Chapter 90 The Arrival of the Cat
Zoey nearly lost it when she saw Bella holding the cat. If Sterling found out, she was toast.
She stormed over. "Mrs. Windsor, are you trying to piss off Mr. Windsor on purpose? When he gets back, he's gonna blow a gasket."
Bella couldn't care less; she just wanted to anger Sterling. Why should he live a carefree life while she was stuck at home, unable to do anything?
"Relax, Zoey. I've got your back," she said.
When Anna heard that Bella was doing all this just to anger Sterling, she found it pretty funny. She looked at Bella and said, "Wow, didn't see that coming. Are you finally showing some backbone? Aren't you scared Sterling will come after you?"
Bella just smiled, cradling the ragdoll cat as she headed upstairs.
Anna trailed behind her, and after a long pause, Bella finally said, "Yeah, I'm scared, but not as much as before. Maybe the baby gave me the guts to stand up to him."
Talking about the baby made both Bella and Anna go quiet.
Anna hadn't mentioned it, worried it would make Bella sad.
"Bella, things will get better. You'll have kids in the future." Anna's words seemed to be directed at Bella, but also sounded like she was reassuring herself.
Things getting better? When? Thinking about her useless mom who relied on her, Anna felt pretty hopeless.
"Let's name it," Bella broke the silence.
"Sure, it's your cat now. You name it," Anna said, noticing how much Bella liked the cat and was channeling her feelings for the baby into it.
Whatever, as long as Bella could move on from her grief.
Bella thought for a moment and then softly said, "How about Sunny?"
Anna was surprised.
Sunny? Wasn't that the nickname Bella had picked for her baby? It seemed like it would take forever, maybe a lifetime, for her to shake off the pain of losing the baby.
"Bella, actually... yeah, Sunny is perfect," Anna said, petting Sunny.
Anna left, and not long after, Sterling came home. As expected, he started growling the moment he walked in.
"Get rid of these flowers. Who told you to buy flowers?" Sterling snapped at Zoey.
"It was me. If you're mad, take it out on me," Bella said calmly, standing upstairs in a white nightgown, holding the cat.
Sterling looked at her, then did a double-take at the white cat in her arms.
"Bella, who said you could keep that animal? Get rid of it now," Sterling roared.
Bella's expression didn't change, and she didn't react to Sterling's outburst. She walked past him gracefully, holding the cat.
"Zoey, is dinner ready?" she asked, sitting at the dining table and gently petting the cat on her lap.
The more Sterling looked, the more pissed off he got. He stormed over, stopping a few steps away from the cat.
"Bella, you've got some nerve. I told you to get rid of that animal. Didn't you hear me?" Sterling's anger and pale face didn't go unnoticed by Bella.
"I'll handle it. You don't need to stress. If you can't deal with it, you can move out, or send me and the cat somewhere else," Bella said, cool as a cucumber.
Sterling knew what Bella was playing at. Her calmness made his heart skip a beat. He'd rather she just argue with him.
Because that version of her was vibrant, like a passionate rose, rather than now, calm and lifeless, like flowers slowly wilting without water.
It made him feel a twinge of fear. He softened his tone and tried again.
"If you send it away, I'll let you go back to work," Sterling offered, grudgingly.
Bella suddenly locked eyes with him and asked seriously, "Where do you want to send your child?"
Sterling thought he misheard.
"What did you say?" He looked at Bella, sensing something was off.
Bella, holding the cat, said, "Don't you think it looks a lot like our child? Its name is Sunny, the nickname I gave our child. Isn't it nice?"
She even smiled at Sterling after she finished speaking.
Sterling couldn't hold back his anger any longer. "Bella, have you had enough? Can't you let this go? If you want a child, we can have another one once you're better. What are you doing now?"
Bella was doing it on purpose; she wanted to piss Sterling off.
"Sterling, do you think you'll ever regret this?" she asked, standing up with the cat, her voice a bit shaky.
But she didn't wait for Sterling's answer. She went upstairs with the cat, skipping dinner.
Sterling was so mad he couldn't eat either.
Regret? He thought he would never regret it, nor would he allow himself to.
In the end, Sterling reluctantly let Bella keep the cat, but it wasn't allowed in his space. The house had to be disinfected daily, and not a single cat hair was allowed, or it would be sent away.
Bella initially wanted to use the cat to get back at Sterling, but she had long since changed her mind. Her emotional wounds seemed to be slowly healing, and she knew it was Sunny who was gradually healing her.
In the morning, she played with Sunny outside in the yard. It looked very peaceful.
Recently, Bella treated Sterling like a stranger. She didn't respond to anything he said, only showing a hint of a smile when she was with the cat.
"Mr. Windsor, haven't you noticed? Mrs. Windsor's mood has improved a lot lately. It seems to be thanks to that cat," Zoey said to Sterling, feeling relieved.
"That cat? What good could it do? One day, I'll get rid of it," Sterling said. Ever since the cat appeared, Bella had stopped arguing with him, but she also stopped paying attention to him.
This wasn't what he wanted.
"Mrs. Windsor really likes that cat. She probably sees it as the child she lost. Mr. Windsor, don't hold it against her. What woman wouldn't be in pain after losing a child?" Zoey sighed.
Sterling, for once, didn't argue. "Go get her a coat. It's early in the morning. She'll get cold."
Zoey shook her head.
Sterling was soft-hearted but still trying to sound tough.
Bella saw Sterling's car leave and thought to herself, 'Finally, he's gone. I am freezing.'
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