Leaving Veronica alone in the room, Darwin then continued with his agenda for the day. Together with Sean and Damian, the three of them visited the main Leighton building for further discussions and contract signing.
Luckily, everything went smoothly. Believing in the potential for great profits, Darwin didn’t want to miss the opportunity to agree to the partnership offered. With extra trust from Damian, Darwin was tasked with the signing process and scheduling when this major project would commence.
“Papa is impressed with your analysis and confidence in accepting this partnership, Win,” Damian said while enjoying lunch with his son-in-law.
Darwin smiled widely. He was certainly pleased to receive direct appreciation from his father-in-law for what he had done.
When it came to work, Darwin always gave his all. Moreover, he was the main representative of the Infinix Group for this major project.
“Darwin also wants to thank Papa for entrusting him with handling this major tender. Darwin is sure everything will go according to our expectations.”
Damian smiled. He was glad to see how motivated his son-in-law was in carrying out his responsibilities.
“It seems Papa didn’t make a wrong choice with you,” he said proudly once again. Then, after taking a sip of his tea, he continued speaking. “By the way, how’s Veronica doing? Has her condition improved?”
Actually, Damian had been worried after hearing about what happened to his daughter. Last night, he had even decided to visit Veronica in her room. Seeing his daughter sleeping peacefully, he felt somewhat relieved.
“Veronica is fine, Pa. Earlier, before leaving, Darwin made sure she ate and drank enough. She said her condition is okay. But Darwin thinks it’s best for her to rest in her room today.”
Damian nodded.
“You must have been surprised by what happened to Veronica, right? She does have a trauma with rain accompanied by strong winds.”
“Why not try going to a psychiatrist, Pa? It’s really sad to see her so scared like yesterday.”
Damian sighed deeply. There was a trace of weariness on his face.
“Papa has tried numerous times to convince Veronica to see a psychiatrist for counseling and therapy. But still, your wife is stubborn. That’s why, now that you’re here, I beg you to slowly encourage her to seek treatment. It’s for her own good as well.”
“Darwin will try, Pa.”
“Thank you for your willingness, Win,” Damian continued afterward. “I don’t know why, but Papa is sure he entrusted Veronica to the right person. That’s why Papa asks you to take care of her, protect her, and support her. Taking over the position that Papa has held all this time.”
Darwin simply nodded, feeling touched by what Damian was telling him. Imagining that his father-in-law knew about his behavior towards Veronica, he was sure he would be in big trouble.
No parents would willingly let their daughter be hurt or openly cheated on. Veronica is lucky she’s willing to hide what she’s done. If not? Maybe by now she’d be a poor man with nothing. After all, all the wealth she has could easily be taken away by her wife.
After the conversation, Darwin and Damian continued their activities for the day until the evening. Around six o’clock in the evening, he finished his work and decided to return to the hotel.
Upon entering the room, Darwin was a bit surprised. When he took off his shoes, he found Veronica coming out of the bathroom, dressed neatly. It was obvious that she was about to go out. Curious, he asked about it.
“Looking sharp, where are you headed?”
Veronica, who was walking towards the nightstand, turned immediately. Sitting on the edge of the bed for a moment, she replied, “I’m meeting Sean at the café downstairs.”
“Meeting Sean? For what reason? Weren’t we clear about not meeting exes anymore? Why are you still sneaky about it?”
Veronica chuckled softly. She could see the change in expression from her husband.
“We’re meeting to discuss work, Win. Not for a date.”
“Discussing work? Why are you dressed up so nicely then?”
“What did you just say? Did you call me beautiful?” Veronica repeated deliberately, even though she was sure she hadn’t misheard.
“Not exactly like that.”
Darwin quickly corrected himself. Which ended up making him look embarrassed. He wanted to curse and berate himself for speaking recklessly.
“Oh come on, just admit it. I am beautiful, right? It’s so hard for you to admit that your wife is indeed beautiful.”
“It’s not important. Let’s get back to the original topic,” Darwin said, shifting their conversation. “What work do you want to discuss?”
“Well, about the tender offered by Leighton. What else?” Veronica replied casually.
“There’s nothing to discuss. I’ve already handled all the tenders today. Just the execution remains. Besides, if you want to talk about Leighton, you should be discussing it with me, the one who’s competent. Not with Sean. It’s like you’re trying to find opportunities to meet him alone.”
“Darwin, what’s wrong with you? Jealous? You really seem to dislike me meeting Sean.”
Darwin pressed his lips tightly together. Could it be that he was jealous? Just like that? He was acting this way because he didn’t like Veronica breaking the agreement they had.
“I could be jealous of you.”
“Well, then what? If you’re not jealous, why did you stop me from going?”
“I already told you, you can’t just meet Sean whenever you want. If you keep acting like this, one of these days I’ll also meet up with Vivian.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Veronica retorted indignantly.
