Chapter 2. It Turns Out You're Already Married

"It's been 5 years, Jeremy. Can't you forgive me? Please, listen to my explanation first this time," Jocelin whispered so softly.

"Until forever, I will never forgive you for all your actions. Meeting you then was my biggest regret," Jeremy replied firmly.

Jeremy immediately walked away with his face full of resentment towards Jocelin. Without Jocelin realizing it, tears were already streaming down her face, but she tried to hold them back and remain patient with Jeremiah's attitude towards her.

Jocelin headed home, and upon reaching the lobby, she received a phone call. Anton Harris's name appeared on her phone screen, and Jocelin took a deep breath before answering the call.

"I've done as you asked today. Now it's your turn to do what's your task as we promised at the beginning," Jocelin said directly.

"Jocelin, you're always intriguing. What's your relationship with Jeremiah Halim?" Anton asked curiously.

"Mr. Anton, it seems this has nothing to do with you. You made a promise to me, as long as I can show in front of many of your colleagues that I'm flirting with you, then you'll help me," Jocelin explained again, reminding Anton of their agreement.

"Dr. Verrel Gunawan is on his way to Singapore; he should have landed by now. Tonight, I'll schedule the operation for you. I won't break my promise; you should..." Anton Harris replied but was interrupted by a phone call that Jocelin immediately ended.

Jocelin didn't want to hear more because all she needed was the promise that Anton was supposed to fulfill for her. She walked out to hail a taxi and leave immediately.

On the other hand, Anton sighed in annoyance when he realized that the call was abruptly ended. He turned around to find his wife standing there, staring at him sharply.

"Darling, how long have you been there? Don't look so upset. What will people think?" Anton said softly, trying to touch his wife's cheek gently.

Cindy immediately swatted Anton's hand away from her face.

"I don't care how many women you flirt with behind my back. I don't forbid it, but not in front of many people, especially in front of my father's colleagues. I don't want my father's company to be dragged down because of your bad rumors; maybe you're not ashamed, but my father's reputation will be at stake," Cindy explained vehemently.

"I honestly didn't expect what Jocelin did earlier. Besides, she..." Anton's words were cut off.

"I don't want to hear it; I don't care about your affairs as long as they don't affect my family. Besides, why bother preparing such a boring birthday party?" Cindy scoffed and walked away.

Anton, seeing his wife leave, could only sigh in frustration.

On the other side, Jocelin had arrived at a place, changed into more casual clothes, and saw a body sleeping soundly in a hospital bed. Jocelin tidied up the scattered toys on the floor and on the hospital bed.

"Doesn't mama know the time? Mama always gets mad when I play until late, but look at mama now, doing the same thing," Jehezkiel Thambrin initially pretended to be asleep.

"Oh my, you scared mama," Jocelin said, surprised by her son suddenly waking up.

"I'm sorry, mama came home late today, I promise mama won't come home late again. Okay? Let's make up..." Jocelin coaxed.

"Huhh, I'm not stopping mama because I know mama went out for work, but mama should ask for permission next time, if not... Kiel won't want to play with mama." Kiel said.

"Alright Boss, now Kiel needs to sleep." Jocelin replied while mimicking a pistol from her hand and shooting softly towards Kiel's heart as a way to put Kiel to sleep.

Jocelin chuckled softly seeing her son's behavior, who was now growing up. Even though he was only 5 years old, Jocelin felt grateful to have Kiel in her life. Jocelin went out to get warm water from outside.

"You just got back? Kiel has been looking for you all this time." Doctor Ronald asked as he walked towards Kiel's room and stopped when he saw Jocelin coming out of the room.

"Yes, just arrived. I'm sure Kiel must be angry because this time I forgot to tell him that I would come home quite late." Jocelin replied.

"hahaha, don't worry, Kiel is a good child, he loves you very much." Doctor Ronald replied, walking alongside Jocelin.

"I'm really grateful for being a Doctor responsible for Kiel, you've helped me a lot. Even until now, I'm still troubling you, I feel so sorry." Jocelin said weakly.

"Don't think like that, maybe I owe a lot in the past life so I have to pay it back in this life. That's why in this life, I'm brought together with a friend like you." Doctor Ronald replied with a slight laugh.

"Oh yes, I heard that Dr. Verrel Gunawan has landed in Singapore. Tomorrow, Kiel will soon get a surgery schedule with him." Jocelin said, relieved.

"Are you serious? That's really good news." Doctor Ronald replied, also happy to hear the news.

"After hearing that news, my heart feels much lighter." Jocelin replied.

"But how did you persuade Dr. Verrel Gunawan? Even the hospital director couldn't get an appointment with him." Doctor Ronald asked.

