Chapter 98 Going Out Of His Mind


    "What about the baby?" Rita''s belly had gotten quite big by now. Emily couldn''t help but stare at it.


    "The baby was an ident," Rita replied nonchntly," but I''m still going to have it."


    "But... why?" continued Emily inquisitively while trying not to step on her toes. Just a little bit ago, Rita


    was determined to get rid of her unborn child, and now she is so keen on keeping it. ''What had


    changed?'' she was wondering.


    It wasn''t that she minded. On the contrary, she was happy that Rita was not going through with the


    abortion. But what had made her change her mind?


    "David promised me all his property as long as I keep the child. I think it''s a good deal, so I agreed,"


    exined Rita on the same carefree tone. She followed that by a smile and a wink, as if nothing was


    wrong.


    In spite of her bright,rge smile, Emily could not reciprocate the gesture. Ufortable, she quickly


    changed the?subject. "Rita, have you been experiencing any nausea or vomitingtely?"


    Rita nodded, "Yes."


    Indeed, she had been having a hard time eating any meals at all. The simple smell of food would make


    her vomit. Fruit, however, didn''t trigger any unpleasant symptoms; so she ate plenty of those.


    She craved cherries often, but it was not yet the season for them. So David decided to ask some


    merchant friends of his to bring him a few kilos of cherries from abroad when they imported their next


    batch. He wanted to keep the baby. So it was his duty to amodate Rita''s needs.


    All the talk about Rita''s morning sickness and cravings led Emily to the realization that her pregnancy


    had really been a cakewalkpared to her friend''s...too much of a cakewalk, in fact. She had not


    been experiencing any side effects at all.


    Rita and her got pregnant around the same time, too. So why wasn''t she showing?


    Perhaps Rita would have an answer for her, and she did indeed, but it wasn''t a convincing answer.


    "Every woman is built differently," she said," so it''s normal for each pregnancy to evolve differently as


    well. Don''t worry about it. Besides, the baby is still too small to be felt. Everything is fine as long as you


    don''t have any difort."


    But was everything just fine? It had been almost four months. Was the child really that small?


    The doubts were starting to eat away at her inner peace, but Rita''s argument, even though cliche, did


    make some sense. Emily reasoned that if she had not had any bad symptoms at all, then everything


    must still be going well. Otherwise, she would have felt something. "You''re right," she told Rita.


    "Of course I am. Now, what about your wound? I have brought some herbal tonics for you. They can


    help speed up the healing process. Remember to eat them."


    "Thank you, Rita. They will definitely help."


    ……


    Their conversation kept going up until the afternoon. Rita had been at the Tyrone Mansion for hours by


    that point, all while David was waiting outside for her. When she finally came out of the house, he


    greeted her with an irate grin and an extremely tense frown.


    Forcing the words out through his clenched teeth while trying to keep his calm, he inquired," You told


    me you wereing to see Emily for a LITTLE while. What took you so long?"


    She must have deliberately kept him waiting that long. Didn''t she realize the time? What was he


    supposed to do out there for all those hours?


    "If you didn''t want to wait for me, you could have left. I didn''t tell you to stay here, did I?" With a roll of


    her eyes, she confidently stood her ground while preparing her next argument in her mind.


    David, however, was done arguing. Though still angry, he decided to instead take a deep breath and let


    it go. "Get in the car," he asserted.


    ''I must have been out of my mind when I agreed to fulfill her every whim, '' David reflected silently while


    Rita was getting adjusted in her seat. ''She isn''t carrying a child; she''s carrying an attitude."


    Once both of them were in the car, with their seat belts fastened, David turned on the engine and


    started driving.


    He also started sting the air conditioner to calm himself down. But it didn''t take two minutes for the


    whiny voice beside him toin.


    "I am cold. Turn it off."


    Though he was not nning to amodate her this time. Plus, she had no right to order him around


    like that. "If you are cold, you can cover yourself up with the nket," he said harshly.


    "You are being horrible to me." Theck of an answer from him, however, caused her to behave even


    more like a brat. Noticing David''s struggle to swallow his words, Rita demanded," Stop the car, I want


    to get off! I can''t stand sitting in your car like this, Master David."


    "Rita, you''re exaggerating!" After a longer day of tolerating her bad temper, David was finally reaching


    his limit. He had never been treated this way by anyone. Who did she think she was? Actually, the real


    question was why had she changed so much?


