Cesilia accidentally overheard Maxime talking to someone on the phone. She was relieved to hear that Maxime would have to return to Jakarta tomorrow morning, which meant she could go through the photoshoot without being directly monitored by him.
As a result, Cesilia was entrusted to Maxime’s assistant while he continued his tasks in Bali. Maxime explained that leaving Cesilia behind was difficult, but work demanded him to return to Jakarta earlier than scheduled due to an internal issue in the company. As the acting director, he needed to resolve the problem immediately.
Maxime was visibly unhappy because the problem at his office arose at an inconvenient time, right when he was enjoying a vacation with Cesilia. Thus, Cesilia’s photoshoot was set for 9:00 AM, allowing her to meet with Alexander before work started. On the other hand, Maxime had to leave before sunrise, and he had already booked a flight back to Jakarta.
Before leaving, Maxime warned Cesilia not to get too close to Alexander. However, this time Cesilia decided not to obey Maxime’s request. She felt there was nothing wrong with briefly visiting Alexander to satisfy her longing for him.
Before going to sleep, Cesilia sent a message to Alexander, telling him that she would visit the hotel where he was staying. Soon after sending the message, Cesilia was surprised to find out that Alexander and Casandra were staying in the same hotel, just two floors apart.
Cesilia was glad that it didn’t require much effort to see Alexander. She only needed to take the elevator and go down to meet her husband. However, she prayed that Alexander wasn’t at the rooftop last night because she had been intimate with Maxime in public, in front of hotel guests who were having dinner there. She didn’t want media to capture their actions, as it could be dangerous for both her career and her marriage.
At 5:00 AM sharp, Maxime had disappeared. Before leaving, he said goodbye to Cesilia, leaving her with a few kisses on her cheeks and lips before departing. Cesilia pretended to be asleep and didn’t respond to Maxime’s actions. She was still upset with all the foolish agreements they had made.
Once Maxime left the hotel room, Cesilia hurried to the bathroom and got ready to meet Alexander. She believed that Maxime’s assistant was taking him to the airport, which would give Cesilia a chance to meet Alexander secretly. By 5:30 AM, Cesilia looked presentable, wearing her favorite mini dress that Alexander admired.
With confidence and enthusiasm, Cesilia entered the elevator, searching for Alexander’s room. Alexander invited her in when he opened the door. He looked disheveled, like someone who had just woken up, indicating he hadn’t had enough sleep as his tired eyes showed.
“Did you stay up all night?” Cesilia asked as she hugged Alexander after he closed the door.
“Yes, I had some work to do. As you know, I came here because of my mother’s insistence, and it was sudden. There are some office tasks I had to work on and send to my secretary in Jakarta,” Alexander explained.
Cesilia pouted and sat on the sofa after embracing Alexander. He sat beside her and reached for his phone on the table, asking if she wanted him to order drinks.
“Never mind, I’ll only be here for a moment. I just wanted to say goodbye to you. Today, I have a photoshoot until evening, but if there’s nothing too urgent, maybe we can have dinner together tonight.”
“Alright, if that’s how it is,” Alexander responded flatly, a bit different from his usual self. He put his phone back and looked at Cesilia.
There was a question Alexander wanted to ask, but he seemed hesitant to say it. “Why do you look at me as if we’re not a married couple, but like old friends who haven’t seen each other in a long time?”
“What do you mean?” Alexander didn’t understand, but Cesilia’s words were true. She felt there was a distance between them now. The warm chemistry they once had seemed to be gone. It’s as if Cesilia truly came from a different world and was no longer a part of his life.
“No, I feel you’re a bit indifferent. Not like before. Usually, when I come home from work, you would hug me like this.” Cesilia leaned into Alexander’s embrace.
Alexander immediately hugged Cesilia tightly before she could do it herself. However, the hug that used to feel warm now felt ordinary. It was no longer as sweet as it used to be before their recent arguments. In his heart, Alexander guessed that his affection had waned a bit due to his immense disappointment over Cesilia breaking the promise she made two years ago.
“Yeah, it used to be like this, but…” Cesilia started to reply as she moved her face closer to kiss Alexander.
But before their lips could touch…
“Oh, Ma’am, Sir. I’m sorry!” Casandra quickly closed the door when she accidentally saw her employers about to be affectionate with each other.
If only Casandra hadn’t casually opened the door, they might have already done it. “Cesilia just came for a moment.” Alexander let go of Cesilia and quickly got up to tidy himself. “Please leave!”
For some reason, Alexander didn’t want Casandra to witness him and Cesilia being intimate. His response surprised Cesilia. It was unlike his usual behavior.
