Chapter 228 - I Want To Play With Daddy
The longer Zaria studied the little girl before her, the more she was convinced that she was Desmond's daughter. She took after him in so many ways for it to be fake.
She stared at her boyfriend in shock. He had just denied having a child with Angela. To think that she had actually believed him. She wanted to ask him a billion questions but couldn't do that in the child's presence. Instead, she forced a smile.
"I'll just make sure the guests are alright. If you'll excuse me."
"Zaria!" He reached out to take her hand but she shook him off.
"D-daddy?" Rosaly muttered shyly when he turned to leave.
"Your daughter is speaking to you. Are you going to disregard her?" Angela asked before he could take a stop, and his brain finally snapped.
"Why on earth would you do this?"
"Do what? All I did was bring your daughter to you." She feigned innocence, which irritated him all the more.
With Angela's prompt, Rosaly stepped forward to give him a little gift box. "Happy birthday, daddy." As soon as he took the box, she scurried back to hide behind her mother. Desmond glared at Angela who must have made her think that he was scary.
"Rosaly, do you want to play with Laia?" He asked, and the little girl ran all the way to the swimming pool where the other kids were.
The woman before him smiled bashfully as though she couldn't wait for them to have some alone time since Zaria and Rosaly were out of the way.
"Why didn't you tell me about her before?" He demanded, straight to the point without beating around the bush.
"You broke up with me." She made it out to be his fault. He couldn't believe the nerve of this woman! Would he have broken up with her if she had not been a manipulative, cheating girlfriend?
When she met his enraged expression, she seemed to remember why they broke up so she switched up excuses. "Let's face it. I found out after we broke up. You would have asked me to get rid of the baby if I told you that I was pregnant."
His lips twitched. He probably would have, but that would only be because he would not believe her and would not want her to manipulate him with a lie. But if he knew that she was really carrying his child, he would never have asked her to abort it!
She crossed her arms, validating her excuse. "I wanted to keep my baby. Not because it was the only memory I had of you but because I'm not a heartless woman. I would never want my child dead. I did all I could to protect her and that included keeping her away from you."
He didn't believe any of her bullshit. "Why didn't you tell me after she was born? I was not going to make you strangle her, was I?"
"I did not want you involved in her life." She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Don't get me wrong, Desmond. It's not because I hated you. I didn't. I loved you." She took a deep breath dramatically and her voice broke when she spoke out the next words. "I would never be able to make it up to you for what I did. I thought the best thing I could do for you was not disrupt your life. I knew you wanted nothing to do with me and if Rosaly was going to make you have to marry me, especially with the kind of parents you have, I preferred to keep her away."
Her sobbing excuse was ridiculous. He couldn't believe that when she did things "for the best of others" in the past, he would believe her. His mind had truly been fried as Natalie put it.
"Since you hated to disrupt my peace, why did you choose to disrupt it now?" He asked in ridicule.
"Rosaly needs a father. I've been a good mother but it doesn't keep her from wanting a father." She sighed sadly, and he didn't believe her excuse in the slightest.
Alyssa would not have promised an unforgettable gift if the entire situation was real. It was a plot and there was no way he would be convinced otherwise.
He looked back at the playing kids and focused on Rosaly who was splashing water at a little girl. "I want to do a DNA test."
"Well, as you wish." She shrugged as if that would prove that she was not lying and had nothing to hide.
He was lost in a trance looking at the girl who was supposedly his daughter. The DNA test would be superficial since he already knew from his gut feeling what the results would be. Rosaly must be his daughter. Otherwise, there was no way to explain why he felt such a strong connection seeing her for the first time. It was different from holding his friends' children. It should have made him happy but unfortunately, her appearance had changed so many things.
"Don't you want to follow your girlfriend? She looked upset." Angela smiled brilliantly.
Meanwhile, Zaria had rushed all the way to the restroom and pushed the door open with force. Natalie was on the other side and was almost hit by the door.
"I'm so sorry. I…" Zaria's voice broke as she burst into tears, which she had been holding.
"Are you okay? What happened?" Natalie shut the door after pulling her in, and held her shoulders. Zaria broke down in her arms and all Natalie could do was rub her back and wait for her to calm down. It didn't take long to make a guess. Was what Angela said true? Did she really have a child with Desmond? If it was unproven, Zaria would not be so devastated.
"She looks so much like him. Like both of them." Zaria sniffled when she started to calm down.
"Did she bring her?" Asked Natalie, to which Zaria nodded.
"I'm sorry you had to find out about it this way. But I didn't know Angela was pregnant when she and Desmond broke up. It could all be made up."
"I don't think so." She pulled away to wash her face in the sink. "I asked him earlier and he claimed not to have a child with her. I was so stupid to believe him."
"Hey, don't think about it too much, okay?" She hugged her again. "He probably thought he didn't, because he didn't know either. If he did, he would never have hidden such an important thing from you."
That was not what mattered here. Whether or not he knew, Rosaly did exist. What now? Was she going to be the woman who keeps a child and her father apart? She would never bear to do that! But if she broke up with him so he would be with his daughter, what about her baby?
"Zaria?" A knock resounded on the door at the same time as Desmond called out. "Are you in there?"
"Get lost, jerk." Natalie roared. If he had not gotten together with that woman, would any of this happen? She was mad at him, because a considerate woman would have told him about the child in private and let him choose the right time to tell his girlfriend. His choice of a girlfriend in the past was what was making Zaria so broken now. Besides, she was pregnant and didn't need to be stressed out.
Desmond was taken aback by the outrage. "Nat, Zaria is in there, right? Please open the door."
"This is the women's restroom." She fired back.
Zaria had to smile at that. She pulled out some paper towels and dabbed them at her wet face, before discarding them. She then headed for the door. "Thanks a lot, Nat. But we have to have this conversation some day."
"Well, good luck." Natalie opened the door and they both got out. She left the two in the hallway and headed back to the banquet hall.
"So, is she your daughter or not?" She asked, straight to the point.
"Zaria," His mouth felt dry. He didn't know what to tell her.
"Should I take that as a yes or no?" She leaned against the wall, staring at him hard.
"I'm going to take a DNA test."
She smiled at his words, but there was nothing about it. "What if the result comes out positive? What happens afterwards?"
He ran a hand down his hair. The worst thing he could ever do was abandon his child. This applied to both Rosaly, if she was his, and the child Zaria was carrying. Besides, he didn't want to leave his girlfriend. It was going to be difficult but he had to make a decision as soon as possible.
…
Angela answered a call soon after Desmond left.
"I did what you asked."
"Good. The benefits will be worth it, I promise." Responded Alyssa, who sounded overjoyed.
She smirked. She was chasing after the said benefits. It was already good enough to watch the drama unfold.
"Mommy?" Rosaly tugged her dress. She was all wet from swimming, making Angela frown.
"Let's get you dried up. We have to go."
Rosaly looked bummed. "But I want to play with Daddy. Laia and the others are going to ask their daddies to crown them with tiaras. I want to ask Daddy too."
Angela had no idea what she meant and zero interest to understand, so she brushed it off. "You are going to miss it out this time.. But when your daddy and I get married, you can have him crown you whenever you want."
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