Tempting the Psychologist | 18+

32. Heated Arguments

VALENTINA

I felt my heart sinking to the depths of my stomach when I heard her utter the words ex wife. This couldn't possibly be happening to me right now.

My eyes darted to the little girl and those grey eyes were fixated on me. Those eyes — I was hoping and praying to God that this little girl wasn't Alexander's daughter.

If that were the case, how long has he known about it? How long has he been in contact with Layla? He told me he was in a relationship, he didn't say he was fucking married.

My heart hammered in my chest but I kept my facial expression neutral, not allowing the woman to see how affected I was in this moment.

"Would you like to come inside?" I asked quickly. I could see she was taken aback by the question. I opened the door wider and stepped aside. "Please, come in and make yourself at home."

The last thing I wanted was to be in the same vicinity as the woman but I needed answers and she was obviously here for a reason. "Oh, are you sure? I could always come back later."

"I'm one hundred percent sure. He left to sort out an emergency at work but he'll be back shortly, please I insist."

She hesitantly stepped into the home and looked around, the little girl followed behind her — holding onto her mom's clothing tightly. She headed over to the couch and sat down.

"I'm sorry I didn't get your name." That's because I didn't give it to you.

"It's Valentina." I closed the door, walking towards her. "Can I get you anything to drink?" How I was remaining calm right now was beyond me because it felt like I was about to burst at the seams.

"Just water will be fine, thank you so much." She looked at the little girl, caressing her hair. "So are you Alexander's girlfriend?"

Why was she asking me that?

"No, I'm actually just house sitting for him." I lied. "He wasn't supposed to come back from his business trip this early hence the reason I'm still in pyjamas but as soon as he comes back I'll be heading home."

"Oh, my gosh." She chuckled. "I honestly thought you're his girlfriend. You're beautiful by the way." I hope she wasn't expecting a compliment from me.

I grabbed a bottle of water and handed it to her. "Here you go." She smiled at me, mumbling thank you. I took a seat on the opposite couch.

She was awfully cheerful while I felt like I couldn't fucking breathe. This didn't make sense to me. If Alexander and his ex wife ended things between them on a bad note then why would she be anything other than hurt or sad? That leads me to believe that they've reconciled and must still be in contact.

Either that or perhaps she wanted to reconcile and patch things up. At this point who could say?

"Is this your daughter?" I inquired. "She's so cute." That part I wasn't lying about, she really was cute.

"Yes it is, her name is Anika." She stared at the little girl lovingly, her eyes sparkling with an emotion I couldn't decipher.

"Such a beautiful name." The girl looked at me with those big grey eyes, shyly smiling. "How old are you Anika?" If she said the number that kept popping up in my head then I was going to fucking hyperventilate.