STEFAN POV
He turned around, looking at me expectantly.
"What is sit?" he asked.
"How are you feeling?" I asked him.
He looked at me in shock, it was obvious he hadn't been expecting my question.
"Why do you ask?"
"I am being a good person; you donated blood to Rigel and collapsed afterward."
"I am doing fine, thanks for asking."
"Don't you have anything to ask about the children?"
"What do you want me to ask Stefan?"
"You know they are yours right?"
"What do you want me to say, Stefan? That I made a mistake, that I hurt Daisy for no reason and I missed out on my children's childhood. I fucked up, and I don't know what to do."
"Why were you so insistent that she cheated?"
"I was impotent or at least I thought I was. After Daisy wasn't getting pregnant, I went for a fertility test, and I was impotent; I even went to two other hospitals, and they confirmed it. I was already thinking of a way to tell Daisy and get a solution when she suddenly announced she was pregnant. I thought she cheated."
"And you threw her out of the house in the middle of the night regardless? How cruel could you be?"
"I went after her," he replied.
"What!"
"I followed her that night, I was going to drive her to our cabin to stay for a while."
"Then what happened?" I asked.
"She was with you."
A little realization clicked on me.
"So you thought she cheated on me with you?" I asked
"Yes."
"So what do you think now?"
"I got another fertility test done, and I know now that I wasn't impotent, and she didn't cheat on me at all."
"What about the hospitals that declared you impotent before? Have you made any inquiry?"
"I am trying to do that now."
"I will help you."
He looked at me in surprise.
"Why? I thought the both of you were in a relationship, why would you want to help me?"
I smiled, Declan was so clueless.
"Because I am very curious about this; something isn't right somewhere, and I want to figure it out."
"Okay..." he said in an unsure voice.
"But keep it between us, deal?" I stretched out my hand for a handshake.
He took it. "Deal"
I drove the children back home.
"Mummy!" they ran to hug Daisy when they saw her.
"How was school and your fighting lessons Rhea?"
"School was fine, Mom and fighting lessons were fine. I also met Uncle Declan."
"I met Uncle Declan too," Rigel announced.
She looked at me. "What!" she mouthed.
I shrugged, "He carried her to the car. And Rigel met him, what was I supposed to do?"
"He looked just like me; it was so cool," Rigel rambled on.
"Okay, why don't you kids go to your room," I told them.
"Okay." they ran to their room.
"So you saw Declan?" she asked me.
"Yes, I did."
"And?"
"and what Daisy?"
"What happened?"
"Nothing, he talked to the kids, and then we left."
"just that?"
"Yes, just that Daisy."
"I see."
"You need to stop expecting things from Declan, it only hurts you at the end. You need to focus on your life."
"Mom wants me to make Silvan my date for the dinner party?"
"What are you going to do? Will you invite him?"
"I see Silvan as a friend, nothing more. It would be unfair to raise his hopes just to please Mom."
"Well, the greatest love stories start from friendship," I told her.
"I thought enemies to lovers make the best live stories?"
"Nah! It's just overrated."
I started walking to my room and she joined me.
"I don't know what to do Stefan?"
"Daisy, answer me honestly, are you still in love with Declan...." I asked her.
"I....I...I" she stuttered a response.
"Be honest, I won't judge you."
"Yes, I am still in love with him."
"That wasn't so bad, was it? Daisy, you can't fall in love with someone else when you still love Declan."
We had entered my room and she sat on the bed. I sat beside her.
"I don't know why I still love him, he has hurt me a lot, but I still love him; does that make sense?"
"It does; we can't control love, darling, no matter how hard we try."
"I hate this."
"I know. Can I ask you something, though?"
"What is it?"
"If he wants to know the kids better, co-parenting, what would you do?"
"Mother won't be so angry," she replied.
"Forget about Mother; I am asking you, what would you do?"
"They deserve to know their father, if he wants to, I would let him. It's up to him."
"That's understandable."
She nudged my shoulders.
"So what about your drinking buddy? You haven't said anything about her."
"There is nothing to say."
"Seriously? What happened?"
"Well, we weren't meant to be. I understand that now. And that's all I have to say on the subject."
"Stefan..."
"Daisy, please just drop it." I pleaded with her.
"Okay, I will drop it. I will go see to the kids."
"Bye."
She stuck out her tongue teasingly before leaving the room.
I laid back on the bed.
Lily and I hadn't talked since.
I hadn't called her since I saw her at the mall and she hadn't called me too.
Was everything between us a fever dream? I could have sworn there was something there.
But if she talked to me, what would she even say, 'Sorry for being a bratty asshole,' and would I even want to listen to her.
It was good the way things had happened.
Now, I just had to follow up on helping Declan solve this. Either he was lying or someone had played a role in deceiving him and ending his marriage.
But why would someone want to do that, what was their motive in doing this?
Could it be that Stella girl? I would start my investigation with her, I decided.