Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6: Changed Rigella's POV I woke up because of the sunlight I could see. I rolled my eyes and sat up in bed. I took a deep breath and looked at the wall clock. My eyes widened when I saw it was ten o'clock in the morning. Oh my god! What time did I go to bed last night and wake up at noon? I leaned against the headboard of the bed and swallowed when I realized I was in Ivan"s room with me. It"s also been a long time since I last got into it. The last thing I remember is when he said "Don't leave me" I never left him in the room and I watched him until he fell asleep. Maybe I fell asleep last night without realizing it. But why am I here in our room? Did he pick me up to bring me here? My cheeks warmed at the thought. I took a deep breath and I was shaken. I suddenly remembered what happened last night. How is this? I no longer have friends. I chose Ivan over them. Tsk, why do I have to choose? I got up and made the bed then I took a towel and a dress. These are the clothes that my parents and Ivan's parents gave me when we got married. Maybe it still fits me because I don't think I gained weight. My body is still the same after seven years. I went into the bathroom and started to take a shower. I chose lukewarm water for the shower. I shampooed my hair and applied conditioner. As I soaped up I gasped for breath. Make sure my child is at school. I didn't even get him breakfast ready and taken care of. After I took a shower I got dressed in the bathroom and after I came out I blew my hair. I combed my hair and chinecked my cellphone, I was hoping Roxanne or maybe Seymour had a message for me but I was so bitten on my lower lip when I didn't receive a message from them. Mom had a message for me and there were many missed calls that rarely happened because Dad and I were too busy with business. From: Mom -Rigella, I think you're not yet awake. I've been trying to call you for a couple of times but you don't answer my calls. By the way, call me immediately once you read this. I have something to tell you, son. This is so important. Call me right away, please. -end- My forehead wrinkled. Does Mom have something important to say? What could that be? I called him and he answered the call in just three rings. "Hello, mom?" My introduction. I heard her sigh on the other line. ["Thank God, you called me Rigella!"] Aniya. I swallowed before asking. "Mom, what do you say is important?" I heard Mom sob so my eyes widened at the same time as my mouth gaped. ["Y-Your brother is imprisoned, Rigella. He was arrested earlier by the police for stealing a large amount of money from a company. My goodness, I didn't know that he's a member of a Mafia Organization! He did lots of illegal things ! "] He sobs promise. I was stunned. I told Kuya before to stop doing illegal things but he would not listen to me. He wanted to be richer so he came to that point. But where will the wealth go if the money comes from illegal? My tears rolled down my cheeks. Even though Kuya and I are not close, I love him. I feel sorry for Mom now, just in her voice on the phone she was crying too much. It's dangerous, he still has heart disease. I sigh. "Mom, calm down. That will be in your heart ..." I reminded. ["Rigella please, son ... come here to the **** police station. We need you here ..."] He said while my tears were dripping. I bit my lower lip. "Yes ... yes, I'm going there, mom. Wait for me ..." ["Thank you, son. We really are lucky to have you ..."] I smiled sparingly. "I'll hang up. Wait for me, I'll be there in no time." ["Okay son, we'll wait for you. I love you, Rigella Andrea ..."] "I love you more, Mom. Bye." I dropped the call and immediately took my shoulder bag that was lying on the side table and slung it over my shoulder. Maybe Ivan brought it here to the bedroom last night too. I got up and got a pair of flat shoes, which was a good thing I didn't wear at home. I only wore a simple cream -colored dress and cream -colored flats as well. I was about to leave when the door opened and Ivan spat. My eyes widened, I didn't expect him to be at home because he was already in the office at this time. He was wearing a half sleeve polo and simple pants. He frowned at me so I averted my eyes. I just thought, if I were to act cold treatment on him would he do anything? Let's see. "Where are you going?" He asked so I looked at him. "Why?" I said coldly while no expression was shown to him. I saw that he was surprised and cast a spell before speaking. Because when I talk to him modestly or my voice is soft, maybe he is surprised by my behavior. He sneezed. "A-Ah, nothing. I'm just asking to take you or maybe be with you ..." He said so I was stunned. 