So, Shall We Get Married?
Chapter 41

-If this is what you came for, you’d better leave the way you came in, Alina. There’s too much of you here.

-I will fight for my daughters, whether you like it or not, I am their biological mother. You can’t take that right away from me.

-You lost it when you signed, you gave them up forever. And it wasn’t just on paper, it was also in your heart.

The blonde looks defiantly at her ex-husband. She wasn’t going to let him get away with it, she was here to stay, not to run away the first time he threatened her.

-I plan to change…

The blonde’s words were interrupted by the intrusion of her daughters, Talia entered the office without asking permission and immediately ran into her mother’s arms.

Alina, having her daughter by her side, smiles victoriously at Caleb, who was furious at her attitude. She was a fake.

-Mommy, I brought someone.

Behind the blonde, her sister Alma enters somewhat sheepishly. The little girl looks at her father, who watches her carefully, then sees Olivia next to her, who gives her a confident smile. And finally, she looks at the woman who is looking at her expectantly.

-Alma, this is Mom. I told you she’d come back for us.

-The blonde smiles at her and tries to hug her.

But Alma pulls away quickly, she was kind of scared, she didn’t know this woman… Alina frowns at her daughter’s rejection.

-Alma, it’s mum. What’s wrong with you? -Talia insists, and pushes her into her mother’s arms.

-Yes, it’s me, Mommy. I’m back.” Every minute the girl’s expression was panicked, and Caleb was watching.

-That’s enough! -she exclaims in a thick voice.

And just as her sister and the stranger are careless, the little blonde turns them both around and runs into Olivia’s arms. The little girl hid her face in the skirt of Olivia’s dress, who looked up immediately.

Caleb couldn’t believe what he was seeing, his daughter preferred his wife, who was not her mother, to wanting to hug her own mother.

Both Alina and Talia’s mouths dropped open at the little girl’s behaviour.

-Well, I guess it’s normal, isn’t it? -She hasn’t seen me in a long time, I guess she’s…

-She hasn’t seen you since she was six months old, and that counts as never having met you. Don’t tell me my daughter needs time to get used to you, because we both know that’s not the case.

-But I’m her mum, not her,” Alina points to Olivia.

-I think we should leave the conversation for later, I don’t think it’s appropriate for the girls to be present at these talks,” Olivia comments, still hugging Alma.

-What do you think? -Talia answers haughtily.

Caleb clenches his jaw, not planning to be tolerant of his daughter now that her mother has shown up. Alina spoiled her so much when she was a child, and now that she was a teenager with her mother on her side, she would be uncontrollable.

She had to stop that once and for all….

-Talia, I’m not going to let you talk to Olivia that way. If you do it again, I swear I’ll send you to boarding school, and I’ll see to it that your mother has no access to get to you,” The young woman’s eyes widen at the threat, “And you Alina, you’d better leave and come back another day, right now, I’m celebrating my wedding with Olivia.

-You can’t take me away from my daughters, let alone send Talia to boarding school.

-I can, and if I want to, I will, and you know I won’t have a problem with that. Now go away, and don’t make your situation in this house any worse.

-Dad, you can’t kick mum out of the house. I want her to stay here.

-That’s not going to happen, Talia.

Without taking his eyes off Alina, Caleb was letting her know that he didn’t want her in his house. And that by hook or by crook, he had to get out.

-All right, I’m going to go, but I’m coming back for my daughters.

-Mum,” the blonde pleads.

-Calm down, I promise I’ll be back. And for you too, Alma.

But the girl didn’t even turn to look at her, that little girl’s rejection could become a problem in the long run. Of that I had no doubt.

-I’m going back, Caleb, because we need to talk, and preferably when you’re alone.

-Well, that’s going to be hard enough. Because I’m a married man now, and whatever you have to say to me, you’ll say in front of my wife.

Alina looks at Olivia with Alma in her arms and feels a lot of anger, was that woman gaining on her? That vapid one, who wasn’t even famous?

By the time Caleb’s ex-wife left, Talia was looking at her father like she hated him. And it was obvious that for the CEO, that was quite painful; for his daughter was living in a world of deceit. Perhaps he should have confessed to her why her mother left years ago, but because he was a good father he never told his daughters.

And now he was paying the price…

-I can’t believe you did that, how could you kick my mum out of the house, this is her house too.

-It’s not like that, daughter. Your mother doesn’t live here anymore, the day she left she stopped living here. Now you must understand that she has her own life.

