52.

Hugo lay down and stretched his muscles as he had been holding the baby he and Arleena had been caring for for several hours. Hugo closed his eyes with his head resting on the back of the sofa. Meanwhile, from the kitchen area which was only a few meters away from the living room area, Arleena looked at Hugo with a sweet smile. Arleena had finished preparing two glasses of hot tea before finally stepping over to where Hugo was. "Gosh, he looks exhausted," Arleena replied while shaking her head as she walked toward Hugo. In her hands were two glasses on a mini tray. "Hugo," Arleena called out to Hugo as she got a little closer to him. "Hey, wake up, Hugo. I'm not going to give you this drink-" Before Arleena could finish her sentence, Hugo had opened his eyes suddenly. Hugo immediately straightened his sitting position and widened his eyes enthusiastically at the glass of drink that Arleena brought. "Hey, if you've made this drink for me, you should give it to me," replied Hugo who immediately extended both hands. Wanting to take the drink offered by Arleena. Arleena had a sneering expression as she was about to give the drink to Hugo. Arleena paused for a moment, let one of the trays and glasses be taken by Hugo, then sat down next to Hugo. "Oh my. I didn't expect you to have the ability to calm babies," Arleena replied with an admiring smile at Hugo. In front of Arleena, Hugo briefly looked at Arleena's annoyance. Hugo had just finished sipping his hot tea drink. "Damn. You're teasing me. But I feel proud that I have a very gentle aura like Gabriel. If a baby is calm in someone's arms, then that person is a soothing human being," Hugo replied, ending with a proud smile to himself. Arleena furrowed her brow with an amused smile. Arleena did not expect Hugo to be this confident. "Hugo, I think you need to lower your confidence. If you were really a soothing human, you wouldn't be scowling like you're holding a baby," Arleena said as she rubbed Hugo's face with a sneering expression. Hugo was immediately shocked because Arleena suddenly rubbed his face. After Arleena's hand had moved away from his face, Hugo rubbed Arleena's face without pity. "Hugo! Oh my. I almost yelled at you if I didn't remember there was a baby in our care," Arleena hissed in an exasperated tone. Hugo stuck out his tongue with a mocking expression at Arleena. After their brief argument, Hugo went back to sipping his hot tea. "So, when are you going to check the CCTV footage of this apartment?" asked Hugo, his tone getting serious. The question did not immediately get an answer from Arleena. For a split second Arleena was just silent thinking about the right answer to Hugo's question. "I'll do that right now," Arleena replied. Although she wasn't really sure. "Wait a minute, that means I can't look through the CCTV footage with you. Because then, the baby will have no one to look after it." Hugo shifted his gaze to the crib box. Instantly he remembered that he and Arleena had a baby that they had to take care of. Hugo had almost forgotten and wanted to join Arleena to find out the CCTV footage of this apartment. "Too bad, I wanted to accompany you," Hugo replied as he sighed heavily at the end of his sentence. Seeing Hugo's pitiable expression made Arleena put on pouty lips. Arleena was touched to realize the form of concern from Hugo for her. "I didn't expect you to care so much about me, Hugo. I thought you were a human with no feelings," Arleena replied, deliberately sounding full of emotion. Hugo furrowed his forehead in surprise and annoyance at Arleena. "Oh my. You're so mean. Of course I have a heart. It's you who doesn't have one-ah! Arleena, don't pinch me! It hurts!" Hugo said thrashing around with a grimacing expression, he held Arleena's hand who suddenly pulled his ear. Arleena pursed her lips with a furious expression. Arleena deliberately kept plugging Hugo's ears for a few seconds and let Hugo struggle. "What? Are you trying to say I'm a heartless human, huh?" asked Arleena in the middle of plugging Hugo's ear. "Let me show you what a heartless human looks like." "Hey, Arleeena, this hurts! Hey!" Hugo repeatedly patted Arleena's hand, signaling her to let go of the ear pulling. Arleena said, "Say 'I beg your pardon, Miss Arleena'. That's it." Hugo frowned with a sardonic expression at Arleena. Hugo didn't expect Arleena to make such a ridiculous request. He immediately shook his head without making any sound. "Oh, you won't do my request?" Arleena asked irritably. Hugo winced even more when Arleena strengthened the tug on his ear. At that moment Hugo was very aware that Arleena looked annoyed at him. In the end, Hugo who couldn't stand it nodded his head. "Alright! I beg your forgiveness, Miss Arleena!" Hugo immediately said Arleena's request. Arleena arched a wide smile full of pride. In that instant, Arleena removed her hand from Hugo's ear. "Well! Good, you did what I asked, so I let go of my hand," Arleena said with a proud smile. Hugo immediately stroked his ear which felt heated. He gave Arleena an exasperated expression in the midst of stroking his own ears. Just as Arleena was arching a proud and mocking smile at Hugo, Arleena heard the phone ring. Arleena gasped at the vibration of the cell phone in her pants pocket. She spontaneously looked down, noticing that the phone screen was already lit up and showed an incoming call. What was even more surprising was that Arleena read Justin's name when she picked up