"He won't listen to me at all and keeps staying here. Can you talk him into leaving?"
Darren had just arrived in his hotel room after a long and tiring trip, and the first thing he heard from Vivi was her complaint about Bryan coming to their house and bothering her.
"He dares to play around because he knows I'm not home," hissed Darren. "I'll talk to him later, so just ignore him. Just stay in your room or go for a walk so you don't have to stay with him.”
"I'm going to stay home because my stomach hurts a lot."
"Stomach ache? Did you eat something wrong?" asked Darren in a worried tone.
"No, I didn't. I had my period when I woke up earlier, and now my stomach hurts a lot."
Vivi's explanation left Darren speechless. Vivi having her period again meant that their attempt to have a child had failed again.
"Darren," Vivi called because he was too silent after she said she had her period. "Are you mad at me?"
"Why would I be
"What are you looking at? What did you see, huh?!"Bryan clicked his tongue after hearing his father yell at him. Of course, Mr. Walters was annoyed because Bryan, who had suddenly agreed to sit next to him to accompany him to watch this news program, instead of concentrating on the TV, kept looking at his face from a close distance as if he was watching him, which made Mr. Walters very uncomfortable."Dad, when did you get so old?" asked Bryan, his voice sounding concerned but still insulting to her father."How old do I look to make you frown like that, huh?" Mr. Walters replied."Don't you have a lot of money? Why don't you take care of yourself? Botox injections, fillers, plastic surgery... Why don't you do anything and just let your face age?" asks Bryan in a worried tone."You are... What are you talking about? Why do you have to insult me like that?" Mr. Walters asked."Don't get old and die, okay?"The tension on Mr. Walters face slowly faded as he heard what Bryan said in tha
"Aaargh... Aaah..."Vivi couldn't stop whimpering as she tried to sit up, her body sore and painful. She looked down at her bruised left arm, and her eyes immediately glazed over as she remembered what Darren had done to her last night.This wasn’t the first punishment she had received from Darren, but this punishment was even more severe than the previous one. Because this time, it wasn’t just about Darren's anger, but hatred in the man exploded through the punishment that Vivi had to endure all night."And since you can't appreciate the love I give you, from now on, I'll show you what it feels like to be my enemy, Vivianne."Suddenly, what Darren had said to her last night returned to Vivi's ears and trapped her in an overwhelming fear. It was already so bad for her to accept Darren's love by pretending to be nice to him in return. Vivi couldn’t imagine how bad it would be if Darren hated her and made her his enemy."Darren..." Vivi looked around the room to find Darren, but there w
"Why do I feel so pathetic? Am I so desperate to beg her to pretend to love me?"After Vivi had fallen asleep again under the influence of the medicine she had taken, Darren went downstairs and sat in front of the bar to calm himself down with a bottle of wine. And as he thought about what he had said to Vivi earlier, he felt an instant regret that made him feel like a stupid man.Darren had always been dominant, and all the women had always submitted to him so easily that he had never felt heartbroken. But Vivi was different. Vivi's rejection hurt Darren's dominant soul and made his desire to have her even more passionate."I'm pathetic." Darren lowered his head, remembering again what he had said to Vivi earlier. He had gotten too carried away earlier, and after asking Vivi to pretend to love him, his heart didn’t feel better and instead made him feel restless thinking about how pathetic he was right now."Oi!"Darren turned his head in surprise when someone suddenly sat beside him.
"Do you want to have a child to control Darren's wealth? Do you want to use your child to get rid of your husband?"Walking in the hospital hallway, Vivi turned her head to Bryan, who was walking next to her, and looked at him with a frown on her forehead."Now that I can get everything from Darren, why would I bother getting pregnant just to control his wealth? Besides, are there any women that are crazy in the real world? You must watch too many dramas!""Of course, there are women like that in this world!" Bryan replied to Vivi's words in a high tone. "The world is full of cruel people like that, and women who use their children to control their husband's wealth do exist!"Vivi pursed her lips, wondering why Bryan could be so upset and angry with her just for that. But when she remembered that she was one of those wicked women who had married Darren just for his money, Vivi realized that what Bryan had said was true."If that's not your intention, why do you want to have children?"
