Chapter 445 - FATHER-DAUGHTER TIME
Reuben was flabbergasted with this news. After the surprise came the bursting anger, the pain and the regret. He was angry to himself for not knowing anything about. He gave her up because he didn't want her to be used. It was all his idea. He didn't ask for her opinion and he didn't try understanding her.
"That's not a good joke, sweetheart." Reuben commented after a while. "How could her family do that?"
Cayenne took out a flash drive from her bag and gave it to her father. "Here's all the information about her. You can read it at home."
Reuben received the small item with obvious fear. Leaving Emerald and their daughter wad the biggest mistake he made in the past that he didn't want to recall. And now, hot potato was being placed right in front of him and an additional pain will be seen once he reads the content of the flash drive. He didn't like the feeling at all.
"Sweetie, are you taking revenge on me for leaving you?"
"Huh?" Cayenne was stunned at first and didn't know what he was talking about. It took her a full minute to realize what her father meant with his words. "Dad, I don't hold grudges. Although I hated you in the past, I have let go of that negative emotions. If I look back in to my life, I didn't really grow up without a father. I'm not doing this to take revenge on you. I just want you to know the truth because I still consider as family."
"Yen, I know that my apologies won't change the past and wouldn't bring us together anymore but, I'm really sorry for everything. You can say that I'm a spineless coward and I wouldn't retort that. I really regretted my decision up until now."
"Dad, don't. Don't dwell on it. If you keep thinking about mama and me, isn't it a slap to your wife's face? Ingrid will be hurt."
"I know."
Cayenne shifted her position and looked at the road in front of them. Many people were passing by and they had beautiful smiles on their faces while conversing with their friends or colleagues. Cayenne missed those time when she was able to do these things with her friends.
"You know what dad, Ingrid isn't a bad person. It's true that she was selfish to have you for herself which later on made your and her elders arranged the marriage. She was blinded by her love for you. But in the end, even though she was hurting, she still helped her rival. She helped her rival's daughter and she kept watch of them. Even though you hated her so much, she still tried her best to smile at you. Even though you don't want to have a child with her, she didn't make a fuss about it. She knew that in exchange for her love, she will get the cold and ruthless version of you but she didn't make any comment about it. She did her best to live up until now because she wanted to be at your side even if you don't like her. And I felt so bad for her. But I'm also glad that you two are doing great. Don't hurt her anymore. You hurt mom already. If you also hurt Ingrid, you will only push someone's love away from you."
"Don't you hate her?"
"I'm past that point already. I don't want to keep hating other people. Hating someone needs energy and I need my energy for something else. Although, there are some people that I also hate up until now, they're not that much."
Reuben looked at his daughter who has grown over the years. He watched her grew from afar and watched her struggle just because he couldn't approach them. He could only watch them and it was painful.
Reuben looked away and blinked away the tears that were blurring his vision. He didn't want to cry in front of his daughter. "Do you mind if we go to the mall? I have a mall here and it would be good if I can shop for you and your husband."
"That's not really necessary." Cayenne refused because she wanted to go and find her husband soon but looking at her father's expression, she also didn't have the right to leave him after she bombarded her with information. "Alright. Let's go to the mall. It's still early anyway."
Reuben's negative expression instantly vanished and he smiled. He started the engine and left the vicinity to go to the mall that he owned.
"Did you capture everything?" Natsu asked the woman beside him who was holding the camera.
"Yes."
"Let's go and follow them." They hailed a taxi and got in together. "Follow that car." Natsu commanded and the taxi driver started driving without any questions.
"Should I upload it now?" The woman questioned while looking at the photos on her phone. She's really a good photographer. Cayenne and her father's face were captured clearly.
"Don't upload it yourself. Stefan has many friends and they'd be able to trace it back to you. Let's find a reporter and give the pictures to them."
"O-okay."
Natsu pinched the woman's chin and made her face him. Despite having a third person, he kissed her and ignored the driver who saw them through the mirror.
The nameless ex-employee wanted to stop it because there was the driver looking at them. However, Natsu was really good in kissing. She stopped struggling in his arms and responded to her.
Climbing to higher ranks using bed skills? Isn't that what she'd doing? Sadly, no one paid attention to their affair yet. They haven't gotten to the point of having someone's eyes on them.
After almost ten minutes of driving, Cayenne and Reuben arrived at the mall with the guards following closely behind them. The guards greeted them as well as the sales lady. Almost everyone in City D knows Reuben as the owner of the three largest malls in their city plus the other branches located in different cities.
Cayenne put on her shades and mask, and walked beside her father.
Many people looked at them but they didn't react extremely since they didn't know who she was. They couldn't recognize her.
"Let's buy you shoes. I noticed that you and your husband have a lot of shoes." Reuben stated which made his daughter blush.
"You don't know how much I tried to stop him from buying those things. Every single tine he sees a matching outfit for couple, from small trinkets and whatnot, he would just buy them. He spends so much money for these things."
Reuben gently pat his daughter's head with a smile on his face. "He loves you so much. I heard so many things about him in the past and I must say, I was really worried when you were linked together with him. I didn't expect that you'd end up his wife."
"I don't know how things happened either. Everything happened so fast and I don't know how we ended up with how we are today. I know it's been months but I felt like, it's been years since we've been together."
"I'm glad that he's treating you well."
"More than just 'well' dad." Cayenne commented which made the guards stifle their laughter. Whenever they left, these guards don't look like guards at all. They're not like those men in black that you see on drama or anime. They would just wear casual clothes to blend in with the crowd. Before, it was always Erwin who stood out among them because he always wears suit and was very formal. Now, everyone was just very casual.
Hearing the faint laughter coming behind them, Reuben raised his eyebrow in question. "What do you mean by that?"
Cayenne stood in front of her father and pointed on the little head of a bear which was popping out of her blouse. She placed the pen between the second and third button of her blouse to hide the fact that it was a pen. "My husband sees everyone I am with." Cayenne mentioned.
"He's monitoring you?"
Cayenne knew that his father didn't mean anything bad with his words but she felt it sounded weird when it reached her ears and she turned defensive for her husband without thinking too much about it. "I won't say he's monitoring or that he's being controlling although I'd agree that my husband is very possessive. Even so, we're doing this for safety purposes."
"Why are you being defensive for him? Reuben question which made his daughter blush again. "Though, I'm glad that he's putting your safety as his priority. By the way, can this record our conversation?"
She wanted to say 'Yes' but remembering her father's expression when they talked earlier, she couldn't tear off his pride down. She didn't have the heart to do so. "It can't record our voices." She lied.
Reuben nodded but his face held a disappointed expression. "I wanted to say a thing or two for your husband but since he couldn't hear it, let's forget about it."