Chapter 70: DINNER.
ELLA.
Everything happening lately was beginning to stress me out terribly—my head ached nonstop, my emotions were unstable and the triplets’ behavior was only making everything worse.
Especially Lurgard.
One moment he acted cold and distant, and the very next moment he became overly possessive and impossible to escape from.
I was exhausted.
Completely exhausted.
"Lurgard..." I called out tiredly, raising my hand slowly to my forehead as if trying to ease the headache building there. "I don’t need all these right now."
My voice came out weaker than I intended.
"Please leave me alone."
Lurgard remained standing there for a few seconds, staring at me silently, and then finally, he spoke.
"Theresa, I am so sorry," he said quietly.
His tone had softened completely now.
"We really did not mean to embarrass you, but we just couldn’t trust him."
As he spoke, he slowly moved from where he had been standing and walked toward me carefully, then he placed his hands gently on my shoulders.
Immediately, I removed his hands from me in disgust. The movement was fast and instinctive.
"My baby doesn’t need this stress," I said firmly.
The moment those words left my mouth, Lurgard’s face darkened instantly. His expression changed completely and his gaze slowly drifted downward toward my stomach.
Silence filled the room immediately afterward.
A very awkward silence.
But honestly?
I didn’t care anymore.
If bringing up the baby would finally make him back off and leave me alone, then so be it.
Because at this point, I desperately needed space.
The triplets were becoming too overwhelming, too controlling and too involved in every single thing concerning me.
And it was starting to suffocate me badly.
’We couldn’t trust him.’
Seriously?
I almost scoffed at the excuse again.
Was Micheal their friend?
No.
So why exactly were they acting like they had some authority over who I could speak to or spend time with?
The more I thought about it, the more annoyed I became, and honestly, I couldn’t even blame Micheal for speaking earlier.
Anyone would have reacted.
The triplets were too controlling, especially Lawrence and now Lurgard was becoming just as bad.
Lurgard remained silent for a long while, his eyes stayed fixed on my stomach like he was deeply thinking about something, his jaw tightened slightly.
Then finally, after what felt like forever, he stepped backward slowly. Without saying another word, he turned around and walked toward the door.
The moment he stepped outside and shut the door behind him, I released a deep breath instantly.
Relief washed through me immediately.
’Finally, I could have some peace.’
I slowly sat down on the edge of the bed and placed both hands carefully over my stomach. A strange warmth spread through my chest instantly.
No matter what happened around me...no matter how chaotic everything became...I wasn’t alone anymore.
I lowered my gaze toward my belly softly.
"Baby," I whispered quietly, then I inhaled deeply before speaking again with more firmness. "Trust me, we are both going to survive this."
My fingers caressed my stomach gently.
And for the first time that day, I tried convincing myself that everything would eventually be okay.
After some minutes, I began arranging my things properly in the room before taking a quick bath to freshen up.
The warm water helped ease my body a little, but it did nothing to calm the tension I was still feeling inside.
When I was done, I changed into something comfortable and walked back to the room.
I moved straight to the window and sat beside it quietly.
For a moment, I just stared outside without thinking about anything serious.
Then I brought out my phone and started scrolling through social media aimlessly, trying to distract myself from everything that had been happening lately.
But right in the middle of it, my stomach suddenly growled.
I paused.
My brows furrowed slightly.
I was hungry.
I ignored it at first and tried to remain still, pretending I didn’t hear anything but a few seconds later, my stomach made another louder sound.
I sighed softly.
Of course.
It wasn’t going to let me rest. If I were alone, I probably would have just ignored it and gone to sleep hungry.
But things were different now.
My hand slowly moved toward my stomach. The pup couldn’t possibly starve because of my stubbornness.
That would be foolish.
I slowly stood up, finally giving in to the hunger I had been trying to suppress.
Just as I did, a knock came on my door.
I froze instantly.
My body tensed slightly.
The knock came again, a little firmer this time.
Then Lawrence’s voice followed from the other side.
"Theresa," he said calmly, though I could still hear a hint of caution in his tone. "I know you are still angry with us, but trust me, we did it for your sake."
He paused for a moment.
"I know at this point you still won’t want to see us, so I brought you dinner," he added.
My eyes widened slightly at the mention of food. For a second, excitement flashed through me but I quickly forced myself to stay composed.
I wasn’t going to make it that easy.
"Can I come in?" he asked afterward.
I hesitated.
My stomach growled again as if reminding me of the obvious answer.
I was hungry.
Very hungry.
And I definitely didn’t want him standing outside wasting time but at the same time, I wanted him to realize I wasn’t going to just accept things so easily.
I stayed silent.
A few seconds passed, and then I heard footsteps—retreating footsteps.
He was leaving.
My eyes widened slightly.
"Seriously?" I muttered under my breath in disbelief.
An asshole indeed.
Without wasting another second, I quickly moved toward the door and pulled it open.
The hallway was empty, as Lawrence was already gone but right outside the door, a tray of food was still left behind carefully on the floor.
I blinked once.
Then twice.
Slowly, a small smile crept onto my face as I bent down and picked it up.
I brought it inside carefully and closed the door behind me.
Maybe...
Maybe it was for the best that he left after all.
At least now I could eat in peace without dealing with him standing there watching me.