"Yo! What's up?"Vivi blinked before pulling the phone away from her ear to make sure she didn't have the wrong number. But when she saw Darren's name on her phone, Vivi was sure she hadn’t dialed the wrong number. But what confused her was that the one currently answering her phone wasn’t Darren but Bryan."You dialed the wrong number, didn't you? I just turned it off...""Why are you answering Darren's phone?" Vivi quickly cut in before Bryan disconnected the phone."So what, I'm not allowed to answer his phone now just because he's married? Listen! Before you were even born, I–""Has Darren come back from Europe?" Vivi interrupted Bryan again."I went to Europe! Why can't I go to Europe–""Hello, Vivi?"Vivi blinked again when Bryan's voice was suddenly replaced by Darren's after Bryan's loud screech."Did Bryan follow you to Europe?" Vivi asked."Yes. He suddenly showed up at my hotel room about an hour ago," Darren said, which made Vivi wonder how rich people like Bryan and Darre
Vivi, who had been hiding in the bathroom, sat up when she heard the door open. Her heart was pounding, and all the words she had prepared to greet Darren's arrival instantly disappeared."I don't need to say anything," Vivi thought. "I just need to smile at him and–“"Vivi, where are you?"Vivi stopped her train of thought, and a frown immediately appeared on her forehead when she heard Bryan's voice. She quickly grabbed a bathrobe and used it to cover her body, which was clad only in thin and very revealing black lingerie, before opening the door to meet Bryan."Why are you back here?" Vivi asked. "Is Darren still not answering his phone? When is he coming?""He's not coming home tonight," Bryan said, causing Vivi's shoulders to slump. "He has to go out of town to finish some work, and he can't return tonight.""You're not lying, are you?" asked Vivi."Why would I lie? Call him if you don't believe me! Ah, but you'll instantly ruin your surprise if you call him now."Bryan's words m
"Ah... I slept so well."After stretching her body, Vivi sat up without doing anything and tried to gather her consciousness while staring at the sunlight coming through the window, whose curtains were not closed.For Vivi, whose life is mostly spent at home, these three days were one of the busiest days of her life. In 3 days, she traveled back and forth to Europe, where she spent almost 40 hours on the plane and only rested one night in the hotel."But even though I'm so tired, I'm still spending my energy feeling sad," Vivi muttered as she looked at Darren's tie in her hand.When she came home yesterday, the first thing Vivi thought of when she was in her room was how warm the night had been when she slept in Darren's arms and how much she missed it. The longing was so overwhelming that Vivi decided to silence it by sleeping while holding Darren's tie–she unconsciously chose the tie that Darren had previously tied around her hand during the hot night they had spent in this room."I
"Do I have to intervene myself for such a simple issue? What can you do if you can't even do something small like that properly?"Vivi slowly opened her eyes, her sleep disturbed by the sound of Darren talking. The woman sat up, rubbing her eyes to make her vision clearer, not realizing that Darren, who was talking on his phone, had turned around and was watching her."Do it right, or hand in your resignation when I get to the office! There are many talented people out there who want your position, and I don't want to keep a useless person by my side," Darren said before hanging up the phone without waiting for a response from his employee, who must have been hot and cold to hear such words from the big boss on such an early day.Darren walked over to Vivi and handed Vivi his tie after sitting beside her. "My tie, please," he said."Why do you look so tense when it's still early in the morning?" asked Vivi as she began her daily task of tying Darren's tie.Darren let out a long sigh t
Bang!"Oh, my goodness!" Lying on the bed and playing with his phone, Bryan jumped in surprise when the door to his room suddenly opened. And he immediately glared at Vivi as he saw the woman with the big belly walking toward him while ruffling her waist."What? Where are your manners, huh? Why did you just barge into a virgin's room?!" Bryan snapped."Where are you hiding him?" Vivi asked with an annoyed look."Hiding who? Can't you see I'm busy, huh?" Bryan argued as he was busy with his phone again."Seriously, Bryan! I don't have much time. The plane is leaving soon!" Vivi raised her voice in an annoyed tone, but Bryan just shrugged."Then hurry up and get going! Why are you lingering in my room?" snapped Bryan–who could comfortably call one of the rooms in Darren's house 'my room' due to the number of times he stayed there and used it."You don't want to tell me?" asked Vivi, and Bryan shrugged again. "Just watch out if I find him here!"Vivi turned to leave Bryan, causing the ma
Lucas put his cup down on the table after taking a sip. It hadn't been ten minutes since he'd sat down in this cafe to meet Vivi, but he'd almost finished his coffee before Vivi arrived. Unconsciously, the nervousness he felt was making him thirsty.Lucas didn't know why he felt so nervous. But the feeling came only after Vivi, whom he hadn't heard from in 5 months, suddenly contacted him and invited him to meet.Since Vivi returned to Darren, his relationship with Vivi, which was once intense, has been severed. He never hears from Vivi again, and even Bryan, who is still on good terms with him, never mentions Vivi or Darren in his presence.Lucas was very worried and wanted to contact Vivi at least once to check on her. But Lucas tried to suppress his curiosity for fear of putting Vivi back in a bad relationship with Darren. He assured himself that if there was no news, everything was okay because if something happened to Vivi, he would hear about it from Bryan."Have you been waitin
"Because there is a childhood wound that I want to heal.""What wound do you want to heal?" asked Vivi."My wounded heart from parents who never loved me at all," Darren says, causing Vivi to fall silent as she remembers Bryan's story about Darren's mother killing his father."As a kid, I wanted a lot of trivial things. But because I was afraid of my parents, I never said it and grew up without ever feeling those things. Now that I can get everything easily, I will no longer feel happy. So I want to heal the wound my parents left in my heart by giving my future child all I never had in my childhood," Darren explains."This child is so lucky," Vivi said as she gently rubbed her belly. "I am so jealous that he has a dad who loves him so much because I never really felt my parents' love." "Why would you be jealous? This baby's daddy is your husband. He's all yours," Darren said."I like this kind of feeling. Feeling happy without much effort. Just being in your arms and chatting without
