Valerie has just finished her work, creating an outline for her new book as the previous one is in the publishing process. She maintains this job because it's the only one comfortable for her, allowing her to stay close to Daniel.
Turning off her pink laptop, Valerie glances at the still-sleeping Daniel. She rises from her chair, approaches him, and sits on the edge of the bed, contemplating something.
"Dear, Mommy just wants you to meet Daddy... Turns out you like him... It's good ... But I hope you won't be disappointed when I can't return to him yet... I don't want to be hurt for the second time... He hasn't changed," she thinks while stroking Daniel's slightly damp hair.
She removes the blanket from him.
Creak...
Valerie's attention shifts to the door, finding Hannah entering and approaching with a smile.
"Why are you smiling like that?" Valerie asks by squinting her eyes. "Did someone propose to you?"
Hannah immediately pouts. "Smiling doesn't mean I got proposed to!"
Valerie chuckles. "Then what?"
"I just like seeing Daniel's dad this morning. He's handsome; you're so lucky to have a guy like him," explains Hannah.
Valerie smiles thinly. "He's not mine... And I don't feel lucky."
"Ah, but it seems like he still likes you." Hannah quickly sat in front of Valerie and looked at her seriously. "If he invites you back, you should just accept it. He's rich, handsome, and seems to care about Daniel...Your life will be guaranteed and you won't have to write anymore... And maybe he will pay me as a babysitter... With more money..."
"It's not that easy, Hannah..." Valerie shakes her head with a worried look. "He's not that perfect. He likes to play around with random girls, and today I found out he has a girlfriend."
"Really?"
Valerie just nods.
"Are you jealous?" Hannah asks.
Valerie falls silent, realizing she can't determine her feelings for Damian. Suddenly she imagined Damian talking so softly to Angela in the cafe.
"If you don't like him anymore, it's okay if he has a girlfriend," Hannah continues. "Or maybe you still like him? You still hope for him?"
"Um..." Valerie immediately stands up, walks to the dressing table, and takes a blue headband. "I don't want to talk about it. I want to have dinner now; you take care of Daniel... I don't want him falling off the bed." She walks out of the room while putting on the headband.
Hannah looks at Valerie with a furrowed brow. "You're avoiding the conversation!"
Valerie ignores Hannah and goes to the family room where Leonne is watching TV.
"Have you eaten?" she asks.
"No, I'll eat after my favorite anime finishes," Leonne answers with her eyes fixed on the TV showing an anime movie.
Knock knock...
Valerie's attention is drawn to the closed door. She goes there curiously, imagining Damian.
'If it's him, I won't talk to him,' she thinks, then turns the door handle and opens it.
She immediately swallows nervously when she sees Darius McCourtney, who looks at her flatly.
"Um... Mr. McCourtney," she greets awkwardly.
"I hope you have time to talk for a moment," Darius replies.
"Oh, of course..." Valerie nods and invites Darius in.
They sit on separate sofas.
"Do you want something to drink, coffee or tea..."
"I don't want anything." Darius cuts off Valerie.
"Uh, okay..." Valerie nods, occasionally averting her gaze because Darius's intense stare makes her uncomfortable and curious about his purpose of coming here. 'Is he going to be angry with me for leaving the wedding back then, and now I come back? I shouldn't be afraid because this is Damian's mistake! No, I shouldn't be afraid!' She reassures herself in her mind.
"I was genuinely surprised by your presence after you left the marriage and hid for so long," Darius says, his eyes focused on Valerie who looks casual and wears gray pajamas. "What were you thinking? You made my son feel so guilty... You're so childish in facing your problems, selfish... You come back and once again make everything a mess."
"Sorry..." Valerie bows her head. "But that day, I felt I couldn't marry Damian... I thought he wasn't ready to commit to just one girl. That's why I left... If you consider my attitude childish, it's okay. Maybe I was wrong to leave without telling the family... Besides, no one knew how I felt."
"You must be disappointed... I know that. But why hide about your child?" Darius asks with his disappointed gaze. "I trusted you all this time, accepted you, elevated your family's status... But why is this what you give us? You left abruptly, then came back only to add more problems after the old ones were almost forgotten?" he wonders impatiently, seemingly annoyed with Valerie.
Valerie continues to bow her head.
"I won't be angry if you come back for the sake of your son's happiness with Damian... I can't prevent that because after all, he is my grandson... I'm also very disappointed because you didn't tell us about him all this time... He's the first grandchild of the McCourtney family... Your actions seem to show that you have not respected us all this time, even though it was Damian who was at fault!" Darius starts getting emotional, pointing to himself. "But what did you do? You just come back without giving Damian any hope. What are you thinking? Do you want him to keep bugging you? If you can't be with him again, then never show up. Don't use your child as a way to make him want you again when you only want to hurt him by rejecting him again... It will mess up his life, even since you left, his life has been a mess!"
Valerie takes a breath, feeling an instant tightness, and tears roll down.
"If you want to come back, do it in a better way or clarify your relationship now!" Darius requests with his intimidating gaze.
"Mr. McCourtney..." Valerie gathered the courage to look at Darius. "I know I've been wrong, causing Damian so much suffering all this time... But it all started from his mistake too."
"And foolishly, you decided to leave without explaining to him that you truly didn't want it anymore... Even when you were pregnant, you didn't inform him; that's a fatal mistake!"
"I know that... That's why I came back to tell everything... But I didn't mean to come back to Damian... I don't trust him... What he did to me is still vivid in my memory... How could I decide to go back to him? It's not that easy! I hid not just to avoid ordinary feelings... No!" Valerie shook her head and wiped her tears. "I'm also in trouble... Every day, I often miss Damian, but I'm also in fear... What he did has left deep wounds, even until now!"
Darius sighed, giving Valerie a cynical glance.
"It's not easy to make a decision, especially since he's involved with another girl now... It makes me unsure if he truly loves me... He can look at other girls with passion... He can make love to other girls... That means he doesn't want me, doesn't regret my leaving," Valerie whispered amidst her tears, her body trembling. 'Why is everyone blaming me? Does anyone understand my feelings?
"Because he's a normal man... Of course, he needs distractions rather than constantly thinking about you."
"I didn't ask him to think about me or look for me..."
"Okay... Forget about the past, and now give a conclusion," Darius requested with his intimidating gaze.
Valerie averted her gaze, as if unwilling to meet his eyes.