Chapter 19 The Best Is Yet to Come
At night, Yolanda was still furious as she lay in bed.
She thought, “What’s Antwan thinking? He’s going to marry the love of his life. Though she’s pregnant with someone else’s baby, it’s what he
wants, right? Shouldn’t he happily embrace the new chapter of his life? Why wouldn’t he leave me alone?”
Just then, her phone rang.
She answered it and then heard a muffled groan. It seemed the caller was feeling unwell.
“Who is this?” she asked.
“It’s me.”
She frowned as she recognized Antwan’s voice.
As she was about to hang up, he said quickly, “If you dare to hang up, I’ll have
your parents‘ house torn down tomorrow.”
She gritted her teeth. “What the heck do you want, Antwan?”
“My stomach hurts.”
“It won’t kill you.‘
“I want the soup you make.”
“I suggest pills instead.”
“Where are they?”
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“Where they should be.”
“Come and find them for me.”
“Drop dead, Antwan!”
She hung up the phone and got up to have a big gulp of cold water before calming down. As she was about to turn off her phone, Brent texted her.
“It may be chilly tomorrow. Bundle up.”
His message warmed her heart.
She texted back, “What about you over there?”
“It’s pretty cold,” he replied soon.
“Then you should wear more layers, too.”
“OK.”
Then she told him about the remodeling. He listened seriously and gave advice occasionally, and when she mentioned renovating the yards, he said she could do as she pleased.
“The yards may change a lot. My friend said I should talk to the owner.‘
“You are the owner,” he said.
“What?”
“It’s your villa, your home, too.”
Home? But she didn’t have a particularly strong sense of belonging.
After the topic was over, Brent mentioned the wedding. His family had been preparing for it, and she could start by trying on wedding dresses.
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“I’ll send you a few photos. Pick the one you like the best, and those at the bridal shop will tailor it to your measurements. After it’s ready, you can try it on in there.”
Yolanda was a bit stunned at the sudden change of the subject.
“OK.”
Soon, he sent her the photos, and the wedding dresses in them were fascinating. But her favorite was a sapphire–blue satin V–neck wedding dress, adorned with countless star–like rhinestones.
She sent him the photo back but regretted it in the next second–maybe it was overly expensive for Brent, considering he was still paying off the mortgage.
Then she decided to pay for it herself.
“I bet you look perfect in it,” Brent said.
On the other end, being hung up by Yolanda, Antwan was furious and tossed the phone onto the floor. The anger also caused greater pain in his stomach.
Hearing the bang, Jaslyn came downstairs. “What happened, Antwan?”
Worried, she trotted toward him.
Seeing her in thin pajamas only, he stood up quickly, took off his suit jacket, and draped it over her shoulders.
“Nothing. I’m just having a bit of stomachache. Don’t worry, OK? Go back to bed.”
“Stomachache? You must have drunk too much lately,” she said.
“I had a lot of client dinners.”
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“Still, you should cut back on the drinking.”
When saying this, Jaslyn fetched him a glass of warm water from the dispenser.
“Here, have some water.”
“OK.”
“Do you want me to stay with you?”
“I’m good.”
“Then I’m going upstairs to bed.”
Yawning, she went back upstairs.
Holding the glass, Antwan felt the hot temperature, but it couldn’t warm his heart no matter what. He forced himself to take a sip, but a sharp cramp that followed made him let out a muffled groan.
He couldn’t take it anymore and stood up to find the first–aid kit. It took him ages before finally finding it in the living room.
There were all kinds of pills in the first–aid kit, placed neatly. Seeing the stomach pills right on top, he picked up a bottle and saw the pills would expire within three months.
Due to frequent business entertaining, he got drunk all the time and had stomach issues. Yolanda used to think of all kinds of ways to improve his condition, such as making him all kinds of soups and even learning massage techniques from some experts.
Thanks to her persistent help, his stomach condition improved a lot, and he seldom suffered from stomachache anymore.
Now that she was gone, his stomach condition worsened.
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After taking the pills, he lay on the couch and accidentally fell asleep. Waking from the cold at midnight, he mumbled drowsily, “Yolanda, give me the blanket.”
In the next second, he realized what he had done and patted his forehead.
Early the next morning, Yolanda ran for half an hour. After contacting the driver delivering the floorboards and the workers installing them, she went to Antwan’s villa.
He only came to open the door after she rang the doorbell for more than ten minutes.
“What are you doing here?” he asked irritably.
“It’s my great honor to be your family’s maid. I’m here to make you breakfast,” she smiled slyly.
He frowned. “The passcode hasn’t changed. From tomorrow on, open the door yourself. Don’t disturb Jaslyn and me.”
“You better change the passcode, or you might blame me once something’s missing from home,” she said.
Then she walked past him and went into the kitchen.
Everything in there was dusty; it seemed no one had used it since she moved out.
After she finished preparing the breakfast, Jaslyn and Antwan went downstairs.
Upon seeing her, Jaslyn smiled complacently, “Yolanda, I’m so glad to see you working for us.”
Yolanda smiled, too, “My hands are tied. I have no savings, and after losing my job at the hospital, I have no income either. I have to do
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something just to make ends meet.”
“Don’t worry. You’re gonna be paid well,” Jaslyn said.
“I’m not worried at all. After all, Mr. Navarro is so generous. Oh, by the way, we’re running low on salt. Mr. Navarro, could you transfer me a couple of dollars later? I’ll go buy some.”
Hearing her sarcastic words, Antwan glared at her.
She made pasta with meat sauce for breakfast, which was to Antwan’s liking. Jaslyn gave it a go and said it was a bit too salty, asking her to go easy on the salt from now on.
“OK.” She nodded.
“Have you eaten? Wanna join us?” Jaslyn asked.
“I’ll pass. It’ll be awkward if we three eat together.”
Jaslyn smiled, “You can eat in the kitchen like all maids do.”
She let out a self–mocking laugh. “What was I thinking? I should have known my place.”
“No worries. You have plenty of time to adjust,” Jaslyn said.
After they threw shade at each other for a while, Yolanda started to clean the kitchen.
“What’s this?”
She deliberately said loudly and picked up something covered in meat sauce from the pot. Hearing her exclamation, the two looked over.
“Gosh, is it a rag?”
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The two spat out the food in their mouths at once.
“Oh, it really is. I used it to wipe the stove earlier!”
Jaslyn retched at once and then rushed into the bathroom.
Meanwhile, Antwan glared at Yolanda, his expression darkening.
“You did it on purpose, didn’t you?”
Yolanda pouted. “How could you say this? It’s my first day being a maid, and I have a lot to learn.”
Of course, the best was yet to come.
