The couple soaked in the bathtub with Zaria sitting in between Desmond's legs and resting her head against his chest.
"Rose baths are the best." She sniffed the alluring scent of rose petals mixed with that of the scented candles on the floor.
"What about Desmond-flavored baths?' He asked with a tease.
She turned to glance at him and chuckled. "Are you jealous of rose petals?"
He didn't deny the claim. "I'm jealous of anything that gets so close to your skin." He picked a rose petal stuck on her shoulder and replaced it with his lips. His fingers ran along her arms earning him a sigh of satisfaction from her. She turned around and pressed her lips against his in a heated kiss. He held her waist and pulled her against his chest as he savored her lips. They were soft and sweet and no matter how many times he had kissed her before, he wanted to do it even more.
"We shouldn't soak for too long." She whispered. She was starting to feel drained.
He hummed in agreement and pulled her out first before he got out himself. She didn't have the chance to wrap herself in a dressing gown before she got carried off into the bedroom. He put her down gently on the bed and buried his head between her legs faster than she could expect it. He took his time pleasuring her and just when she thought she couldn't handle the tension anymore, he made sweet, gentle love to her.
She rested with her head on his chest as they chatted about random topics. His phone rang on the nightstand and when he saw who the caller was, he panicked and looked at her.
"Who is it?" She was curious when she saw his reaction.
"Angela." He breathed. "I promise, I haven't been keeping contact with her." He swore.
"I know." She nearly laughed when she realized just why he was nervous. Was he afraid that she would misunderstand?
"It could be Rosaly." She added, and he was visibly relieved. Alas, when he answered the call, the voice he heard was that of the last person he wanted to hear from.
"Hey handsome. It's been a while." She greeted sweetly.
"If you don't have anything important to say, don't ever call me." He growled and was on the verge of hanging up.
"Your daughter wouldn't shut up about wanting to speak to you. Are you going to ignore her?" She taunted.
"Put her on the phone." He ordered.
"Oh, but she's asleep." She teased, making him want to explode.
"Don't you ever prank call me again." He huffed in irritation and hung up.
Zaria was confused at the side. "It wasn't Rosaly?"
"It probably was, but Angela changed her mind about letting us talk." He ran a hand down his face in frustration.
"Then maybe you should get her an ipad or laptop to video call you when she misses you. You can get her one designed for kids." She suggested.
It was a good idea so he nodded. "I will get her one for her safety. However, in just a few weeks she will no longer have to miss me."
She knew what he meant, He was going to sue for her custody.
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead. "I'll not let her interrupt us anymore."
"It's okay. You didn't willingly let it happen." She caressed his face.
…
Meanwhile, Angela was annoyed when Desmond hung up on her. Rosaly had pleaded to give her father a call and when she finally agreed, the girl had fallen asleep on the couch!
"Go to your room!" She ordered, irritated by her.
Rosaly was startled awake. She rubbed her eyes sleepily. "Daddy?"
Angela wanted to explode but she held herself back, taking a deep breath. "Daddy does want to speak to you. It's unfortunate that he can't."
"Is daddy busy?' She asked with her head cocked to the side. She knew that people didn't want to talk or play when they were busy.
Angela sat down next to Rosaly. "No." She sighed, looking sad. "It's because the woman beside him wouldn't let him."
"The woman beside Daddy?' Rosaly was puzzled.
Angela nodded. "Her name is Zaria." She pulled Rosaly into her arms to comfort her. "She's not a good person, you see. She hates you so much that she wants to take daddy away from you."
That was not true! Rosaly wanted to protest. Zaria was her friend and friends didn't take things—or people—from each other. She wanted to voice this out but she had promised Zaria that their friendship was their little secret so she remained silent.
Angela didn't miss her expression. She was infuriated. Zaria, that witch! She must have met Rosaly already. If not, the girl would not look like she wanted to defend her. However, no matter how good she pretended to be, she would never hold a candle to the biological mother.
"You know that mommy loves you, right?"
Rosaly nodded.
"I don't want you to lack anything. The most important thing to me is for you to have everything you need." She ran a hand down Rosaly's back. "But what Zaria wants is the opposite. If you don't believe me, you can ask her to let your daddy bring you and me to the zoo this weekend."
Rosaly was even more confused and on the verge of tears. Angela was her mother but at the same time, she liked Zaria very much.
