Mr. President: You Are The Daddy Of My Triplets - Chapter 480

Chapter 480: 480- Tarnished
Following the maid, Aniya entered the dining area, and her eyes landed on the couple seated at the long table. Rafael was holding Marissa’s hand, murmuring something in her ear before pressing a soft kiss to her knuckles.

Marissa blushed and chuckled softly.

As a child, Aniya was always in awe of her parents and the effortless love between them. Even in her faded memories, she could still recall the chemistry between them– it had always been too strong for those around them.

They must have sensed her presence because they straightened, and Marissa got up, smiling warmly, “Hello, Anaya,” She walked up to her and hugged her.

Aniya closed her eyes when her nostrils whiffed the familiar scent that was part of her mom’s embrace.

“How are you feeling now?” Marissa cupped Aniya’s cheek and then gestured towards the table, “I didn’t know what you’d like to have, so I just went with this…” She trailed off and guided Aniya to the chair.

Aniya’s gaze flickered over the table. Pasta, grilled chicken, and fries. She silently thanked the heavens that it wasn’t soup.

“I hope you’ll find something you like,” Rafael added, taking a sip of water from his glass.

With a nod, Aniya sat down but barely touched the food. She was too overwhelmed by the presence of these two people at the table.

She wanted to cry.

“Try this pasta, Anaya,” Marissa slid the dish closer to her.

There was this odd silence at the table where Aniya was staring at her empty plate, and the couple was busy watching her.

“She must be thinking we are freaking lunatics,” she whispered to her husband and raised her face when didn’t get any response from him.

He was looking at the girl, who looked like a mini version of his wife.

“Quit staring, love,” she poked her finger in his arm and then gave a quivering smile to the girl, “Are- are you not hungry, sweetheart? I can make you something else if you’d like.”

Aniya could see concern in her eyes, she shook her head, “Oh—no, it’s fine.”

“Are you sure?” Marissa asked her, and Aniya found both of them looking at her with an expression that was quite alien.

“Ah… umm…” she gulped her saliva before speaking, “How about… pancakes?”

Marissa and Rafael blinked, and Aniya’s heart skipped a beat. Marissa thought she misheard her, “Pancakes?”

Rafael swallowed hard, his voice barely above a whisper, “Pancakes?” he turned his head to look at his wife.

“Yes,” Aniya tried to steady her voice, “With lots of pancake syrup… and…” she thought hard, “with small chunks of dates…” That’s how Marissa used to serve them, “And …”

She was looking for words when Rafael supplied softly, “Whipped cream?”

Anaya nodded her head wildly as a smile broke on her lips, “Yeah… whipped cream too. I would love that…”

***

Sitting at the kitchen table, Aniya’s chin rested on her palm as she watched Rafael and Marissa moving around the kitchen.

The scent of warm butter and maple syrup was filling the air, reminding her of the good days of her childhood.

Marissa walked up to her and offered her an Iranian date, “You haven’t eaten anything since last night. Just chew some of these till I prepare pancakes.”

Aniya didn’t want to laugh. She was doubtful if she would be able to eat any of their pancakes. The couple was feeding her one or two bites of everything so that she wouldn’t stay empty stomach.

First, it was a bite of banana bread, then it was a rice cracker, and then it was a small scoop of homemade ice cream.

She wanted to ask Marissa if Alexander’s catering was still on.

“Honey! You’re flipping it too early,” Aniya came out of her daydream when Marissa’s voice made through her thoughts. She was reaching out for the spatula in Rafael’s hand.

Rafael was quick to take it out of her reach, “Too early?” he scoffed, “You might be a pro in making pancakes. But after marriage, I’ve been the one making them.”

“Oh, really?” Marissa folded her arms, “Mr. Sinclair, let me remind you. You burned the entire batch last time.”

“That’s not fair,” he shot a glance at Aniya, “Last night, you had that soup I made for you. Tell her how it was.”

Aniya’s eyes widened when he involved her suddenly, “Soup?”

“Yeah. Tell her how it was,” he waved the spatula around.

