Love and Crosses: What The Heart Wants

Upon arriving at Charlotte's place, Harry was greeted by the happy sight of the pregnant lady. "It's great to see you, Harry," she smiled at him.

"I'm glad to be here after you bribed me with such a delicious meal," he replied.

"Oh, so she told you?" Charlotte asked.

Harry shook his head. "I found out."

Charlotte smiled and gestured for him to sit down while she prepared something for him to eat. "I made pasta, but I don't know if you'll like it."

"As long as it's edible, I'm good with anything you cook," he replied.

Charlotte served him his food and asked, "Lemon juice or orange juice?"

"Lemon juice is fine, thank you." She poured him a glass from the fridge. "When is the baby due?"

"Three months from now, and you'll have a younger brother," she replied.

"Cool!" Harry exclaimed.

"The food is ready, let's eat," Charlotte said, and they sat down to enjoy their meal.

"What do you think of Kim?" Harry asked.

"Kim? My boss?" Charlotte wondered.

"Yes, I want him for my sister, but it turns out that Riele hates him," Harry explained.

"Well, if I were Riele, I would have gone after Kim without a second thought," Charlotte replied.

"That's exactly what I told her, but Riele is always playing hard to get. I won't be surprised if she never gets married," Harry said.

Charlotte chuckled. "How can you say that about your sister?"

"You know I'm telling the truth," he replied.

Charlotte agreed that Riele was difficult, but there must be a reason why she hated Kim so much. "I'm sure it's something complicated that only Riele can explain. We should cut her some slack and not push her."

As they finished their meal, Charlotte tried to call Riele, but there was no answer. "She's probably busy at work. She'll call back when she can," she said.

Harry offered to do the dishes, and Charlotte decided to relax and watch TV. However, they were interrupted by a knock at the door. Charlotte was scared, thinking it might be Utter coming to threaten her again.

"Are you expecting anyone?" Harry asked as he went to check the door.

"No, not that I'm aware of," she replied, waiting for Harry to see who was at the door. "Who is it, Harry?"

"It's my sister," he said, opening the door to reveal Riele. "Why are you here so early? Didn't you go to work?"

"Can I come in first before you start interrogating me?" Riele asked, raising her eyebrows.

Harry apologized and let her in, and Charlotte was surprised to see her. "What happened?" she asked.

"Why do you assume something happened? Can't I just come here?" Riele replied, sitting on the sofa with no emotion.

"But you woke up early to go to work, so why didn't you go?" Harry asked.

"I went to the hospital," Riele said. "I received a text from Dr. Maurice, and I didn't even know when I started running to the hospital. That was when Kim..." she trailed off, massaging her temple.

"What did Kim do?" Charlotte asked.

She paused and watched Charlotte's expression before continuing, "Remember when I told you about how he treated me last time?"

Charlotte asked, "What happened after that?"

"He met me on my way to the hospital and said, 'I was worried about you, blah blah blah…' I had to cut him off and tell him to stay away from me."

Charlotte was speechless and asked, "What does he want?"

"To stress my mental health, obviously," Riele replied before getting up to go to the kitchen. "What did you cook? I am famished."

"I just ate pasta, but there's still some left," Charlotte replied.

Riele dished out her food and asked, "What's been happening with you? Did Utter come again?"

"Harry, Can you excuse us?" 

"Why is it always the interesting part I don't get to hear?" he murmured before excusing them. 

Charlotte hesitated. She then told Riele that Utter had come back and threatened her and the baby. 

"What?" Riele almost choked on her food. She passed a glass of water to her which she gulped down to stop her from coughing. 

"He was inquiring if the baby was his but I told him that the baby doesn't belong to him and he was like, 'Charlotte, I remember that night when we had sex, you were a virgin.' I wanted to tell him the child was his so badly but…" Her voice was shaking and Riele could tell she was almost crying so she went to console her while she went on with the story. "...After repeatedly telling him the child wasn't his, he threatened to kill me and the child if he later finds out that the child is his."

"That bastard! Now you see why I loathe him so much. I swear, if anything should happen to you or the baby, I would have him behind bars and I won't care how much that's going to cost me." Riele was outraged.

"Riele, calm down! I am sure he was just trying to get me to speak up…"

"No, Charlotte and you know it. Utter can do anything, that's a fact. Anything relating to Kim Utter, I don't take it lightly, especially when a baby is involved. I will say it again, if anything should happen to this baby, Kim Utter would face the consequences."

"Riele, just take it easy, please."

"Why didn't you tell me? Why do you always keep sensitive information away from me?" Riele asked.

"I was scared you would flare up and complicate things," Charlotte replied.

"I am because I care about you, Charlotte. How can I not flare up after hearing all these? You want me to pretend that I am okay when I am not, you know I don't pretend."

"I know, girlfriend but I don't want you to take this to heart, please."

"Just promise me you won't keep anything like this from me again," Riele said, hugging Charlotte.

"I cross my heart, you will be the first to know."