Chapter 103 - CAN WE TALK?
Chapter 103 – CAN WE TALK?
After a long chat about Hailee and Ramon's wedding preparations and Aileen and Theodore's engagement one month from now, Diego asked Hailee and Ramon to stay overnight, because city A is quite far away and it would be very late if they headed home now.
And also because they haven't had a family gathering like this for a long time, so at least they would use this opportunity to reminisce about the old days, before Diego returned to his busy life in the military and wouldn't have free time like this again.
Hailee didn't mind at all, but she have to ask Ramon about this.
"I am fine," Ramon said lightly.
"Good, then I will ask the maid to prepare a guest room for the two of you." Diego looked delighted when he heard Ramon's answer, then turned his attention to Aileen and Theodore. "You will also stay overnight, right?" he asked.
Aileen was just about to refuse, she didn't want to stay in this house for long, especially when Zia, kept humiliating her with sarcastic comments and Theodore didn't help her at all.
The man continued to remain silent, without saying anything and chose not to interfere, as if he had not heard that his woman was being subtly humiliated.
Aileen still thought positively about Theodore's attitude, because she thought he was not focusing on what was happening around him after hearing the news of Aileen's sudden pregnancy.
Aileen also thought that her decision to trick Theodore into marrying her was too hasty, but she couldn't think of a more rational reason than this.
Because if Ramon married Hailee and she still didn't get any back up from the Gevano family, it would be very difficult to fight Hailee when the latter had changed her name to Mrs. Tordoff.
Therefore, Aileen took this extreme step. This whole thing felt so crazy …
"No uncle, sorry, but we …" Aileen was about to refuse Diego's offer when Theodore interrupted her words and agreed.
"Thank you for the offer, we will return to town T tomorrow morning." Theodore smiled, as if he had just said something natural, not caring about the change in Aileen's expression at all.
He also did not understand why he forced himself to stay in this house. The words just slipped by without Theodore noticing and when he came to his senses again, Diego had already asked the other maids to prepare two more rooms for them.
"Zia, where are you going?" Hailee looked at Zia who was wearing her cardigan, she was too neat for someone that was getting ready to sleep.
"Oh, I have some business for a while, I have an old friend who wants to meet me," Zia said, walking toward her father and kissing him on the cheek.
"It is late." Diego looked displeased when Zia said she was going out at this hour.
"I will be back before you know father," Zia said in a persuasive tone. "I haven't been back to town in a long time and some of my friends miss me."
"You don't have a lot of friends," Diego said according to the facts he knew.
"Father!" Zia pretended to be angry by hitting Diego on the arm. "That is rude."
"Well, it was indeed true that you don't have a lot of friends," Hailee said in a teasing tone and received a sneer from Zia.
"Don't follow along," Zia threatened, which made Hailee laugh and pretend to hide behind Ramon's body.
"Come back before midnight," Diego said in a stern tone. Before midnight, that would be five hours from now.
"Okay," Zia exclaimed happily, raising her hand and kissing Diego again, before she waved at Hailee, Ramon and her great- uncle and great aunty.
Zia deliberately didn't glance at Aileen or Theodore at all, a clear showing of her dislike for the couple, and hurriedly walked away, before her five hours would run out.
"Alright then. Hailee, Ramon, can we talk for a moment?" Diego said, just addressing Hailee and Ramon and ignoring Aileen altogether.
Their conversation later would be about discussing the important things of the Tatum family, because afterward, Aileen saw, Ed, Derek, Emelyn and even George, going into Diego's study one after another.
However, since Aileen was not asked to come along, it was absolutely impossible for her to force her way in.
What are they gonna talk about? What about reading that pending will?
The reading of the will was indeed postponed because Hailee was not there and even though George and Aileen had tried to lobby the Tatum family's lawyer to divulge the contents of the will, however, until now they had not managed to find out what was in it.
The lawyer was very adamant that the reading should be attended by Hailee, as the only child of Giorgio and Diana.
Of course this upset Aileen, but what could she do?
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"Why did you decide to stay here tonight?" Aileen asked Theodore when they were alone in the man's room, which was next to Aileen's and opposite them, was Hailee and Ramon's room.
No, they were not provided with one room, Diego was too old- fashioned to allow them to have a room together before the wedding took place.
