"I see."
He stood up and adjusted his sleeves.
Reaching for a glass, he turned around and asked, "Water?"
"Sure."
He poured a glass of water for her and some wine for himself.
He then placed the glasses down on his desk and when he was about to take his drink, she placed her hand on top of his.
"Nevermind, I'll take the wine."
He laughed softly and handed it to her, taking the glass of water instead.
"I asked the principal to talk to the kids involved in the incident and she just sent me the message explaining what happened." He said, showing her his phone.
When Adriana finished reading the message, she heaved a deep sigh and pinched the space between her brows.
She handed him his phone back and mumbled a thank you.
"Seeing this, the man I met when I picked her up is not the father."
"What man?"
He used his own phone to type the name 'Bryan' because just saying his name made him sick.
"Oh… We are not going to have this talk right?" She sighed when she saw his expression. She sipped a bit of wine from her cup and took a few seconds to speak again.
"Aria's adopted what makes you think he's the father." She laughed to cover up her discomfort.
"Really? So if I were to do a DNA test right now, she would have zero relation to you?"
Adriana furrowed her eyebrows. "This matter is not important."
"It is. I want to know. Why are you lying? What exactly is it you're hiding?"
With a deep breath, she answered, "The whole adoption thing is to make sure nobody pokes on her identity. You know I keep my identity, including my face, a secret. I want to keep her safe, and so I went with that cover. That's why you couldn't find anything on her either. I had sealed any information about her." Adriana answered, knowing he had no intention of dropping the topic.
"I believe that but tell me how is it that out of nowhere a fan takes a picture of your face. You just said it yourself, you went to extremes just to keep everything about you hidden. Even I attended events at the same time as you, and yet I couldn't glimpse you. Do you expect me not to suspect that?"
"Noah." She raised her voice.
"Answer me, it's the least you can tell me."
"I thought we weren't going to fight anymore?"
"We're not fighting, I just want an answer to my question because I think I deserve one." He countered.
"Noah, my daughter suddenly runs off with a strange man. She goes missing for DAYS! I was worried, sick, and angry. Then I receive a call that she's with you. My ex thinks I'm dead. Sure, I'll just pop right in front of you and ask for my daughter back. I needed you to know I was coming." She admitted.
"Satisfied?"
He covered his mouth in disbelief and took a deep breath in.
"This whole situation is so messed up. And I doubt you will answer if I asked you why you faked your death."
She didn't respond, just as he expected.
"Yes, because you would have listened to so very patient."
"He's not the father right?"
"Who Bryan? You're kidding!"
"Are you kidding? "I love him, let's divorce." we all know that was bull!"
Adriana flinched at his words.
"It was all an excuse. Look, I don't want us to fight, but I need to have my facts straight. So is she his or-"
"Or what? Yours?" She interrupted, standing up and instantly surrounding herself with protective walls around her.
Noah stood up and he leaned over, placing his hand on the desk and the other on her chin. He closed his eyes as their noses touched and he whispered, "Is she ours?"
He swallowed the lump in his throat as he waited for her answer. He didn't want to get his hopes up, but….
"Mommy?"
He opened his eyes, and their eyes met.
'Perfect timing.' He thought sarcastically.
"We're not done here."
"No, we are. Touch this topic again and you won't see me ever again."
He dropped his hand and clenched his fist.
She didn't realize the frustration she was giving him and just how much more she kept pushing him to find out the truth on his own.
He wanted to be patient and wait for her to tell him but at this pace, he understood that it would never happen.
Adriana cleared her throat, and she walked towards the adjacent room, not allowing him to even see her expression.
He exhaled and gulped down the remaining wine from her cup.
"Baby, how are you feeling?" Adriana asked, bringing Aria into her arms.
"I'm sorry." She apologized without answering. "I won't fight with the other kids again." She promised.
"We can talk about that later Aria, now tell me does it still hurt?"
Aria shook her head with tears in the corner of her eyes. She looked back at Noah and then at her mommy. She wiped her tears and asked, "Mommy, were you and uncle kissing?" She asked innocently.
The definition Aria had of kissing was innocent, and so she thought her uncle Noah was kissing her mommy to comfort her since she had gotten in trouble with her schoolmates.
Just like she would kiss James on his cheek when he was feeling down or how her Mommy would kiss her when she's sad.
Adriana laughed and pinched her nose. "No baby, we were only talking. Come on, let's go home."
"Okay." She nodded.
Noah approached them and gave Aria a smile. "Did you sleep well?"
"Uh-huh." She nodded her head, and she shyly walked up to him. She stretched her arms and tilted her head, waiting to see if he would accept her hug.
Noah chuckled, and he knelt down to pick her up and then wrapped her in a tight, warm hug.
Adriana's heart clenched in her chest at the scene playing in front of her. The guilt, the sadness, and the anger overwhelmed her.
She took a deep breath and did her best to relax.
"Thank you for coming," Aria whispered.
"If you ever need me, just ask your mom to call me okay?" He whispered back.
She pursed her lips, but she nodded slowly.
"Take care of your mom. I'll see you soon."
"Bye-bye!" Aria smiled and waved at him when he placed her back on the ground.
"I assume you didn't bring her through the main entrance, right?" Adriana asked.
"Of course not, there's an elevator right here you can take it to the underground parking lot."
She nodded and offered her hand to Aria. "Let's go."
Adriana looked back and saw him again leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets.
His expression was not exactly, a good one.
"I'm sorry."
"We keep going in circles, so it doesn't really matter if you apologize or not. I'm just wondering how long this loop will last."
****
(A/N*: Hi, my discord server got deleted before and the new link is this one: https://discord.gg/pA7JTjngJv
Please consider joining, I'm planning on adding spoilers and extra scenes you might be interested in, on the discord server.