CHAPTER 360: AT ODDS III

What did I just do?

Athena asked herself for the third time as she stood naked before the bathroom mirror, hands limp by her sides, her eyes shrouded in untamed misery.

Bathed in the glow of the fluorescent lights, she believed she had made a hasty, wrong decision an hour ago—blinded by her desire to be distracted.

Why did love make a mess of things? She wondered, picking up her toothbrush.

How could she be a strong woman in her career, in her non-romantic affairs—a model of excellence and woman power—and yet not stick to her decision of needing space from sex and the matters that went with it?

Why had she turned to it when swamped with frustrations? Why had she used Antonio?

She brushed her teeth forlornly, remembering the moment with Antonio. She wasn’t sure what to think of it.

He had finished early—so excited had he been at the reality presented to him on a platform of gold that he had finished early. Barely five minutes in.

He had apologised profusely for it after coming down from the high, promising it would be better the second time. But in the time it took him to prop himself up and get ready again, she had lost the zeal for it—had started questioning her stupid choice.

She didn’t stop him, though, when he eased into her the second time. No—she accepted it, needing to throw away the distractions that had threatened to swamp her in multiplied folds.

She recalled the sex.

It was... not bad.

Antonio was a good lover. She was the one at fault, with her comparing his thrusts, his agility, to a certain someone.

Maybe that was why it had taken longer than necessary for her to reach the high Antonio seemed to have settled into permanently during the exercise.

Touching her had seemed to be enough for him—enough to throw him over.

She rinsed her mouth a second time, dropped her brush, and walked into the shower room.

Standing under the spray, she exhaled greatly after a long inhale, shaking her head, hands still limp at her sides.

What did I just do?

And why in the world am I getting teary?

She touched her eyes, wiping at them furiously. No tears! she screamed mentally, but that only served to loosen the dam.

If she hadn’t been celibate since her separation from Ewan years ago, she would have thought herself pregnant, with the abrupt surge of emotion.

But she was not.

Maybe her period was on its way, she decided—inhale, puff of air—and started washing herself.

She didn’t think Antonio would be glad to find her here, after all she had told him she had no strength to use the bathroom when they were done. He would know it was a lie if he saw her now—slipping away only once he was asleep.

Yet could he blame her?

Luckily, when she left the bathroom, Antonio was still asleep.

In the dimly lit room, he looked peaceful, like a baby. Handsome. Her boyfriend.

It didn’t sound bad. She was just too stupid to appreciate the good in front of her.

Gently, she picked nightwear from her wardrobe and slipped into it smoothly, making a mental note to drop by the pharmacy and get a morning-after pill.

The matter had happened unplanned—seconded by Antonio’s inability to pull out quickly, out of sheer excitement.

Athena shook her head, breaking out of her mental narration. Love and sex really did make a mess of things. How else would you explain a doctor being in this situation?

Taking a last glance at the sleeping Antonio, she stalked out of the room and headed to her children’s room.

At the door, she stopped when she heard voices inside.

A sigh. A shake of the head. She tried to open the door. Locked.

What the—?

"Nathaniel..." she whispered, cutting short the cussing. Were her children safe?

"Mom..." she heard, right before the lock clicked and she was pulled inside the room—or rather, she went willingly with the soft drag.

"Why are you both still awake?" she started, seeing Kathleen hanging by the wardrobe, a dress in her hand. What was going on?

She looked at the teddy bear clock on the wall opposite their beds. Midnight. She placed her hands on her waist and gave them a withering glare.

"Nathaniel and Kathleen Caddels. Why are you two awake?"

The two guilty-as-charged children came before her, hands crossed at their backs, heads lowered. "We are sorry, Mom," they echoed at the same time.

"That’s not the answer to my question." Athena wouldn’t let herself be bought by their puppy faces. She hated them staying up late—it didn’t matter that it was the weekend.

"We were just excited. Couldn’t sleep. Aunt Chelsea read us some books, we pretended to be asleep because she was tired..."

"Already dozing off too. We had to release her," Nathaniel added, completing his sister’s statement.

"We tried reading ourselves, but sleep wasn’t coming, so we decided to do other things."

"Like?"

Athena battled with guilt. She could have tucked her children in. They would have slept under her watch.

No—instead, she had yielded to her stupid impulses, had had sex with Antonio, when she had been the one campaigning for space for more than three years.

Shame unto her.

"Well, we played some games... we were just picking out clothes for our outing on Sunday with Father."

Father meant Ewan, Athena thought, hands falling limply to her sides. "An outing? Why am I not aware of this?"

"You were with Godfather at every turn..." Kathleen pointed out with a pout.

"We promised Daddy we would let you know when Godfather lets you go."

Daddy? Ewan had finally gotten Kathee besotted with him, Athena thought lamely, holding in a scoff.

Why would he arrange a meeting without informing her? Was he taking her mercy for granted?

"Mom..."

Meeting Nathaniel’s knowing gaze, she knew she had been overthinking again.

"Yeah, of course, you can hang out with him."

"You are coming with us too. He said you could come."

Athena jerked at Kathleen’s words. "He said that?"

The little girl nodded, a happy smile on her face. "You are coming, right, Mom?"

Athena was speechless. Ewan had asked her to come for the outing? Why?

What was the gameplay? Just bonding with the kids? He didn’t need her for that. The kids were already bonded to him as far as bonds went.

"Mom?" Nathaniel again.

"Yes, I will come. I’m curious about the park."

There was nothing curious about the park, but she had to say something—dammit.

She sighed and beckoned them over. They instantly hurried into her, wrapping their arms around her waist.

"We can pick the clothes tomorrow. For now, you both should sleep." She steered them to the bed as she spoke. "Or don’t you want to be beauties like me?"

"And Dad," Kathleen added, stopping Athena for a moment.

Not knowing what to say to that, she eased them into bed and covered them with blankets. "Should I tell a story? Or maybe sing a rhyme?"

Ten minutes later, the children were asleep.

Thank God, Athena mused, getting out of the bed and dropping a kiss on each of their foreheads.

Beauties like Ewan? No—the statement never left her mind. Not even when she read them a story. Not when she sang a rhyme.

Her lips trained in a pout, she left the room, shutting the door gently behind her so as not to wake the twins again.

Next, she would be compared to the cold man on grounds of beauty. Her children might betray her!

Athena chuckled at her foolish thoughts. What did she say about love again? It could mess with one’s thoughts.

Her next stop was Gianna’s room. She smiled when she saw that she and Chelsea were sharing the same bed—both lying at odd angles on the large mattress. They must have been gossiping about something.

She sighed, feeling wistful, missing her girls. She arranged a blanket over them and left the room, returning to her own.

Antonio was still asleep, his hand retaining the same position as before—like she was still cuddled against him.

Sucking on her lower lip, she turned away and picked up her phone.

There was a message. One from Ewan, and the other from Ethan.

Her heartbeat rose steadily as she pondered which to read first. She settled on Ethan’s.

The matter has been taken care of. It will fill the socials and news media in a couple of days. You don’t have to worry about Shen and his siblings, boss. The academy is also doing great. Do you want details?

Athena shook her head, answering the question to herself. She trusted Ethan to do his due diligence.

Inhaling deeply, she clicked on Ewan’s message.

You deserve the best, Athena. And if Antonio is that, I wish you well in your relationship. And I apologise for being erratic earlier. It won’t happen again. Have a good night.

And for some reason she couldn’t understand... Athena wasn’t happy about it. As a matter of fact, rage kickstarted within her.