Victoria's POV...
The cold atmosphere wraps me, making me curl up from the cold and unable to sleep again. There's no blanket, I'm just sleeping on the couch while Brandon is with Sophia in the bed. I sit up, hugging myself and gazing at them.
"Oh my God... I never expected to see this scene," I whisper with a faint smile, watching Brandon embracing Sophia as if he adores her so much.
It's like a dream, looks beautiful, but remembering how my mother and his mother clashed, makes me worry this will cause new problems. I'm not ready, but Brandon will deal with it later.
"Should I intervene? I'm not ready to face my mother's anger."
Drett...
The sound of the phone startles me, I immediately grab it from the table and see there's a call from Kimberly.
"Hello?"
"Last night I stopped by your rental house, but no one was there, not even the door was locked, where are you?" Kimberly sounds concerned.
"Ughh..." I glance at Brandon, remembering Kimberly who desperately wanted to be his future wife to the point of entering the competition, but in fact, he's chasing me now. 'Is she going to be angry with me after this? Or maybe Brandon already told her yesterday that he is Sophia's father?'
"Victoria... Are you there?"
"Yes... I... I'm at someone's house," I say spontaneously.
"Is it Brandon Smith's house?"
"Umm... No... But... But I'm with him," I say reluctantly, after all, when should I hide this from her?
"Victoria, I was really surprised when he suddenly came and said he was Sophia's father. My heart felt like it was going to jump out!" Now Kimberly is enthusiastic. "But, is it true? Does that mean you and he... have... sex... Before?" She asks somewhat shyly.
"Kim..." I exhale sharply and sit back down. "I can't talk about this right now. But can you come back to my rental? I'll go home... And maybe start packing."
"Packing?"
"Yes... Sophia and I are moving to a new house."
"Oh my God, why so sudden?" Kimberly sounds panicked.
"You'll know later. But you must come there, I'll need you," I say, ending the call immediately.
Now my attention is drawn to Brandon who's awake, as well as Sophia. I quickly approach them.
"We need to go back to my rented house," I say.
"Why?" He asks lazily, while Sophia sits up immediately, crawling to the edge of the bed and then standing up to hug me.
"We need to get my stuff or Sophia's," I say.
"Mommy, I'm hungry," Sophia whines.
"Look, she's hungry too... We need to go back to my rental, I'll prepare breakfast for her, and then we'll pack," I say again, looking at Brandon who still looks sleepy.
He just covers his mouth to yawn.
"Mommy, I want to eat!"
"Yes, sweetheart, let's wait for Daddy," I say, then lift Sophia off the bed. "Now you should go to the bathroom to wash your face and pee... If toothbrushes are available, you should brush your teeth too. Mommy will follow you later," I say again.
Reluctantly, my daughter walks to the bathroom while I look back at Brandon who's sitting up.
"You don't need to cook because we need to save time," he says lazily. "You just need to pack and get ready with Sophia. I'll order food... After we have breakfast and you finish packing, we'll take Sophia to school, tell her teacher that she can't study today, then go to the café where you work... You need to resign. and then we'll go to the car showroom... We'll buy a car for both of you, let David bring your belongings here... He'll take care of everything. After we get the car... We'll come back here and you can do whatever you want except taking Sophia away from me... Because even though I'm not by your side, you'll never be able to leave again... I'll let David stay here with both of you while I'm in Portland... I'll meet my mother and finish some tasks," he explains so detailedly as if he has planned all this.
This is crazy, when did he plan all this? Did he keep thinking about this all night and not give me a chance to refuse?
"I'll contact David later," he says, then gets up from the bed. He approaches me, holding my chin until I look up at him, slowly smiling, so sweet and handsome. "Why are you just silent?" he whispers.
I swallow.
"You... you didn't let me complain," I whisper.
"So, are you resigned to whatever I do?"
"I don't know..."
He smiles again, slowly approaching my lips, making my heart race, and reflexively close my eyes. I'm getting more nervous, my legs weak, I feel his lips touch mine until suddenly it just passes.
"I shouldn't have kissed someone else's girlfriend," he says, making me open my eyes immediately.
He just smiles and then goes to the bathroom.
'Huh, this is annoying, what's wrong with me? Why do I want him so much now?' I sigh in my heart, now feeling like I don't have to pretend to have a boyfriend anymore, but how? I've already admitted to having a boyfriend!
Dizzy, annoyed, and hungry, I decide to go to the bathroom, in the end, we brush our teeth together there, and it makes Sophia very happy.
After that, we immediately went back to my rental, during the journey, busy calling David and other people whose names I didn't know. It seems like he's leaving a lot of his affairs just for Sophia, and it clarifies that he is a good father, and maybe he'll be a good husband too.
'I still hope we can be together without any strong barriers blocking us,' I think to myself.
After a few minutes, we finally arrived at the rental. It turns out Kimberly is already there, with David. I immediately get out of the car, take Sophia to the room, bathe her, and change her clothes into a light blue sweater set, then comb her hair while sitting on the edge of the bed while Kimberly puts my stuff in a large box.
"You owe me an explanation," she says with a pout.
"There's Sophia here, it's not nice to talk about it," I reply.
"I'll cover my ears!" Sophia shouts while covering her ears with both hands.
I smile faintly, then kiss her head and continue to comb her hair.
"Just tell me the gist," Kimberly requests.
I sigh. "We did date... But something made me have to leave him."
"Really?" Kimberly stares at me seriously. "How could you leave such a perfect man like him? Many girls want him!" She looks at me with annoyance.
I just stay silent, lazy to explain.
"Sophia, your mother is crazy!" she exclaims while looking at Sophia. "How could she leave your father? Isn't your father so handsome?"
"Yeah, handsome and has a cool car!" Sophia replies with her squeaky voice. "He bought me a new iPad and then bought toys, new clothes, even a house!" She continues enthusiastically.
"Really?"
"Yeah, you have to see my new room. Everything is pink!"
"Hahaha!" Kimberly chuckled, then pinched Sophia's cheek. "You got what you wanted now, it's like winning the luck lottery. But to keep your luck from fading, you have to stay close to your dad. Don't let him get busy with other things again or even look for a new mom for you!"
"Nooo!" Sophia immediately shook her head. "I'll talk to Daddy!" She ran out of the room.
I sighed heavily, glaring at Kimberly.
"You're making things worse now," I said.
"I asked her to leave so she wouldn't hear our conversation, didn't you say she wasn't worthy of hearing it?" She asked me, raising her eyebrows.
"But what you just said to her was an order... you don't know what will happen if she asks her father not to marry another girl... It will make her father think I told her to do it!" I insisted.
She just smiled and sneered then walked back to the box.
"You don't need to be angry about it, I'm saving you," she said, turning back to face me and putting her hands on her hips. "Do you want Sophia to have another mother? Are you okay with her dad belonging to someone else? If you are, I even want to apply to be her new mom!" she continued, then laughed, as if mocking me.