"No need to go to the hospital!" Vivi immediately rejected Darren's invitation in a panic. "It's probably not because I'm pregnant. Maybe... Maybe it's just fatigue or a cold."Darren looked at Vivi worriedly–more worried than ever because Vivi refused his offer to go to the hospital."It's okay if you're not pregnant, Vivi. You should still go to the hospital for a checkup. We can't go home if you're sick," Darren said. He tried to say it softly so Vivi would not feel depressed because she thought he wanted her to be pregnant.Although, in truth, Darren was very upset to hear Vivi's suspicion that she might be pregnant with his child."You looked very happy when I said I might be pregnant." But it seemed that Darren had unconsciously made it clear enough for Vivi to see. "I didn't want you to be disappointed because–“"I told you I wouldn't force it. If you're not pregnant, if you're not ready, then it doesn't matter. But please, you should still go to the doctor and get checked out
"You're just in time." Standing in front of the stove with an apron attached to her body, Vivi greeted Darren's arrival with a warm smile. "I just finished making lunch. Wash your hands and..."Vivi stopped talking when Darren, who was walking towards her, suddenly hugged her tightly. It surprised Vivi that the man hugged her like that without saying anything."Darren?" Vivi called Darren's name softly. "What's wrong?" she asked in a worried tone."I miss you so much. So let me hug you like this for a while until my longing goes away," Darren said, which made Vivi hug him back immediately."Vivi." Darren then called Vivi in a soft way that he only used to call his wife. And after Vivi answered him with a soft murmur, Darren asked, "Are you happy with me?"Vivi did not answer Darren's question right away. She put her arms around Darren so she could see his face. And she felt that Darren must have said something that had shaken Darren's heart to ask her such a question.And without answ
"A- Ah! Shit!"Bryan cursed in annoyance that his gaming fun had to end when his phone suddenly rang. And he was even more annoyed when he saw Vivi's name on the screen."Hel-""What, huh? WHAT?!" Bryan didn't need to hear Vivi finish a word to immediately interrupt her with a yell, which surprised the woman and made her hastily move the phone away from her ear."Why are you yelling-""You don't remember how arrogant you were to me this morning about getting back together with Darren, do you?!" Bryan interrupted Vivi again, still yelling, which surprised Vivi very much because she was being scolded like that."Have you been fighting with Darren again? Did he hit you again? Hah! Enjoy it! I don't care anymore, so you don't have to call me to tell me-""What's wrong with you?" Vivi, who couldn't stand Bryan's incoherent tirade, finally interrupted him. "Are you secretly hoping that Darren will hurt me again?""So he hasn't hurt you?" Bryan asked, lowering his voice, while Vivi only answ
"Why do you look so upset? Is there a problem?" Lucas asked after sitting down in front of Bryan.A few moments ago, Bryan called him and invited him to dinner at a restaurant near his office. At first, he thought that Bryan just wanted to have dinner with him, but when he saw the annoyed look on the man's face, Lucas wondered if Bryan might have some problem."Yesterday, you said you were going to Vivi's apartment, right?" Bryan asked as Lucas nodded. "So it must have been you who beat up Darren so badly?"Lucas didn't answer Bryan's question right away. Because Bryan was so nice to him, he sometimes forgot that he was Darren's best friend since he was a baby. And it made him a little sad to think that Bryan had come to him with such an upset face because he was disappointed in him for beating up his best friend."Yesterday, I lost control of myself and beat him up like that," Lucas said in a low voice that sounded like a mumble.But Bryan's reaction was unexpected. In an angry tone
"Good morning, darling."Since her parting from Darren, Vivi had never seen anything like this, not even in her most beautiful dreams. To wake up from her sleep and to be greeted by a good morning from Darren, and then to receive a loving kiss on the forehead from the man.And the best part of it was that Vivi experienced it directly, not just in her dreams or wishful thinking."Good morning," Vivi answered Darren's greeting with her hoarse voice. She pulled the blanket over her body, which felt cold because it was not wrapped in any cloth. "What time is it?""It's very early. Go back to sleep if you're still tired," Darren said, tucking Vivi's messy hair behind her ear.Vivi turned her head to the window, which made her squint when she saw the sunlight shining brightly."Looks like it's already noon," Vivi said as she looked back at Darren. "Why aren't you getting ready for the office yet?""I'm not going to the office today," Darren replied as he shifted his body to get closer to Vi
"For the last time. If the same thing happens again, I'll let you go myself. Please give me another chance to prove how much I've changed for you."Vivi listened to Darren's plea while looking directly into the man's eyes. And it touched Vivi's heart when she saw how sincere and how much love Darren showed her with his gaze.Vivi had never received so much from anyone else. She had never felt so much sincerity from anyone. But Darren always gave her more than she could bear, whether sincerity, love, or fear. And Vivi felt thrown back into the abyss of dilemma when she couldn't decide if the love Darren gave her was strong enough to overcome her fear of him."You can have any woman you want. Easily, without all this struggle. You can make women crawl under your feet. But why did you go to all this trouble just for me?" Vivi asked about the confusion that had always been in her heart.The question of what exactly Darren saw in her made him willing to give up everything for an ordinary w