Carlo quickly chased after Olivia as she attempted to climb the stairs, grabbing her wrist to stop her.
Carlo sighed, instantly “I understand Natalie can be annoying, but can you please stop being disrespectful in front of my parents and grandfather?” Carlo pleaded as he turned her to face him.
Olivia rolled her eyes and walked away from him, heading towards their room while ignoring Carlo’s calls.
Carlo followed her into the room, frustrated. “When will you drop this attitude and show me the respect I deserve?” he asked, still hurt by her dismissal of him the previous night when he brought up her pregnancy.
He couldn’t help but wonder how Olivia had changed so suddenly. He had believed her confession about the pregnancy because she wanted to be with him instead of Javier, but now it seemed she had other plans in mind.
“I just want to be left alone… let me focus on my plans,” Olivia spoke up after a long silence. She wasn’t sure if she should trust and share her plans with Carlo or keep them to herself.
Carlo looked at her with furrowed eyebrows, puzzled by what she meant by plans. “Sorry?” he muttered, urging her to repeat what she said, as he might not have heard her clearly.
“Natalie thought she had won, but little did she know that she still had a long way to go before she could defeat someone like me,” Olivia sneered, intertwining her fingers as she pondered her next move.
“What are you saying? Olivia, are you okay?” Carlo gave her a soft tap on the shoulder, which startled her a little before she sighed and turned her attention to Carlo.
“Carlo, I need your help,” Olivia uttered without hesitation, holding onto his hands.
Carlo slowly sat down beside her, realizing how serious she was. “What do you need my help with?”
“Let’s separate them. I have a feeling that Olivia and Javier are just pretending to be in this relationship and marriage stuff just to hurt me,” Olivia said in a rush, jealousy evident in her voice.
Carlo couldn’t understand why she was feeling jealous when he was here for her. “Why waste your energy on them?” he asked, pulling her closer to him. “You should forget about them and focus on our child and us,” he whispered in her ear, gently turning her face towards him.
Olivia felt irritated by his words and quickly pushed him away. “I’m hungry, let’s go downstairs and eat,” she said, hurrying out of the room. Carlo sighed before following her.
Olivia quickly reached the dining table and joined the others, who were almost finished with their breakfast. She didn’t mind and started eating immediately as Carlo sat down beside her.
“Um… I apologize for the way Olivia walked out on all of you. I think it’s because of the pregnancy hormones,” Carlo said, addressing everyone as he noticed their attention on them.
“Why are you defending her? Doesn’t she have a mouth to speak for herself? Such a disrespectful girl,” Zoe chimed in, glaring at Olivia with evident animosity.
Carlo turned to Olivia and whispered, “Come on, apologize babe.”
Olivia rolled her eyes in refusal, focusing on her food and ignoring Carlo. Zoe couldn’t contain her anger at Olivia’s behavior. She abruptly stood up, grabbed her glass of juice, and poured it over Olivia’s head before storming away.
“What the hell!” Olivia screamed, shielding her head as the cold juice splattered all over her. She quickly looked at Carlo, who was also stunned by his mother’s actions.
“You saw that and did nothing?” she cried out, rising to her feet in anger. She turned and noticed Natalie and Javier struggling to contain their laughter, before turning back to Carlo fuming in rage. “You’re such an idiot!” she snapped before storming off.
The moment she entered her room, she noticed her phone vibrating continuously on the bedside table. Seeing that it was her sister, Jesley, calling, she answered and held the phone to her ear.
“Are you just going to let this go?” Jesley’s voice came through the phone, pretending to be upset about the event that happened at Olivia’s engagement party.
Olivia sighed and sat on the bed, “Carlo’s mother is determined to make my life miserable in this house,” she confided to her sister, recalling the uncomfortable dinner incident. What hurt her the most was Carlo’s inaction despite witnessing everything.
Jesley chuckled softly, secretly pleased that Olivia was experiencing some difficulties.
“You should show them you’re not to be messed with,” she encouraged Olivia, “Especially that lady Javier introduced.” Particularly referring to Natalie who had embarrassed Olivia at her engagement.
Thinking back to the dinner, Olivia’s thoughts turned to Natalie and Javier, who had both mocked her. “I’ll start with Natalie. I’ll target someone she cares the most and make her pay.
******
Javier entered the room and began pacing restlessly as Natalie arrived.
Upon noticing her, Javier turned and handed her a white envelope.
Natalie hesitated, her brow furrowed as she wondered about the contents of the envelope. After a moment, she accepted it.
“This contains the rules you must follow in this room,” Javier stated in a cold, emotionless tone.
Natalie was taken aback by his sudden change in demeanor, finding it difficult to read him. She questioned if this was the same Javier who had been laughing with her at dinner, though his smile then was small and strained.
Natalie scoffed in return, rolling her eyes as she tore open the envelope and pulled out the white paper.
Her jaw dropped in disbelief. “17 rules? You’ve got to be kidding me, Javier,” she exclaimed. “Rule number 1, No touching your belongings,” she read aloud sarcastically. “Rule number 2, No working…?” She paused, raising her eyebrows in Javier’s direction. “You’re joking, right?” she asked.
“You must adhere to every…” He trailed off as he saw her tear the paper into pieces and throw the shreds at his face, dusting off her hands as if she had touched something disgusting.
Javier’s fingers clenched into fists as he watched the paper scattered everywhere on the floor. He gulped hard and started to walk away, but Natalie quickly ran and stood in front of him, holding out her brown envelope.
“You expect me to read that?” Javier scoffed loudly.
“I have 20 rules for you,” Natalie said, catching him off guard as he stared at her with dropped jaws.