Trying to Avoid

Rihanna sat in her living room, trapped with Vincent who looked very serious about finding out about Odelia's whereabouts. However, Rihanna had promised her best friend not to say anything about herself to her ex-husband.

"I didn't even know you two had such a fight, nor did I hear anything about Odelia," said Rihanna, who lied to Vincent for Odelia's sake.

"Are you sure she didn't come here? Then why did you avoid me earlier?"

"I was very busy earlier, after all, five months have passed, why did you just go looking for her? Do you really love her or not?"

"Of course I love her! I love My Odelia very much, but I can't go looking for her because my mother..." Vincent could not continue.

But, of course, Rihanna knew the situation and still didn't like how Vincent didn't immediately go looking for Odelia and never defended her in front of his mother.

"If you really love her and you feel you are a man, you should be able to protect Odelia. Not from strangers but from your own family!"

Hearing Rihanna's words, Vincent felt guilty. What she said was true, he should have been able to protect his woman. Not just from strangers, but his own family who tried to push Odelia away.

"I know, I should have been more courageous in defending her and made up my mind to be with her, but I..." Vincent bowed his head as he scratched his head in frustration.

He had tried asking Odelia's parents in Mocoado, but they knew nothing about Odelia's whereabouts. Of course, because she had finally told her family about what had happened after she had finally gotten together with Sean.

"It's better that you don't have to look for her, Odelia. She must be trying to find her own happiness without you," Rihanna said as she folded her arms in front of her chest.

"I can't just let her go! Odelia must need me too, she must still love me!"

She turned her face away, knowing that Odelia was still thinking about Vincent. But Rihanna didn't want Odelia to go back to her ex-husband who couldn't even defend her when she was being pressured by his family.

"Then after you found her, what did you think you were going to do? Ask her to come back to you? You've got to be kidding me. Do you want her to be tormented by your mother and sister again?"

"I..."

Rihanna stood up from her chair and asked Vincent to leave. "You better leave before I get sick of seeing your face knowing what your family did to my best friend!"

Hearing that he was being kicked out, Vincent had no choice but to leave Rihanna's house. Actually, she felt guilty for sending the man away, even though the journey from North Zondalia to the South, where he was currently, took 5 hours and that's not counting the traffic jam that could have occurred.

But she was also upset remembering how Odelia had cried when telling her this.

He then stood up from his chair and left her house. Vincent got into his car and looked very resigned. He said he had a business trip to go to.

He had been very frustrated not to see Odelia and not even know how she was doing for a long time. That's why he quietly went looking for her.

"Now where do I go to find her? I don't want to go on like this. I want to see her again," he muttered with tears flowing.

*****

The next day, Odelia prepared to go to the hospital to check on her 15th week of pregnancy. She prepared her bag and straightened her hair.

Knock knock

From the door of her room, there was a knock followed by the voice of a man living with her.

"Odelia, are you ready? Let's go now," he said.

"Oh sure, I'm done..." She put down her comb and walked out of the room.

She saw Sean waiting at the door smiling at her. "You look beautiful," Sean complimented when he saw Odelia, who was dressed up very beautifully.

"Thank you... Did I overdo it?" she asked when she saw herself wearing a brown dress.

"No, you're already beautiful." He then took Odelia out of the house and into the car and drove to the hospital.

Sean looked so excited because this was the first time he would be going to see the baby's development.

"I'm sorry to trouble you, you must be busy with your work but you have to accompany me to the hospital," Odelia said as she looked at Sean.

"No problem, I wanted to accompany you anyway, it's my responsibility to do so as your husband," Sean replied as he drove his car.

"You're very responsible, a man like you must be liked by many women." She chuckled trying to break the ice between the two of them.

He chuckled too and said that Odelia's guess wasn't wrong. There were some women who tried to get close to him but he rejected them.

"Why is that? Are they not your criteria?"

"It's not that, it's just that I don't think they're the women I'm looking for. Many of them see me as a money-maker and not as a man. That's why I don't want to choose them," Sean explained.

He says honestly that he doesn't mind spending a lot of money on someone he's always wanted. But he didn't want to just spend it on something that wasn't important.

"I see, you have an extraordinary type," Odelia commented. "But that doesn't matter, you have very high qualities yourself. So you two will be very compatible."

He smiled and said thank you, everyone always thought that his criteria were too high. He was just looking for someone who was his equal.

"Someone who has quality, will match with those who have it too. So there's nothing wrong with that," she continued.

They finally arrived at the hospital, and immediately went to register Odelia's name at the reception. Given that she was currently contractually married to Sean, she wrote her name as Odelia Osbert.

They then went to the second floor, to the gynecologist's room and waited there.

"This hallway feels a bit cold," Odelia murmured.

"Yes, it's winter soon. A cold wind must be blowing in from the window near here," Sean replied.

Seeing Odelia who felt cold, he took the initiative to go buy some hot tea in the cafeteria.

"I'll be back soon, you wait here," he said and then walked away from Odelia.

"He doesn't have to," she said with a smile and then closed her eyes.

She rubbed her belly and waited until Sean returned.

Instead, she heard someone's voice that sounded familiar.

"Humph I really hate having to wait, especially surrounded by people like them!!!" said a woman complaining that she had to wait in the waiting room.

"It'll only take a minute, just sit down already!"

Hearing the voice, Odelia reflexively opened her eyes and looked towards them in surprise.

"That's... Mother and Alice."