“No, Sir, it’s okay. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to!” Casandra apologized from behind the door.
“Yeah, I know. You go out first! Greet Cesilia; you haven’t seen each other in a long time, right?” Alexander opened the door and asked Casandra to leave.
Embarrassed, Casandra lowered her body, showing respect to Cesilia who was still sitting on the sofa. Cesilia froze in her place, staring at Casandra from head to toe. She was quite surprised to see Casandra wearing Alexander’s shirt.
Cesilia also wondered if there was anything else beneath the sky-blue shirt. However, seeing Casandra trying to cover her chest, Cesilia could already guess that she was only wearing Alexander’s shirt.
“How are you, Ma’am?” Casandra greeted before Cesilia could say anything, trying to gauge the extent of her relationship with Alexander.
“I’m fine, how about you?” Cesilia replied.
“I’m fine, Ma’am. Just like this,” Casandra responded suddenly not liking Cesilia’s presence, especially after seeing her with Maxime last night. Casandra rubbed her neck. She wanted to tell Cesilia about her foolishness last night that ended up causing trouble for Alexander, but seeing Cesilia folding her face as if disapproving, she decided not to share what happened until the early hours of the morning.
“Alright, you go take a shower. It’s almost noon, you haven’t freshened up. It’s not good to stay like that,” Cesilia waved her hand to dismiss Casandra, not wanting her heart to ache any further as her thoughts drifted farther away.
As Casandra left, Alexander sat beside Cesilia, bringing two bottles of mineral water for her.
“Have a drink first, it’s just plain water, alright? Better than offering you nothing when my wife comes to visit,” Alexander tried to lighten the atmosphere as Cesilia seemed different after Casandra’s visit.
“It’s okay. Even if it’s not served like this, just being greeted with a hug from you is more than enough for your wife, Lex,” Cesilia chuckled slightly, hiding her jealousy and heartache after seeing Casandra’s appearance earlier.
“So, how was it?” Cesilia asked after drinking water from the bottle Alexander gave her.
“How was what?”
“Last night. Didn’t Mama invite you here for your honeymoon? So how was it? Is it over?” Cesilia asked, trying to put on a calm expression, but her heart was beating fast. She was afraid Alexander had truly touched Casandra.
“What do you think?” Instead of answering, Alexander asked Cesilia a question. He wanted to know how his wife truly perceived him. What Cesilia thought of him as a person. Surely, she would give a satisfying answer to Alexander if she truly understood him.
“I think it’s done. Congratulations, you finally did it. I hope Casandra gets pregnant soon, so everything can be resolved quickly. I also hope these two years won’t have any problems so that we can proceed with the pregnancy program and raise your child with Casandra.”
“Thank you for your wishes,” Alexander forced a smile. He didn’t expect Cesilia to look down on the love he had given. Despite nothing happening between him and Casandra last night.
In Cesilia’s eyes, she and Casandra were already done with their husband-wife relationship.
“Oh, and of course, it’s not enough for just one attempt with a fetus, right, Lex? Automatically, there will be a second night, a third night, and so on,” Cesilia said, trying to adjust to Casandra’s presence.
“What do you think?” Again, Alexander responded with a question, leaving Cesilia to determine her own path.
“Yes, I think that’s how it should be, right? It’s not likely for immediate pregnancy. Many couples try for years and still don’t have children.”
“So that’s what you think?” Alexander pressed.
“If that’s true, then we should do it again and again, right?”
“Why are you asking me as if you’re dictating my life?” Cesilia retorted. Her emotions were starting to rise.
“Isn’t it true that you’re dictating my life? By bringing Casandra into our marriage, it means you’ve already determined the direction of my life. Where our marriage is heading from now on.”
“Lex, don’t talk like that. I did it to make your mother happy, so she wouldn’t constantly pressure me to have a child, that’s all.”
“Of course, Mama pressured you to have a child, especially since you promised to start the pregnancy program on our 6th wedding anniversary. But what happened? You took on a new contract that will last for two more years. You made the promise, and you’re the one who broke it. All of this happened because you didn’t think about how it would affect me being played like this.”
“Alexander, just stop talking about this!” Cesilia stood up from her seat. “I came here nicely, stealing time to be with you, and what do you do? You start arguing with me like this. I’m disappointed in you.” She hurriedly left, leaving Alexander, who had just wanted to express how hurt he felt being treated like this.
If only Alexander had known that Cesilia’s visit was going to end up in an argument, it would only add more wounds to him. He wouldn’t have told her about his whereabouts and Casandra. He wouldn’t want to meet Cesilia if it would only worsen the situation and deepen the disappointment he already had.