-She wouldn’t have left if you weren’t working so hard, but now that she’s coming back to be with us, you’re getting married,” she exclaims with exaggerated gestures.

-I’m not going to continue with this absurd discussion, what I want is for you to go to your room and not come out of there.

-And now why are you punishing me? -He crosses his arms.

-For bringing your sister here by force, for forcing her to throw herself into your mother’s arms. Alma never knew her mother, you can’t force her to accede to Alina’s whims just like that. She’s still very young, so I forbid you to ever do anything like that again, if Alma wants to talk to her mother, she’ll decide.

The teenager looked expectantly at her sister, the girl was still tucked into the nanny’s skirts. She didn’t believe what her father was saying, rather, she thought it was that Olivia who was putting other ideas into her sister’s head. She needed to get her away from that woman.

-You can’t stop us from staying away from our mother, not you, not that woman you married.

The blonde runs out of her father’s office, Caleb didn’t stop her, he just looked at her. That’s just what he had to go through, on his wedding day. He had promised Olivia that Alina wouldn’t show up in their lives, and it turns out he would fail on his promise.

-Olivia, I’m so sorry about all of this,” Caleb looks at her, really embarrassed.

-It’s okay, we couldn’t have known it was going to happen,” she answers, looking at her daughter, and he does the same. Alma, are you okay?

-I don’t want that lady to be my mum, I want it to be you Olivia,” the brunette widens her eyes. I don’t want her, daddy, I don’t want her, I don’t want to go with her.

The little girl runs into her father’s arms in tears. Caleb carries his daughter as he watches his wife, Alma was so sincere and noble. Alina’s arrival was causing great conflict in his daughter.

-Don’t worry, everything will be all right, daughter. I promise.

It was unbelievable that with how little this little girl knew her, she asked for her as a mother. It was a complicated situation, because, as much as Olivia wanted to take that place, she couldn’t. The woman who appeared was the mother. That woman who appeared was the mother of Caleb’s daughters and she was only the stepmother.

At the end of the night, the party celebration came to an end. With some discomfort, Olivia appeared fine for the rest of the evening. She kept her husband company at all times, but neither of them said a word to each other.

And she feared the appearance of this Alina woman would ruin their marriage, of course she noticed Caleb’s reaction to the woman. But that was one thing, and it was another to stir up old memories inside her. What if Talia and her mother found ways to separate them, Talia obviously wanted her parents to be together.

And will Caleb want the same?

Would he still love his wife?

These were questions she asked herself as she stood in the bathroom of what was now her bedroom. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and wondered what was going to happen next. She looked at the closed door, behind it was Caleb, they both entered it in silence, and it haunted her even more than it already was.

She didn’t know what she was thinking, or what she wanted. She was so nervous about her husband’s reaction, once they were both in the privacy of the room.

They were only a façade… Olivia lets out her breath, rests both hands on the wash, flattens her lips and thinks about what to do.

Sitting on the corner of the bed, Caleb stared at the bathroom door, the CEO kept wondering what that woman was doing in the bathroom, could she be sick, but he didn’t hear her vomiting or complaining, he was actually getting worried.

Since Alina left the party, Olivia hadn’t spoken to him. He wanted to talk to her, but she wore a face that told him she didn’t want to talk to anyone.

The blond scratched his head and lay his body on the bed… he didn’t know what to do.

-If only he would at least get out of the bathroom,” he mutters in despair.

When, he hears the latch on the door being passed. He immediately sits up in bed and waits for her. The brunette was still wearing her wedding dress, but her expression was one of horror.

-Are you feeling sick? Is something hurting? The baby?

-No, I’m fine.

-You’re lying to me, I can tell you’re not fine. -What’s going on, Olivia? If it’s because of Alina’s arrival, I promise she won’t bother us. I’ll make sure she stays away from the house.

-But not from your daughters, Caleb, you can’t do that to your daughters. She’s their mother, and if she came back, it’s because…

-Alina abandoned her daughters, her family. She told me to my face, she didn’t want to have children. She got pregnant in order to maintain a high social position.

-I don’t understand, if she wanted that, why did she leave? -I don’t understand, if she wanted that, why did she leave? Caleb, you’re rich!

Caleb is silent. He looks at his wife from head to toe, she looked so beautiful that night. He was itching to rip that dress off her, stop talking about his ex and make love to that woman.

But Olivia needed to know what had really happened with Alina, she didn’t need to believe that because her ex-wife was back, she deserved to be with her daughters. She was a hypocrite, the only thing left for her to replace out was why she came back.

And the truth is, it wouldn’t be that hard to guess.