowed to me.

I'd never had somebody bow for me before. Though, it’s not like I have been fantasizing about it, but it does feel very strange. It’s making me uneasy in some way.

I noticed that their gazes were both glued on the same spot. I traced their eyes to see what they were staring at and found that they were pinning me in the stomach.

I instantly took my hands away from my belly when I realized I was still softly stroking it while facing them, because it still feels scorching inside.

I believe they were shaken up by what I did when they chuckled awkwardly with a strained smile before stepping to the cubicles without looking back.

I was completely bewildered by what had just happened. I tilted my head, wondering why they were staring at my stomach. And their smiles, it doesn’t really feel genuine.

“Weird…” I murmured before washing my hands again and finally leaving the restroom. “What on earth are they thinking?”

I couldn’t stop myself from looking around the people here on the 18th floor as most of their eyes were all at me. I am once again the center of attention. But, this time, I am not sure why.

The stares that they are giving me are just not very pleasant because they are not trying to smile at me, they are looking directly from my head to toe as if they are unimpressed. I kept moving my eyes around in bewilderment, waiting for at least one of them to tell me what was going on.

“Ms. Cattleya.” I watched as Gunther walked briskly towards me. “Mr. Madrigal is waiting for you in his office.”

I walked right past him after hearing what he had to say, and was determined to not pay attention to him because I was still irritated by what he had done to me earlier. I am upset at the fact that all my efforts, even looking like a goat munching the leaves, were all frittered away.

He didn’t feel sorry for me even just for a second and still urged me to finish everything while seeing me suffer right in front of his eyes.

Now, I didn’t get to be with Jaxson in their meeting, and I got indigestion.

“What just happened to you?” Jaxson hailed me with a question. But it doesn’t seem to sound concerned because of its loud and boisterous timbre.

"Um, I just puked? I feel terribly sick, and up until now, I still feel like throwing up.” I grumbled as I cast a sidelong glare towards Gunther.

I was struck by Jaxson's brief silence after hearing what I said. I followed him with my gaze as he stepped closer to the chair where I had been seated earlier and sagged down on it and laid his hands on the table. He squeezed the bridge of his nose with his uplifted arm, seemingly deep in thought.

“Jaxson..?" I hushedly yelled out his name. “You seem quite stressed. Did I happen to screw it up? Did I embarrass you earlier in the meeting?”

He responded with a shake of his head. “Do you have something to tell me, Cattleya?”

My brows drew together in response to his question. What is he saying now?

“What is that all about?” I asked. “There's nothing in my mind that I should confess to you,” I assured him.

When he stood up again in his chair and slightly turned to lean his body on the table a little, my entire face was almost crumpled with confusion at what he was doing.

“I need you to answer my question honestly. Before we met, did you already have a boyfriend?”

“Huh!?” I exclaimed. “What are you saying? Of course the answer to that is no! Not even a single person ever became my boyfriend…” I snarled in response to his scornful question, which I still don’t understand. “Besides, didn't I already tell you that too when we were in your car? And while you are asking me to marry you. Don't you remember?” I returned the question to him.

That day is still fresh in my mind; it was one of those days when I felt like my heart might skip a beat with fear, but Jaxson turned out to have other intentions for me.

“Then…”

He drew my attention again as he dawdled.

“Did something happen to us when I was drunk?”

“A-Absolutely n-nothing.” I stammered in reply because of his sudden question.

Jaxson, nothing happened to us. Thanks to my reflexes then I was able to hold back. Otherwise, I'm not sure how much worse things will get in the future.

“Then, why do people say that you are pregnant.”

My eyes instantly widened because of what he just said. “Pregnant!?”