*
*
Faith found it difficult to enter the large building. She hadn't been here in so long, but today, she had to do this. Maya was securely bound to her by the baby carrier.
Faith couldn't help but stare around the company she had once worked for, it brought sensations of nostalgia.
She greeted some of the familiar employees who seemed shocked to see her.
As she headed into Sterling's office, she greeted Rex who greeted her with a broad smile, Stacy by his side.
"Long time no see, oh look what we have here." He averted his gaze to Maya who was gawking at the new stranger.
"She's beautiful and looks so much like my cousin __and you of course, can I touch her?"
Faith didn't realize how hostile her expression was, she still hadn't forgiven him for reporting her pregnancy to Sterling, She might be living peacefully with Maya somewhere, but instead, she was stuck with a crazy man.
To her greatest satisfaction, when he lifted his hand to touch Maya, she burst into a fit of tears, her wails echoing the entire floor.
"I didn't hurt her, did I? Shit! I barely even touched her!" Rex's face was filled with so much guilt and concern that Faith almost burst out laughing. It was good that her baby knew her enemies, she couldn't have been more proud.
"You don't swear in front of the baby!" Stacy chided, slapping Rex's shoulders who scowled playfully.
"Have you guys met?" Rex turned to Faith, and before she could respond he spoke yet again.
"Stacy is my girlfriend __"
"Mr. Sterling's secretary!" Stacy's expression turned red.
Faith couldn't hide her surprise if Stacy and Rex were in a relationship, then she had been wrong the other day.
"I know we promised to keep our relationship a secret, but Faith is no outsider, she's your boss' wife and will find out sooner or later."
There was nothing going on between Sterling and Stacy.
It shouldn't be any of her business.
Wait__ why did everyone keep referring to her as Sterling's wife? Correcting them each time was becoming more stressful and annoying.
"We won't keep you, I'm sure you know the way to him."
Faith walked into Sterling's office, clenching her handbag tightly. The documents were inside, the bag suddenly felt heavier than it should have. What would happen if he caught her?
No!
She couldn't afford to think about that now, the little courage she had would falter.
Her eyes met Sterling's steely grey ones, why did it suddenly feel that those intense orbs knew the exact reason she was here?
That was impossible!
Right?
They hadn't spoken much since their last argument.
"Today is Maya's medical check-up, I was wondering if you could go with me?" Faith said as he ushered her to sit down.
"Wasn't it supposed to be next week?" Faith was surprised that he recalled the exact day next week, she didn't think that his memory would be so sharp considering that he was always busy with work.
"She suddenly had a cough yesterday, I thought it would be better if we visited the hospital earlier." Faith hated using her baby to lie, Maya was completely fine, but this was the only way she could visit Sterling in his office without being suspicious.
"You could have told me, I would have skipped work today."
He leaned so he could touch Maya's forehead to feel her temperature and laughed in surprise when she suddenly grabbed his finger.
"Whoa! Spider woman senses." He chuckled, Maya giggled and started to drag his finger to her mouth, biting him with her gums, causing Sterling to laugh even more.
Faith nearly flinched when Sterling's hand caressed the back of her neck as he started to massage it. His bigger frame covered both her and Maya as he kissed Faith's temple.
"I'll do better for you and her this time. I'm sorry for all that happened in the past, I never wanted to hurt you, but you got hurt by me each time anyway."
A difficult lump suddenly tangled in Faith's throat. "You promised to give us a chance, I won't fuck it up this time, I swear."
She looked away from his expressive eyes, experience had taught her that he would never change. After everything, they've gone past the level of reconciliation.
She slowly nodded. Her eyes lifted in surprise when he mentioned Dan.
"He won't trouble you again, I gave him a choice to leave the country and start a new life, this was what you wanted."
A stupid part of her heart wanted to believe that Sterling was truly trying to change, when he found out that she was only deceiving him, how would he react?
By then, she would be rich enough to travel out of the continent with her whole family, and he would be very poor, with no resources to start looking for her.
She needed to get this done quickly and give it to her lawyer to proceed.
A knock sounded on the door, Sterling was unhappy about the interruption but ordered the person to enter.
"Mr. Hunter, these are the weekly files you asked for, you already reviewed them yesterday, all they need now is your stamp and signature so we can forward them to the board of directors." Stacy placed the stack of documents on the large desk.
"I'll handle these later, I have somewhere to be right now." Stacy nodded and exited the office. Sterling started to reach for his suit jacket but Faith stopped him when she spoke.
"You can sign those first, we can wait. It won't take much of your time."
"Nothing is more important than you and Maya, not these."
She groaned inwardly when Sterling wasn't heeding to her.
"No, you have to sign them now!" She insisted and Sterling arched a brow.
Realizing that her behavior would seem suspicious to him, she faked what she hoped was a gentle smile.
"What I mean is, I want you to finish everything so that Maya and I will have you to ourselves, I was thinking we could have lunch together but that won't happen if you have to return here to sign these." She gestured at the documents.
She knew from his pleased smile that she had gotten to him.
"You wish to spend time with me? I didn't think you would be so forgiving after our last argument." His eyes flickered softly and Faith looked away uneasy.
He started to stamp the documents, barely even glancing at them.
Faith silently prayed for an opportunity, it seemed like a miracle when his phone suddenly rang, Sterling walked towards the window to answer the call, his back facing her.
This was the chance she needed! Even the heavens seemed to surely be on her side!
Faith quickly withdrew the papers from her bag and checked to see that he still wasn't looking, carefully, she hid the papers among the documents he was signing.
Her heart was beating too rapidly, her hands trembling as she relaxed in her seat.
"Are you okay?"
"Huh?" She stared at Sterling blankly, her stomach seemed to be tied by thousands of knots. Even Maya started to cry, probably sensing her mother's anxiety.
"It's okay." Faith cooed, rocking her gently, but all attempts failed.
"Give her to me."
Faith placed Maya in Sterling's waiting arms.
The baby continued to wail, placing her small head against Sterling's chest.
Faith looked away from the sight, if everything went well, the would probably be Maya's last few moments with her father.
A sudden stab in her chest made Faith exhale shakily, she wouldn't think about it now.
Maya's cries gradually subsided and a few moments later, she was fast asleep.
Sterling returned to his chair, Maya still resting on his arms. He hastily resumed signing the documents, and when he lifted the papers, Faith's heart nearly jumped out.
But he didn't even spare it a second glance, She watched his hand move around the stamp, and it was__
Done?
Just like that?
Her knees went weak in relief when he looked at her as he stood up.
"Shall we go now?"
If he'd suspected anything wrong, he would have questioned her___Right?
She'd succeeded!
Why didn't she feel the slightest bit happy? She also had another problem, how would she retrieve the documents without his knowledge?