    In the past, Rita was always the one looking for ways to please him. She was the one chasing him, but


    now the tables had turned and David was beginning to care too much.


    "Exaggerating?" she dered on a surprised tone. "Ha! Look who''s talking!" The past was starting to


    crowd her thoughts.


    Did he forget how he had been treating her all these past years? How he had made her feel useless,


    pointless? How he insulted and humiliated her a million times, while all she did was love him? And look


    at him now, getting all riled up because that love was no longer there. Why would it be?


    Buried in all those memories, Rita began to release some of her thoughts. "You said you were willing to


    give me everything?you?own if I kept the baby. Now, you can''t tolerate me anymore. What about..."


    Rita paused, drawing a deep breath. No, she wasn''t going to go there. She didn''t want to talk about the


    past because she was too embarrassed for allowing love to turn her into such a weak person. The past


    was gone, and now all she wanted was to live for herself.


    The red traffic light suddenly came in her field of vision. The car stopped, and inside the car there was


    complete silence.


    David turned his head to look at Rita. Her chilling re made his limbs feel weak.


    Rita''s eyes were dark and cold like the silent night sky. She was void of any emotions, and her


    expressionless face was unsettling. It almost felt as if he was a stranger to her.


    Or, to be more exact, he felt like she saw him as inferior to her.


    This was not the Rita he once knew. Had this woman really changed that much? Or was she just


    ying the "carrot and stick" game with him?


    Eventually, Rita''s anger subsided and she remained in the car. David turned off the air conditioner as


    well, and for a short while the ride was actually peaceful.Content ? provided by N?velDrama.Org.


    Only a few minutester, that short peace came to an end with Rita bursting into a hystericalughter


    out of nowhere.


    Somehow, David had a feeling that her reason forughing couldn''t be anything actually funny. The


    laughter was too evil, too forced to be so. David reasoned that it was better not to ask anything about it


    and continued minding his own business. However, Rita couldn''t help herself and decided to share her


    thoughts.


    "David, don''t you find it ironic how much of a ve you''ve be?" Continuing tough even harder


    at fate''s irony, this time with tearsing out of her eyes, Rita murmured," Is this baby so important


    that you would rather chose to be a poor man than not keep it? I used to beg you to have a child with


    me, and you kept refusing. Now you''re begging me!"


    It was true that people were weak when they had weaknesses. However, with no attachment towards


    David nor the baby, she would be fearless.


    Just as the words fell out from Rita''s lips, David stepped on the brake abruptly, clutching the steering


    wheel. His veins were?popping?out?on?the?back?of?his?hands and neck. Without looking at her at


    all, David spelled out his request by sybles," Ri-ta, get-out."


    It was the wise thing to do: get out before he did something he would regret.


    Aware of his anger, Rita startedughing even louder. Her words were noticeably true. He cared so


    much and she felt nothing anymore. That''s precisely why she decided to obey his request, in fact. She


    unfastened her seat belt and got out of the car without hesitation. A taxi came by right after. He pulled


    by the side of the road at her request and then she left without saying any more words.


    Furious, David drove away thinking she wasughing at his anger.


    He didn''t make it too far before he stopped the car to calm down. His vision had turned blurry and now


    he was also starting to feel remorse. After a few deep breaths, he started the car again, caught up with


    Rita''s taxi and followed them around while fighting off a growing feeling of regret and guilt for having left


    her like that.


    ……


    In the evening, at the Tyrone Mansion.


    As Emily and Jacob were having their dinner, she suddenly remembered her conversation with Rita.


    Still worried about the progress of her pregnancy, she decided to open up about it to her baby''s


    father–– Jacob.


    To her surprise, his expression changed showing that he was taking the matter seriously. He put the


    fork down, looking at her underdeveloped belly. Jacob''s long stare worried her even more; so much in


    fact, that perhaps if she took smaller breaths and not moved her stomach muscles, he woulde up


    with someforting deduction.


    "Almost four months, but it looks so small," Emily said, trying to break the silence.


    As she also looked at it again, she couldn''t help but think ''my belly is t rather than small.''


    Pulling his chair closer, Jacob leaned over to touch her belly. The worried expression would not leave


    his face. On a serious tone, he asked, "Do you feel any difort?"


    "No," Emily answered softly. After she had be pregnant, Emily ate and slept better than before.


    She wasn''t experiencing any of the regr signs of pregnancy.