Aniya felt Marissa’s eyes on her and then leaned her forehead on the table. She couldn’t take it anymore, and her shoulders started shaking.

“Honey,” Marissa whispered, “I think she’s crying. What did you feed her last night?”

“Strawberry. Stop it!” Rafael rolled his eyes, “She was sick, and it must be her taste buds, believe me. Ragnar tasted it, and he said it was heavenly.”

Aniya heard the footsteps coming closer, “Anaya! Please, we’re sorry. Stop crying. I assure you I’ll take you out for a good meal and…” Holding her shoulders, Marissa tried to raise her frail body, and then they both were shocked.

Anaya’s face was red, and tears were rolling down her face, but…

But she was giggling hysterically.

Holding her belly, she rested her forehead back on the table, “Anaya!” Marissa thought the girl must be crazy.

“Mrs. Sinclair… that soup,” she managed between her uncontrollable giggles, “That soup was… horrible. Ha-ha.”

***

“Paige!” Olivia frowned when she found Paige standing outside her door, “What’re you doing here?”

It was the weekend, and Emma arrived in her room to have a late night discussion of starting a business that could be carried out online.

“Can I come inside? Please?” Olivia looked back to where Emma was, hurriedly picking up their notebooks and sticky notes.

Olivia moved aside and made room for Paige to enter the room. She closed the door and gestured for her to sit in a chair.

But Paige declined the offer with a simple shake of her head, “No thanks. It’s just that…” She chewed her lower lip, and Olivia thought she might damage it.

“You don’t look alright to me,” Emma stood up from the bed. Paige’s face was red and swollen due to excessive crying.

“He fired me!” she said and then suddenly started crying.

“Fired you? Who?” Olivia asked her in confusion.

“George. George Donovan fired me, and now I don’t know…” she trailed off and hid her face in her palms.

Olivia and Emma exchanged a glance before Olivia went to fill the glass with water and Emma dragged a chair forward. She tapped her finger on Paige’s shoulder, “Sit down. What happened? Boss fired you?”

Paige nodded and then sat down, wiping her face.

“Is … is it about Anaya?” Olivia asked her, and she nodded again.

“Yeah. He… he thinks… I’m involved,” she hiccupped.

Emma plopped on the edge of the bed and looked straight into Paige’s eyes, “Aren’t you, Paige?”

Paige was taken aback by this direct question, yet she didn’t flinch, “Yes, I wanted her out of Star Corps, but this…” she sobbed, “I never planned anything evil. I was jealous… It was jealousy… I stayed with Mr. Donovan for last two years, and he didn’t spare me a single glance… he seemed to care for her.”

Olivia closed her eyes. She already knew Paige was a jealous prick, but she never expected that she could go this far.

“What did you do to her? How can we help you?”

“I don’t know how you can help me…” Paige gave light slaps to her cheeks to stay sane, “But being jobless means no money and no roof over my head. I made a mistake, and now I want to fix it.”

“And how you are going to do that?” Emma asked her, and Paige shrugged.

“I don’t know. That’s why I’m here. I just wanted Anaya out of Star Corps and arranged that interview. I didn’t know he… he would attack her like that…”

Emma and Olivia were on their feet in a blink of an eye, “Attack? Did you say attack?”

“Yeah. I don’t know what he was thinking. This morning, I went to him to threaten that he should help me find Anaya but…”

“But?” Emma asked her impatiently.

“But he had already resigned and left the hotel,” Paige informed them, “The hotel employees are saying that he had moved out of the city and wasn’t planning to return.”

Three of them were now sitting quietly, thinking deep. Olivia wanted to kill Paige. None of them was aware if Anaya even was alive or not.

“Do you know, Mr. Donovan had involved police?” Emma asked her, and Paige nodded.

“Yes, I know. Star Corps guards won’t allow me an entry. Please help me. Ask Mr. Donovan to talk to me once. Maybe in return for my help, he might take me back.”

“And what if he doesn’t?” Olivia asked her with a raised brow.

“Then at least my name will be cleared from the police records. I don’t want it to be tarnished.”