The next day…Ingrid woke up feeling tired and felt that there"s some bulk placed on her tummy. She looked down and saw the huge arm of her husband wrapped around her. She smiled.
She moved to face her husband who"s sleeping but his brows are knitted. Ingrid reached out to ma.s.sage his brow which awakens Clifford.
"Good morning, my love," because of that Clifford pulled his wife closer to her, not wanting to let her go.
"Good morning, lovely wife." He then kissed her forehead. Then, he stared at her genuinely.
There"s something in Clifford"s stare that wanted to tell her something but he seems hesitant to tell it. Something stopping him. There"s wariness that"s clouding his eyes.
"Is there something bothering you, love?" Clifford nodded.
"Let"s talk about it later. For now, let"s go to our son first, he"s been missing from our presence since and he"s ignoring us and just enjoying on his own," he chuckled as he rose up.
Instead of responding to his early rant, Ingrid said another.
"Hmm… why do you look so hot, lovey dove…?"
Looking back to his still lying wife, he grinned. "And I know exactly what you want."
She rose suddenly. "Really? However, we needed to check our son, hubby. I miss him."
When unexpectedly, they heard a simultaneous knocks on the door. Clifford took his robe and went to open the door, only to find their son standing outside, near in tears.
"Dadddy!!" the child cried.
"Hey, what happened to you…" Clifford immediately bends to carry Clark to their bed.
"I just miss you dad, mom. And my friend, almost drowned last night… I"m so scared daddy."
"What did you say? Someone almost drown?" Clark moved his head up and down.
Ingrid immediately hugged her son, while Clifford called Lance to confirm his son"s news and fished for more details. Lance did confirm it and a.s.sured that it"s already been taken care of and the child is the daughter of one the staff who sneaked in without the father"s knowledge.
He felt relieved and advised to a.s.sist the victim and the family and a.s.sist them in any way. Again, they heard another knock. This time it"s their breakfast being served.
While they were having breakfast Clifford"s countenance becomes serious.
"Ingrid, I have something to tell you,"
"Ahuh, what is it?" she asked while spoon feeding Clark.
However, her husband did not immediately respond so Ingrid looked at his direction.
"Mommy, I"m full and I want to sleep again, can I lie in your arms?"
"Ha? You"re still full. Let the food digest first, okay? Hayyy… okay come here, son,"
The child grinned. Immediately Clark climbed up to his mother"s lap and then he leaned on her chest.
"I miss sleeping in your arms, mommy." Ingrid smiled on her sleepy son and kissed his hair.
Clifford interrupted the mother and son. "I miss you cuddling me, too, mommy…"
Immediately Clark reacted and pulled away from his mother"s chest and turned his head towards his father.
"Daddy, this is a me time with mommy, okay. No intrusion, okay? I noticed that you"ve been stealing my time with mommy." The child pouted his lips and frowned.
Clifford could not help but laugh.
"Yes, sir, you can have your mommy, but I"ll steal her again later, okay." The child frowned again.
When Clark almost dozes off, Ingrid asked her husband again.
Letting out a deep sigh, Clifford spoke.
"Your dad and I talked last night while you"re asleep and he opened up about his plan to… to give you what you"ve desired ever since. That is handing over the company to you."
The news stunned her. This has been her greatest dream and it"s already near her reach.
"Re-really? My daddy would do that? Why? What made him changed his mind? I thought I already relinquish my right after our agreement?"
"That"s what I thought. Nevertheless he never had that notion in his mind." Clifford"s voice rings sadness.
"Why did he not talk about it with me first?"
Lots of questions suddenly came pouring in Ingrid"s mind. She could not understand why her father did that since she"s the one involved.
"Why now?"
"I don"t know. All I know is that it"ll involve our family. It"ll be a huge decision and sacrifice for both of us should you accept it or not." Her brows knitted.
Overwhelming emotion took over Clifford. He stood up and went over Ingrid"s side and sat down beside her. He took her hand and placed it on his left chest.
The gesture made Ingrid"s heart flutter.
"Oh, love, why are you becoming so emotional now? Are you hiding something from me?"
Her question froze him. The old man sternly said not to reveal his illness to Ingrid, so he shakes his head.
"Nothing. Let me ask you, will you accept the offer?" she paused for a moment and remembered something.
"Wait, you mentioned about sacrifice earlier. What do you mean by that?"
He let go of her hand and breathe heavily.
"Father told me that if you accept it, you need to live here in Vienna."
"What?! You mean, it"ll cost you and Clark?" her husband nodded.
However, Clifford could not hide her father"s ailment. He"s not that selfish.
"Listen to me, before you react or decide, your father told me something important and strongly directed me not to tell you. However, my conscience could not tolerate it." He gulped while Ingrid started to panic.
"He has an illness. Enlargement of heart."
Short answer yet seems like a bomb in Ingrid"s hearing. Her eyes swelled up. Her throat felt sore. Her heart squeezed with heaviness.
"OH MY G.o.d! NO! I DON"T BELIEVE IT!"