Chapter 48 Trying Is All It Takes
Rebecca stepped into the car and gently closed the door behind her. She sat there for a moment without starting the engine, her hands resting on her lap. Inside her handbag was the new phone she had just bought. It was still switched off, still wrapped neatly, as if she wasn’t ready to use it yet.
Buying the phone itself had been easy. What wasn’t easy was the reason behind it.
She needed to be careful cause Vanessa was not someone she could underestimate, and the fact that her phone had been cloned still bothered her deeply. Every message, every call, every quiet moment she thought was private suddenly felt exposed, and the fact that she had no idea how long the phone had been cloned was worrisome to her.
She let out a slow breath and finally started the engine, planning to head straight home, but halfway down the road, she slowed. Her hands tightened around the steering wheel as another thought crossed her mind.
Amelia.
Rebecca hesitated only briefly before changing direction. If there was one person she could talk to freely, one person who would listen without judgment, it was Amelia. And right now, Rebecca needed that more than anything.
The café was busy when Rebecca arrived, just as she expected. The familiar smell of coffee and baked snacks filled the air. Customers sat at various tables, some talked while others worked quietly. She spotted Amelia almost immediately, she was behind the counter attending to customers.
Rebecca stood near the entrance for a moment, watching her friend work. There was something calming about the place. Something normal. Something far away from the chaos in her life.
Amelia noticed her a few seconds later.
"Rebecca?" she called out, surprised but smiling. "You didn’t tell me you were coming." She said, as she poured whatever she had been mixing into a glass and handed it over to her last customer.
Rebecca smiled weakly as she walked closer to the counter. "I didn’t plan it. I just… felt like coming." She replied leaning against the counter.
Amelia studied her face closely. "You look tired," she said gently. "Give me a few minutes. I’ll join you."
Rebecca chose a quiet corner table and sat down, watching Amelia move around the café with ease. It reminded her of how grounded Amelia always seemed, how sure of herself. She wished she felt even half that steady, or had the usual normalcy Amelia seemed to have.
A few minutes later, Amelia joined her with two cups of coffee. She placed one in front of Rebecca before sitting down.
"Alright," Amelia said, leaning forward slightly. "Talk to me. What’s going on?"
Rebecca took a deep breath. Once she started, the words poured out.
She told Amelia everything.
She talked about how she had just gone to change the phone cause of the cloning, She talked about her marriage to Derek, not leaving out the fact that it was a contract marriage something Amelia already knew about. She talked about living in the same house with him, trying to act like a normal couple in front of others, and how confusing everything felt.
Amelia didn’t interrupt. She let Rebecca speak.
Rebecca went on to explain their arguments, Derek’s apologies, and how he always seemed to be trying to calm things down. She spoke about the restaurant incident, about the woman who had approached Derek so confidently, touching him like Rebecca wasn’t even there. She admitted how invisible she had felt in that moment.
Amelia listened quietly, not interrupting, not judging.
When Rebecca finally stopped talking, she felt drained. She took a long sip of her coffee, then looked up at Amelia, waiting.
Amelia leaned back slightly, quiet for a few seconds, then asked softly, "Rebecca… are you sure you don’t love Derek?"
Rebecca blinked, clearly caught off guard, of everything she had expected Amelia to say, this was the last of them all.
"Love?" she repeated with a short laugh. "Which love? Amelia, please. There’s no love here."
Amelia raised an eyebrow but stayed calm.
"This is a contract marriage," Rebecca continued quickly as if trying to reassure herself more than Amelia. "That’s all it is. A deal. I just want us to finish what we agreed on and go our separate ways."
Amelia nodded slowly. "Okay. If you say you’re not in love, I’ll leave it like that." She paused. "But I still think Derek is a nice man."
Rebecca scoffed immediately. "Nice? Which nice man?" She asked sarcastically as she took a sip from her coffee.
Amelia smiled faintly, already expecting the reaction. "Rebecca, from everything you just told me, Derek apologizes a lot. He tries to make peace. He doesn’t like conflict. He keeps making efforts, even when you’re upset."
“He’s only doing that because of his grandfather,” Rebecca argued quickly. "It’s not real."
"Is it really just that?" Amelia asked calmly. "Rebecca, he’s willing to give your child his identity. Even though he doesn’t know the child is his. That’s not something every man would do."
Rebecca opened her mouth to argue, but the words didn’t come.
Amelia continued, her voice soft but firm. "You said it yourself. He keeps apologizing. He keeps trying to make the marriage work. He keeps choosing peace over pride. That’s not nothing."
Rebecca looked down at her hands. Her fingers trembled slightly.
"Fine," she said after a moment. "Let’s say he’s trying. What do you want me to do? Sit back and let him do everything?"
"No," Amelia replied gently. "If you want things to work even just for the sake of peace you also have to try."
Rebecca looked up. "How?" She asked, she also wanted to put in effort, and thankfully she had started this morning.
Amelia smiled, sensing her interest. "Small things. Simple things. Suggest spending time together. Go out. Eat together. Try talking without arguing. Let him see that you’re also willing."
Rebecca thought about it for a moment, almost everything was the same as Derek has suggested. "But don't you think that would be awkward" she asked.
"It will be," Amelia admitted. "But it’s necessary."
She leaned forward slightly with a small smile. "Actually, you can start today."
"Today?" Rebecca repeated.
"Yes. Go to his office this afternoon. Surprise him. Take snacks from here, something simple. Just show up."
Rebecca frowned before asking. "Is that even a good idea?"
Amelia nodded confidently. "Yes. Men like feeling appreciated too, even when they don’t say it."
Rebecca stared into her coffee, thinking. The idea made her nervous. Showing up at Derek’s office felt like stepping into unfamiliar territory.
She thought of everything that might go wrong with that, like being sent back or even being told off by Derek.
"Okay," she said finally. "I’ll do it." She can do it, it's all about sacrifices.
Amelia smiled. "Good. Sometimes, trying is all it takes."
As they walked toward the counter to pack some snacks, Rebecca made up her mind.
She would try.
If not for herself, then for their baby growing inside her.