Starting with the misunderstanding between him and Veronica. Then there’s Vivian’s statement about a man with bad intentions to separate him from Veronica. And the most difficult one is Papa Damian, who intends to separate him from Veronica and has even made plans to withdraw all the support they’ve received.
“Win, you’re still alive, right?” Randy asked while driving his car.
Thirty minutes ago, the youngest member of the Prawira family was contacted by Darwin and asked to pick him up. Because he was feeling dizzy and wanted to clear his mind, Darwin deliberately invited Randy to go to one of their favorite coffee shops.
“What is it, Ran? I’m really tired,” he complained lazily. His head was even resting against the car window, which was tightly closed.
During the drive from the office, Darwin had been telling Randy about what was happening to him lately. He did this to try and alleviate the tightness he was feeling.
“I know you’re stressed,” the man focused on the road ahead replied. “Instead of constantly lamenting your fate, you should think about how to meet Veronica and explain everything that happened between you and Vivian. Although I’m not sure if your explanation will be useful or not.”
Darwin nodded briefly. His right hand was still massaging his throbbing forehead. He wanted to protest Randy’s last sentence, but he quickly realized that convincing Damian and Veronica to believe his explanation wouldn’t be easy.
“What should I do, Ran? It’s really uncomfortable to be cornered like this. I had just started to be happy, and now there’s always a challenge.”
“Pray a lot. Ask God for forgiveness because you’ve made a lot of mistakes with Veronica.”
While staying focused on driving, Randy laughed. He remembered how his cousin used to play hard to get and arrogantly declared that he would never fall in love with Veronica.
Now? It was clear that he was worried and even afraid of being abandoned by Veronica. Besides, it wasn’t difficult at all if God wanted to change the feelings of His people at any time.
After a twenty-minute drive, Darwin and Randy finally arrived at one of their favorite coffee shops. Just as they entered, Darwin received an unexpected surprise.
He had been trying to contact Veronica with difficulty for some time now. Darwin had even tried to meet his wife in person, but it had been unsuccessful and had yielded no results.
As if arranged by God, just a few steps inside, Netra Darwin spotted Veronica sitting casually, enjoying her drink. Not wanting to waste time and opportunity, Darwin decided to approach her without saying much. He felt that now was the right time to explain everything to Veronica.
“Veronica.”
Hearing her name being called, Veronica immediately turned around. At that moment, she saw Darwin standing there with a very mournful expression on his face.
“We need to talk,” Darwin requested, hoping that this time Veronica would give him another chance to explain what needed to be said.
“There’s nothing more for you two to discuss,” Deasy joked intentionally. She didn’t care if Darwin would get angry or offended by her actions. “The more Veronica interacts with you, the more wounds she’ll feel.”
Randy, who was also standing there, decided to take action as well. He walked toward Deasy and deliberately took her wrist, as if they were already very familiar.
“You’d better come with me instead of bothering them.”
“Why are you pulling my hand?” Deasy asked, trying to resist the man in front of her. “Besides, I don’t know you.”
“Are you saying you don’t know a handsome and rich guy like me?” Randy retorted, continuing to pull Deasy until she finally got up from her seat. “You should come with me. We can get to know each other over there,” Randy pointed in another direction as he walked away, distancing himself from the chair Veronica was sitting in.
Darwin didn’t want to miss this opportunity. Once Deasy left, he immediately sat down and prepared to talk again.
“Ve… I beg you, let’s end all of this,” he said softly. “You know I’ve changed, right? What happened with Vivian was a complete misunderstanding. I had no intention of lying or betraying you.”
Veronica remained silent for a moment, observing how Darwin continued to plead with her.
“So why did Dad catch the two of you outside hugging each other?”
“It wasn’t what Dad thought. When we arrived at the cafe, Vivian suddenly hugged me. Moreover, I didn’t intend to meet her at all. But she kept begging and saying she had something urgent to discuss. I tried to contact you to ask for permission, but you didn’t answer my call, did you?”
Darwin explained at length. Instead of believing and forgiving, Veronica looked at her husband with a sardonic smile.
“So, because I didn’t answer, you assumed I gave permission?”
Darwin swallowed hard. For God’s sake, he was afraid of misspeaking to his wife.
“I even tried to invite Randy to go with me so that there would be no misunderstandings. But he couldn’t come because he had a meeting. You can ask Randy right now. I didn’t make this up at all.”
Once again, Veronica chuckled softly. She wondered why her husband didn’t understand the warning she had given him some time ago.
“Win, you should realize. This isn’t about a misunderstanding or who’s at fault. It’s about commitment. I’m sure you remember my request from some time ago. You were allowed to meet Vivian just once to resolve all your issues. If you meet her again for any reason in the future, I won’t forgive it.”
“For God’s sake, Veronica. I met her yesterday because I thought it was an emergency.”
Veronica shook her head. She didn’t care about the reasons Darwin presented.
“Do you think that by contacting me and inviting Randy, your actions can be forgiven? Oh, please. What woman in the world would willingly or graciously allow her husband to meet his ex-lover again? Especially if it’s the former favorite lover. A special ex-lover you passionately defended in the past, even though you’re already married to me. Even if I gave permission once, I’m sure no woman out there would give permission, no matter how urgent the reason is. You’re not a volunteer, Win. You have no obligation to deal with Vivian’s life, whatever her reasons are.”
Veronica delivered these words calmly. There was no hint of emotion on her face.
“If Vivian comes before me and explains what happened, it won’t change the fact that you broke our promise and agreement.”
Darwin’s throat tightened. He felt cornered by what Veronica had just said. Moreover, he was the one who had been wrong from the beginning for not being firm with Vivian at that time.
“So, what should I do? I don’t want to separate from you, Ve. I don’t want to.”
Veronica shook her head. She got up from her seat and spoke firmly.
“You should ask yourself what you should do. One thing’s for sure, Dad insists that I file for divorce from you. You should figure out how to convince Dad that you’re worthy of being his son-in-law. If you succeed, I’ll come back to you. If not, it means we have to part ways.”
Veronica walked away, leaving Darwin sitting there, contemplating what else he could do to save his marriage.