WINTER:"Mommy, you're also wet like us. Let’s bathe together, please?" Liam pleaded, showing me his puppy dog eyes. "I'm not that..." My words trailed off when I realized I was indeed wet like them. Probably when Liam hugged me earlier. "See, Mommy? You are wet too. Come on. You have to take a bath with us."My ex-husband extended his hand. "Pumpkin, let's go. Our son is waiting for us. Taking a bath will be a great bonding for the three of us."I felt my cheeks burn when mischievous thoughts filled my mind. Damn it. Why was I lusting over my ex-husband?“Our son is waiting, pumpkin.”Our son.Yeah. This was our son and if not for Liam, I would never make him unhappy.Forcing a smile since our son was watching, I said, "I can handle myself well. Thank you so much for your invitation." I went past Calcifer and grabbed my son's hand. "Let's go, Liam."Liam bounced up and down and held my hands tight. Then, he said, "Hold my hand, too, Daddy." Cali did. Liam laughed. "Why are your ha
WINTER:Carmela. That woman will forever leech off my ex-husband. She had no sense of shame and forever forced herself into Calcifer. Good news? Or bad news? One thing was for sure. She was now getting on my nerves. “You take the call. That might be important,” I said nonchalantly, acting to be cool about it even if a lot of thoughts were already on my mind. “No. She might be asking for money again.” Again? Carmela always asks him for money. Did she marry him because of money? Probably. There was no difference between you and her. Calcifer married you because of your family's money and now, the woman whom Calcifer loved for his life married him because of his money. “She is treating you like his sugar daddy. I cannot blame her. You're loaded now, Calcifer.”“She thinks I only picked the money in a garbage can.”“If that's the case, you force her to work. You cut off her allowances except for your daughter.”Why are you so eager to give him advice? You should treat him as if he d
WINTER:Happy? Was I happy those times? Did I ever smile truthfully when I was with him? Did seeing his presence inside the house make me happy? Did seeing him working on his laptop make me happy?The answers to those questions were big yeses. He was my happiness because he was my love. I loved him even if it was unrequited knowing my husband would never love me because that was only a business marriage. “Pumpkin?” my ex-husband asked, pulling me out from my internal musing. “Happy? You’re imagining things, Calcifer. Why would I be happy with someone whom I don’t love and who doesn't have any feelings for me? I was only happy when you stepped out of our house.”He was quiet for a moment.“I enjoyed every bit of it,” he confessed. “Being with you…brought calm in me. I was content and comfortable with your presence.”It was the same for me, though I was not vocal about it.Contented? Lies. If he did, he would never have broken up with me. “But in the end, you divorced me,” I said qu
WINTER:My heart skipped a bit at my ex-husband's confession.He realized I was the woman for him? When? Given that he was indeed telling the truth. How come he had to undergo two divorces just to realize that?There was something off about this one.I should not let my emotions handle this or this might create another pain and trauma on my part. "Come on, Calcifer. We are the only ones here. Why don't we tell the truth and nothing but the truth?""I already expected that you would tell that. Never mind. I would show you that my efforts are all real. I will make my actions be the speaker, pumpkin."“I'm not buying it. I don't even know what to give you the benefit of the doubt. I am already tired of your betrayal, Calcifer. That is enough for now.”Heavy silence passed between us until we reached Dad’s house. When I arrived at the mansion, Hawk was waiting for me, wearing a worried expression on his face. However, it disappeared upon recognizing my ex-husband's car. I hope this wil
WINTER:Calcifer opened his mouth but no words would come of it. Then, he closed it again, his shoulders lowering. "I am only trying to make you safe, pumpkin. Is it bad?""I am safe when I am with Hawk," I pressed. "I feel safe around him. I am comfortable around him. Please don't meddle any more with my affairs, Calcifer. I don't like it. Go." I turned my back to him, without listening to his answer. I went upstairs to my room with Hawk tailing me.Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Calcifer downstairs turn his back and go to his car. He thought it was romantic to dictate my life. If he did that while we were still married, maybe it was romantic. I was hopelessly in love with him. It was already late, Calcifer. I moved on with my son. "Miss Winter. Can we talk?" Hawk asked before I could enter my room. I inhaled deeply before I faced him. "Look, Hawk. I admit it was my mistake. It won't happen again. I understand why you are mad at me."“That's…not what I will say.”“What is
CALCIFER:I raised my eyebrows. “So what? Do you think I will give you a special treatment? Why would I, Carmela? Prove your worth in my company. What can you offer? Show it and you will not regret it.”Her lips pressed into a thin line. “No. I won't stoop that low.”My forehead knotted. This woman was hopeless and I deeply regretted marrying her. “You won't stoop that low?” I asked and shook my head. “Fine. Do what you want. I won't be forcing you with anything. But you're not taking any money from me. I already gave you a lot when we divorced.”She pouted. “It was your decision to divorce. Not mine. I never wanted to be separated from you.”“I never dreamed of having a wife who would only cheat on me. You think I won't know what we're doing behind my back?”Her lips quivered. “You just don't trust me. That's why you put those damn CCTV cameras inside the house. Did you ever trust me, Cali?”I did. Before we got married. Before we were just friends. “You cannot be trusted, Carmela.
CALCIFER:I shook my head. “I already told you that there will never be us. I already chose the woman whom I would like to spend the rest of my life with, Carmela. And it is Winter. I will be focusing on our son, too.”Her eyes bulged. “Winter? That woman? But she doesn't like you anymore! Why would you come to her? Why would you choose her when I am already here? It is I you need, Cali!” she exclaimed, her eyes widening. “Compared to you, she will never cheat on me.”She looked at me with disbelief. “Cali. Didn’t I promise already? I said I will change for the better. Do you want me to take care of Jett-Jett? Fine. I will do it. I will be the one to take care of her starting from now. You can fire the nanny. Just…don’t choose that woman, okay?” she begged.I heaved a sigh. “I already chose Carmela. It is Winter. We have a child.”“Jett-Jett is also your daughter. Will you just leave her?”“Who said I will be leaving her? I did not say that. All I am saying is that I will pursue Wint
WINTER:Am I waiting for my ex-husband? Why would I?Why don't you tell the truth, Winter? At some point, you were waiting for him, right? You're somewhat worried about his whereabouts. There were a lot of instances in which rich people were kidnapped. Some were killed because of some sort of revenge. I scolded myself for thinking such bad thoughts. My ex-husband and I might not be on good terms, but I did not want him to be murdered in cold blood. Besides, as far as I knew, he had bodyguards surrounding him. “It had been a week since the last time he came here,” Ynes commented. “I don’t want to pry, but he was always calling you, right? Communication is the best between two people.”Yeah. She was right. It had been a week since Cali did not visit, though he kept on video calling Liam while saying he had something to do in the company. “It was not me whom he was always calling. It was our son Liam. It had nothing to do with me, Ynes. That man…he does not have any feelings for me.