Bittersweet Arrangements : A Sugar Dady Affair

“Mom, what’s going on?” Ivand and Viero asked in unison while panting. Earlier they were playing games together in Ivand’s room when they heard a noise from downstairs.

“Mommy and Sis El are okay, right?” Ivand said worriedly. Ivand started to step carefully to avoid the broken glass that was scattered on the floor. Ivand panicked even more when he saw footprints mixed with blood where he was now standing. His attention was focused on the footprints leading to his father’s study.

Viero was still standing where he was while scanning the traces of chaos that he had just missed. In his mind he was processing the tragedy like what had just ended.

“Viero, please call Aunt Dona and tell her to clean this all up!” Vanessa said to Viero who immediately gasped.

“Okay Mom,” Viero answered then turned towards the kitchen to look for one of their housekeepers.

“Vand, please take Sis El to her room now. I’ll follow you upstairs later!” Vanessa said to Ivand who was now standing in front of her.

Ivand, who realized that the situation was not possible for him to ask questions, immediately took Elena from her mother’s arms. When Ivand smelled another perfume from Elena’s body, Ivand immediately understood what had just happened. She knew the smell of his perfume because they often met each other.

“Come on Sis El, let’s go to our room!” Ivand asked while looking at his Mommy’s eyes which were still wet with tears.

After Elena left with Ivand, the sound of heavy sighs escaped from Vanessa’s lips. Slowly, Vanessa wiped the tears from her cheeks, her heart feeling painfully sliced as she looked at the bloodstains on the floor. Vanessa hurriedly went to get some medications. Bi Dona, who had just arrived, immediately lowered her head upon seeing Vanessa’s sad face. Hurriedly, Bi Dona began to carefully clean up the scattered shards of glass on the floor.

In his office, Jeremy sat in silence. Overwhelmed by emotions, he sat in the chair, ignoring the fresh blood still dripping from both of his feet. Jeremy rested his head with his eyes closed. Automatically, his fingers massaged his throbbing head. The existing facts shook him deeply. Devan and Elena seemed like heaven and earth. However, it was not wealth or status that was the focal point of Jeremy’s problem. It was the age and status that made it impossible for them to be together. Elena’s future was still long, how could Jeremy give his approval for them to be together?

Jeremy’s heart and logic were currently engaged in a fierce battle. He was unaware of Vanessa’s arrival there. With a vacant stare, Vanessa stood at the doorway. From her position, she could only see the back of the chair currently occupied by her husband. The man she loved dearly was now sitting facing the large window that opened towards the garden. Outside, dark clouds seemed to be hovering, preparing to shed tears. Slowly, Vanessa stepped, erasing the distance between them. Vanessa would rather see her husband angry than silent like this. Jeremy’s silence was the harshest punishment for Vanessa.

With tear-filled eyes, Vanessa sat below. Seeing blood still oozing from Jeremy’s feet made Vanessa’s heart ache even more. Indeed, a wound like this meant nothing to Jeremy, who had been raised in a military manner since adolescence. But the wound in Jeremy’s heart was what made Vanessa worried.

“Let me treat your wounds first,” Vanessa said as Jeremy pulled his foot away from her grasp.

“I’m fine, Honey. Just let me be alone for a while!” Jeremy replied, looking at Vanessa who was about to clean the wound on his foot. “I won’t die just because of such a small injury!” Jeremy continued, successfully making Vanessa lift her face.

“It’s not funny to joke like that,” Vanessa said, glaring at Jeremy. “If you die, I’ll follow, and besides, the kids are already grown up. They have enough insurance and education savings. Not to mention the inheritance we’ll leave behind, it’s enough to support our seven generations,” Vanessa rambled on, indifferent to Jeremy’s strange expression. This is Vanessa’s uniqueness from the past. No matter how tough the situation is, she can still think beyond human reasoning.

Then Vanessa cheerfully lifted one of Jeremy’s legs to be cleaned. Worried that Jeremy would feel pain, Vanessa carefully removed the shards of glass still embedded in his foot. But Vanessa’s assumption was wrong. There was not a hint of pain visible on her handsome husband’s face.