"Heemm, if that's a long story." Jocelin replied with a heavy sigh.

On the other side, Jeremiah had finished bathing and was heading to his room to read some data from his assistant. Earlier, he had asked Hardy to find data about Jocelin Thambrin.

"So this is the person who made you upset all night. Jocelin Thambrin is the director of the IT Solution company Win Pro. She has handled several projects with big companies to create AI technology to help some health businesses like hospitals," Hardy explained briefly.

"Is this the only information you found?" Jeremiah asked.

"Do you want more information? I'll look for it again. But I heard that she deliberately came to the party because she heard rumors that you were coming to the party." Hardy said.

"But I think Jocelin didn't come because of you; tonight everyone's attention was on her being more inclined towards Mr. Anton Harris." Hardy continued.

"That's enough, you can go home now." Jeremiah said with a high tone, putting his iPad on the sofa.

Hardy, hearing his boss's words with a high tone, immediately left.

"Why do I have to meet her again?" Jeremiah asked, thinking about his encounter with Jocelin.

Jeremiah felt his heartbeat racing when he thought about Jocelin. Even the health watch he was wearing showed a high number, 140. The health watch beeped as the heart rate number was too high; Jeremiah immediately took off the watch in frustration.

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The next morning,

Jeremiah had to be at the hospital for his routine health checkup. He still had to wait in line, which made him impatient

 as he had been waiting for a long time.

"How much longer do I have to wait?" Jeremiah asked impatiently.

"About 25 more minutes," Hardy replied.

"In that case, you wait here; I'll go to work first," Jeremiah replied, getting up to leave.

Hardy immediately blocked Jeremiah.

"You can't, or I'll be scolded by the Board of Directors. You need to be checked because lately, your heart rate has been beating very fast," Hardy explained.

"I know my body better, so there's no need for you to intervene. Besides, don't ever get involved in the matters of the Board of Directors. They're overseeing me even from a different continent," Jeremiah said angrily.

"That means the Board of Directors cares about you; isn't that good? It means you're like a golden child," Hardy explained.

"Are you my assistant, or their assistant? Are you paid more by them?" Jeremiah retorted.

"Of course, I'm your assistant, but I can't refuse money from the Board of Directors," Hardy replied with a big smile.

"Forget it, I'll go get some fresh air first," Jeremiah said, leaving.

As he was walking in the lobby, he accidentally saw Jocelin looking panicked as if she had lost something. But a few seconds later, a little boy shouted, calling her "mama." Jocelin immediately ran and hugged the child.

"She already has a child?" Jeremiah muttered, disbelieving.

From a distance, Doctor Ronald walked towards Jocelin and Kiel. Kiel, realizing Doctor Ronald's arrival, ran towards him and asked to be carried. They seemed engrossed in their own little world, while Jeremiah, watching from afar, was silent with a sharp gaze towards Jocelin.

"Mama, I want to get my toy first, I forgot to get it," Kiel said, quickly running towards the sofa where he was playing earlier.

"Okay, mama will wait here," Jocelin said, looking at Kiel running.

A few seconds later, Jocelin was surprised when Kiel stopped in front of Jeremiah. Jocelin immediately ran to him and pulled Kiel away from Jeremiah.

"Why did you stop in front of this person, didn't you say you wanted to get your toy?" Jocelin asked, panting.

Jeremiah, seeing this, looked visibly upset and turned away. He was about to leave, but a moment later, Jocelin ran to stop him.

"Why are you here at the hospital? Is your illness recurring?" Jocelin asked.

"What's it to you? You don't need to pretend to care like that. Your acting won't affect me anymore," Jeremiah replied curtly.

"Jeremy, it's been 6 years since you ended our relationship. Can't we forget the past and forgive each other?" Jocelin asked, tired of Jeremiah's never-ending resentment.

"Forgive? Forgive you? Jocelin, for these 6 years, have you felt guilty, suffered, or regretted?" Jeremiah asked seriously.

"Yes," Jocelin replied.

"No," Jeremiah denied.

"If that's true, how can you live so calmly and happily? Marry another man and have a child that big?" Jeremiah said.

Jocelin was shocked to hear this but remained silent without answering.

"You can't deny it, right? Alright then. I won't be fooled by you anymore, never again. I hope you understand the consequences of your actions back then; regret is something that's not in your vocabulary," Jeremiah said and walked away.

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All names of places, companies, and characters in this story are purely fictional creations by the Author.

"Hello readers, I hope you're doing well too. I hope Chapter 2 can draw more of your attention to join in the love story journey of Jocelin and Jeremiah ✨"