'What on earth ?!' I asked in my mind. This is the first time Ivan has told me that he will take or accompany me where I am going. When I recovered from the pause and stared at him I returned my cold expression. "I'm going to the police station. Kuya is detained and I'll go with Mom there. Don't worry, I can manage. Don't take me, I'll just take a taxi." I said coldly again. "What? But you haven't had breakfast yet. You should eat first. You'll go hungry." In my mind's eye I was amazed at what he was saying. Why now does he seem so concerned about me? E while back then he didn't care about me and he even hurt me. He's really weird, he's hard to read. I sneezed and stared. "You don't care ..." I said. "Ofcourse I care ... you're the mother of my child ..." He said so my blood boiled and I averted my eyes, did he really say that and that's the reason e. I am just the mother of her child, nothing else. "And ... and I'll marry you." He said so I turned to him. He swallowed and then averted his eyes and touched his neck. Wait, is he shy? I just ignored what he said, even though I wanted to believe something was stopping me from believing him. "Tss. It's up to you, I'll just take a taxi ..." I said and passed him. I was about to leave the room when he grabbed my arm. I frowned at him and we stared at each other. A few seconds passed and he averted his gaze. "I'll take you. Ah, no. I'll just accompany you. I want to know the reason why your brother is in jail." He said and asked me to leave the room. Unlike before, he no longer held my arm tightly. He seemed to be very careful with me. When we got down he instructed Manang of things. Manang was smiling and looked at me as if teasing. Ivan pulled me out again so I smirked at him. He just regretted me and we went to his car. I removed his hold on me. I was about to open the front seat door when he held my hand. I turned to face him and he stared at me deeply. I felt like I was electrified by his hold but I didn't know why I couldn't take his hand away from mine. He averted his eyes and sneezed then carefully removed my hand from the door. He himself opened the door for me so my eyes widened slightly. Sh1t, can it be cheap? Everything he does to me now is first time all! Did he have a good spirit so that he became like this? He makes sense to me now! "G-Get in ..." he stammered and he couldn't look at me. Earlier I noticed his stuttering. I got in the car and my hands got cold as he supported my waist so I could sit up properly. After I sat down he closed the door. He turned around and then got into the driver's seat. He started to drive and we were quiet the whole trip. I just focused my attention on the window. His actions are really as surprising. Thirty minutes later we reached the precinct. He got out first and I knew he would open the door for me but I quickly got out of the car and immediately entered the precinct. I heard Ivan take a deep breath and he followed me. I looked for Mom and saw them talking to our family lawyer so I approached them. Their conversation ended right away and Mom saw me right away so she hugged me. Dad greeted Ivan and hugged him as well. We wanted to greet Kuya but the police said he didn't want to so we didn't insist. A few hours later, Ivan and I decided to go home. Mom will stay there because they still have something to take care of. Ivan and I were already in the car and I was surprised when he hadn"t even started the car. I was a little dizzy because of the extreme heat earlier in the precinct and I really wanted to go home to lie down. "Aren't we going home yet?" I asked him annoyed. He sighed before speaking. "Let's talk first, before we go home." He said that's why I gasped in annoyance. I raised an eyebrow at him. "Can't wait for that? I'm tired okay? I want to rest." He took another deep breath. "I'm sorry. All right, sleep first. Let's talk at home ..." I just stared and closed my eyes and leaned back neatly in the chair. He's acting weird ... but why is that? Why does my system not want to accept his new dealings with me? CHAPTER ELEVEN: About them Rigella's POV When I woke up I had a bad headache. I was also shivering because of the cold, because the aircon was on. I found out I was lying in bed, did Ivan bring me here again? This is our room again. I struggled to stand up and put on slippers even though I was a bit dizzy and turned off the aircon. I'm used to aircon but why am I getting cold now? I went out of the room and I did not see any of my companions here in the house. I looked at my wrist watch and it was three o'clock. My son will be home in thirty minutes. I walked down the stairs and I was caught on the side of the stairs and I closed my eyes tightly because I was dizzy. When I was well I continued downstairs and went to the kitchen. I opened the refrigerator and took the pitcher there. I also took a clean glass and poured water. I was about to drink when my head hurt again and I just heard the glass break. Sh1t! Fortunately, I was not hurt. I'm so dizzy! I grabbed the table and squeezed my senses. "Rigella!" I heard Ivan shout but I couldn't look away from him because I was dizzy. I felt him approach me and hold my arm. I heard him swearing so I frowned at him. "You're ... you're sick. The height of your fever. Tsk, you've been hungry before." He said so my eyes widened. I'm sick? I thought it was just a little dizzy. She unconditionally picked me up with a bridal carry and walked up the stairs. He opened our bedroom door and laid me down on the bed. I was held by my arm because it was still cold in this room. Ivan hugged me and took something from the cabinet. It was a T-shirt of his. He handed it to me so I was amazed. "W-Wear this. It's sleeveless because you're wearing it so you'll be even cooler. This is what you wear first." He said so I took his t-shirt and put it on. Annoying, why does Ivan still smell even if it's just his T-shirt? I lay down and closed my eyes. I wrapped myself up. I heard Ivan sigh and the door open and close. Why then, I fainted and all because of the flu eh Ivan doesn't care. He even scolded me and told me what I was talking about. But why now, he even brought me here to the bedroom and offered me his