Ara, Zed, and I gathered around a table in the finest restaurant in the city. The day had finally come for all of us to have dinner with Maezy and him. And since we arrived earlier than them, I kept stealing glances at the door. At this time, I had already prepared myself for the worst. I was already too exhausted from constant hiding and running. I had always wanted to protect Zed from hurting, but I had not lived in peace for a long time.
“Good evening, everyone!” Kim’s voice jolted me off my seat. I had shifted my attention to the baby inside the stroller because the anxiety was killing me already.
“Good evening, Mr. Mori.”
“Good evening, sir Kim.”
“Good evening, Ja -” Kim greeted, looking at me. I froze for a second, but then he said, “I mean, Yen.” He then took a seat across from me, stealing gazes now and then. But, damn it, his presence was then sending pricks down my spine, especially when I felt Zed's eyes on us.
I was about to reply, but I saw Mr. Yuki walking towards us together with his nurses. Deep wrinkles spread on his face already, and his hair was silver-white, but he could still stand up straight.
“Good evening, everyone!” Mr. Yuki said, running his eyes on each one of us. “I’m glad you accepted my invitation. How’s the baby?”
Silence fell for a while before Ara took the courage to reply. “He’s fine, sir.”
Kim stood up and pulled out a chair for Mr. Yuki. He then dismissed the nurses and instructed them to occupy another table away from us.
“We are still waiting for the two, dad,” Kim said, glancing at me.
Damn it! When would he stop looking at me? I was already quivering.
“Kim, it looks like the lady is quivering,” Mr. Yuki said, fixing his gaze at me. “Can you lower down the aircon's thermostat?”
“And why should you wear a thin fabric?” Kim replied, throwing me a quick glare.
“I’ll get your jacket from the car, dear,” Zed offered, and he stood up without waiting for my reply.
I pulled his arm down, urging him to return to his seat. “I’m fine. I like the cold.”
Kim then stood up while everyone was watching him. He removed his coat, then walked towards me and draped it on my shoulder.
“You can’t afford to get sick, can you? You should be more careful. You’re pregnant.”
I almost melted from the sudden surge of tension rising amidst us. All of them, except Zed, already knew about my status with Kim. Zed must have noticed my agitation because he rubbed the edge of my shoulders.
“Thank you,” was all I could say.
I hadn’t recovered yet from the tension when Maezy and Tim walked in. She was about to turn back when she saw Mr. Yuki, but Kim was quick to meet her halfway. He held her arm and dragged her to the table, guiding her on an empty seat. Tim also sat down quietly, neither greeting everyone.
“What is this all about, Kim? Why are we too many?”
“It’s my birthday, remember?”
Maezy froze, dropping her jaw open. But then she waved and said, “Oh, about that. We’re never that close to be able to know each other's birthday.”
I was also surprised.
“Absolutely.”
“Let them serve the food. Everyone must be hungry already," Mr. Yuki interrupted, sensing the unnecessary tension between Kim and Maezy.
“Okay, dad.”
Kim gestured a hand for the waiter to come in. Then, after a few seconds, the waiters came in with a trolley of sumptuous-looking food.
“Eat well, everyone. The food here is good,” Mr. Yuki said, smiling at us.
He started picking up some food, and the rest of us followed. Not one of us dared to break the silence, except for the clanking of the cutleries against the plates. Of all the dinners I had been into, this was the most stressful one. It seemed like we were at a funeral instead of a birthday celebration.
“Tim, you’re not hungry?” Kim’s voice suddenly broke the silence, making us all look up. I indeed noticed that his plate was empty, and his eyes were on the baby.
“Ara, have you made up your mind already?” Mr. Yuki suddenly butted in.
“Yes, sir.” I looked at Ara, trying to gauge her emotion, now that both Maezy and Tim were here.
“Alright. One of our staff is already processing your paper as the head of my ESL company in the US. The manager there has resigned due to pregnancy, so you will be taking over. Everything will be provided for you, including your apartment. So, if you have someone you know who can take care of the baby, you may bring him along with you.”
Ara looked surprised. Who wouldn’t be when her application that had been long overdue went out easily this time?
“Thank you, sir," Ara said, and the corners of her eyes glistened with unshed tears.
“You deserve it.”
Just as Mr. Yuki put down his cutleries on his plate, a man in a coat and tie approached us. He greeted all of us with a smile, but his eyes lingered on Mr. Yuki.
“Please sit down,” Mr. Yuki said, gesturing for him to sit down on an empty seat across from him.
All of us moved our eyes toward each other, asking what was going on. Then, as if Mr. Yuki had read our minds, he cleared his throat and looked at Maezy.
“You know your sins against our marriage, so it has to be ended.” He then removed his ringer from his finger and handed it to Maezy. “This is all I can give to you. It's a real diamond, so you can make use of this in the future.”
The man in coat and tie then butted in and looked at Maezy. “By the way, I am Atty. Ignacio, working for Mr. Yuki. I come here because of his request to let me process the divorce papers. And because we have so much evidence of your infidelity, that would be the ground for your divorce.”
“As for the properties, since you have signed a prenuptial agreement that you won’t have a part in all the properties or businesses he would acquire during the marriage, you can only have the car and the house you are now living in. As for the rest of the properties like the 5 hectares in the North, the condominiums uptown, and many others, will all go to Ara.”
While Ara and all of us flew our eyes wide, Maezy stood up and slammed a fist on the table.
“Why do you do this to your son, old man?”
“Do you want me to take a DNA test?” Mr. Yuki smirked but spoke so calmly like a paragon of serenity.
Maezy stiffened, and her face turned red. “Do as you wish!”
“Of course.” The lawyer then slid in a paper that turned out to be a DNA report, stating that Jaykee was not Mr. Yuki's son.
Maezy turned pale, but she still had the audacity to scream out. “And why do you give all our properties to Ara? She's not even your relative."
“Because I’m trying to compensate for the loss and damages you have caused her. You robbed away the father of her child, and you broke her home. So you should be glad that I only take away those material things."
Mr. Yuki then looked at her contemptuously. He knew very well that luxury was as important to her as her breathing. She wouldn't have made all the efforts in changing all those wall frames in the house according to who would be coming over.
“How dare you old man?!” Maezy already shouted hysterically, smashing the things she could grab into the floor.
“Don't mess with me further!”
Mr. Yuki then stood up, and Kim sprang to his side, leading him out of the room. All of us, except Maezy, could only stare at Mr. Yuki and Kim's retreating.
Maezy then laughed out loud, brushing the tears away from her face.
"Old man, if you think your life is perfect that it sounds so easy for you to punish me like a stray animal, what can you say about your foster son's chaotic love life?"
Kim then turned and looked at Maezy in horror, but Maezy didn't bat an eyelash.
"Isn't he as romantic as you? While scouring the face of the earth for his lost wife, he lives with me. And now that he finds her, what has he done? Isn't he messing around with a married woman, disguising her as his company's top manager?"