16%
However, this was easier said than done. After bringing Abigail back to the villa, Zora quickly realized just how difficult caring for a child truly was.
Abigail loved wearing elaborate princess dresses E
They were hard to clean, but she didn’t care. Not only did she insist on wearing them every day, she changed outfits multiple times and demanded that each one be washed by hand.!!
After all, that was what Naya used to do.
On top of that, she expected a new hairstyle every day, one that matched her outfit, looked different from the last, didn’t pull on her scalp, and couldn’t be too loose either.”
Zora was overwhelmed. Within a few days, she handed all these tasks over to the servants.
In the days that followed, while everything seemed the same on the surface, Cesar began to notice subtle changes.
He never had his clothes hand–washed anymore. Abigail stopped getting specially prepared children’s meals.
Even his bedding, neglected for too long, became infested with mites so badly that both he and Abigail were hospitalized more than once for allergic reactions.
Abigail’s attitude toward Zora also began to shift.
the past, she had openly expressed her love for Zora and often begged her to become her mother!
But ever since she was hospitalized for a severe peanut allergy, Abigail developed an inexplicable fear of Zora.
It was as if she had experienced something truly frightening.E
Cesar asked her about it more than once, but Abigail always shook her head and denied anything had happened.
One night, Cesar came home from a social gathering in the early hours of the morning and was surprised to see the bedroom light still on.
A flicker of delight crossed his face as he rushed toward the room. In the past, whenever he came home late, Naya would always leave a light on for him, just like now.
But when he stepped inside, of course it wasn’t Naya. It was Zora, lounging on the bed in a see–through nightgown, posing
seductively as she waved him over,
In the past, the sight of her in that kind of outfit would’ve stirred something in him.
But tonight, all he saw was Naya.
He remembered her waiting up for him too. Only, she didn’t just wait, she made him hangover soup, wiped him down, massaged his shoulders and back, quietly tending to him after a long day.
And Cesar… Cesar had only responded with sweet words, all while planning his next trip abroad to see Zora.
To this day, he could still recall what happened after one of those affairs.}
He’d come home late and passed out cold on the bed. The next morning, he found Naya sitting silently in the living room, the whole night having passed her by.
In her hands was the white shirt he had worn while meeting up with Zora. It bore a bold red lipstick stain and reeked of perfume.
When she saw him, her eyes filled with tears. “Cesar, what is this? Are you with another woman?” Her voice trembled, and her face was filled with heartbreak.
But at the time, all he felt was that she was being unreasonable.
He had already given Naya the status of Mrs. Harmon. He had already owed Zora enough. And yet, Naya still wouldn’t let things go.”
So he’d said coldly, “Naya, you’re having too much free time. That’s why you keep imagining things. A man like me, if I really wanted a woman, I’d bring her home openly. Why would I sneak around?
“The lipstick must’ve rubbed off accidentally, and the perfume? Probably just my assistant spraying too much on me. This is business, we deal with all kinds of situations. If you can’t handle it, then get a divorce.”
Naya’s eyes turned red at his words, but she didn’t argue. She simply lowered her head and continued washing his clothes in
silence
After that, she never brought up the lipstick or the perfume again. But now, thinking back, he realized just how cruel he had been.S
He knew her heart was anchored in their home. He knew her love was solely his.
Yet he used that love against her, tossing it aside like it was nothing.!!
