THE CROWDED MARRIAGE

Chapter 31

Maeve Dominique Valencia
-present-

"Ivory will say something important to you. I hope you can forgive him."

It felt refreshing to talk with Filoah. It helped clear my mind, even just a little, with everything going on around us.

But that exact line from her kept repeating in my head like a broken stereo. Ano pa ba ang dapat kong malaman? And why couldn't she just say it herself?

Hindi ko na pinilit si Filoah na siya ang magsabi nang araw na 'yon, I don't want to torment her anymore with my relationship with Ivory.

As a woman, I couldn't help but sympathize with her. She had simply loved a man. And even though she kept insisting she'd moved on—that she was happy with us—I knew, deep down, she was hurt from what happened.

I drank the milk I had prepared and shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. I shouldn't stress myself—I wasn't alone anymore.

I let out a heavy sigh.

"Whatever Ivory says to me, I'll forgive him," I whispered to myself as I drank my milk, gently touching my small belly. I could already feel a little bump. My baby's growing.

"After all, I forgot that I told Ivory myself he could go to Filoah if she needed him," I continued, talking to myself, then let out a small laugh to humor myself even though there's nothing funny about it. We even have a contract for that.

I brought this pain on myself—no wonder I've been hurting these past few weeks. It was all my fault in the first place and no one else.

"I'll apologize to your daddy, baby. I'll talk to him and fix everything first." I smiled as I spoke to my unborn child. "Then, I will introduce you to him."

The media was still a mess, but for my peace of mind, I decided to take a break from it all. My manager and team were the ones handling everything. I stopped accepting any new work, though I continued with my side projects that were bound by contracts.

Nagagalit na rin ang manager ko sa akin dahil sa pa-unti-unti kong pagka-wala sa social media at ang pagiging iresponsable ko sa trabaho. So I had no choice but to tell her I was pregnant. I asked her to keep it a secret... for now. My baby deserves to be known by everyone, but not with this mess that is happening.

Pinangako ko na lang sa manager ko na lahat ng may kontrata pa na ongoing ay ta-trabahuhin ko, pero sa ngayon ay ayoko muna tumanggap ng trabaho na involve ang media.

My manager had no choice but to go along with what I wanted, and I'm genuinely glad she respected every decision I made.

For now, I'm more focused on my own business. I've been having secret meetings with my employees dahil kailangan na rin naming magdagdag ng manpower dahil lumalaki na ang negosyo ko. What started as a personal whim, maybe even a quiet rebellion against my parents, has become something I want to take seriously, especially now that I'm having a baby. I want my child to have everything, or at least something, that I've worked hard for.

I got caught up reading the financial report my employee submitted. There was a drastic change in the income flow—good, but stressful at the same time. The business is becoming bigger and bigger. Still, I was thankful to have trusted employees who were stepping up for me. The decision-making and planning were on me, but they were the ones executing everything. Without them, the business wouldn't function. After all, they're the backbone of it all.