27. More Closer

"Are you going with Arianna today?" Diego asked when he stood behind Stellina. His steps stopped, looking at Stellina in front of the makeup mirror. Stellina, who was fixing her hair, nodded her head. Her gaze was still focused on her own reflection in the mirror as she fixed her hair. "Yes, a while ago Arianna was whining about going out," Stellina replied in the middle of her activity. "She said she wanted some new clothes." Diego chuckled at Stellina's words. He shook his head before walking to the edge of the bed. Right next to Stellina, Diego sat down and watched her with a dubious look. "Is Arianna the one who wants to leave or are you the one who wants to leave?" Diego asked, unsure of Stellina. After Stellina had been focused on fixing her hair, her movements came to an abrupt halt. Stellina looked away, squinted, and gave Diego an exasperated look. "Are you accusing me now?" she asked, pointing at Diego. Confused at being counter-accused, Diego was silent for a moment. "I'm just asking. Maybe you're using Arianna as your alibi so you can go shopping," Diego retorted, deliberately putting on a defiant expression as he folded his arms across his chest. Stellina let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm telling the truth. You didn't even hear about it because you were busy with work." "Arianna only complained to you, not me. So of course I couldn't know," Diego shot back at Stellina as if not to be outdone. He already understood that Arianna was close to Stellina. Finished with her performance, Stellina turned her seat toward Diego. "And that's why you should allow her to walk around with me. Arianna would be upset if you didn't." "Who's going to say no?" Diego asked, raising his head. "Okay. Who are you going with?" "Papa!" Diego and Stellina's attention was immediately drawn to Arianna's arrival. Arianna's sudden appearance left them both wide-eyed with surprise. Especially Diego who immediately curved a wide smile and turned around. "Arianna!" Diego greeted as he stretched both hands forward. "Papa's daughter! You're so beautiful!" Arianna ran up to Diego with a smile on her face. At that moment, Arianna rushed into the arms of Diego, who had crouched down to align their bodies. "Of course I'm beautiful! I'm going with mommy today!" Arianna exclaimed happily. The curve of a smile spread across her face. Hearing that, after their hug was over, Diego pretended to have a surprised expression. There was some enthusiasm on his face. "Oh, really? No wonder you're wearing such pretty clothes," Diego commented as he looked Arianna up and down. "Where are you going, Arianna? Hm?" Diego tensed Arianna's shoulders and gave her a curious look. Behind Diego, still at the dressing table, Stellina chuckled at their interaction. Stellina felt her heart warm every time she noticed how gentle Diego was with Arianna. "Go shopping with Mommy!" Arianna said, pointing at Stellina in the makeup chair. Diego immediately looked back slowly, then saw Stellina who deliberately put on a smug face. "That's right! Arianna, you asked to go with mom, right?" asked Stellina, who gave Arianna a coded smile. "Let's go shopping for that new outfit you want!" Unbeknownst to Diego, Arianna was grinning from ear to ear and giving a thumbs up. Suddenly Diego, who sensed something between Arianna and Stellina, looked back at Arianna. At that moment Diego realized that behind Arianna's grin, there was something implied. When he looked back at Stellina, it turned out that Stellina was caught giving Arianna a hand signal. Stellina immediately lowered her hand and pretended to act normally when Diego looked at her. It was only then that Diego realized the interaction between Stellina and Arianna now seemed to be hiding a plan. With his eyes squinting suspiciously, Diego folded his arms across his chest and sighed heavily. "Oh my, is this what you two are up to?" Diego asked, looking at Stellina and Arianna in turn. "No wonder I feel like there's something to hide." Stellina and Arianna chuckled in unison, grinning as if they had just been caught making a mistake. Diego exhaled softly, then lowered his hands. Diego stood up from his crouched position and said, "It's fine if you two want to take a walk. I also have some work to take care of, so I can't accompany you." "Yeaay!" Arianna immediately pranced around happily while clenching her hands into fists. "We're going for a walk, Mama!" Stellina clapped her hands over her chest and smiled contentedly. "Is it okay if papa can't come, Arianna?" Arianna nodded her head. She approached Stellina who was already standing up. "It's okay. If you go with papa, it won't be fun. So, let's go with mom!" Arianna exclaimed without hesitation. Suddenly hearing that made Diego wide-eyed in shock. Diego looked like a wounded man when he heard Arianna's to-the-point statement. With that shocked expression, Diego walked over to Arianna and looked at her with a pained expression. "Have you forgotten about