Chapter 27

27 27. The Deal

“I don’t have to answer now, do I?” Paula said in a low tone. She looked away so she didn’t have to face Samuel’s hopeful expression directly. “Just let things flow as they are-naturally. Don’t rush! Rushing in a relationship will never be good for us.”

“I’m sorry, I was just afraid that if I don’t do it first, someone else will do it. Didn’t mean to burden you at all,” Samuel replied, somewhat embarrassed. He then picked up a box from one of the paper bags containing nine large strawberries and offered it to Paula. Of course, Paula happily accepted. She liked the fruit, especially the big ones.

“How did you know I like strawberries?” Paula asked, biting into half a strawberry in her fingers. Her beautiful lips were moist and wet from the abundant juice as she bit into the fruit.

“I’ve always watched you. You smell like strawberries. I thought you might like the fruit as well,” Samuel replied. He then looked at Paula intently and brushed the corners of Paula’s lips with his long fingers, making Paula’s heart slightly clench. “Aren’t I a good lover-to-be?”

Paula smirked, then laughed amusedly. She stroked her still flat stomach, thinking about her future baby who might later call Samuel a father-if she accepted the man’s offer.

“It’s funny, seeing a man like you desperate to get a pregnant woman like me ... on top of it, I’m still someone else’s wife-your cousin’s,” said Paula, chuckling. “There must be a lot of beautiful women waiting in line for you to take them to bed, no?”

“Let’s just say you’re lucky,” Samuel chimed in with a confident smile, baring his perfectly lined white teeth. He then offered the rest of the strawberries to Paula and as expected, the girl gladly took them and quickly ate them in joy.

An hour later, Samuel excused himself to go home and clean up. He also needed to finish some matters with his family. “I will come back later. I promise. Don’t leave the hospital before I come!”

Paula shook her head. “I can’t promise you that. I’ll let you know when I get home early. My dad is coming home from Italy this afternoon. I don’t want him to worry.”

.....

“Okay, it’s fine!” Samuel said lightly. “I will bring you home now. Let’s meet doctor Morgan!”

Not wanting to linger in the hospital, Paula took this opportunity to ask for permission to go home. Since there was nothing to worry about, Paula was allowed to go home immediately by the doctor.

“Don’t forget to eat enough calories and don’t get too tired!” the friendly female doctor said to Paula. “I’ll prescribe prenatal multivitamins that you should take every day to ensure that you and your baby’s daily nutritional needs are met,” she added as she adjusted her glasses. “Just once a day and don’t ever forget.”

“Thank you, Doctor Morgan!” Paula nodded as she accepted the extended prescription from that motherly middle-aged woman.

“You look a little pale. Don’t get dehydrated! Drink enough water at home, ” said the doctor again because Paula’s face didn’t look fresh and healthy right now. Not because she was sick, but more because she was too shocked by Samuel’s treatment of her. Although Paula tried to convince herself to take this lightly, the hormonal changes that went through her during pregnancy made her emotionally unstable.

“I will try to keep my health in the best condition,” Paula answered, trying to reassure Doctor Morgan. “Don’t worry!”

“I know you must be experiencing morning sickness. If you can’t drink plain water, you can replace it with another liquid such as unsweetened fruit juice. Remember, too much sugar will be harmful to your body and your baby.” After giving Paula a lot of advice, Doctor Morgan finally lets Paula go.

“Sorry, for holding you back too long. You remind me of someone,” Morgan said again with a chuckle. “And your husband is also nice!”

“Doc, he is my cousin-in-law. Not the baby’s father,” Paula said, giggling.

“Oh?” The doctor’s eyes popped wide, knowing she made a huge mistake. “Sorry, I didn’t know about it.”

“It’s okay, doctor. Thank you so much for the advice,” Paula said again, hoping this time she would be able to leave soon. Fortunately, her wish was soon granted.

On the way home, Paula asked Samuel to stop by a pharmacy to buy a supplement recommended by the doctor. The smoking pharmacist took a pink and purple multivitamin box containing 60 soft capsules and wrapped it in a white paper bag. The man was still casually puffing cigarette smoke near Paula.

“Does your boss allow you to smoke in the pharmacy?” Samuel asked, annoyed. “A pregnant lady is here and you still smoke nonchalantly.”

