The Pretend Wife

It was just a small city. In the quiet morning, another cycle of day and night began; though none could tell whether the day was the beginning or was it the night? None would be bothered to think about it.

In this serenity, another day just meant to be the same routine for the woman named Mia Ford. She continued to serve those customers who were looking for warmth amidst the cold air surrounding them.

Yet, they didn't notice her cold heart was the same as those snow outside, frozen. She continued to smile. It was subtle, and if one didn't really pay attention close enough they wouldn't be able to notice that the smile was just forced.

If those people proclaimed to hate fakeness, then they would hate that smile, or even her. But, she wouldn't care anyway.

"The customers this morning is really more crowded than yesterday." Seina, the other waitress who worked alongside her exclaimed.

Mia just glanced at her briefly and didn't speak. The other person seemed to be used to her quietness. After all, when Mia wasn't facing those customers, she was really a cold person. It was what Seina learned after they worked together for more than three years.

"Mia, how's your son?"

Yet, there was only one person that would melt the coldest ice. Mia finally looked at Seina, her eyebrow was raised. "Why are you talking about my son?"

Seina seemed to be happy that Mia was willing to talk to her. They had served all of the customers and finally got some break in between that they can have some talk.

Seina shrugged her shoulder. "I am just missing that cutie. Don't act like that to me. I also considered that kid as my nephew."

Mia didn't have too much emotion on her face right now, but inside, she was quite helpless. In her lonely time, her son, Aiden Ford was the only source of warmth. So, it was natural that she was so protective of him.

"Alright." Mia nodded and didn't speak more. She moved away as soon as she saw someone raising their hand.

Seina blinked at her friend, and just sighed softly. But, she was also a patient person. She had the past, and Mia also had one. They never talked about it to each other, but their level of understanding of one another was also deeper.

Mia sometimes would care for her, despite that cold mask she would always put on the crowd; besides when she was working. Seina also knew about it. Mia was a woman of few words, yet her actions said it all.

As Mia walked toward the counter, bringing with her the dirty cups of the customers, Seina said to her, "I am going to visit your home tonight, just wait. I have been saving candies for little Aiden."

Mia didn't answer, but Seina knew that it was a silent agreement that she didn't reject her. Seina was a bit happy.

Mia looked at Seina and sighed in her heart. This friend of hers was really a patient person. Seina was the only one who came close to understanding her all those years, she never abandoned her.

She knew that she was somewhat a bit of a cold person, but her personality was indeed a quiet one. She didn't really talk much.

Even that night... she only said a few words to that person before leaving. After all, their agreement had ended, and the money had already been paid. Naturally, she also fulfilled the end of the promise.

She had her necessity, but she also didn't want to be that greedy. Despite her cold heart, she could still somewhat feeling guilty. She kept on telling herself that it wasn't entirely her fault, yet she couldn't still erase that feeling.

In the end, she just left with a few words. They no longer had any ties to each other.

Though, Mia wasn't completely sure what that man would do once he found out about the existence of Aiden, basically their son. The fruit of their contract marriage. She surely didn't want to find out.

Mia just shook her head, then she erased the distracting thoughts and entirely focused on her work.

"Mia, long time no see." The same customer that had been visiting this cafe for a few weeks had come again, this time with a smile as he looked at Mia.

Mia gave him a polite nod, and prepared her pen and notes, waiting for him to state his order. The man just sighed at Mia's action and began to recite his order.

Jace looked at the woman in front of him until she retreated far away. She rarely talked. Even he had to come and asked the same question every day until he finally got her name. That didn't mean that she had liked him either.

She was rather a cold person, and he could tell that she liked peaceful life. Probably due to annoyance, and that she should be kind to the customer, she ends up telling him her name. To shut him up.

Seina looked at the man with slight pity. In her eyes, Mia was still young and quite pretty and those male customers sometimes hit on her. Yet, she was still the same wooden block no matter how good looking the person was, completely unfazed.

"If they know about the existence of Aiden, they probably wouldn't accept him." That was the explanation given when Seina asked about Mia's opinion of those males.

Indeed, some of them may be able to accept the existence of another man's child in their love life, however, some of them may also couldn't. Seina didn't ask about them anymore.

Mia delivered the coffee that Jace ordered to his table, then she moved away. Gradually, her eyes were drawn to the falling snow outside. It was frozen, faintly, Mia could feel that there was a similarity between her and the snow.

It was the coldness, and yet when they meet the sun, they would melt. After they melted, they would no longer be called the snow.

Would there be a sun in her life?

"Mama, look at what I made!" Aiden ran towards Mia as she busily washing the dishes in the kitchen. She had to work around seven hours a day before someone took her shift so that she could go home around noon.

A small figure suddenly entered Mia's sight, causing her expression to soften. Aiden excitedly showed the drawing he had just made, it was that of some yellow ducks swimming on a lake.

