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Chapter 2

Author: Do Re Mi Fa
“Philip! Who do you think you are?!”

The moment I picked up the call, Aria’s furious voice came through, dripping with condescension and rage.

“Where are you? I drove my mom to the restaurant once her face was done, but when we got there, the private room we booked was completely empty!

“What is wrong with you people? Do you have any idea how precious my mom’s time is? Do you know how hard it is to get a reservation at that place?”

I held the phone away from my ear and let her rapid-fire accusations wash over me. To my surprise, I felt completely calm. I had no sense of grievance and no urge to defend myself.

Instead, all I felt was absurdity, as if I were watching a clown perform.

I then cut her off.

“Aria, my parents took a sixteen-hour train ride in hard seats, and they waited for you for three hours in that restaurant. They didn’t even get a sip of water. What they got instead was hearing you say that I could not run away now.

“Since you two were so busy, there was no point in having this meal at all.”

She paused, momentarily speechless. She had not expected me, always so docile and accommodating, to talk back like that.

However, her arrogance quickly resurfaced.

She sneered and mocked, “Philip, what is this? Are you playing hard to get with me now? What, you think just because I’m pregnant, you have me trapped? Let me tell you something. Don’t kid yourself.

“My mom comes first. She went through so much to raise me. So what if she’s late because of a facial treatment? Get over it.

“If you’re marrying into my family, then your parents better learn to read both the room and my mom’s mood. That’s how we do things in Nexus. Got it?”

I felt sick hearing all that, but I did not have the strength to get upset.

I guess that was just how it was. When someone did not love you, they could be selfish and cruel without a shred of guilt.

“So what’s your point?” I asked plainly.

Aria, thinking I had backed down, resumed her condescending, patronizing tone.

“My point is that tomorrow at noon, you will bring your parents to The Emperor’s Table. It’s my family’s restaurant.

“My mom said that since you gave me a million dollars, she’s willing to let your country bumpkin background slide. Tomorrow at noon, have your parents properly apologize to her.

“Then we’ll call it even, and we can talk about the wedding again.”

I laughed in exasperation.

My parents had given everything to raise me right and get me out of poverty. They did not deserve to grovel in front of that awful woman.

I wanted to snap back, but I knew it would be pointless to fight with her on the phone.

I wanted an explanation, though, for the cheap wedding bands that Jessica helped me buy, and for the one million dollars I had transferred to Aria.

I wanted to throw those worthless items right into their faces and make myself absolutely clear.

“Fine.” I suppressed my emotions and said flatly, “I’ll see you tomorrow at noon there.”

“That’s more like it,” she replied in satisfaction. “Men always get all worked up over this kind of thing. Just behave yourself and play nice tomorrow. Do it right, and afterward I’ll take you to buy that watch you liked last time.”

I hung up immediately, cutting off her patronizing speech.

‘Buy me a watch? Save that money for your mother’s funeral!’ I thought.

I turned and walked into the bedroom.

Under the moonlight, I looked at my parents, who were already fast asleep.

My father was frowning as his hand kept rubbing his lower back. It was probably sore from sitting on the hard train seats today and then waiting for hours at the restaurant.

Tears welled up in my eyes.

I tiptoed to the bedside and gently tucked their blanket in.

Then, I went back to the living room.

I opened my phone’s memo app and started taking stock of what belonged to me.

In this rented apartment, Aria had left almost nothing behind. She stayed over sometimes, but she always complained that it was not spacious enough.

When I was done, I took a deep breath and pulled up the booking page for one of the top law firms in Nexus.

My finger hovered over the screen for a long time.

Eventually, I made an appointment under “property dispute.”

I set the appointment at 3 p.m. tomorrow.

The moment the confirmation text popped up, I looked out the window and whispered, “Little one, forgive me. After tomorrow, we’ll both be free.”

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