papa?" Diego looked stiff as he pretended to be sad. Arianna looked at Diego through innocent eyes. She turned to stare at Stellina, not knowing how to react. "Mama, papa isn't really sad, is he?" Arianna asked matter-of-factly. At that, Stellina couldn't help but laugh, making Diego fade away from his pitiable expression. Diego now stared at Arianna with an infuriated look on his face. "Did you upset papa on purpose?" Diego's voice sounded even heavier. He deliberately wanted to scare Arianna. Suddenly Arianna hid behind Stellina's body. "Mama... papa is pranking me right now!" Arianna complained to Stellina. Knowing Diego was only joking, Stellina put both hands on her waist and sharpened her gaze. She scolded Diego with a look on her face. "Are you trying to scare Arianna on purpose?" Stellina scolded, prompting Diego to chuckle. "So, if you do this, you'll have to increase our spending money. How about it, Arianna? Agreed?" Diego immediately stopped laughing. After Arianna gave a quick nod of approval to Stellina's question, Diego sighed heavily. "Alright, alright. I don't have a problem with money because I have a lot of it." Diego deliberately acted cocky as if he was teasing Stellina back implicitly. Stellina clenched her mouth shut in fury, then extended one palm to Diego. "Well, where's the money?" Stellina demanded without hesitation. Feeling challenged, Diego pulled out his wallet and a thick stack of money. It was so much that Stellina couldn't even guess the total. "Here, money for shopping," Diego replied, seemingly accepting Stellina's challenge. Stellina frowned. It didn't seem fair that Diego would give it to her this easily. Suddenly, Stellina was looking for a way to make Diego's challenge even more challenging. "Just this?" she asked. Diego raised both eyebrows. "What?" he asked. "You mean, less? Well, I can certainly add-" "Your black card." Stellina deliberately set a tougher challenge: asking Diego to hand over his black card. Stellina's outstretched hand rose and fell in impatience. "Quick, give me your black card. Don't you dare?" Diego hesitated for a few seconds. Stellina had never asked for access to her black card. But Diego knew that Stellina was now deliberately challenging him, especially asking in front of Arianna - which would make it difficult for Diego to refuse. Diego thought. Meanwhile, Stellina and Arianna watched seriously as if waiting to see how Stellina would react. "Why are you suddenly asking for black card access?" Diego asked. Stellina deliberately wore a surprised expression. "Ah, can't I?" then she turned to Arianna. "Arianna, it turns out that papa doesn't want to give us money so we can go shopping." Arianna frowned, looking at Diego angrily. As if she was reprimanding him. "Papa. If you don't want to give it to me, it means you don't love me," Arianna said innocently. "That's right, Arianna. Papa should give the black card to mama," Stellina's voice was made up as if she was whining sadly to Arianna. With a furious look on her face, Arianna folded her arms tightly across her chest. Her gaze grew increasingly annoyed at Diego. "Papa, it can't be like that," Arianna scolded once again. Diego was startled by Arianna's words. "Arianna, my, are you getting good at reprimanding papa?" Stellina couldn't help but smile with satisfaction. She waited for Arianna, who was staring at Diego with annoyance. "Because papa can't be a jerk to mommy," Arianna grumbled back. "You have to give money to mommy now. Arianna wants to go shopping!" Seeing Arianna's persistent insistence, Diego couldn't say anything else in the end. Diego didn't want Arianna to protest without stopping. After sighing in defeat, he took out his black card and gave it to Stellina. Diego had an annoyed look on his face as he gave the black card to Stellina. "You used Arianna as a weapon. Very clever," he said exasperatedly. Stellina couldn't help but smile with satisfaction as Diego relented. She gladly accepted the black card from Diego's hand, giving him a mocking smile. "Thank you, Papa. We can do a lot of shopping," Stellina teased Diego. Without answering, Diego just looked at Stellina with a bemused look. Diego shook his head in disbelief and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. "Hold on, let me call Fabian so I can keep you two company," Diego said as Stellina and Arianna were about to walk away. Stellina frowned. "I told Fabian earlier. Ah, there's Fabian." Diego stopped his movements as he searched for Fabian's phone contact. The direction of his gaze shifted back to follow the direction of Stellina's pointer. A few meters away from them, precisely at the door of the room, Fabian stood with a swift gesture. But when he realized Diego was staring at him, Fabian immediately stroked the back of his neck because he felt awkward. As a result, Diego took a deep breath, then let it out. "You guys have really been working together behind my back." Stellina just laughed at Diego's grumbling. ----- Diego's car had stopped