CHAPTER 29

MELISSA QUIZON

"Mommy, I don't want to be here." Reid pulled on my dress so he could get my attention.

We were in the middle of Wright's large living room. He had been discharged from the hospital last night. When Reid woke up, we were already here at Wright's house, and he was cranky because his environment had suddenly changed.

I also told his teachers that Reid was not going to be able to attend his class today because he was tired from the trip.

"Why don't you want to come here? Our house is better than yours." We looked at Bobbie, who was reclining sitting on the one-sitter sofa. She stood up and approached Reid. She was taller than my son because she was older than him.

Reid hid half his body behind my thigh. "I don't have a playmate here."

"Here I am, ah," Bobbie said, smiling.

Reid looked up at me. I stroked his hair. "Mommy, let's go home."

We heard a squeak from the stairs. Wright was there, and he came down the stairs. He looked at me and then looked down at my thigh, at Reid. He knelt in front of me and glanced at Reid. "Don't you want to be with me, son?"

I almost fell when Reid hugged my two thighs to hide his face.

Wright sighed and looked up at me. His eyes were asking for help.

"Let him decide first," I mouthed.

Wright nodded and stood up. He towered over me, caressed my cheek, and smiled. The smile did not reach his eyes. "Good morning, baby."

"Sir, you have a visitor." We looked at Wright's housekeeper. He went to Wright's house twice a week to clean up, and then he left.

I held my breath when I saw who had come. Those brown eyes, red lips, the beautiful contours of her face.

The bitch.

Claire.

"Hi, Wright. Oh!" She stopped what she was going to say when her eyes flew towards me. I felt Wright tense up. "Hi, Melissa."

"Reid, take Bobbie outside and play. We'll just talk," Wright told the kids.

"Come on. We have a mini-playground here." Bobbie pulled Reid away. At first, Reid was hesitant to join, but eventually, he followed. "It's fun there. There's a slide."

She brought my son to the lanai door. I felt even tenser when the two children disappeared from my sight.

"What are you doing here, Claire?" Wright said emphatically.

Wright would have held my hand, but I immediately pulled away from him. I didn't want to touch him. I didn't want to look at him. If only I could run out of the house—but here I was, unable to move and unable to take my eyes off the woman who had ruined my dreams.

She was about to approach Wright, but he immediately raised his hand, a sign that he didn't want her near him.

"Because I plan to visit you when you get home. To avoid gossip." She hesitated to smile. "How are you, Melissa? Remember me?"

"How could I forget?" I asked sarcastically. I crossed my hands over my chest.

She winced at my answer. "I think we need to talk."

"I don't want to talk to you." My expression was blank. Cold. Emotionless.

Wright stood between us. "Claire, leave. Please."

"We need to talk, Melissa. Hear my side." No. Fuck you!

"I don't need to," I said emphatically. "Can you just leave? I'm irritated by your face."

I heard her sigh.

Wright turned to me. "You don't have to be so harsh on her, Mel."

Seriously? He was defending his ex in front of me?!

"I'm not here to cause trouble, Me—"

"What? Are you stupid? I told you I don't want to hear what you have to say. Which of the words, 'I don't need to' do you not understand? Do you want me to translate it for you? Are you mean, or are you just really stupid?! Didn't you study, so can't you understand what I was saying?!"

"Enough, Melissa!" I looked sharply at Wright as his tone of voice rose.

Both of my eyes warmed up. My throat hurt from holding back my tears.

"Fuck both of you!" I shouted before I turned my back.

"What? Are you running away, Melissa? You're not going to deal with me? You're so weak."

I stopped trying to get out of the lanai door when I heard Claire say that. I faced her. "What did you say?"

"You're a coward. Why are you so scared to hear what I'm about to say, huh? "

I smirked. "I may be a coward, but at least I'm not ruining other people's lives. I'm not afraid of whatever you say. I just don't want my ears to hurt and waste my time on the lies that come out of your mouth. Try to drink muriatic acid to cleanse the insides of your body."

"Melis—"

"Will you shut up ?!" My tone of voice rose, and Wright bowed his head.

Claire sat on the one sitter sofa and crossed her legs as if she were the owner of the household. The whiteness of her legs and thighs became even more apparent because of the shortness of her skirt. I also sat in front of the sofa. Wright was restless, so he just sat next to me, a few feet away from me. He rested his head on his right hand.

"So, Claire, I'm sitting down. I am ready to listen to you. Are you happy now?" I gave her a fake her.

"More than happy. So, Melissa, has Wright explained to you about our plan from before? The whole breakup thing?"

My eyebrows rose. "Yes. Also, how could he use me just to get you back? He loved you so much. And then?"

"At that time, he didn't love me anymore. I felt it. "

"Oh, you had feelings. Thanks for informing me. Guess what? I don't give a shit."