“That’s why, be fair. Don’t be sneaky yourself. But if you insist on wanting to meet him right now, I’ll go with you.”
“Whatever!”
Veronica gave Darwin an annoyed look. Rising from her seat, she grabbed her tablet, getting ready to leave the room. Darwin, on the other hand, quickly put on his shoes, placed the bag he had brought, and then followed wherever his wife went. What a strange guy!
***
It was already midnight, twelve o’clock. Darwin and Veronica were now both lying in bed, back to back.
Knowing that his wife wasn’t asleep yet, Darwin cleared his throat, summoning the courage from somewhere. This time, he deliberately tried to lighten the mood.
“You’re not sleeping?” he asked, still lying back-to-back.
“Are you also wondering why I’m not sleeping?”
Instead of an answer, Veronica asked back. Darwin even scratched his eyebrow out of confusion, trying to figure out how to express the rational reason why he hadn’t fallen asleep yet.
“Just not sleepy.”
“Same here. Besides, I’m sure there’s something you want to ask me, right?” Veronica guessed, as if she could read what Darwin was thinking.
“How did you know? Is your dad a psychic or something?”
“No, my dad’s a businessman.”
Darwin stifled a laugh. Conversations like this suddenly reminded him of Luna’s behavior – how she’d answer randomly and joke around when things got serious.
“I’m just curious. Why are you scared of the rain?” Darwin finally asked. It was what he’d wanted to ask directly since yesterday. Despite hearing explanations from Sean and Damian, he really wanted to hear it directly from Veronica’s lips – what had actually happened.
“Oh, about that.”
Veronica remained still for a moment. There might have been a few seconds of silence. She could have been organizing her thoughts or trying to figure out the best way to explain. After a short while, Veronica began to speak again.
“I’m sure you’ve heard the reason before. Actually, I’m not afraid of regular rain or drizzles. What I fear is heavy rain accompanied by strong winds. There’s a deep trauma associated with that. Every time there’s heavy rain, I’m instantly reminded of the accident my late mother had. If I hadn’t insisted on having her pick me up in the rain back then, maybe she’d still be alive. I was wrong back then.”
“Hush, you can’t do that,” Darwin replied immediately. “That’s called destiny. It was just your Mom’s time to go. Besides, that incident happened a long time ago, right?” Darwin asked.
“Yeah, it’s been a while.”
“Why don’t you try counseling with a psychiatrist so that the trauma doesn’t linger? It must be really distressing when it rains, triggering instant worries.”
“I don’t need a psychiatrist,” Veronica muttered softly.
“Then what do you need?”
“A friend to talk to.”
Veronica fell silent again. She sighed repeatedly, as if it was difficult for her to talk about anything related to her ex-boyfriend. “Sean has always been the one I talked to. Whenever I’m scared, he’s the one who calms me down. But ever since we broke up, I’ve lost all of that.”
Darwin rolled his eyes lazily from his lying position. God, he really hated hearing Veronica talk about Sean or praising her ex-boyfriend. As if there was no other man in the world cooler than Sean.
“Well, you just need a friend to talk to, you can talk to me.”
Veronica was taken aback. She even turned her body to face Darwin. Her husband did the same, and their eyes met.
“Your offer earlier wasn’t convincing at all, Win.”
“But I was serious.”
“Do you really want to hear my story?”
Darwin nodded casually.
“Sure. Being a listener isn’t that hard. But I’m serious about this offer. After all, you were the one who said that for the first six months of our marriage, we should act like a real husband and wife.”
Veronica nodded in agreement. There was some advantage to the ultimatum she had given him a while ago. The proof was that Darwin no longer dared to act or speak harshly. He even fully embraced his role.
“Well, if something comes up, I’ll tell you. And before we sleep, can I ask you something?”
Darwin raised an eyebrow. Looking at Veronica, he responded.
“What do you want to ask?”
“About Vivian.”
“What about her?”
“I’ve noticed that you’re really in love with her. You even defend her so passionately.”
Darwin nodded. In Veronica’s eyes, she could see her husband smiling.
“Because she’s the only one who understands me all this time. She’s always been there when I need her, whether I’m happy or struggling.”
Veronica nodded in understanding. Darwin’s explanation was more than enough for her to grasp the depth of his love for his girlfriend.
“It’s getting late,” Darwin said. “We better sleep. Tomorrow, I want to take you out before we head back to Indonesia the day after.”
Veronica paused. She didn’t know that they were going back to Indonesia the day after tomorrow.
“Aren’t we staying here for a week?” she asked to confirm.
“It’s your Dad and Sean who are staying here for a week. We’re assigned to go back earlier. Besides, the company in Indonesia needs us more.”
A moment later, Darwin pulled the blanket to cover himself and Veronica at the same time. Facing each other, they slowly closed their eyes. Resting their bodies so that they could wake up on time tomorrow.