Hence when Desmond picked her up from school on Wednesday, she couldn't wait to meet Zaria.
"Daddy, is Zaria coming home with us?" She asked for the umpteenth time.
His gaze softened. He had already asked Zaria to drop by but his daughter seemed too excited. Did she miss her that much? She had not even talked to him about anything else! As soon as the car pulled up and she saw Zaria outside through the window, her excitement spiked and she would have jumped right out if the car was not locked.
"Zaria!" She ran to her friend as soon as the car door was opened.
"Hey honey. I missed you." Zaria hugged her and kissed her forehead.
She had nearly forgotten all about the question that Angela had reminded her to ask Zaria. Angela had specifically mentioned that she should ask when they were alone, so she dragged Zaria to her room to talk.
"Zaria, can daddy go to the zoo with us this weekend?' She asked sadly.
It took Zaria a moment to realize that the girl's attitude was off. Shouldn't she be excited asking for that?
"You mean, with you and me?" She probed to be sure. As expected, the girl's eyes drooped.
"With mommy and me."
Angela freaking Aguilar! She inwardly cursed. She was totally using Rosaly against her.
She crouched to the girl's level and tried her luck probing further. "Why do you look so sad? Do you want to go?"
Rosaly nodded and shook her head almost at the same time. "Mommy wants to go with me and daddy. I wanted to go with you and daddy." She responded honestly. Luckily, the little girl was too young to follow through with her mother's scheme and was honest about what she wanted.
"If you don't want to go with mommy, you don't have to." She stated, much to Rosaly's relief. But the girl was still at a loss.
"But Miss Hildegard said we should listen to our parents."
Zaria smiled dotingly. "Miss Hildegard was right. But I'm sure she also said that you should be honest, right?" When Rosaly nodded, she added, "Your mommy will not know what you really want if you don't tell her."
Rosaly looked a little more relieved and hugged her, which broke Zaria's heart. She was too innocent for the raging hate in the world of adults. If only Angela could leave her out of their feud. Obviously, that would be too unreasonable to ask of a woman who cared for no one but herself. She couldn't let her own daughter off.
It wasn't unexpected for Angela to call again, asking to speak to her daughter. Desmond exchanged glances with Zaria and gave Rosaly the phone when he received her approval. Zaria wanted to know what Angela was up to and it wasn't long before she did.
"Go to your room." Angela ordered on the other side.
When Rosaly left, Desmond sat beside Zaria. "Why did you say yes to that?"
"If I said no, Angela would have used it to prove to Rosaly that I don't want her to be with her parents." She told him about her conversation with Rosaly, which enraged him.
"She is digging her own grave."
"That, she is." Zaria crossed her arms.
Desmond's phone was set to auto record all calls so when Rosaly brought it back, he gave her some toys to keep her distracted.
Rosaly looked at Zaria curiously before leaving. She asked, "Zaria, are you daddy's girlfriend?"
Was this another trap? She thought hard about it and nodded nonetheless. When Rosaly ran out of the room crying, she eyed Desmond's phone in shock. What did Angela say to her?
"Find out what Angela said. I'll check on her." He gave her his phone and dashed to follow his daughter.
Zaria couldn't wait and immediately searched for the latest call before playing the recording.
"Did you ask Zaria what I told you to ask?" Angela asked on the call.
"Yes mommy." Answered Rosaly, her little voice shaking.
"What did she say?"
"She said…" there was a pause, probably because Rosaly had forgotten part of the conversation. "She said I should be honest for mommy to know what I want."
Angela cursed on the other side. It was low but it was there. A curse, directed at a child.
"I told you so. She couldn't immediately say yes because she knows that you and your daddy will be close if we go together. She wants to separate you."
She asked random questions before finally asking, "Do you know that Zaria is daddy's girlfriend?"
"What's a girlfriend?" Rosaly asked curiously.
Angela's description was, as expected, misleading. "A girlfriend means that your daddy is going to leave his whole family to be with her. He will only love her and abandon everyone else to the day he dies. This means that daddy will only love her. Not you."
Zaria was flabbergasted. That was very close to the definition of marriage and it was mostly true, but Angela had deliberately worded it to make Rosaly believe that she would be abandoned by her father. How dare she! She couldn't bear to listen to the rest of the recording but her gaze turned evil when she rewinded it to the definition.
"Thank you, Angela.. For giving us the evidence we need to prove that you are not a fit parent."
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