Cohabitation With My Ex-Husband

"Can I talk to you? Alone?" asked Mrs. Collins.

Raphael's eyes widened when he heard what the old woman just said. He, who had been a bit far from Sarah, immediately approached his Mommy and put on a fierce expression on his face.

Ready to battle with the old woman!

"Mommy, let's go!" said Raphael, holding Sarah's hand and trying to pull her away.

"Wait a minute, Mommy wants to talk to grandma first," said Sarah, turning to Raphael.

"Mommy... let's go," Raphael whined, tugging on Sarah's hand.

He didn't know what the old woman wanted to talk about. However, he didn't want to hear it at all, or let his Mommy hear it.

"Raphael!" said Sarah, looking at her son firmly. "Let's go to Daddy first, Mommy wants to talk to grandma," she continued in a gentle tone when he saw his son pouting his lips.

Sarah then turned to Michael who was standing not far from her holding Gabriel's hand. Michael's gaze was still on her , but it seemed that Michael had no intention of approaching her even though he could actually hear Mrs. Collins' words.

As Sarah had expected, Michael had no intention of interrupting, or standing with Sarah as Raphael did.

He knew that his mother and Sarah's relationship was not good. However, Michael knew his mother well enough and the expression of the woman who gave birth to him did not show that she was annoyed or wanted to say anything bad to Sarah.

So Michael decided to wait and watch from afar, letting Sarah decide whether she wanted to talk to his mother or not.

"Noo, I want to be with Mommy!" said Raphael adamantly then turned to his enemy in front of him. His expression turned fierce again, making people not believe that he was actually just whining a second ago.

"Raphael!"

"That's all right," replied Mrs. Collins, smiling awkwardly when she saw the little boy looking at her with an annoyed look.

"But can we talk there? I don't want Michael to listen to our conversation," continued Mrs. Collins quietly as she turned to look at Michael who was focusing on them.

Sarah looked back, then forward again and nodded her head.

What did Mrs. Collins really want to say that she didn't want Michael to hear? Sarah was curious.

They then walked a little further away from Michael, and Raphael continued to hold his Mommy's hand and wouldn't let go.

Once they were some distance away from Michael, Mrs. Collins had a troubled expression on her face. She looked at Raphael who was still wearing an expression as if she was his worst enemy.

While Sarah looks very confused. What exactly was Mrs. Collins trying to say?

Mrs. Collins took a deep breath, trying to calm herself who was currently looking very nervous and hesitant to open her mouth.

"I'm... sorry," Mrs. Collins finally opened her mouth. Her words sounded very low and her face was slightly red, it seemed that she needed the courage to say that.

Sarah's eyes widened at those words. The old woman wanted to talk to her to apologize?

"I realized that all this time I've done a lot of bad things to you. Maybe my apology won't change what happened. However, I want to apologize," said Mrs. Collins sincerely.

"Well... this makes the situation awkward. So what do you really want to say?" asked Sarah who couldn't believe that the old woman suddenly wanted to apologize like this.

Mrs. Collins had an awkward look on her face when she heard the question.

"Honestly, I did want to ask for a favor, but I really sincerely want to apologize to you and hope we can't be so awkward with each other," Mrs. Collins said embarrassed.

"What kind of favor?" Sarah asked back. About Mrs. Collins' apologies. She could honestly feel the sincerity from the old woman.

Maybe that's why Mrs. Collins wanted to have a private talk with her, because she didn't want her apology to sound like she wanted to say it because Michael had seen her, or the Twins.

Meanwhile, Raphael's expression no longer looked like he wanted to make a fuss after hearing the apology come out from Mrs. Collins' lips. It seemed he could also feel that sincerity.

Mrs. Collins didn't answer and turned to Raphael, her face doubting whether she should tell her that while Raphael was still here.

"Raphael, let's go back with Daddy," Sarah said, understanding the gaze.

"Noo, I want to be with Mommy!" Raphael insisted and held Sarah's fingers tightly. One hand was even now wrapped around Sarah's hand and pressed her cheek against it.

"It's all right," said Mrs. Collins when she saw how stubborn her grandson was.

