Upon arriving at Jerry's apartment, Valerie went straight to the room and found Daniel sleeping with Hannah curled up beside her. She sighed in relief, her worries dissipating as she approached her son. Her attention shifted to three bottles of milk on the table, sparking her curiosity about whether he had been given formula milk.
"Valerie..."
Valerie glanced at the awakened Hannah, who sat up slowly with a disheveled and sleepy face—likely from taking care of Daniel.
"Did he drink formula?" Valerie asked while grabbing a bottle.
"Yes... Last night, Samuel and I struggled to calm him down when he was crying out of thirst. He refused to eat anything," explained Hannah wearily. "Eventually, we took him to the supermarket. He bought various milk options and equipment for preparing and sterilizing bottles. Luckily, he was willing to drink that milk, probably out of necessity because he was so thirsty," she continued, glancing at Daniel in just a t-shirt and diapers.
Valerie was stunned, feeling guilty as she looked at Daniel.
"And he only managed to sleep at 3 am... After Samuel kept carrying him," added Hannah.
"I sincerely apologize..." Valerie sat on the edge of the bed, placing the bottle back on the table and gently caressing Daniel's forehead. "It must have been very difficult for both of you last night... and I didn't expect it to happen."
"Where were you?"
Valerie fell silent, looking at Daniel, reminding her of Damian and what happened before she got drunk.
She pondered about what would happen if Damian found out they had a son. Would he be happy? Or would he be angry for keeping it a secret? She longed to see them bonding as father and son, but past betrayals made her reluctant to re-establish a connection.
"Valerie?"
"I... I accidentally bumped into an old friend who invited me to chat at the hotel where he was staying... I ended up getting drunk and falling asleep," she finally lied, considering the embarrassment of what transpired between her and Damian.
"Huh..." Hannah sighed in annoyance, lying back down. "You should have invited us, at least. He can't be away from you for too long..."
"Sorry... I didn't expect to fall asleep there."
"Now, please let me sleep so I can watch over him while you continue your work later," Hannah said, turning her back to Valerie.
The phone vibrated in her bag...
Valerie quickly took it out and saw a call from a contact named Mr.Sandy Barkley.
"Mr. Barkley?"
"Why haven't you finished the ending part? The novel has to be published next week, and readers are eagerly waiting... Don't disappoint them!" Sandy's voice sounded irritated.
Valerie sighed, feeling stressed about her responsibilities as a novel writer.
"Can you send it this afternoon?" Sandy asked.
"Yes," Valerie replied anxiously. "I mean... not this afternoon, maybe tonight. I'm in Las Vegas and might be busy, so... I can't write quickly," she continued.
"Okay, by 10 pm, you must have sent it..."
"Alright..."
The call ended, and Valerie sighed again, glancing back at Daniel. She bowed down, kissing the baby's forehead.
"Forgive me, sweetheart. Mama didn't mean to leave you, but your father... He's so insensible," she thought, haunted by guilt.
Knock knock knock...
Valerie stood up and walked toward the door, carrying her phone. She opened it and saw Samuel looking at her with a blank expression.
"Sorry for bothering you last night," she said.
Samuel remained silent, then walked back to the living room.
Valerie followed him to the sofa. She looked at him with fear, not wanting him to know what happened between her and Damian last night.
"You met him," Samuel said.
"He..."
"Damian... You met him, right?" Samuel guessed, his face showing displeasure.
Valerie could only remain silent, not knowing what to say since she was caught.
"I didn't expect you to go with him after hiding for so long... after he betrayed you. So, what's the point of hiding for 2 years? Or are you getting tired of taking care of Daniel alone, so you're opening up to Damian, wanting to show Daniel to him..."
Valerie shook her head. "That's not true at all!"
"But you were with him... It means you're still interested in going back to him. My efforts to help you hide all this time would be in vain..."
"Samuel, you're being too harsh!" Valerie exclaimed in frustration. "I told you I was with Damian out of necessity... I wanted to return as soon as possible because I was thinking of my son... But unfortunately, circumstances prevented me from leaving!"
Samuel nodded. "What kind of circumstances do you mean?"
"Um... I can't tell you..."
"Fine, it's your right to be with him... Maybe you still love him," Samuel said resignedly.
"Samuel... I don't love him anymore I didn't mean to disappoint you... What happened last night was a coincidence," Valerie replied, frustrated.
"You don't know what almost exposed your hiding last night... I was shocked and angry," Samuel shook his head, recalling seeing Elena carrying Daniel at the party.
"What happened?" Valerie whispered.
"He was with his grandmother..."
"What?"
"Daniel... Last night, he was with Mrs. Mccourtney, your former prospective mother-in-law," Samuel explained.
Valerie was stunned, recalling her encounter with Elena in the elevator.
She was now afraid, considering Damian's persistent pursuit as if he still wanted her. What if they found out about Daniel?
"Does Damian know about Daniel?" Samuel asked.
"No... Of course not!" Valerie shook her head anxiously. "I won't let him know..."
"But if you think about it, he has the right to know. Maybe he can provide a better life for Daniel... And maybe you don't have to struggle as a writer anymore... Damian has..."
"No, I won't let him know!" Valerie exclaimed before Samuel could finish his sentence.
Samuel nodded, smiling, as if pleased with Valerie's answer.
"I still think Damian is a jerk," mumbled Valerie.
"Yeah... I guess I don't need to tell him," Samuel whispered.
"I can raise Daniel in my way... My income is limited, but I'll work even harder to create good novels with many readers or maybe adapt them into a film... For now, that's my biggest goal... It's the only job I can do without leaving Daniel behind," Valerie said anxiously.
Knock knock knock...
The sound of knocking diverted their attention as they looked at each other puzzled, curious about who was visiting since the apartment had been empty.
"Mama... Mama!"
The sound of crying from the bedroom immediately reminded Valerie of Daniel.
"Samuel, please open that door," she requested, getting up.
Samuel walked to the door as Valerie headed to the bedroom. It turned out to be Damian, who stared at Samuel in surprise.
"You? Are you here?"
"Um... I did stay overnight here... Jerry allowed me to stay as long as I wanted," Samuel said nervously, worried that Valerie might come out, and Damian would see him.
"But I saw..."
"I have to leave now..." Samuel pushed Damian to step aside.
"No... I need to go in first!" Damian exclaimed.
"Samuel..."
A woman's voice from inside, accompanied by a baby's cries, immediately widened Damian's eyes, sensing that Samuel was hiding something from him.
"I know something's not right here!" He promptly pushed Samuel aside.
Samuel almost fell, unable to withstand Damian any longer.
Damian saw Valerie cradling a baby boy, instantly reminding him of his baby picture shown by his mother. The baby made him feel like he was looking at himself, so similar, and its gaze was so deep, as if drawing him closer.
"Who is he?"