20 Frustrated Victor

Currently, Rina is driving home alone, and WHERE IS THE EVER-SO-CLEVER ERWIN??? 

Well, it seems he left without even waiting for her. How irritated must he be with her actions, 

Her deep-seated longing for his patience and consideration intensifies as she contemplates his absence. The fact that he didn't wait for her only exacerbates her sense of insignificance.

Upon her arrival at their residence, she spots Erwin waiting outside, leaning casually against his luxurious car.

His demeanor conveys an impatience she's all too familiar with.

As she parks her vehicle, a perplexed expression crosses her face, questioning why he hasn't made his way inside yet.

"Uh, why are you still here?" she inquires.

"I forgot my keys," he confesses.

She arches an eyebrow, taken aback by this seemingly trivial oversight.

"Did you leave them at the restaurant?"

"No, I forgot it at Helen---" but he quickly cuts himself off.

However, Rina immediately knows to whom he left the keys: Helena.

Of course, Helena! She silently seethes, feeling a stabbing pain in her chest. With no further acknowledgment, she unlocks the gate, opens it with the keys in hand, and proceeds into the house, leaving Erwin outside.

Victor, on the other hand, keenly observes Rina's dispirited demeanor and avoidance of his presence.

He struggles to find a suitable topic of conversation to bridge the widening gap between them.

"Uhm, Rina, what happened to the leftover food you brought? I noticed you didn't have it with you."

Her response is brief and peculiar, as though his question struck a discordant note.

"If you had mentioned that you still wanted to eat it, then you should have finished it at the restaurant, and I wouldn't have had to give it away to those hungry people outside,"

she uttered with a chilly tone, before proceeding directly upstairs and entering her room, leaving Victor bewildered. 

"What? What's wrong? I didn't say I wanted to eat it," Victor thinks to himself. He merely wanted to initiate a conversation with her.

Perhaps she's genuinely upset because he left her earlier? Initially, he had indeed intended to drop her off after their meal at the restaurant. However, when he noticed her car was still parked there, annoyance got the best of him, leading him to leave her behind.

----+

As Rina enters her room, she collapses onto her bed, her attire unchanged from the prior evening.

Unbeknownst to her, tears she's been holding back begin to stream down her face.

As she suppressed her sobs, they gradually grew louder until only her solitary sob remained audible in that room.

She's been suppressing the pain and heaviness in her chest ever since she and Victor were together.

To others, from a distance, they might appear sweet and normal, a typical couple. 

But the agonizing truth that Victor's love is feigned and he's with her out of obligation weighs heavily on her heart.

During their dinner together, she couldn't help but notice Victor's complete focus on the food before them. The rare moments he glanced her way were accompanied by raised eyebrows. If she hadn't initiated their conversation by teasing him, their dinner might have passed in total silence.

It takes some time for her sobs to subside.

Exhausted, she eventually drifts into sleep.

----------++

The following morning... 

Rina diligently prepares breakfast for both herself and Victor, while Victor, is engrossed in his cell phone.

He had woken her up early, only to instruct her to cook.

As she worked on the food, she couldn't help but glance at Victor, who was deeply immersed in typing messages on his phone.

"Hey, Victor, breakfast is ready," she gently called out, attempting to capture his attention. However, her words went unnoticed.

A short while later, Victor swiftly rose from his seat as his phone emitted a ringing tone, indicating an incoming call.

"Hey, good morning, baby!" greeted his conversational partner through the phone.

Rina, still nearby, couldn't help but overhear their exchange.

Victor promptly adjusted his phone's speaker volume, seemingly to shield the conversation from Rina's ears, and then looked at her with a quizzical expression when he realized she was observing him.

"What are you looking at?" Victor asked her before turning his attention back to his phone conversation.

"No, baby, it's not you. I just happened to notice our housekeeper looking at me while I was occupied, and I found her behavior rather impolite," he softly explained, his words carrying just enough volume for Rina to discern.

"What? A housekeeper!!?, Do he really think I'm his housekeeper here!! " she murmured to herself, a touch of exasperation in her voice as she delicately removed her apron and placed the ladle in the sink.

"So, I'm his housekeeper?!! .. huh! " Rina stated, her gaze piercing as she addressed Victor. Her displeasure arose from the fact that he had awakened her early, despite her weakened state due to pregnancy, just to prepare his breakfast.

Victor had claimed he was in a hurry to get to the office, yet now, after she had finished cooking, he was prioritizing a conversation with his mistress over their meal.

Infused with frustration, she opted to call him out,

"Honeyyyyy!!!! Breakfast is ready! Let's eat!!!" She shouted, making sure that even Victor's mistress on the other line could hear her words.

----

While Victor was in conversation, he heard Rina's loud call, causing him to startle and quickly mute his call, but it seemed

Helena on the other line had already heard it.

"Honeeyyyyy!??... "

"Hey baby, who's that!? Who's with you there!? Where are you??..Hey, answer me Victor!!" Victor could clearly hear Helena's rapid succession of questions from the other end of the line.

For a brief moment, he paled, uncertain of what to say.

He then turned to face Rina, who had now turned away from him, still focused on preparing breakfast.

"Wait, baby, let me explain, okay? I'm currently having breakfast outside, and there happens to be a married couple nearby who are also having their breakfast," he explained to Helena.

"No, I don't believe you!! Are you hiding a woman from me!? And why does the woman's voice sound familiar!? Huh!?"

Helena responded with skepticism.

"No, baby, it's not what you think! It is, I promise"

"I still don't believe you!!" Helena said.

"Please trust me, I love you deeply. It's extremely noisy here right now, so perhaps we're not understanding each other well. I'll call you later," he said before lowering his cellphone and clutching it tightly due to the irritation he felt from Rina's actions.

He took a few deep breaths before eventually turning to confront Rina about her actions, his anger simmering deeply in his eyes.