Chapter 169

169 Making Up

“I’ll break up with you. No matter what, I don’t want to be a homewrecker so...” I replied after a moment of thought.

That was honestly the conclusion that I was prepared to face when I thought that Claudia’s baby could be Ace’s. It was a scary scenario that I didn’t want to happen; however, if that was really the case then it would leave me with no other choice.

“Interesting...” Ace murmured.

I wondered what he was thinking.

“How so? Did you expect me to just forgive you and move on?” I asked.

“I don’t know but...I didn’t think you would leave me that easily...” Ace said as if he was thinking of something.

“Hmm...if you don’t behave well, I might just end up leaving you...” I said teasingly.

“Time for some food...” Ace said as if he wanted to change the topic since it was no longer benefitting him.

“I guess we should head back before my mother starts to worry about us...” I readily agreed.

.....

“Great, then. I guess it’s time for me to have a taste of your mother’s home-cooked food,” Ace said with extreme enthusiasm as he rubbed his hands together.

“Don’t you have work to do? Not just you, my mother probably has gone out by now...” I said.

“Nope. I took the day off. As for your mother, she promised to cook me a meal if I can make up with you properly. So, what do you say? Did we make up properly?” Ace asked hopefully.

“I...guess...” I was forced to say.

I found myself smiling with ease when I thought of how much Ace seemed to have woven his way into my mother’s heart already. When did those two started to get along? It was strange for my mother to strike up a deal with Ace like this and with her food as an incentive for him to do her bidding. It was just so unexpected and new for me.

“Great. Let’s head back so I can proudly tell her that we made up and that she can start cooking for us now,” Ace declared with pride as he stood up tall and proud.

“Right...” I mumbled before I started giggling.

Ace seemed to be very fired up about having a taste of my mum’s homecooked food. He won’t be disappointed, though. She really is a good cooked and I would always rank the food that she cooked in the top of my list of favorite foods.

Ace headed for the door before he stopped in his tracks and turned around. He held out his hand to me and smiled.

“Come, Rina...I’m hungry...” he mumbled with a hint of complaint.

“You’re funny...” I whispered when I reached his side.

I smiled up at him as I slipped my hand into his. He held my hand tightly as he stared down into my eyes.

“What did you just say?” he asked as if he didn’t hear me properly.

“Nothing, let’s go...” I mumbled as I pushed the door of the café open.

I knew very well that he heard what I just said.

...

Unlike me, my mother was not at all surprised that I managed to make up with Ace. When we returned to her apartment, she was there waiting to greet us with a smile. A reassuring nod from Ace was all it took for her to understand that we had already ended all our misunderstandings regarding Claudia’s pregnancy.

“I guess I should start cooking now...” my mother said with a smile.

“So, you really made a secret deal with him without telling me...” I mumbled as I pouted playfully at her.

“Of course, I did...” my mother replied with a small laugh before she headed to start on her cooking.

I shook my head from side to side in slight disbelief that those two really struck up a deal about this. Ace wrapped his arm around my waist and urged me to take a seat at our small dining table. Now that we were alone again, I didn’t quite know what to talk about. Ace saved me from having to think of something to start a conversation with him by speaking up.

“Since I stayed at your place last time, do you want to come to my place?” he asked invitingly.

“As in that house...?” I inquired.

Ace shook his head at me, and I started wondering how many ‘places’ he had.

“I’ll take you to a place that I stay at more often,” he replied with a warm smile.

“As in in the city?” I asked.

“Yup. Want to come along?” Ace asked again.

“Sure...” I murmured as I got lost in his beautiful hazel eyes once more.

Things have gotten less awkward between us by then and it was a little surprising how fast things seemed to return to normal between us, not that it was a bad thing. The smell of good cooking drifted towards my nose, and I thought that it might be better for me to help my mother out with her cooking.

“I think I should help my mother out a little in case she needs help,” I told Ace as I stood up from my seat.

“You can cook? I thought you can’t cook...” Ace asked in surprise.

“You’re right. I can’t cook but I can help her out here and there. I’m not 100% incapable of doing anything, you know...” I replied as I narrowed my eyes at him.

Ace put both his hands up to the side of his face as if to tell me that he didn’t mean any offense. I just smiled and then giggled at his reaction before heading off to help my mother.

It didn’t take much longer, and she didn’t require a lot of my help before food was ready to be served. At least, I could help her with the manual labor work of serving the food and bringing it to the dining table. The look of anticipation on Ace’s face made me smile happily. I thought that I’ve never seen him look forward to a meal this much before in the time that I’ve been with him.

–To be continued...