Chapter 10

When it started getting dark, both Axel and Plumeria went their separate ways after saying their goodbyes. She got home when the sky had gotten dark.

"Mom! Dad! I'm home." She announced her arrival when she went inside.

Her mother came running from the living room to see her. Plumeria could see the excitement all over her face, but when Emily saw her dress, she frowned. She looked at her daughter disapprovingly.

"If my memory is correct, which is, then I remember that you went wearing a completely different dress." She told her and looked at her for an explanation.

Plumeria smiled at her.

"I was wearing another dress but Levi didn't like that dress and bought me this one to wear. He said I looked prettier in this one." Plumeria lied to her mom with the most angelic smile.

Her mother sighed.

"All my efforts for dressing you up were a waste then if he liked a simple and innocent type of dressing." Emily said, looking at her.

She walked to her mother and held her shoulders.

"Yes, he did. So next time let me dress in clothes I'm comfortable in." She told her.

"Fine, fine. How was your date, by the way?" Emily asked her.

"It was good. I learned a lot of things about him." She told her with a fake smile.

'And none of which are good.' she thought.

"Oh, that's good then." Emily said, nodding a little. "Did you exchange numbers?" she asked.

"Yes, mom." she told her.

"Did he drop you off then?" Emily asked her.

"No." she told her and then looked at mother. "I was with Axel. He came back."

Emily's expression suddenly changed. There was sadness and happiness on her face.

"How is he?" Emily asked her with a small, sad smile.

"He's good. He's moved back here and said is going to start working at the hospital." She told her.

Emily gave her a tight smile and caressed the side of her arm.

"Spend more time with him. He may hate us, but he loves you dearly." Emily told her.

"Mom, he doesn't hate you guys. He's just angry." She told him.

Emily gave her a small nod.

"Go clean up before dinner." She told her.

Plumeria nodded and went away.

Emily sighed sadly and also went away. She still remembered the look on Axel's face and knew that he would never forget them.

After she changed and got refreshed. When she went down to eat, she noticed that her father wasn't around, so she went to her mother, who was sitting on the sofa with her tablet and scrolling through something.

"Where's dad?" Plumeria asked.

"He went to have dinner with a friend who is leaving the country." She told her without looking up from the screen.

"Oh." Plumeria said and sat down beside her mother.

She looked at the tablet screen and saw that she was looking at old photos of them when Axel was still with them.

"Just give him more time." Plumeria to him.

Emily looked at her with sad eyes and nodded while caressing the side of her head.

"I'm glad that you are around." She told her daughter.

"Then maybe you should reconsider marrying me off then I'll stay with you forever." Plumeria told her.

Emily smiled at her smartly.

"Nice try, hon. I know it feels uncomfortable for you at first, but trust me on this. You two haven't seen or talked with each other for a while and you also remember anything from when you were little, but you two were inseparable. Oh, you two were such pranksters." Emily said, shaking her head with a smile, remembering the past. "Give him 3 months, Plum. If you still don't like him, then you don't have to marry him. I wouldn't want you to marry someone you can never be happy with or love."

Plumeria nodded.

"Okay." she told her.

"Good. Hungry?" Emily asked.

"Famished." she replied with a warm smile.

"I made your favorite. Creamy garlic chicken noodles and loaded baked potatoes." Emily told her and tugged back a lock of hair behind her daughter's ear.

"Trying to bribe me now, huh?" she asked her.

Emily chuckled.

"I don't need to bribe my daughter for anything or anyone." She told her. "Because I love her."

Plumeria smiled.

"I love you too, mom." she told her.

"Come on now. Let's eat." Emily told her, getting up.

They went to the kitchen, where the servants reheated the food before they served it at the dining table.

After dinner, Plumeria went back to her room and did her work.

An hour later, there was a knock on her door. She quickly changed her work screen to a novel.

Her father came in smiling at her. She smiled back, looking at him.

"How was dinner?" she asked him.

"It was good. Just came in to check on my baby girl." he told her with a smile.

She patted the space next to her on the bed, gesturing to him to sit down.

He walked over and sat down on the bed.

"How was your date?" he asked her.

"Interesting." she told him.

"Do you like him?" he asked her.

'Nope.' she thought.

"I just met him today. It's a bit too early to judge." she told him.

"Well, if he bullies you even a little, you can tell me. I'll fight the world for my baby girls." he told her.

"Even mom?" she asked him in a challenging tone.

"I wouldn't have to if someone hurt our kids. She'll be the first one to kill them." he told her.

They both laughed.

He went silent for a while.

"Your mom told me about Axel." He told her. "You think… he might come home?" he asked her.

Plumeria gave him a small smile and held his hand, that was resting in his lap.

"He came back to the country, right? Just give him some more time. He'll come back home too." she reassured him. "If he doesn't, then I'll drag him by the ear."

He chuckled.

"What did he specialize in?" he asked her.

"He said cardiology." She told him and got an idea. "Maybe you can visit him at the hospital pretending to be sick."

Owen laughed.

"Clever girl. Which hospital is he going to work at?" he asked her.

She grinned at him.

"I haven't asked him yet, but I'll ask him when I visit him." She told her father.

"What would I do without you?" he asked her with a smile.

She giggled.

"You'll be fine without me." she told him.

"We both know that's not true." he told her and got up. "I'll let you get back to what you were doing."

"Goodnight, dad. I love you." She told him.

He leaned in and kissed her forehead.

"Goodnight, my precious baby. I love you too." he told her and left her room.

She went back to her work and fell asleep when the sun started to rise.

~2 Weeks Later~

Plumeria went to Axel's house because he told her that he had some news for her.

She put on her happy face even though she was suffering on the inside. A lot happened to her in the past two weeks and because of that, her whole life was turned upside down because of it.

When she got to his apartment, she punched in the codes on the lock pad and went inside.

"Axel?" she called out, changing her shoes to slippers.

"In here!" his voice came from the living room.

She went to the living room to see him. He was sitting on the sofa with a file in his hand and was looking at her with a serious look.

She got a bad feeling about whatever he had to tell her.

"What's wrong?" she asked him, nervously.

Another bad news was something she wanted to avoid right now.

Axel got up from the sofa and stood in front of her, holding the file.

"You better prepare yourself." He told her.

She took the file from him with her heart beating loudly in her chest. She opened it and read it in horror. Tears filled her eyes.

"I-it can't be." she said and looked at him with a deep worried frown. "Please tell me this is just you messing with me."

"I would never mess with you like this, plum." he told her, feeling upset watching the tears stream down her face.

"How long does he have?" she asked him.

"Max 1 year. Minimum… 6 months or less." he told her.

Her entire world crumbled in front of her. She thought that what she was going through was already bad, but this was a whole new definition of bad.

She suddenly felt really dizzy and weak. Losing her strength in her body, she fell to the floor unconscious.