"This is about my husband. Did you know that he could actually be operated on but he chose not to, right?" asked Mrs. Collins.

Sarah nodded. She once asked Steve if there was no other way to cure Mr. Collins. He couldn't inquire about his condition because it was confidential, but she could ask for a way to cure it.

Steve seemed hesitant to say that, then finally informed her that Mr. Collins refused to have surgery, and had even signed off on a DNR, i.e. when his heart suddenly stopped, the doctors didn't need to revive him.

When she found out, Sarah just kept quiet. She felt sad, but she wanted to respect the decision Mr. Collins had made.

"Do you want me to persuade Mr. Collins?" guess Sarah. "I can't seem to help you with that," she continued.

Mrs. Collins shook her head.

"No, it's not like that. I... Can you allow the kids to come to the hospital every day? It seems my husband looks cheerful when he is with his grandsons. Maybe... it could make him have the desire to... you know," Mrs. Collins said awkwardly trying not to say anything heavy since Raphael was listening.

Sarah fell silent hearing that.

"I can't promise but I'll try," Sarah replied.

After all, she could not make this decision alone. She had to talk to Michael about it, and also ask her sons what they thought.

Mrs. Collins nodded understandingly at that.

"Thank you, Sarah," said Mrs. Collins sincerely.

Sarah's eyes opened wide at the old woman calling her name. It felt like it was the first time she'd heard her call her name.

Sarah simply nodded then excused herself when Mrs. Collins had nothing more to say.

***

Today is Sunday, but Sarah and Michael are at home, or rather sitting in the living room because they suddenly have a visitor. It was the man they met yesterday, Mr. Collins' lawyer.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your weekend," said the attorney, smiling politely when he saw Michael's annoyed look that was so obvious.

Today they were planning to go out again, but his father's attorney suddenly came, making the plans he had made fall apart.

"It's okay. We should be the ones apologizing because you have to work on weekends," replied Sarah politely.

The old man nodded.

"In that case, perhaps both of you already know, but I will read Mr. Collins's new will at Mr. Collins' own request."

Michael and Sarah looked nervous and swallowed their saliva.

"Under Mr. Collins' wish, his property which was previously 80% given to Mrs. Sarah Smith has now been changed to 40%."

Sarah's eyes opened wide at that. Even though it was cut in half, it was still a lot of money.

"Then, 20% each will be given to his two grandsons, Raphael and Gabriel. However, they can get it on condition that they have changed their name to Collins, and since they are minors, Mrs. Sarah Smith will become the trustee."

Sarah's expression again looked surprised to hear that. Her kids even got a fortune from Mr. Collins?!

Meanwhile, Michael just kept silent hearing this. He didn't care about the property of his father at all. The five percent he got was enough for him.

"For her 30 percent share in Collins previously given to Mrs. Sarah Smith. For Mr. Collins new will, five per cent will go to Mr. Michael Collins, and five per cent will go to Mrs. Sarah Smith."

Michael opened his mouth in disbelief hearing he only got five percent. It was a good number, but he wished it was a bit more.

"Then what about the remaining twenty?" asked Michael curiously.

"Ten percent will go to Raphael and the remaining 10 percent will go to Gabriel. Just like before, they can get it if they have changed their last name, and Mrs. Sarah Smith will be the trustee"

Sarah opened her mouth in disbelief when again her kids and she got a share in Collins.

Isn't this the same? Why did Mr. Collins keeps giving it to her?

"I know you're surprised, but you have to accept it," said the old man with a smile. "Anthony really adores you like his daughter. He even seems to adore you more than his son," he continued, glancing at Michael.

Sarah still wanted to argue, but for now she decided to keep quiet and would go to Mr. Collins later to say no.

After all, her current life was truly like a dream.

She had got her dream job again, her kids had known their Daddy, her problems with Mrs. Collins had been resolved, and although she didn't know how her relationship with Michael would turn out, they had lived together and were quite comfortable.

If she also obtained that amount of wealth, wouldn't this be like a dream with a happy ending?

And Sarah didn't know if she deserved such a happy ending.

*END*