Aileen's forehead creased, she folded her arms in front of her chest, from the expression on her face, it was clear that she was feeling bad. She really didn't want to spend time any longer at Diego's house.
Seeing Aileen's attitude, Theodore could only sigh heavily, and knelt in front of the woman while resting his hands on Aileen's thighs, who was sitting on the edge of the bed.
"I don't want you to get tired," he replied. "The trip to town T will be very tiring and now … in your condition …" Theodore glanced at Aileen's flat stomach with a knowing smile.
He still couldn't bring himself to believe that Aileen was really pregnant with his child, but it was also impossible for him to deny what Aileen had said. It would hurt this woman and he would feel like a coward who didn't want to be held accountable for his actions.
"I care for you," Theodore said, ending a sentence he could not express freely and kissing Aileen's hands to make her feel calmer.
And it was proved successful. There was a slight smile on Aileen's face, although her eyes still showed that she was still not convinced.
The relationship between the two of them went so smoothly. Aileen often complied with Theodore's wishes and vice versa, it could be said that they never fought, even when Theodore was still Hailee's fiance.
Aileen would be so understanding and know her standing, she would not put Theodore in a difficult position, therefore Theodore thought that Aileen was much better than Hailee, regardless of her status.
"Thank you, Theo …" Aileen said in a voice that sounded sincere and tapped the space next to her so Theodore could sit there.
The man complied with Aileen's wish and sat on the edge of the bed, letting the woman rest her head on his shoulder.
"I am really scared…" Aileen started, her voice so soft and sad. Again she used this card to draw sympathy from Theodore.
"Why are you afraid?" he asked.
"I am afraid that you will abandon me and our unborn child," Aileen said in a weak voice. Deliberately using the word 'our child' to make Theodore feel bad.
And indeed, that's what happened. Had Aileen turned around, she would have found Theodore grimacing at the word.
'Our child' sounded very foreign and unpleasant to his ears. He had never thought of having an offspring this quickly, especially in their current situation.
It is true what people out there say, that age does not indicate a person's maturity, because Theodore is a very good example of that.
"Don't think nonsense." Theodore rebuked Aileen, but he could also sense that the words were just words without meaning. Because he wasn't sure of this himself.
"We're getting married as soon as possible, right?" Aileen asked, she lifted her head to see the expression shown by Theodore. "I don't want this child to be born out of wedlock, it wouldn't look good to the people out there if they found out. Moreover, this will damage the family name."
Aileen's behavior never bothered Theodore until now, but this time, it was different… this man felt uncomfortable with her.
"Theo…" Aileen called out his name anxiously, because Theodore didn't answer her.
"Of course," Theodore finally said, giving Aileen a soothing smile. "We will have your child examined as soon as possible."
"Our child," Aileen corrected Theodore and gave a soft kiss on the lips, which both of them knew where it would lead to.
However, this time Aileen advised Theodore not to use safeguards. What for? Aileen was already pregnant with their child, right? There was nothing else to take care of.
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After the talk in Diego's study with the rest of the Tatum family, about the will reading that would take place two weeks after Ramon and Hailee's wedding, meaning after they came home from their honeymoon, Diego asked to speak with Ramon privately.
Hailee didn't know what Diego wanted to talk to Ramon about, but she would ask the man when they were done.
With slow steps, Hailee returned to her room, thinking that she wanted to contact Ian. It had been a long time since she talked to her best friend.
However, before her thoughts could be out into action, she found Theodore coming out of his room with wet hair, which indicated that he had just finished showering.
Hailee stared at the man for a few moments. She thought she would feel embarrassed to find the two of them alone in this corridor, but it turned out that Hailee didn't even feel anything.
There was no feeling of anger or resentment after what this ex fiance did to her.
And this was enough to surprise Hailee, considering that she had not a long relationship with Theodore.
At first, Hailee wanted to ignore the man and think he was not there, and just slip into her room before calling Ian.
However, who would have thought that Theodore would call out to her first.
"Hailee," he called doubtfully.
Now that Hailee thought about the selection of guest rooms in this house, how could the four guest rooms be in the same corridor?
"Hailee, can we talk for a moment?" Theodore said again, because Hailee did not respond, and when he saw Hailee would immediately go into the room, without answering his question, he didn't know what possessed him, but Theodore grabbed the girl's hand and turned her body until they faced each other. "We need to talk."
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