"I copy this from the book that Auntie Seina brought." Mia took a look at the drawing to appease him.

Aiden had turned four years old some weeks ago. He was also a quite smart little boy. At a young age, he had learned to draw and memorized some alphabets.

"You are really smart, you did well." Mia said. She didn't really know how to prise people and wasn't that good with words, yet because of the existence of Aiden, she had gradually learned.

Aiden was quite a chatty little guy, and Mia was a woman with few words, yet the two didn't feel incompatible at all. Perhaps, that was because the two were blood-related. They only had each other.

Aiden smiled excitedly at Mia's words and proudly said, "I'll show it to Auntie Seina later."

Mia ruffled Aiden's hair affectionately, but her action was suddenly interrupted by the ringing bell.

"I'll open it!" Without waiting for his mother's answer, Aiden had already tun towards the front door. He opened it, revealing the sight of a woman.

"Auntie Seina!"

Seina was chuckling as she entered the house. The little guy sure was quite a hyperactive boy. She ruffled his hair and gave the bag filled with sweets inside.

"Thank you, Auntie!" Aiden immediately became excited as he took a look at what was inside the bag, there was a lot of kind of candies, chocolate, and even cookies. Those were Aiden's favorite.

"Where is your mom?" Seina asked, looking around but failed to find her friend.

Aiden looked up at her and said honesty. "Mama is still in the kitchen."

Seina immediately walked to the kitchen. She found that Mia was arranging the glasses and plates after they were being washed. Taking a seat on a chair nearby, she began to wait until Mia finished.

While on the other side, Aiden was busily eating a small cookie, looking completely happy.

"The weather is quite good. The falling snow had decreased by a lot at the moment. How about going to Mr. And Mrs. Wang's little restaurant?" Seina asked. "The last time we have going out together was a few months ago."

Mia put the last piece of the plate into a neat order, then she turned towards Seina while raising her eyebrow. "Why? You are bored now?"

Seina scowled slightly. "Don't start making excuses. When you are asking me like this, it's clear that you want me to go by myself."

Seina snatched some snacks from the kitchen counter and began eating them. If it was two years ago, she probably would've been unable to act like this and have to be more careful around Mia, but lately, they had gotten closer, so she had no qualms revealing her true self. She was quite a carefree person after all.

Mia looked at Aiden who was happily eating without care for his surroundings and she just sighed softly. "Alright then."

When Seina heard that, she grinned. She was quite pleased with herself. This way, they would have more time together. After all, Seina was quite lonely because she was living alone.

Seina was a thirty-two years old widow without a child. Mia didn't really know much about her past, and she also didn't ask. They had just known each other for three years, so there was no rush.

Mia was slightly younger than Seina, as she was currently twenty-eight years old. That's also why the two women got along so well. Seina also sometimes visited Mia's house.

"Little guy, let's go to Mr. And Mrs. Wang's little restaurant," Seina said to Aiden, who was about to pick the second cookie from the bag.

"Really?" Aiden had also always come with them whenever they were going out. However, Mia didn't really like going out a lot, so, Aiden was really excited this time.

"Are we going to eat outside again?" Aiden asked. He had seen a lot of delicious cake being sold at Mr. And Mrs. Wang's bakery near their restaurant. He sometimes had his mother bought them for him.

"Of course." Seina ruffled the little boy's hair. She had no child, that's why she also treated Aiden affectionately. She had considered him as her own nephew.

Mia changed her clothes into a more neat one and didn't reveal too much of her skin. A grey shirt combined with black trousers pants.

"Let's go," Mia said curtly. Then, she took Aiden's hand to follow them.

The walk wasn't that long, in fact, it was only two hundred meters before they reached the destination.

The restaurant was neither too big nor too small. Besides the fact that the price wasn't expensive, the food was also delicious. So, that not a wonder that many people came.

Mia looked around, and they found a remote table that wasn't too noisy. It was a table with four seats. Seina helped Aiden to get on his own seat and let him chose the meal first.

"Mama, I want a chocolate cake." Aiden suddenly said, he wasn't too interested in the food at the moment.

"The usual ones?" Mia asked as she had bought the same kind of cake many times when she returned from the cafe.

Aiden nodded earnestly, making him look cute. "Yes."

Mia nodded, then she looked at Seina. "I'll go to buy the cake then. You just wait here."

The last line was directed at Aiden. The little boy nodded obediently. Now that he had gotten what he wanted, he began to look at the menu.

Mia walked out of the restaurant. The bakery just right next to it. The bakery was owned by the Wang couple's daughter.

As Mia walked, she was about to enter the shop when suddenly a familiar figure made her stop in place. She was frozen in the spot.

It was the same man of five years ago...