“This is my mother’s pharmacy. She asked me to help her, and these are my requirements,” the thin, curly-haired man explained casually. “Thirty dollars,” the man said, looking at Paula and Samuel, who he thought were nagging noisily.

“Tell your mother to keep her pharmacy from going bankrupt,” Samuel said as he opened his wallet and paid 40 bucks to the cashier.

As much as possible he quickly grabbed Paula’s hand and left because he knew cigarette smoke was not good for Paula’s baby.

“Son of b-”

“Stop! Don’t curse near a pregnant woman!” Paula snapped. “Cursing is also bad for babies.”

“Oh, sorry! I will never do that again,” Samuel said regretfully.

Paula giggled. She found a cute side in Samuel. “You will be a good father, Sam!”

“I told you!”

They both laughed as they entered the car and continued driving home. The car stopped at a large mansion whose walls were mostly made of glass. The flower garden in the front yard was quite spacious and well-maintained. Of course, because the gardener took good care of it.

“Thanks, Sam! I owe you a big time,” Paula said, sincerely.

“Don’t mention it,” Samuel replied, bringing his face closer to Paula. But, of course, she dodged the kiss.

“Sorry, Sam. I am married,” Paula said. A sad look crossed her face. “I know you tried to be polite, but I don’t want-”

“I know it, Paula. It’s fine.”

Samuel then excused himself. Paula waved her hand as he left. When she entered home, she found her father’s office open, meaning that her father had returned from Italy. Paula wanted to say hello to her father and was about to enter the study. Inside, however, Robert was having a serious phone conversation with someone.

“After Paula and William’s divorce, I will withdraw the money I invested in your company,” Robert said in a deep voice. “I’m sorry, but this is exactly what you promised me if I helped the financial crisis in your company.”

There was no reply from the other side. Robert’s face looked somber. However, he had no other choice but to do this to his best friend, Alex.

Paula, of course, couldn’t just sit back and watch this. She immediately went into his father’s room and stormed inside. “Dad, why didn’t you ever tell me that you lent them that much money?”

“Paula?” Robert was flabbergasted, not expecting Paula to catch him red-handed when he discussed things that had been hidden all this time.

“So, the real reason for marriage wasn’t due to a promise or something?” Paula asked again. He took his father’s hand and urged him to tell the truth. “Tell me, dad!”

Robert could only nod weakly. Heartache fell on Paula. Her marriage was not just an ordinary arranged marriage, but because of a business exchange.

“Alex and Lisa are reluctant to ask Tommy for help because Samuel refused to handle the company. Meanwhile, William still cannot be trusted to bring the company to success. I don’t want to lose the money, therefore, I asked them to marry William to you as a loan condition,” Robert explained weakly.

Paula leaned back against the back of the couch. “So no one got sick? It was all set up?”

Robert nodded. “We don’t want you two to know that we’re doing all of this for financial reasons.”

Paula smiled sarcastically. As it turned out, it was not only William and her who benefited from their marriage, but also their parents.

“So, at this rate, the business agreement will be void?” Paula asked again.

“At first, I didn’t want to be that cruel, but I didn’t want to give my money for free,” said Robert coldly. He then hugged Paula with his huge body. “Besides, I can’t let you suffer like this. You are my only daughter. They need to pay the price.”

“Dad, who said I was suffering?” Paula argued again. She didn’t like his father acting like that. “Besides, you shouldn’t have canceled the aid because of my marriage problems. Are we so poor that we have to do that?”

“Paula! You have no idea how I feel now!” Robert was furious. “I don’t like my daughter being belittled!”

“I don’t like you looking down on me either. Who asked you to protect me? Who asked you to take revenge for me?” Paula looked at her father sharply. She was very adamant and didn’t like the way her father treated her as a helpless girl.

“Then what do you want?” asked Robert. “I have no intention of undoing my actions.”

“If you want the money that bad,” Paula paused, she swallowed hard, because what she was about to say would have a big impact on her life, “I’m going to Japan to handle our Tokyo subsidiary myself. I’ll increase the company’s profit percentage there and make it work. So ... you don’t have to close the Tokyo branch office shortly.”

Robert was stunned. He exhaled deeply. “Can you do that?”

“If I fail, you can do whatever you want. I won’t get in the way.” Paula looked at her father’s face seriously.

“Okay! Deal!”