165 Facing the Truth


    Immediately, I turned my face around to see if my ears had been ying a dirty trick on me or not. My eyes must be ying some trick on me as well because I saw Ace standing right in front of me in our small living room.


    He’s not really here. That was the conclusion that my brain arrived at without hesitation. I turned around and started ying around with the food on my te again with the tip of my fork.


    “Don’t ignore me, Rina...” Ace said.


    This time, I felt his presence when the table shook as he took the seat opposite to mine from our small dining table. No matter how much my mind tried to deny his presence, it seemed like Ace was really here in our apartment again.


    Why is he even here?


    “Why are you here?” I asked the first thing that came to my mind.


    “Because you’re here. Rina, we need to talk...” Ace said as he stared directly into my eyes.


    “I have nothing to say to you...” I muttered darkly.


    Now that Ace was sitting right in front of me, all the dark emotions that came rushing forth in uncontroble waves. The pain and tightness in my chest felt unbearable and so was the heat of my anger that seemed to burn me alive from the inside.


    .....


    “If you have nothing to say to me, what about to her?” Ace asked as his eyes gestured to the door.


    My gaze followed after his before my eyes widened at the most unexpected person standing right in front of the door. My hand flew to my mouth immediately, just in time to keep myself from crying out loud.


    “I don’t have much time so if you want to talk, please step outside...” udia said to me curtly.


    udia stood in front of my apartment door dressed in a dark navy dress that hugged the curves of her big and round belly. She didn’t seem to be in the best of moods, and I could tell that she wasn’t entirely pleased to be here. Did Ace bring her here? Why?


    “There’s a café on the opposite side of the road. Let’s meet there. I’ll get changed and head there right away...” I murmured while still in shock.


    My entire face felt cold and numb. It was a miracle that I could somehow speak given how badly my lips were quivering.


    “Please wait for Rina at the café that she mentioned. It should be morefortable there...” my mother quickly urged the two of them to make their exit.


    Ace stared at my face for a moment before he seemed to give in. He stood up from his seat and escorted udia out onto the hallway in front of our apartment’s entry.


    “Rina, you should get dressed. Thedy is pregnant so it’s not good for you to keep her waiting for too long,” my mother said before she pressed her lips together in a thin line.


    “Did you know that they wereing here?” I asked the question that had been burning on my mind.


    My mother sighed before she nodded her head once at me.


    “Yes. Ace gave me a callst night before you came to my ce. He figured that you woulde here...after what happened...” my mother confessed softly.


    “Why didn’t you tell me? You know that I don’t want to see them, right?” I blurted out saying.


    “If I had told you, you would have run away, right? Stop being a coward and face the truth, Rina. You can do this... I believe in you...” my mother said with pleading eyes.


    “Mum...I’m scared...” I whimpered in a cracked voice as tears sprung to my eyes again.


    “I know you are. Everything will turn out fine. Trust me and trust in yourself, Rina...” she said as she wrapped her arms around me and held me tight.


    “I’m so sorry...” I apologized repeatedly as she continued to hold me.


    “There’s nothing for you to feel sorry for. Now, get changed and go out there to find out the truth,” my mother said as she held me at arm’s length and stared into my eyes.


    I just nodded my head once at her. I might die from the heartbreak but that cer. For now, my mother was right, I needed to hear the truth from both of them first.


    ...


    “That took you a while...” udia muttered.


    Ace and udia sat next to each other on a sofa in the café that I had directed them to. After changing into somethingfortable and quite presentable, I headed over to meet them right away. No matter how much I wanted to run away and hide, I knew that it was no use. Sooner orter the truth would have toe out. If that was the case, I better hear it from the two of them while I had the chance.


    Although udia wasn’t in a good mood, at least this time she wasn’t yelling or screaming at Ace. Had he decided to take responsibility of their baby already? If that was the case, then things might turn out for the best for all of us and the baby too.


    “I’m sorry,” I whispered as I sat down on the sofa opposite from them across the coffee table.


    “I take it that you overheard our conversation yesterday in the office when udia dropped by to meet me,” Ace said calmly to start off our conversation.


    “Yes, I did. It wasn’t my intention but...” I said before trailing off.


    “udia was shouting and screaming loudly so you couldn’t help but to overhear,” Ace finished my sentence for me smoothly.


    “Yes...” I mumbled.


    “Don’t me it on me. me it on this guy here who refuses to help me out no matter what...” udia spat before she shot a dangerous re in Ace’s direction.


    “I will help you with what you need once you’ve done clearing up this mess that you’ve created,” Ace hissed at her with narrowed eyes.


    –To be continued...