Chapter 35: Chapter 35
“Myra! Where have you been? I was worried sick when the hospital called me and said you were missing!” Sierra’s concerned voice rang out as Myra entered the door of their apartment.
It was the next morning after she and Hart had made out at the old mansion for the first time.
“Ah, I didn’t see you there, Hart,” Sierra seemed surprised, as if she was expecting someone else. Myra’s hand tightened around Hart as she sent him the signal to disregard Sierra’s thoughtless words.
Beside Sierra, Teos was looking dishevelled, giving Myra the message that they had just finished another hanky-panky session.
“Hart, give me a moment.”
Hart took his seat on the couch as Myra disappeared with Sierra into the room. The two sisters had much to talk about since she got back from the hospital. She hadn’t seen Sierra for a few days now, but it felt like decades.
She closed the door once they were in Sierra’s bedroom. Sierra stared puzzled at Myra, while Myra just looked at her blankly. The two sisters needed some special time to themselves, although Sierra was sure it was more to that.
They lived together for years. Sierra knew her sister inside and out. If she had something to say, she wouldn’t say it directly, but remained quiet until Sierra dug it out of her.
“Myra, I know you have something on your mind. Why don’t you tell me? We can talk it out, as we normally do.”
Myra just sunk deeper inside Sierra’s King Koil spring bed. The sheets had been just cleaned after probably some messy business, leaving a fragrance that smelled like lavender. Trusting Sierra’s choice of detergent, she felt relieved as she sunk deeper inside the sheets.
“What happened between you and Jake?” Sierra popped the question. “Hart told me he turned up when you fainted and took you to hospital.”
Myra bit on her lip nervously. So, it really wasn’t Hart who had sent her to hospital, although she last remembered almost making love with Hart when she lost consciousness.
Darn! What was Jake doing at the apartment when she was naked there, about to perform the deed with Hart? Unconsciously, she crossed her hands in front of her chest. Jake turned out to be always everywhere!
“Sie,” she called Sierra suddenly, with the pet name she had given her when they had officially met and started a sisterly relationship. They weren’t more than teenagers. The nickname sure felt warm.
“I don’t know where to begin with, but as my sister, who would you support me to be with? Jake or Hart?”
Sierra did not seem surprised, as if she had expected this question for a very long time. She tapped her fingers on the wooden frame of the bed as she contemplated her answer, her bangs flapping as she turned her head to her left and right.
“Hart is Teos’ friend, and Jake seems to have changed so far. If I had to give you an answer, it would be that I am spoiled for choices,” Sierra answered confidently.
“The answer lies in you, sister. Since our time in Bali, I have admired Hart for his charisma and his straightforwardness, but Myra, have you thought about the future? One day, we won’t be in our early twenties any more. You need a husband who will support you, both financially and mentally, and have you thought of having a family?”
Myra looked down at her flat tummy as Sierra’s words penetrated her ears. She fathomed her sister was right, after all.
“Then, be it me or you, we both have to make plans for the future. Teos and Hart won’t be able to give us a comfortable future, you know, sister. But Jake, he is the CEO of YX, and I am confident with his current change, he would be a suitable candidate to give you a good life. Not just a good life, but you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, unlike me.
“Jake Yu can allow you to continue your life of leisure, but he can also help you.”
“Help...me?” Myra repeated after Sierra. Was it possible that Sierra knew her problems, particularly her father’s accident?
She bit her tongue carelessly as she corrected herself. Of course Sierra knew, she was her mother’s daughter after all! There was nothing that didn’t escape her super eyes!
“He has left that shrew.”
“Sierra, language!” she reprimanded her sister, wagging her index finger at her. Sierra slapped her finger away, bearing a serious look.
“I’m talking about the truth! They have really split ways, although the child is Jake’s. Although, I can say, there isn’t ample proof that it belongs to him.”
“Sie…” Myra hushed her. “Let’s not talk about this. Hart is in the living room, and he might hear us.”
She lifted her mouth towards Sierra in a loud whisper. “Actually, I don’t know how to tell you this, but I’m pregnant.”
“Preg..nant?” Sierra swallowed hard. “With Hart’s child?”
She stuttered. “I hope so.”
“What do you mean, you hope so? Other than Hart, did you sleep with anyone else?”
Myra rapidly corrected her words. “I mean, I hope he is ready for this.”
“He will have to take responsibility. What are you going to do, be a twenty-one-year-old single mother? And you’re still in your second year of uni, for goodness’ sakes!”
Myra didn’t know how she could tell her sister she had a drunken encounter with Jake one night, but she couldn’t remember the exact date that it happened. She found it hard to deduce from the report when she had conceived, but there was a higher probability for it to be Hart’s since he hadn’t bothered to use protection.
While she was torn between the two men, she wondered how long she could keep this secret hidden from both of them. It was just a matter of time before her tummy started showing. She had a very petite frame, after all, and any bulge would not be transparent to a bystander.
“Let’s go, Myra. Tell Hart the good news and make him take responsibility!” Her sister tugged on her hand ardently. “He’s going to be a father, and he has to be a good one!”
“Wait.” Myra held on to Sierra’s arm. “There’s one more thing.”
“What?” Sierra stared at Myra unbelievingly. “You don’t want to tell him?”
Myra cleared her throat. This was harder for her to tell Sierra than her pregnancy.
“I’m... I’m betrothed to Jake Yu.”
“What?”
She repeated her words. Sierra found the fact arduous to believe, especially in the current era.
“It’s between my father and his. I don’t know what to do, Sierra. Like, I’m about to get married to Jake next month, and suddenly I’m pregnant.”
She grasped Sierra’s shoulders, bawling like a child.
“Sie, I’m stuck. I agreed with Jake on a political marriage, and last night, Hart and I…”
Myra didn’t complete the sentence before she flooded with tears. It wasn’t the right time for her to have a child. She was a child herself, never ever having to endure any suffering, even in Bali.
“Who do you want to be with, Myra? Ask yourself,” Sierra whispered gently, working her way down Myra’s long tresses. Her hair seemed to have thickened well recently, appearing a shiny black.
She wanted to answer with Jake’s name, but she bit back her words and answered that she had an obligation to be with Hart. Last night, Hart had given her his word.
“If that is what you wish, Myra. Make sure Jake has the agreement written in black and white that you are not obligated to perform marital duties with him. And if you wish to continue your relationship with Hart in secret, be discreet about it. You know how the paparazzi are like in V City. Once you and Jake tie the knot, the media will be after him.”
Myra nodded. “For Hart and my baby, I will persevere. I won’t let the media find out about my relationship with Hart. As for Jake, I will maintain professionalism with him. He is only a partner to me.”
“Just remember what you have said,” Sierra said gently. “I understand, sis, that you once had a short-lived relationship with Jake, but if you want this child, trust Hart. No matter what, I’ll support your choice.”
She started downwards at her flat tummy once more. Right now, although the ‘child’ in question was only a fetus, it was still her flesh and blood, and she had no heart to end her pregnancy. She crossed her fingers.
“It’ll go well, Myra, it will,” Sierra whispered as she embraced her sister as close to her chest as she could. “From now on, sleep with me in my room, unless Hart is spending the night over.”
“I will.” She felt glad and blessed to have Sierra as her family. But with that tinge of uncertainty, she thought again.
What if her child wasn’t Hart, but Jake’s?