dress? Hays, take care of him. Earlier he was weird. ~ • ~ I woke up when someone shook me gently. I opened my eyes and saw Manang Lisa sitting on the side of the bed and holding a tray with medicine, water and chicken soup. There is also a basin on the side table with alcohol and a clean handkerchief. I sat on the bed and swallowed my senses. My headache still doesn't go away but it's okay. My eyes widened when I realized that I was going to pick up Ice at school today! "Ma ... Manang, it's Ice. I don't have her-" He cut me off and smiled at me. "Don't worry, daughter. Ivan picked her up earlier. They're already playing with their father in the chin." I took a deep breath. Good and Ivan picked him up. Ivan only picked Ice up from school once because he was busy with work and with ... Lara. Tsk, I got bored and frowned when I thought about that. "Oh, daughter. Eat it while it's still hot. Take the medicine afterwards." Manang said and placed the tray in front of me. The smell is delicious. I took the spoon and scooped up the broth. I blew it first before sucking. I smiled when I realized that the taste of this soup was similar to the soup that Mom cooked for me when I was young. "Man, thank you. This soup you cooked is delicious." I said smiling and continued eating. Manang smiled shyly at me so I frowned at her. He took a deep breath before speaking. "Ah, sister ... I didn't cook that. Ivan cooked that, sister ..." Manang said so I stopped eating and my eyes widened. I swallowed and stared at Manang. I waited for him to say it was just a joke but he just remained shy smiling at me. "Se ... Seriously, Manang?" I can't believe my question. I thought Ivan didn't know how to cook because I had never seen him cook. But he cooked it, like a chef cooked it! It's still delicious when I cook it. Manang nodded and scratched his neck. "Yes, sister. He told me not to tell you that he cooked that. He's embarrassed. He even called your Mommy to ask what you want to eat when you're sick. So there, he cooked you of chicken soup. He followed your Mommy's recipe. " I was swallowed. Sh1t, what are you doing, Ivan? I want to continue to act cold to you but how can I do that eh you surprise me with what you do? You are softening my heart again! Annoying. Manang laughed at me so I smiled shyly at him. "Do you think Ivan doesn't know how to cook? When he was in high school, he wanted to cook and he used to help me in the kitchen. It doesn't matter that he should have taken a culinary arts course then in case his daddy doesn't want to. And while she was cooking, she won Lara's heart ... "said Manang so I lost my smile and I was stunned. Lara ... she is very lucky and Ivan loves her. I kept thinking, how could Ivan love her? I mean, what efforts is Ivan making to show that he loves Lara? I sighed. I shouldn"t give up on what he"s doing to me now. I will only get hurt eventually. Maybe it's okay for me to just love him secretly. And at least, I wasn"t hurt. "A-Ah ... I'm sorry, sister. My story got too long ..." He said shyly to me but I just smiled at him sparingly. She has been Ivan's nanny since childhood so she knows a lot about him. "Man, please tell me how Lara and Ivan met ... and how they became ..." I want to know why Ivan is so passionate about Lara. And for me to accept to myself that they should be for each other. "But sister ..." Manang said worriedly. I shook my head and smiled. "Man, don't worry about me. I just want to know ..." "Are you sure, sister?" There was still a trace of concern on Manang's face but I just gave him a sweet smile and a nod. Manang took a deep breath. "When Ivan was young, he dreamed of having a relationship with a woman who was very similar to his mommy. He was kind, smart, simple and good at cooking. He was in his last year of high school when he met Lara. He joined a cooking contest and he competed with Lara there. He was amazed at the way Lara cooked so he seemed to like it little by little. And also, he heard things about Lara that she was kind and smart. So he liked it. . Lara lost to her in the cooking contest so she admired that woman even more. No one had beaten her before in the field of cooking. But Lara ... she lost to Ivan ... "I nodded at what Manang was saying. Ivan's dream girl is Lara so that's how much he loves her. Nakakainggit naman. "... During their first year of college, Ivan only had the courage to woo Lara. Lara didn't allow him at first because Lara said she prioritized her studies. But she didn't give up. She really wanted to Lara so he flirted with her even though Lara didn't want to. And soon they became. They loved each other very much and I was one of the witnesses there. Their parents did not know their relationship because they were not allowed to have sex. relationship because their education is more important. But that didn't stop them ... they love each other even more ... " My tears welled up so Manang stopped talking. A tear dripped from my left eye but I immediately wiped it away. I smiled at Manang. "All right, Manang. Tell me more ..." He shook his head. "No, sister. You're already hurting. I shouldn't have told you ..." I was so bitten on my lower lip and forced to laugh. "Man, it's okay. Please, go ahead. I'm already fascinated by your story eh ..." I pretended to be joking but deep inside it seemed to tear my heart apart. This is how it hurts when you hear from other people's mouths that the person you love loves the woman he loves ... To be continued...