"He was no longer that sweet to me. Sometimes, he called me Melissa or baby, mixing us up. He also always sat on the drumset just to hurt my ears with his toneless beat. And then, all of a sudden, I heard him say, 'I miss her.' He loves you dearly, Melissa. But the fear that you might regret marrying him only prevailed in his mind because at that time, his family business was collapsing." Claire took a deep breath when she didn't see any reaction from me. I already knew all that. It was the same thing, over and over again.

I turned to Wright. His hair was messy, and there was a pain in his eyes. My face still had no expression. "I didn't need your family's wealth. You were all I needed. You drove me away. I also felt scared when I told you I was pregnant, Wright. But I still gambled. You should have gambled before. "

Wright did not answer. He was just silent as he looked into my eyes. Suffering and remorse were in his eyes.

"Melissa, it's not bad if you give him another chance to fix your family. The God that creates us also forgives. Who are we not to?"

"It's easy for you to say that, Claire. You're not the one who was pregnant. You are not the one who was kicked out. You're not the one who experienced being fooled by the only person you gave everything you have." I wiped the tears that dripped from my eyes. I swallowed a few times just to stop them from leaking. "It's simple for you to tell me to forgive him right away just because he loves me so much. If only you knew what I went through. I had to study, work, and take care of Reid. I hardly slept because he would wake up, and he had to eat something/ We both had to eat. I wanted to finish school just to support my son because I wanted to give him a good life. I endured everything: the sadness, the fear, and the judgment from everyone around me. What was being said to me just because I got pregnant early. It felt like I was a sinner only because I was pregnant at an early age. I was always the subject of gossip. The only person who supported me and who I could rely on died. I didn't know who I should rely on, who I could talk to. I was begging other people to lend me some money. And now, you're going to tell me to forgive him all because he's changed? Because he loves me? I'm not that stupid."

"Mommy?!" We looked at the source of that little voice. Reid was at the lanai door and looking at me as Bobbie frowned. "Are you fighting with my mommy?!" He ran towards me and immediately climbed on the sofa. He wrapped his small arms around my neck and plunged into my chest. His hand caressed my hair. "Don't cry, Mommy. I will protect you."

I cried even more because of what he said. I hugged him tightly. I had made the right decision. I was right to not get an abortion. God still hadn't abandoned me. He gave me Reid to draw strength from.

"Daddy, you said you wouldn't make my Mommy cry anymore. Liar! You promised me." My son's voice trembled. "You're a liar."

"I'm going to leave first," Claire said softly, and all I heard were footsteps moving away.

"Bobbie, go to your room," I heard Wright say. "Reid—"

Reid lifted my face and wiped away my tears with his clothes. He didn't care even when his stomach appeared. "Let's get out of here, Mommy. I don't like seeing you cry at all. I'm hurting too."

"Reid, I'm not hurting Mommy." Wright tried to hold Reid, but he struggled away. Wright stood up and knelt in front of our son. Reid slapped at Wright's hands, which were trying to hold him. Wright touched both of Reid's cheeks, but Reid forcefully pushed his father's face. Several times, his hand landed on Wright's face. Tears welled up in Reid's eyes. "Reid, son, don't leave Daddy," Wright pleaded.

I was shocked when Wright picked up the crying Reid. Reid squeezed his father's neck and clung tightly to his shirt. "You said you wouldn't hurt my Mommy. You promised me, Daddy," he said between sobs.

Wright stroked Reid's back and kissed him on the head. Reid's cries subsided, and for a moment, there was silence.

"He's asleep," I murmured.

Wright took a deep breath and then sat down next to me. I felt his tiredness and exhaustion. His arms remained around Reid's body, Reid's head resting on his chest. He was snoring softly.

I noticed the redness of Wright's face because of the beating he had received from Reid. His hair was still messy, as if it had been pulled several times. He leaned against the headrest of the sofa and closed his eyes. I, on the other hand, remained staring at nothing. I weighed everything that had happened these past few days.

The silence was broken when, out of the blue, Wright started humming. Then, he sang.

"Didn't mean to take you for granted / Didn't mean to show I don't care / Didn't mean to throw away this once in a lifetime of chance / Being with you / And I'll drive for 2 hours / To bring butterfingers / I don't mind the distance / This kismet's a dance / This time I surrender / My everything forever / Life doesn't matter / Just our souls together / Pride no longer has room in me / On bended knees in public I cry / Your name for everyone to know that I love you, I love you / Please hear me now."

It was "Kismet" by Silent Sanctuary. He stopped after a few seconds.

"I still can. It's just a small thing," I heard him whisper. He was still clinging to Reid, but I could feel the sadness in his voice.

'Give him a chance, Melissa,' my heart said.

'What if he hurts me again? What's going to be left of me?' my brain replied.