PHB 103
It’s already eleven o’clock at night, but Deasy still hasn’t seen Lucas, who hasn’t come home all day.
In all her time as a wife, Deasy has never known Lucas to come home late, let alone this late. Even if he had to work overtime, Lucas had never come home later than nine in the evening. So, where is her husband tonight?
Deasy has tried multiple times to contact him and send text messages, but he hasn’t responded to any of her attempts. He hasn’t even answered her calls.
Deasy has started to wonder if Lucas is so angry that he’s decided not to come home. Or perhaps he’s still spending time with Devina.
Oh, this is just so frustrating!
Speaking of Devina, why does it feel so suffocating to imagine that Lucas might actually be with his ex-fiancée? Deasy is not okay with her husband being with another woman, whoever she may be.
Because of overthinking, Deasy is getting frustrated with herself. She’s been waiting for Lucas, who still hasn’t come home, and she even fell asleep on the couch.
“Honey… wake up.”
Deasy faintly hears someone calling her. Slowly opening her eyes, she sees the man she’s been waiting for.
Without any hesitation, Deasy rushes into his arms. She doesn’t care if Lucas tries to avoid her or what his response will be. Right now, she just wants to hug him. Fortunately, this time her embrace isn’t pushed away; instead, it’s reciprocated by her husband.
“Where have you been? I’ve been waiting for you to come home.”
Deasy starts to sob. She doesn’t know why, but she just feels like crying. Letting out all the mixed emotions that have been swirling in her heart.
“I haven’t gone anywhere. I’ve been in my office all this time.”
“Liar! I didn’t even hear your car in the garage.”
“Well, my car isn’t in the garage. Felix gave me a ride home. So, why are you crying like this?” Lucas intentionally asks, although he doesn’t need an explanation; he can guess what caused his wife to cry.
“I’m crying because of you! You’ve been so frustrating today. I’ve already apologized, Luc. I swear, I didn’t mean anything by it. I didn’t intend to cheat. But instead of forgiving me, you went out with Devina. And I went through so much trouble to cook you lunch.”
Lucas loosens his embrace. He smiles and reaches out to wipe away the tears on Deasy’s cheeks.
“I told you I forgave you.”
“I may be forgiven, but you still went out with her in return? That’s mean! Plus, you intentionally went out with Devina instead of having lunch with me. I worked so hard to make you lunch, and it was all wasted because you didn’t eat it,” Deasy says emotionally.
“Who said it was wasted? I ate the lunch you made and finished it, actually.”
“Liar! I saw you having lunch with Devina!”
Lucas laughs. There’s nothing funny about what Deasy just said.
“Why are you laughing? There’s nothing funny, Luc.”
Lucas raises his hand and playfully pinches both of Deasy’s cheeks.
“I just find it amusing to see you nagging like this.”
“I know I messed up, Luc. But I’m still upset that, despite my efforts to get your attention and avoid making you angry again, I cooked for you, prepared your favorite menu, and even brought it to your office. And then, you just left with another woman.”
“I didn’t throw away your food, honey. I didn’t go anywhere with Devina. I was just talking about having lunch with her. But in reality, it didn’t happen at all.”
“What do you mean?”
Deasy was a bit puzzled, trying to digest what Lucas had just told her.
Her husband had said he hadn’t gone with Devina. If that was the case, where had he been? She had witnessed them leaving the room together, even planning to have lunch.
“Yeah, I haven’t gone anywhere. I’ve been at the office all day.”
Lucas then got up from his seat, left the room for a moment, and returned with a small gold-colored box in his hand, which he handed to Deasy.
“What’s this?”
Deasy was taken aback. In the midst of their argument, Lucas suddenly gave her something that looked suspicious.
“If you want to know what’s inside, just open it.”
Deasy complied. She momentarily put aside her frustration and opened the small gold-colored box that Lucas had just given her. If the box were a bit smaller, she might have guessed it contained jewelry. But because it wasn’t made of velvet like most gold boxes, and its shape was slightly larger, Deasy became even more curious. What could her husband be giving her on a night like this?
