Ariel POV
Since I am heavily pregnant now, Max hasn’t allowed me to move freely because of my safety, and I understand. It’s a beautiful morning, and it’s only me at home. I have been missing Mom lately, and I think going there to see her today won’t be a bad idea, but there is no way I will tell him about it. I made up my mind to be fast about it and come back before he even comes back home.
After I get dressed, I stride out of my room and head downstairs where I meet the driver he hired for me recently.
“Good morning, ma’am,” Henry, the driver greets me as he bows, and I smile at him.
“Good morning, Henry. Please come and take me to go see my mom,” I say to him.
“Alright, ma’am. I will go get the keys. Please wait for me,” He utters before he turns and walks away. My phone suddenly starts ringing, and I reach out for it. Turns out that it’s Max calling me.
“Hey, babe,” His voice rings through the phone once I answer the call.
“Hi,” I reply to him.
“I have something to attend to somewhere, and I may not come back early. Don’t be worried about me. I’m fine,” He utters.
“Alright. I was about to call you. I want to go see my mom. We will see when I get back then,” I finally tell him the truth.
“Alright. Let me know when you get there, and you should be careful. Don’t hurt yourself and the baby, ok?” His sweet voice sounds like music to my ears, and I blush hard as the thought of him caring so much about us hit me hard. Max has to be the best man on planet Earth. He gives me all the love and attention in the world, and literally makes other women jealous of me, although we are not that exposed to other people. I just love him, and I love that he loves me even more.
“Alright, I will,” I reply to him. By the time I’m done with the phone call, Henry already arrived with the keys, and the journey to my mom’s house begins.
The drive to the place took some time since we were stuck in a traffic jam for a few minutes, and by the time we arrive at the front of her apartment, it was already 11am. We spent almost an hour on the road.
I pull a puzzled look when I step out of the car and find a flashy car parked in front of her apartment, and many questions came conflicting on my mind. Whose car is that? Mom never has visitors, so it’s confusing who owns the car. Well, I wouldn’t know if I don’t go inside, right?
As Henry waits for me in the car, I proceed toward the entrance door, but I stop on my track when I hear noises coming from inside the house.
“I told you to go away… I won’t ever allow you anywhere close to my child,” Mom’s teary voice sounds from inside, and this left me debating on what the heck is happening behind this closed door. Scared that the person might hurt her, I intend to push the door open and see for myself, but the next words make me stop abruptly, resorting to the conclusion of listening to everything they are saying.
“I’m sorry, Felicia. I never meant for all that to happen. I have been looking everywhere for you… I wouldn’t have left if I had known you were carrying out child…”
“My child, and not our child. You lost the right to call her that since the day you decided to leave,” I hear Mom cut the strange masculine voice off, and I slowly clench my fingers as the realization dawns on me. I don’t need anyone to tell me at this point that the person behind this closed door, must be my dad. The man I have been asking for all these years.
“I told you that I’m sorry, Felicia. What should I do to make you forgive me?” I hear the man’s voice as I try to touch the doorknob, and I slowly retract my hand.
“Stay away from me and my child, Daniel. I told you to leave us alone! We don’t need you!” Mom must be in pain as she keeps yelling with a teary voice.
Taking a deep breath, I finally push the door open and walk inside to find a man graced in a black suit, kneeling on the floor. He raises his gaze to look at me as soon as I walk inside, his pair of ocean-blue eyes pierce into mine, and I feel my heart misses a beat. He is my dad! He is really my dad. I can spot the resemblance between us. Although I look much like my mom, but I still have a bit of resemblance with him.
“Mom… What is going on?” I ask as I slowly turn my gaze to look at her, but she pulls me behind her and stands in front of me.
“You need to leave, Daniel. Just leave already!” She yells at the man who has tears in his eyes, and as much as I want to meddle in this, I decided to stay mute and just watch them. Maybe that is for the better.
I watch as the Daniel man stares at me for seconds before he finally stands up to his feet and strides out of the living room, closing the door behind him.
“Mom… Who… who was that?” I ask her once the man is out of earshot, but she slumps on the chair and buries her face between her palms as she sobs, which only confirms everything. The man is really my dad.
“I’m sorry, Ariel… I’m sorry you had to find out this way,” She sobs, and I take a deep breath. Wow! This is crazy.
“It all started about twenty-one years ago. I and Daniel were going to get married, but his parents were against it because I was just a lowlife that couldn’t bring anything to the table… The worst mistake I made was resorting to getting pregnant for him to make his parents change their minds, but I wasn’t lucky…” She raises her gaze to look at me with pain written all over her. I have never seen her so pained in her entire life, and it really hurts me to see him like this. I understand that the scar she had in her heart that she was trying to heal was reopened, and I can understand the feeling so well.
“When I found out I was finally pregnant, I went there to tell him the good news, excited that there was finally a reason to keep us together… But I was shocked to have found out that Daniel was out of the country. I felt broken, I waited for him for months, hoping he would come back, but I was mistaken… That was the end of my relationship with Daniel,” She sobs, and I take a deep breath.
“It’s ok… You don’t have to cry,” I comfort her, even though I’m sad. Now, I see the reason she never agreed to tell me about him. Maybe because she hated him so much and didn’t want me to be with him…