“Don’t talk recklessly! They still need us!” Jeremy warned, disagreeing with Vanessa’s words.

Even though he was already in his fifties, Jeremy still wanted to live longer. He wanted to witness their three children grow up, be independent, and succeed in their respective careers.

“Well, in that case, don’t be reckless either!” Vanessa said, annoyed, continuing her activity. “Instead of hurting yourself earlier, you should have just taken on Devan to make yourself satisfied!” Vanessa grumbled, making Jeremy disbelief. Earlier, he had tried his best to restrain himself from violence, but his wife was suggesting the opposite.

“Are you sure I can hit Devan as much as I want?” Jeremy’s eyebrows raised, waiting for an answer from his wife, who looked calm despite the clear traces of sadness on her face.

Vanessa nodded and continued, “At least you’ll have an equal opponent. Instead of this! You get angry, and you get hurt. You should have challenged Devan to a match in the ring earlier. Let me be the referee,” Vanessa’s grumbling further confused Jeremy.

From his wife’s statements, Jeremy interpreted that Vanessa was supporting Elena and Devan. Jeremy shook his head quickly, trying not to believe what was currently echoing in his mind.

After applying bandages to both of Jeremy’s feet, Vanessa finally stood up. After placing the medical equipment on the table, Vanessa spun the chair that Jeremy was sitting on. As usual, Vanessa would lean on the edge of the table facing the man.

“Listen to me first!” Vanessa interrupted Jeremy as he was about to speak, placing her index finger on the man’s lips.

“Maybe Devan was just joking? Or Elena misunderstood Devan’s behavior. Besides, Elena is like Devan’s own daughter. So it’s impossible for them to fall in love with each other,” Vanessa explained confidently. Hearing Devan’s confession earlier did sound ridiculous. But upon reflection, it must have been just a joke between friends.

Jeremy responded with a slight smile and then stood up from his seat. He held Vanessa’s hand and led her out of his office. Vanessa followed, looking confused, wherever Jeremy’s steps took her.

Vanessa became even more puzzled when Jeremy led her back to the living room. Vanessa’s gaze immediately focused on the flat object flickering on the table. Suddenly, something crossed Vanessa’s mind. Could it be that Jeremy had ordered his subordinates to spy on Elena, as he often did?

“Sit down!” Jeremy commanded while reaching for his phone.

Still with the same expression, Vanessa complied. She sat right next to Jeremy, who began to open his phone.

“Now, explain all of this to me!” Jeremy gave Vanessa another order to see the results of his surveillance today.

Before accepting the phone, Vanessa looked at Jeremy with an unreadable gaze, preparing herself for the facts she was about to discover. Jeremy seemed calm now, but not his still angrily sparkling copper-colored eyes.

Vanessa began to open Jeremy’s chat with someone unfamiliar to her. Vanessa’s fingers trembled as she saw intimate photos of Devan and Elena. It wasn’t just ordinary photos; they looked like a couple deeply in love.

“What is this, Honey?” Vanessa whispered, her eyes starting to well up. Vanessa continued to try to deny the facts in front of her.

“You can see for yourself. Is this what you mean by the relationship between a father and daughter? Or an uncle with his niece?” Jeremy asked sarcastically.Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

“It’s impossible. These must be edited photos!” Vanessa still tried to console herself. She had already considered Devan as part of her family. But looking at the photos, Vanessa couldn’t resist anymore. She couldn’t accept if Elena was in a relationship with a much older man. Spontaneously, Vanessa counted the age difference between Devan and Elena.

“Jeremy, Devan is almost 41 years old, and Elena is only 18 years and 3 months and 7 days old. Isn’t it ridiculous?” Vanessa uttered speechless, asking a foolish question that made her look very foolish.

“Imagine it yourself, Honey, when Devan calls you Mommy and I become Daddy!” Now, not only Vanessa but Jeremy also began to lose sanity. Anger, disappointment, and confusion mingled into one.

“And Erick, who should call Elena sister, now has to call her Mom,” Vanessa continued with a feeling of sadness. Was this the fate of her daughter’s first love? Why couldn’t it be Dirga or another young man who became Elena’s boyfriend? Why an old man like Devan, the same age as her.