Mia's body froze for a moment before she regained her clarity from the shock of seeing that man again after five years passed. She wouldn't forget about it. After all, Aiden's existence and their almost similar features were the constant reminders.

Her expression didn't change. But, she knew that from one year of staying beside him, he was one sly fox. Under that emotionless expression, he was a person who adept at scheming. This what made him so terrifying in Mia's eyes.

Even, she was deceived...

Mia didn't really want to meet him, so she quickly retreated to a safe distance where he wouldn't see her. Leonardo Kingston was his name, and he was inside the bakery shop right now.

Silently, Mia felt slightly restless. She glanced at him once a while and found that he was taking quite long to choose his damned cake.

Her body jolted slightly as their gaze was about to meet. Leon suddenly swept his gaze past the crowd outside the bakery, and he almost found her. Fortunately, she retracted her own gaze at the last moment before he could see her face. Mia's heart revealed her anxiety. As she glanced at him again, he was still looking around the row of cakes.

After a while, Leon finally picked some cakes and slices of bread, and he quickly exited the shop. Mia still kept her vigilance. The man didn't really care about anything, his personality was also a prideful one that not a lot of things in this world could move him, so he didn't even look around and quickly left. Even so, Mia knew that this man couldn't be underestimated.

Mia also knew that if he found about her, he wouldn't have cared. But, if she added Aiden into the picture, the result was unknown, so she didn't want to take the risk of meeting him face to face again.

Her eyes involuntarily followed his figure as the sight of his back gradually getting tinier. There was a complex emotion hidden inside her heart, but as soon as it appeared, she wiped it away.

"I hope we would never meet again. Our paths are different." Mia muttered softly.

She didn't waste any more time to dawdle and quickly picked the cake that was Aiden's favorite. After that, he went back to the restaurant.

"You are taking so long, is there a long waiting line?" Seina asked, raising her eyebrow. She had ordered everything by herself, even she had memorized Mia's usual food like the back of her hand.

"There is something that happened on the way." Mia didn't explain any further, though there was a flash of the barely noticeable glint on her eyes.

Seina was curious, but she didn't ask. After all, seeing from the almost wooden expression of Mia, it seemed that she had just encountered something personal. So, she wouldn't push it.

Aiden immediately became excited as he grabbed the box in front of him. Inside it was the cake with chocolate flavor that was his favorite.

Mia looked at Aiden and smiled slightly. "Eat your food first, and you can take all the cake. It's yours."

Aiden pouted at Mia's words, however, he didn't dare to disobey it. He immediately ate his own food while occasionally took some bite of the chocolate cake in between.

"This kid is sure loves sweet things a lot." Seina glanced at Aiden and smiled. Aiden just stuck his tongue out.

The rest of the time, they spent it in silence. Mia didn't speak much. She focused on eating her own fill while occasionally wiped the smear on Aiden's cheek.

"I am going to the bathroom," Mia said after a while. Seina looked at Mia and nodded.

Mia stood up from her seat and headed towards the bathroom. Her heart was pounding quite hard right now. If she wasn't wrong, that damned Leon still hadn't left yet. She had seen that man was heading towards the restaurant they were in, and she didn't want to see the risk of being seen with Aiden.

Leon didn't know the existence of Aiden yet, and Mia intended it to stay that way. So, even if they accidentally meet, he wouldn't be able to guess that Aiden was his son; even though that their features were also a bit similar, but there were also people with a lot of similar faces despite not being blood relative. So, as long as Mia wasn't with Aiden, Leon wouldn't be able to pick up the clues together.

Mia stayed in the bathroom for a while. Looking at her own reflection, she frowned and looked away. She didn't even like her own face and always avoiding it, much less that expression...

After a while, Mia walked out of the bathroom. Watching her surrounding, she quickly sought the person that was so familiar yet unfamiliar to her at the same time.

Mia frowned after she didn't find his figure. Maybe, he didn't really intend to enter this restaurant. If so, then it was just her being anxious then. She finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Mia, long time no see."

The casual sound of a man sounded like thunder on Mia's ears. The casual tone implied that as if he had just accidentally met an old friend on his trip.

Mia looked around and found that the man whom she was searching for was actually this close to her. His back was facing her when she scanned the place just then, and her anxiousness made her fail to notice his figure.

Despite the mixed feelings she had inside her heart, she still retained the calmness on her face. Facing the man she regarded as a sly fox, she put on a frown and shook her head and ignored him

She was about to leave when the man suddenly caught her hand. "Why are you in such a hurry? Are you meeting someone?"

The words were said in a casual questioning tone, but in Mia's ears, it caused her to feel worried. She looked at the certain table of Seina and Aiden. However, before she could even turn her head, she found that Leon's curious eyes looking at the place she was almost looking at.

With her pounding heart, she looked at Aiden and Seina's table to find that...