Chapter 120 - Fae's Dilemma

Ren saw the shocked expression on his wife, hurriedly shaking his head and pulling the girl onto his lap.

"That's not it. I'm having a lot of thoughts on my mind and I don't want to disturb your sleep." He didn't want to say that he saw Fae's pillow was damp and realized that his wife was crying herself to sleep. 

Fee sighed in relief and put her arms around Ren's neck and looked at the man deeply.

"I'm afraid you won't need me to sleep anymore ..." she said in a sad voice.

"Ah .. don't be silly. I always need you ..." Ren said with a smile. He touched Fee's chin and kissed her lips. "Now, I want to sleep. Will you accompany me?"

"Eh .. but isn't it morning already right now?" asked Fee in amazement. "Don't you have to work?"

"I'll call in sick," replied Ren casually. He looked at Fee with an amused expression. "Don't you feel sorry for me? I haven't slept since last night. Or, do you want me to go to work?"

Fae was stunned by Ren's attitude. She had never seen Ren act like this. Wasn't he a serious man? But today, he seemed to act playful and teased her.

Before he was with Fee, Ren was known to have trouble sleeping, but he would still go to work and do his activities even though he had not slept for days. However, now he would pretend to be sick just because he hadn't slept all night?

Fee hurriedly shook her head. "No ... I want you to rest. I'll call Amelia and tell her you're not coming to the office."

"You can use my cell phone," said Ren, handing her his cell phone, taken from his pocket.

Fee stared at the cell phone in Ren's hand with a pair of gleaming eyes. She didn't think Ren would hand over his cellphone, so Fee could talk to Amelia directly and tell her that Ren wasn't coming to work today.

She felt Ren could tell that Fee was feeling sad because she was not the one to accompany her husband to state events, but instead, it was Amelia, his secretary.

However, by handing over his cell phone today and asking Fee to call Amelia on his behalf, it was as if Ren allowed Fae to show her ownership of the man.

This seemingly simple act was very important to Fae, for her eyes became wet as she picked up Ren's cell phone and pressed Amelia's number.

"Good morning, Ren ... How was your sleep last night?" Amelia's crisp voice could be heard on the other end of the line after just two rings.

"Amelia, this is Fae, Ren's wife. I want to inform you that Ren is not feeling well and can't come to the office. Please handle all matters related to Ren and give him the report via email. Thank you."

Fee didn't wait for Amelia to answer. She immediately hung up. With a smile on her face, she handed Ren's cell phone back to her husband.

"Thank you," said Ren with a smile as he put his cell phone back in his pocket. He then stood up while holding Fae's body in his arms. "Now I'm going to take a quick shower and then sleep. Would you like to join me?"

Fee's face blushed as she nodded. Reflexively her arms were wrapped around Ren's neck as the man walked with her in his arms to their bedroom.

They took a shower together and got ready to sleep. Fae decided to call the Magnolia Café and ask for a day off. She preferred to accompany Ren at home when her husband pretended to be sick and did not go to the office.

***

Fee's mood started to improve after Ren intentionally didn't go to work and spent all day with her. She realized that Ren was trying to comfort her by doing this, and she felt grateful.

Fae knew that Ren was thinking about her feelings and was doing his best to ease Fae's pain. Seeing Ren's efforts, Fae finally tried to forget the things related to Amelia and her status as his secret wife, in order not to be sad anymore.

Fae tried to keep herself busy with work and school and not think about things that would make her sad. One year had passed, she thought. If she stayed busy and active, then the next four years would pass unnoticed. She just needed to be patient.

***

"Fae ... We are sorry. Because of the fight in the cafe two days ago, I cannot give you the promotion I promised you..." Stevan called Fae to his office as soon as he saw the girl come to work. His words stunned Fee. "I already promoted Ella for the role."

Fae was stunned by Stevan's completely unexpected words. Stevan had promised her the position of assistant manager after she worked for six months at Magnolia Café because of Fae's good performance. They also had noticed that more and more customers came after Fee started working at the cafe.

"Why? Didn't I do a good job? When it comes to part-time work, doesn't Ella also work part-time at Magnolia Café?" asked Fee in a disappointed voice. "You said yourself that you felt I could contribute a lot to the progress of Magnolia Café ..."

"That's right, before yesterday's fight," said Stevan apologetically. "But the mayor sent someone to pressure our management. They actually asked me to fire you because they thought you were the cause of the commotion among the guests yesterday. Because I didn't want to fire you, I had to cancel your promotions as the assistant manager. Please, you must understand my position. I'm only doing this for the sake of our cafe."

"I don't understand. What does the mayor have to do with this cafe?" asked Fae.

"Uhm ... one of the young men who was beaten yesterday was the mayor's youngest son. He complained to his father about being beaten up in our place," Stevan replied quietly. "They have threatened to revoke our business license to retaliate for what happened to the son."

"That is abusing his power," said Fee. "They can't go around and pressure innocent people because their father is the mayor. Isn't there a law in our country? Why do you let them pressure you?"

"Fee ... that's the sad reality. There's nothing we can do. People in power always oppress others. We can only give in. Unless you know someone who is more powerful than the mayor, then I can't do anything about it... " said Stevan. He tapped Fee on the shoulder and signaled that their conversation was over.

Dejectedly, Fae exited Stevan's office. She ran into Ella, who was about to enter the room, and for a moment the two girls stared at each other without saying anything. Fae could sense that Ella felt uneasy about getting the promotion she deserved, but the girl said nothing.

Ugh ... Fae was very upset when she found out that Hendrik or his friend was actually the mayor's son. Of course, his father's position made the man feel he could act however he liked towards others. Fae now understood why the girl in Hendrik's group said that Hendrik would make her pay.

Putting on her apron to start work, Fee thought about whether or not she should tell Ren what had happened. Actually, her husband had asked her to quit working at the cafe to prevent a repeat of a similar incident, but Fae still didn't want to find a new job. She really liked the Magnolia Café.

She was worried that if she told her husband that the person he hit yesterday was the mayor's son and that he was pressuring the cafe management to fire Fae, Ren would just tell her to quit working. 

But if she didn't say anything, then Hendrik would be able to oppress the cafe. And who knows, he might come and threaten Fae directly.

What should she do?