right in front of a brand's clothing store. After removing the seat belt, Stellina helped open the seat belt on Arianna's body. While looking at Fabian who was also unfastening the seat belt, Stellina smiled sweetly. "Fabian, can you come with us?" Stellina offered. "Bring the groceries, please." Fabian stopped moving, then looked back. After watching Stellina, Fabian nodded obediently. "Very well, Miss Stellina. Mr. Diego has also told me to look after you," Fabian replied. Stellina did not give any reply other than a small, fleeting smile to Fabian. As per her daily habit, she already knew Diego would do that. Fabian, meanwhile, had already gotten out and stepped around the car to the side door where Arianna was sitting. Along with Arianna, who was helped down by Fabian, Stellina also got down. They walked together with Fabian standing guard from behind Stellina and Arianna. Just entering the store, Stellina and Arianna were suddenly greeted by a female waitress. "Welcome, Miss! We're happy to welcome you today. What is it that you need?" With a big smile, the waitress welcomed Stellina and Arianna. Beside Stellina, Arianna inched closer as she felt a bit worried. While Stellina gave the same friendly smile as the maid. "Thank you for the welcome, Sis. We haven't decided what we need yet, but we're in need of children's clothes that are suitable and cheerful." Stellina tried to balance her friendliness with that of the maid. "Oh, then, of course there is, ma'am. We have tons of cute children's clothes. Especially for this lovely lady," the maid said, referring to Arianna. Stellina gave a small laugh at Arianna's awkwardness and slight fear. She put her arm around Arianna's shoulders and gave her a gentle caress. Stellina chuckled at Arianna who was both awkward and a little scared. She put her arm around Arianna's shoulders while giving her a gentle caress. "Please show me where it is," Stellina pleaded. The maid then stepped off after inviting Stellina to follow her. They walked towards the location where what Stellina needed was located. For some time, Stellina and Arianna were busy sorting through the clothes on display. Stellina got several choices of clothes, even including couple ones, and then she tried them on one by one with Arianna. "For the children's clothes, we have various themes. Starting from summer which is suitable for relaxing..." The waitress with Stellina and Arianna explained in detail. Stellina happily listened to the waitress's long and enthusiastic explanation. "Mama, look at this outfit!" Arianna pointed out one of the clothes in the maid's hand. "I like this one, Mama!" Throughout the clothes shopping, Fabian just shook his head watching Arianna's behavior. More and more, Fabian's body felt exhausted because he had to stand, holding some hanging clothes while Stellina tried on other clothes. It had been almost three hours. In the end, Stellina and Arianna had chosen the right clothes. They both walked out of the clothing brand store with Fabian who carried three large paper bags behind. After their steps had arrived outside the store, Fabian immediately approached Stellina. "Miss, Mr. Diego has asked when you are coming home. Will you be returning now?" Before Stellina could answer, Arianna suddenly interjected. "No! Don't go home now, Om Fabian!" Fabian looked at Arianna. His expression immediately turned unpleasant. "But papa Diego is waiting, Arianna..." Arianna shook her head. "No way, Om! I still want to eat ice cream!" Fabian glared in surprise at that. He didn't get a chance to object because Arianna suddenly pulled one of his hands. Fabian was forced to follow Arianna who walked towards the nearby ice cream shop. In the end, instead of going home, they still spent time buying ice cream. "Om Fabian, you have to eat ice cream too!" Arianna gave a cone of ice cream to Fabian. Meanwhile, Fabian considered for a moment. Fabian didn't really like eating ice cream. But because he couldn't bear to refuse Arianna's request, he finally accepted the ice cream. "After this, Om Fabian come with me to play, yes!" Arianna invited enthusiastically. Fabian immediately grimaced when he looked at Stellina. Meanwhile, Stellina could only surrender. Just like Fabian, Stellina couldn't bear to refuse Arianna's request. After eating ice cream, Stellina and Fabian followed where Arianna wanted to go. Their time was spent playing the doll's claw game. Arianna persuaded Fabian to represent her to get the doll she wanted. Despite repeated failures, Fabian finally managed to get the doll that Arianna was after. Before they went home, Stellina really couldn't hide her happiness that Arianna could enjoy the time. All the way to the car, Arianna held the doll in her arms without breaking her smile. "Are you happy, Arianna?" asked Stellina. Arianna just nodded enthusiastically. Meanwhile, Fabian had sighed heavily for the umpteenth time. Because his body was very tired and almost lost energy after accompanying Stellina and Arianna.