Chapter 6

Could You Be Happier?

Diego quickly let go of Anna and grabbed the phone. He put the call on speakerphone and froze when he heard a child's voice.

"Where is Mom? Hurry home, Mom!"

Anna's eyes widened and she immediately ran to grab her phone. "Give it to me!"

Diego, who was still frozen when he heard the voice of a small child calling Mama, could only remain silent and continue to stare at Anna with a questioning gaze.

Diego had indeed asked his men to check on Anna and her company, but his men only reported about Anna's company and her husband, Diego had no idea that Anna had a child.

"Hello, darling?" Anna said as she turned off the speaker.

Anna's voice seemed to soften and her gaze warmed as she spoke on the phone.

"Mama, come home quickly! Darren wants to be with Mama," whined a small child there.

"Yes, honey, Mama is home now. Darren, wait for Mama, okay?"

"Okay, Mama, don't take too long, okay!"

"Yes dear."

"Darren wants ice cream, Mama."

"Want ice cream? But it's already late, Mama promises to buy it tomorrow, okay?"

"Promise, Mama. Okay, promise Mama!"

"Alright, Honey!"

Anna continued to smile as she hung up the phone until Diego narrowed his eyes at her.

"Darren? Mama? So you have a child with your new husband?" Diego asked, which made Anna immediately tense again.

Anna's gaze, which had been warm, immediately became sharp again.

"That's none of your business, Mr. Diego! But our business is finished, so if you'll excuse me!"

Anna hurriedly crouched down and packed up all the contents of her bag, before she quickly ran away from Diego without looking back.

Diego didn't chase after her. However, his gaze remained fixed on the door, which had closed after Anna left.

"Child? Anna has a child with her husband? Huh, she wasn't even pregnant when she married me. Not pregnant or not willing to be pregnant with a poor man like me's child? Damn it!" Diego growled, his jaw clenched.

**

"Stop bothering Papa like that, Darren! Papa is on the phone!"

A shout was heard as soon as Anna arrived home and not long after, the sound of a child's muffled sobs was also heard.

Anna's eyes widened when she realized it was Jeremy and Darren's voices. She immediately rushed into the house and ran to save her five-year-old son.

"Mama!"

"Darren, what happened? What did you do to Darren, Jeremy?" Anna snapped angrily.

Anna can accept Jeremy yelling at her or insulting her, but Anna can't accept it when her child is abused.

Jeremy himself just laughed in annoyance looking at Anna.-

"You're finally home, hmm? Where did you go? Didn't you know that your child had been making so much noise looking for you and was disturbing me so much, huh? You were just hanging around doing it yourself?"

"I have business, Jeremy! And my business has nothing to do with you!"

"Oh, it has nothing to do with me? Listen, Anna! I don't like secrets between us, so watch out if you do anything behind my back! You know what I can do to you and your child, right?" Jeremy hissed as he approached Anna.

"I told you to stop threatening me, Jeremy! Auntie, take Darren into the room, quickly!" Anna ordered Jeremy's nanny, who had been silent and scared by Jeremy's shouting.

"Y-Yes, Ma'am! Come on, Darren!" The nanny immediately took Darren into the room so that the child wouldn't have to hear the frequent arguments between Jeremy and Anna.

"I told you that you can insult me ​​and yell at me as much as you like, but never yell at my son, did you hear that, Jeremy? I won't stay silent if you dare hurt him!" Anna growled after Darren left.

"What can you do, Anna? What would you do without me, huh? Your life and the child's depend on me, so play by my rules!"

"Depend on you? Since birth, you never cared about Darren, I was the one who raised him alone!"

"Isn't that your duty as his mother, huh? Besides, why should I care about a child that isn't mine? You remember that you were already pregnant when you married me, right? It's already a good thing I let him stay here!" Jeremy snapped.

Yes, Anna was already pregnant when she married Jeremy. That's why Jeremy was never able to love Darren.

Jeremy thinks Anna and her family have tricked him by giving him used goods.

Jeremy didn't know that Anna was also being deceived by her father. Mr. William promised to free Diego from prison if Anna divorced him.

However, after they divorced, Mr. William took Anna out of town and married her to Jeremy for business reasons.

Anna was furious, but Mr. William threatened to hurt Anna's fetus if Anna didn't obey.

"You and that kid will always be in my debt, Anna! So now you better keep him out of my trouble and make yourself useful by getting investment for the company! Do you hear that, Anna?"

Jeremy's voice startled Anna. However, she chose not to answer him and turned her face away. Quickly, Anna left Jeremy and entered the room where Darren was waiting for her.

"Darren, come here, darling!" Anna immediately knelt down and scooped Darren into her arms.

"Is Daddy still angry, Mama? Daddy likes to get angry, even though Darren just asked to play with me earlier," Darren reported.

"Daddy isn't angry, honey. Daddy... is just having a lot of problems," Anna said soothingly.

No matter how bad Jeremy is, in Darren's eyes, Jeremy is his father and Anna tries to give Darren a good picture of a father.

"But Darren's friends' dads are all nice. Darren's friends are always taken to school by his dad and then picked up again. Then he's lifted high on his shoulders like a flying superman. Darren also wants to...

Tears suddenly welled up in Anna's eyes. While Darren might not have been demanding as a child, he'd started comparing his own resources to those of others since he started school last year.

Darren often talked about his friend's father and it made Anna sad because Jeremy was never a father figure that Darren could be proud of.

Moreover, since Mr. William ran away with Jeremy's money two years ago, not only has he become more abusive, Jeremy has also punished Anna by not giving her a single cent.

Everything is Anna's responsibility. Rather than complaining, Anna knows her child and mother are her responsibility. However, there are times when Anna feels tired of her life.

What others see is that Anna still lives like a princess, living in a mansion, driving her own car everywhere, and appearing wealthy, even though she has nothing. In fact, Anna's life now feels like a bird in a cage.

"I'm sorry, dear. But I'm here, so I'll carry Darren up high, okay?" Anna whispered, cupping her son's face and hugging him tightly again.

The tears she had been holding back finally fell. Deep down, Anna often wondered if her life would have been happier if she hadn't gotten divorced.