her phone. Arleena frowned sharply. Her emotions automatically became irritated remembering Justin's arrival and the fact that someone had followed her to Gabriel's apartment. "Who?" Hugo asked. With an expression that implied concern, Arleena looked back at Hugo. Arleena was a little afraid to tell Hugo about who had called her. "Arleena?" Hugo called out to Arleena as he noticed that the woman's expression seemed to change uneasily. "Who called you?" Arleena looked at her phone again, then glanced at Hugo. This time she showed the phone screen which displayed Justin's name as the caller. Hugo got a little closer to Arleena's cell phone screen, then widened his eyes when he realized that Justin's name was on the cell phone screen. Hugo couldn't contain his surprise. "Justin? Why is he calling you?" Hugo asked. Arleena shook her head, indicating that she didn't understand. After that Arleena pressed the green cell phone icon. Arleena put the phone screen to her ear with a very alert expression. She was worried what Justin would say to her. "Hello," Arleena greeted in a rather low and firm voice. "You still dare to call me after spreading rumors about me in front of my colleagues?" From the other side of the phone, Justin could be heard sighing softly when he heard Arleena's annoyed response to his call. Justin realized that Arleena wouldn't like it if he called her. "Arleena, you should have addressed me in a better tone of voice," Justin replied, his tone calmer than Arleena's. Arleena laughed sarcastically. Her reaction made Hugo look at her even more curiously. "Why would I greet you nicely? There's no reason to greet someone who has spread bad rumors nicely," Arleena retorted. She still said it in her snappy tone. At that moment Hugo frowned at Arleena's expression, which was very upset. Hugo already felt an uncomfortable feeling imagining what Justin was saying to Arleena. "Arleena, why are you so angry with me? You shouldn't be so defensive. What I said was the truth, right?" Justin asked later. He didn't feel any guilt at all. Arleena was sick of hearing what Justin was saying. "Oh my..." Arleena let out a harsh breath. "I didn't expect you to say that. How did you know I had a child with Hugo? Are you stalking me?" Hearing Arleena's question took Hugo's breath away. Because Arleena's phone conversation with Justin had started to mention 'children', Hugo's enthusiasm immediately increased. Hugo automatically leaned his sitting position closer to Arleena. Hugo squinted and watched Arleena intensely. "Are you accusing me of being your stalker?" asked Justin in a fierce tone. Arleena sighed heavily. "Isn't it? So where did you find out?" "It's not important for you to know where I found out about you having a child with Hugo-" "Hey, I didn't have a child with Hugo. I'm telling you, when the wedding happened, I wasn't pregnant." Arleena immediately cut Justin off with a very irritated tone. Justin stopped talking for a moment. Then he suddenly laughed sarcastically. "Arleena, how could you possibly attract a man-" "And Hugo is my best friend since childhood. That's why I can easily find a replacement for you. Of course he'll want to marry me," Arleena retorted, deliberately cutting Justin off for the second time. Hugo narrowed his eyes when he heard Arleena's words. He didn't expect Arleena to say it that easily. Even so, Hugo didn't mind at all if Arleena said that to Justin. "I don't know why you're being so annoying, Justin. We have nothing to do. You cheated on me one week right before we got married. Then all of a sudden you come around to spread bad rumors to my coworkers. Is your life so miserable? Why don't you ever make me happy?" asked Arleena as her tone began to rise with her emotions. Arleena's words made Hugo somewhat touched. Hugo was very aware of the look in Arleena's eyes that she was hurt. On the other hand, Hugo also couldn't say or do anything. It seemed like Arleena needed a chance to be able to express all her pent-up feelings. "Ah, why are you getting so emotional, Arleena? I'm not stalking you. Besides, I'm not planning to spread any bad rumors about you either. What I said was the truth. So, it doesn't count as a bad rumor," Justin said without guilt. Arleena let out a rough breath as she brushed her hair back roughly. Arleena had no idea that Justin would be so stubborn like that. "You're so wrong, Arleena. I don't like you replacing me so quickly. Don't you really love me?" Justin said to Arleena, continuing his previous remark. "Hey..." Arleena said firmly. She paused for a few seconds before letting out a heavy sigh. "Why would I love an asshole like you? A man like you should be spending time on top of the pain of your habit of cheating on women and having sex with them!" After saying that, Arleena immediately hung up the phone. Meanwhile, Hugo gasped in surprise because he heard Arleena's words. Hugo slowly straightened his sitting position. Arleena looked at the phone screen with an irritated look, then put the phone down. Leaving it lying after a little slam. "Ah, that sucks. Why are men like him still alive?" asked Arleena grumbling. Hugo looked at Arleena in horror. He didn't say anything. Arleena then turned her gaze to Hugo. At that moment Arleena immediately seemed to fade the annoyance in her expression once she realized Hugo was looking at her in horror. As if he was a terrible tiger. "Ah... Justin is so annoying, that's why I can't hold my temper," Arleena retorted.