“A key? Did you get me a car?”
“Random,” Lucas retorted, shaking his head. “Is there a car nowadays that you unlock with a key?”
“No, there isn’t.”
“So, what kind of key is this then? An apartment? Did you buy me an apartment?”
Lucas shook his head again. Reluctant to explain in great detail, he simply answered Deasy’s question to satisfy her curiosity.
“It’s a house key, dear. For you.”
“For me? Did you buy me a house?”
Lucas nodded and replied casually, “Yes.”
“But what’s it for, Luc?”
“For your pets.”
“Huh?”
“Well, for them to stay, of course. Why are you asking?”
“I know, but I mean, why buy a house? Our current house is perfectly fine and has no issues.”
Lucas nodded again. He reached for Deasy’s wrist, holding it gently.Material © NôvelDrama.Org.
“It’s a birthday gift for you. A reward for being a good wife and mother to our child. Besides, I thought we needed a bigger and more spacious house than the one we have now.”
“Birthday?” Deasy repeated. Then it dawned on her that it was exactly midnight, and it was her birthday. “Wait… wait… don’t tell me you’ve been acting all angry and annoying for the past two days just to make me upset on purpose?”
Laughter erupted from Lucas’s lips. There was no need for further explanation. From the expression on his face, it was clear he was answering Deasy’s question.
“Annoying! Lucas Orion, you’re so annoying! You did this to me twice!”
Lucas laughed even more. He didn’t let Deasy get more upset; instead, he quickly pulled her close and held her tightly.
“Happy birthday, my dear. May all the good wishes come true. I hope in this mature age, you’ll become wiser, more patient, and, of course, saner. I hope you’ll endure and stay strong, living alongside me until we’re old.”
The frustration she had felt moments ago dissipated instantly, replaced by an overwhelming feeling of gratitude and emotion. Deasy was delighted that Lucas remembered her birthday and touched by the gift he had given her.
Luckily, Deasy wasn’t impulsive and quick to give up. If she were like the wives in Indonesian soap operas, as Veronica had described, who easily got emotional and ran away whenever there were marital problems, Deasy would have missed out on this incredible birthday gift – a new house.
“You’re so unbelievably annoying!” Deasy teased, still a bit exasperated.
“Well, I had actually planned a surprise for your birthday. But who would’ve thought you’d annoy me first, acting all sweet with your ex-boyfriend and everything. So, I decided to annoy you first to make you experience jealousy.”
“Such a meanie! So, did you purposely invite Devina to annoy me too?”
Lucas shook his head, providing clarification immediately.
“No, I didn’t have any intention at first. It just happened that Devina called earlier saying she wanted to deliver an invitation.”
“Invitation?”
Lucas nodded.
“Yeah. She’s getting married soon. So, I asked her to help me play a little prank on you. Actually, I didn’t go anywhere today. I’ve been at the office all day. And don’t worry, the food you cooked, I really did eat it all. If you don’t believe me, just ask Felix.”
Deasy was becoming even more exasperated. She couldn’t believe her husband had intentionally played this trick on her.
“I swear! You’re so annoying.”
Lucas laughed again. He reached for Deasy’s body once more and held her tightly.
“I’m sorry if I made you sad. Honestly, I didn’t really want to do this. But, considering you were acting all sweet and annoying yesterday, I decided to have a little fun.”
Deasy unraveled herself from the embrace and looked at Lucas with a playful pout.
“Lucky for you, I love you. And since the gift is a house, I’ll forgive you.”
“You’re so materialistic.”
“I don’t care about being materialistic when it comes to my own husband, not someone else’s. But seriously, I’m sorry, Luc. I didn’t mean to make you-”
“Yeah, I know,” Lucas interjected quickly. “Let’s just forget about yesterday’s issue. There’s no need to bring it up again. What’s important is that it doesn’t happen again. Now, you should get some rest. Tomorrow, I’ll have another surprise for you.”