***

“El, never mind, don’t cry anymore!” Ivand persuaded, trying to calm him down while rubbing Elena’s shoulder, who was still crying. “It must be because of Uncle Melon, right?” continued Ivand, who was starting to get confused because instead of staying silent, Elena started crying even more.

“Why are you crying so loud!” Ivand’s annoyance made Elena give him a sharp look.

“Uncle Devan, not Uncle Melon!” Vanessa corrected that she didn’t want her beloved Uncle to be the butt of her sister’s jokes.

“Hehehehe, it’s not funny, is it?” Ivand chuckled because he failed to cheer up Elena.

Viero, who had been standing in the doorway, was only able to remain silent. Pay attention to Ivand who is persuading Elena to stop crying. But finally Viero stepped in. I no longer want to be just a listener and observer. Viero needed a reasonable explanation to answer his curiosity.

“Brother Ivand, what is going on? Miss El and Mommy are crying and Daddy is angry?” Viero asked a question while sitting cross-legged under his two brothers.

“Why are you sitting downstairs? Take a chair over there!” Ivand protested when he saw Viero sitting cross-legged beneath the two of them with a pitiful expression.

While frowning, Viero got up, but instead of taking a chair as Ivand had ordered, the 12 year old teenager took the tissue box on the dressing table.

“Sis El, don’t wipe your nose carelessly, bro! It’s dirty, you know!” With an innocent expression, Viero handed the tissue to Elena.

“Brother Ivand, what’s going on here! Please tell me!” Viero coaxed with a pleading look.

“Here, Sis El, Daddy found out that she was dating Uncle Devan,” said Ivand, who had already expected this incident to happen. To be honest, Ivand had long sensed an inappropriate relationship between Elena and her parents’ best friend. It’s just that Ivand chose to ignore it because he thought it was all just his own prejudice.

“What!” Viero said in surprise. “Brother Ivand must be joking, right? Or is he doing stand up comedy?” Viero laughed loudly which was immediately stuffed with tissue containing snot by Elena.

“There are people who are sad and are even called stand up comedians!” Annoyed, Elena didn’t care about her youngest sister’s curses.

Huek.. yuck… Viero ran to the bathroom while taking out a tissue from his mouth, inside the closed Viero vomited whatever was in his stomach. With disgust, Viero gargled his mouth repeatedly.

The sound of Elena’s cell phone ringing managed to stop her crying. Elena hurriedly took out her cellphone from the sling bag she was still wearing. Reading Devan’s name written there, Elena immediately accepted it without caring about her two younger siblings hearing it.

“Don’t cry anymore! Tomorrow I will talk to your Daddy and Mommy again. Are you done crying now? Don’t be sad anymore,” said Devan in a voice that sounded worried.

“Yes Uncle,” replied Elena hoarsely.

“I love you, Bee,” said Devan, to which Elena only responded with a smile. Because Elena couldn’t possibly respond to Devan’s words of love in front of her two younger siblings.

“Oh, let’s finish it first, okay? I’m going to the bathroom,” interrupted Elena, realizing the meaning of her two younger siblings’ gazes.

“A sign of the end times!” Suddenly Viero spoke and just walked out of Elena’s room.

Elena looked at Ivand silently then stood up. He pulled Ivand’s hand until he stood up. With both hands, Elena pushed Ivand’s body to get outside.

“Ok, I’m going Sis. Just watch out if I hear you making fun again because of Uncle Melon!” Ivand threatened as he raised both hands. Resigning himself as Elena continued to push him until he reached the front of the room.

“Uncle Devan, Ivand is not Uncle Melon!” Elena shouted, correcting Ivand’s call to the man she loved and then slammed the door hard.

“That was close!” Ivand muttered while holding the tip of his puffy nose. Luckily, the valuable asset which was one of the attractive data on him did not reach Elena’s bedroom door.

Not long after, Elena’s bedroom door suddenly opened. Without wanting to see who was standing in the doorway, Elena spoke.

“What else is there Vand!” Elena was annoyed, who was just about to take Devan’s sweater off her body.

“Starting today, all of Daddy’s facilities will be removed!”