Chapter 50
1122 Words
RIZ
I WOKE UP to a familiar smell. Justin was next to me in bed, still dressed in his office attire. One of his arms was wrapped around me, and I was nestled against his chest. I managed to look up at his face. He was asleep, looking tired from work. I traced his eyebrow down to his jaw with my finger when he stirred from his sleep.
“Hey,” he greeted me. He cleared his throat and kissed my hair. “Have you been awake for a while? I saw you napping, and I got jealous, so I joined you.” He chuckled softly. I snuggled closer to him. I love the feel of his warm body. Now I was feeling lazy to go out for dinner. “Don’t you have anything to tell me?”
“Nothing much. My day was okay,” I replied. I didn’t want to stress him out even more. He had just come from work, and I didn’t want to make the appetizer our earlier encounter with Madam.
“Then care to explain the bruise on your right arm?”
I knew he was just holding back his anger. His heart was beating fast.
I glanced at my right arm and saw the mark there. I lightly tapped my fingers on his chest. “Please don’t get mad at me.”
Justin sighed. “I am not mad at you, baby. I am mad at the person who did this to you. So tell me, who had the audacity to hurt you? Is it Veronica?”
I grimaced. Veronica was the first person that came to his mind?
I shook my head. “No. It’s not her. I was waiting for the saleslady to get the dress when my stepmother came to talk to me.”
“Talk? It looked like she didn’t just want to talk to you.”
“I avoided her. I didn’t engage with her at first, but she said a lot of things, and I… I couldn’t hold back anymore. I said some things that I shouldn’t have said. I regret it now.” I sighed. I shouldn’t have thrown her inability to conceive back at her. That was really bad of me.
“You’re the one who got hurt, and you’re the one who’s feeling guilty?” There was amusement in his voice, so I pinched him on the arm.
“Stop teasing me.” I pouted. When I looked up, he leaned down to kiss me. He kissed me lightly on the lips.
“How can you have such a big heart despite what you’ve been through?” he asked, shaking his head as he gave me another quick kiss on the forehead.
He released me and got out of bed. He walked to the bathroom, and when he returned, he had some ointment with him. He sat down on the bed. His eyes were soft as they looked at me, and he opened the tube. He squeezed a little onto his finger and applied it to my bruise.
“This is herbal. It’s good for bruises. Promise me this will be the last time you’ll be hurt. If this happens again, I will go straight to your father and tell him everything she did to you, then I will send your stepmother to jail.” I knew he wasn’t joking. Every word was filled with conviction.
I closed my eyes at what he wanted to happen. With Dad’s anger towards the Calderons, he would definitely not accept my pregnancy… especially with my husband.
“I’ll be careful. Don’t worry.” I rubbed his arm lovingly for a bit.
“Don’t think I’m overreacting. Too many possible scenarios played in my head when I saw that bruise earlier. What if she pushed you, and you fell to the floor? You could have lost our baby.”
I hadn’t thought of that right away, but my husband was right. It was a possibility, but it didn’t happen. There’s no sense dwelling on it.
“I won’t let anything happen to our baby.” I caressed his cheek. “Lean over.” I pulled him by the neck and sealed his lips with a kiss.
***
JUSTIN
I TOOK her to the Sailing Grove. It’s a waterfront restaurant not too far from our place. It’s about a forty-five-minute drive, including traffic. I kept glancing at her while she looked out the window. I wasn’t tired from work, but I wanted to be close to her, so I asked my driver to take us to our date.
“Do you want to go back to Batangas?” I wasn’t sure anymore if taking her with me and letting her stay in the penthouse was a good idea. She would be closer to the people who wanted to hurt her if she stayed here.
Riz shook her head and then looked at me, leaning against my chest. “I want to stay where you are. I promise to be careful next time.”
“You might get bored. You won’t have anyone with you in the penthouse.”
“I was actually thinking I’ll start baking cookies and cupcakes. Just at home while waiting for you. I’ll create an online account and take orders from there.” She looked so happy while telling me about it that I couldn’t say no. I was just worried she might get tired, and something might happen with her and the baby.
“Aren’t you going to get tired? With how good your cooking is, you might get a lot of orders.”
“I’ll just set a maximum number of orders for the day. The others can wait for the next day if they really want. Is that okay? Please say yes.”
I sighed. “You know you don’t need to work, right? I can provide for you.”
She pinched my cheek. “I know, and I am thankful. But I need to do something with my life, so why not start doing something I like? I know starting a business is stressful, especially since I’m pregnant with our baby, but you’re with me. You won’t abandon me, right?”
Her smile was convincing, but what she said warmed my heart. I wouldn’t abandon her. She has so much faith in me, and I don’t want to disappoint her.
“Okay. I’m agreeing. But you need an assistant, so we need to hire one. Even just for orders and deliveries. You can bake all you want, but you can’t carry anything,” I instructed her.
“Yes, I promise.” Then she kissed me on the cheek and gave me a hug.
- Writer
