"Excuse me, sir," Maria said as Edward stood up and walked to the living room.
When Edward saw him, he laughed. "What are you doing here?" he arrogantly inquired.
"I'm just here to clear up our misunderstanding from yesterday; I don't want my wife to be worried about this," Anthony explained.
"Wait, how did she become your wife after that accident? You were in that plane too, right? You had the same flight as my wife at the time, and you survived that accident with my wife too. So tell me what did you do to make her forget me?" Edward asked, carefully observing his reaction.
"Yes, Cassandra was on the same flight as me at the time, but I was with Anastasia as well. I understand why you're doing this because you miss your deceased wife so much, but please don't bother my wife with this because Anastasia is not Cassandra and she will never be," Anthony said as he stood up.
"Don't complicate things, Anthony; if I find out that Anastasia is my wife, you're going to meet the beast that I've been hiding within me," Edward said quietly, holding his breath, forcing himself to be calm.
~
Anthony and Anastasia haven't discussed what happened last night. It's all water beneath the bridge. While Anthony made breakfast, she sat with his mother. The children were still asleep.
"Why do you get up so early?" he asks, laughing.
"Why do you get up so early?" she responds. She does it occasionally to make him laugh. His laugh is infectious.
He laughs. "I'll go to the supermarket with our nanny later to get some groceries and other necessities."
"Can I come with you?" she inquired as Anthony looked at her and said, "No." without thinking.
"Why? It'll be boring once the kids go on vacation and I'll be alone here; please, can I come with you?" she begged, making herself so cute to inform him.
"Don't do that face, honey," he warned.
"Please?"
"No, don't make me repeat myself, Anastasia. That's final, and you're just going to stay here and you're not allowed to go outside," he says as Anastasia nods with a sad expression as she walks over to assist him. He was preparing their breakfast french toast. He holds up a bottle as she looks over. It was marketed as French Vanilla.
"Don't get me wrong, honey; I'm just protecting you," he says. "Protecting from what?" she scoffed.
"From the person who will take you away from me," he said quietly, but Anastasia didn't hear.
"What did you say, honey? I didn't hear you," she inquired.
"Nothing, just go back to your seat and wait for our breakfast," he explained as Anastasia returned to her seat, perplexed.
While he was cooking breakfast, Anastasia gathered the plates and placed them in their proper places.
"Honey, wake those kiddos up and tell them to get their asses down here," Anthony says, laughing.
She entered Ana's room first. She's still fast asleep. She hovers above her and kisses her cheek several times to wake her up.
"Ana honey, wake up," she shakes her shoulder, groans, and slowly opens his eyes.
"Good morning, baby girl," Anastasia says, laughing. She leans in to kiss her on the cheek.
"Wake up your little brother and come downstairs; your father made us breakfast," she said as the little girl nodded before leaving her room.
The kids followed her into the kitchen after a few minutes. Then everyone sat down and ate.
~
"I'm only going to leave for a few minutes. We're just going to buy groceries. Remember what I told you, you are not—" Anthony reminded her not to go outside.
"Yes, I know, I'm not supposed to go outside," she said, rolling her eyes.
"Don't give me that attitude, Anastasia," Anthony said before kissing her forehead and leaving.
Anastasia then keeps herself busy because the kids are already on their way to Baguio for a vacation with their grandmother.
She was about to start washing their dishes when the doorbell rang.
So she rushed to open the door, expecting Anthony, but her eyes widened when she saw who it was.
"What are you doing here, Edward?" she inquired.
"Are you looking for my husband? He just left a few minutes ago; you can wait for him inside if you want," she said awkwardly. "Why does my heart beat so fast every time I see him?" she wondered, perplexed.
"No, I'm not here for Anthony; I'm here to see you," he clarifies, making her blush.
"How did you know our house?" she queried.
"Because we used to be business partners, I usually come here to discuss some business project with him," Edward explained.
"Anyway, if you don't mind, I brought Akia with me. She kept crying last night because she wanted to see you. She misses her mother so much and she believes that you are her mother. I feel pity for my daughter. It's just like I'm asking a favor from you if it's okay to you if Akia visits you sometimes?" Edward asked as she stared at her, looking at the little girl who was so cute and Anastasia couldn't deny that she felt so good with this good.
"S-sure, but what if my husband gets angry?" she worriedly asked. Edward noticed Anastasia's trembling hand and the bruises on her shoulder.
"Did he hurt you?" Edward inquired, his teeth clenched in rage. "What a shameless bastard, he really had the power to hurt my woman," he thought to himself.
"Ah, no, it's just—"
"Okay, I understand, but it's okay if I can wait for him, right? I'm going to talk to him about this instead," Edward said, making a plan to stay longer.
"All right, you can wait for him in the living room, and come here, Akia," she said as she approached the little girl, who ran over to her and hugged her tightly.
"Mommy, I miss you," Akia said.
When she hears the little one calling her mommy, her heart melts and her head hurts. "Ahhh," she groans.
"What's wrong?" panicked Edward.
"Ahh, my head hurts so much, can you please help me find my medicine, it's just in our room, ah," she groans in pain as Edward rushes upstairs and searches the entire room before returning downstairs.
"Is this your medicine?" he inquired.
"Yes, thank you," she said as she hurriedly took one of his pills.
"Here's your water," he said, handing her a glass.
"Are you feeling better now?"
"Yes, thank you," she replied, smiling.
"Why are you taking that medicine?"
"I suffer from amnesia since that accident happened five years ago."