"Don't ask me to leave, I beg you," said Devan again, his voice lower than before. It was very clear that at this time the man was crying.
"Then tell me, what should I do Devan?"
"There's no way I'm with a man who will soon marry a woman who is pregnant with his child," added Claire again with a rough sigh.
"Don't make me confused. Better let me go now, and go back to Indonesia."
Devan shook his head vigorously, tightening his grip on the tiny body as if he didn't care about Claire's whimper.
"Don't ask me to leave, give me some time to explain everything, honey. What you know right now is not entirely true," said Devan.
Hearing that, Claire froze on the spot.
"Does that mean you don't want to admit your child is with Byanca?"
"No, it's not like that," Devan replied absentmindedly, and his answer stabbed into the recesses of Claire's heart.
"I never touched the woman, honey. How can I admit the child in her womb," said Devan?
Claire was stunned, "What do you mean?"
"I'll tell you everything, but you have to promise me that you won't kick me out again," said Devan, still hugging the tiny body.
A rough sigh escaped Claire's lips. Maybe she should give him a chance. Whether later her heart will get sicker or otherwise, she is trying to prepare herself.
"Okay, I won't kick you out again."
"Then let me go first, You hugged me too tight, I'm having trouble breathing," said Claire.
"Ah, I'm sorry," replied Devan slowly loosening his grip on the woman.
"I was just afraid you'd push me away, I'm sorry, honey," he added.
Anna didn't reply and just gave a nod in response.
Seeing that, Devan immediately lifted Claire's body onto the sofa, carrying her with bridal style.
Startled? Of course. Claire gasped and reflexively wrapped her arms around the man's neck.
"I'm sorry for only being able to meet you now, honey," Devan muttered, kissing Claire's forehead before landing her body on the sofa.
No, not landing the woman's body, but his own body. Devan sat down without lowering Claire, making the woman sit on his lap.
"Don't move much, just stay here," said Devan holding Claire's arm which seemed to want to go down.
"I'm afraid you'll run and leave me," he added again, using both hands to lift the tiny body towards him.
And Devan's sudden action made Claire gasp, a clear blush filling her cheeks. Not without reason, because at this time, the dress she was wearing was lifted and exposed her upper thighs, sitting astride facing Devan with both hands still wrapped around the man's neck was not something good for her heart health.
If other people saw it, they might think that Claire was trying to seduce Devan.
"Listen to my explanation, don't interrupt, OK?" said Devan, even his breath felt very clear on the woman's cheek, the minty scent that was so refreshing made the other side of Claire struggle.
Whether consciously or not, the woman nodded faintly.
Seeing Claire's response, Devan gave a faint smile. With a slow-motion, he lifted the woman's waist closer to him, then pulled her head up and laid her on his shoulder.
That treatment again made Claire blush.
"Don't protest, honey. Leave it like this, I miss you so much," said Devan hugging Claire's body and rubbing her back slowly and lovingly.
Claire did not respond, the woman seemed resigned and melted by Devan's treatment of her. She even forgot how sick she had been in the last few days.
"The child conceived by Byanca is not my child, dear. I have never even touched the woman, not at all," said Devan, starting to explain.
"Recently I've been intending to cancel my marriage with her. It's just that I'm waiting for the right time to do it," he added again.
Devan then continued his sentence, explaining all the things that happened to him with Byanca, how will he got the marriage, and their relationship from childhood until now.
Devan told everything without hiding anything, even when he vented his anger by having sex with other women he also said.
How his relationship can be strained as it is now, and how his life was before and after Claire's presence in his life.
Devan also did not miss an explanation about his family's strong desire to marry him off to Byanca. Also, Leo, who initially opposed his relationship with Claire and ended up supporting him, became the first person in his family to ask him to end the matchmaking.
Anna listened intently to everything, not wanting to interrupt at all.
Now and then Devan was silent for a few seconds to catch his breath and then resumed.
"Everything you think about me is wrong, honey," Devan said again, stroking Claire's hair in his arms.
"And what my mother told you was wrong, and I didn't visit you for the past few days because I was visiting your family. I intended to surprise you by meeting you with your real family."
"I never thought that it would turn out that my departure for Australia would bring disaster to you behind my back," he added with a shaky breath.
"I didn't even know Leo had an accident if Naila hadn't called me. Also with the house fire in the backyard."
Claire heard everything very clearly, slowly but surely calm returned to her heart. The heartache she had felt earlier suddenly disappeared. It turns out that in this case, she was also wrong because she trusted other people's words without proving the truth first.
The woman remained silent and did not respond, still waiting for the man to continue his explanation.
"I've explained everything without covering anything up, honey. If you still don't want to believe everything I say, that's up to you. I've done my best, I hope you understand my feelings and accept me back."
"Ah, one more thing, Leo called me earlier and told me the news about the change in my wedding schedule with Byanca."
Devan then told her everything Leo had told him on the phone.
"But don't worry, the wedding won't happen. My heart belongs only to you, honey."
"I'm sorry if this misunderstanding makes your heart hurt, I'm sorry, honey," he added again.
"I don't want to lose you, I don't want to be away from you anymore."
Devan kept saying things like that even though he didn't get a reply from Claire.