She's My Sleeping Pill

"I don't understand why people kept saying that @CayenneDumrique is rude and horrible. In fact, she is one of the people I know who doesn't like to distinguish people based on their social status. She is very warm and helpful. I don't agree with your assumptions or opinions regarding her issue with Julia. I mean, I was there.

Last night, we went there because @JuliaSarmiento wanted to crash the party, but Cayenne welcomed us instead. I'm so sorry to Mrs. Dumrique for what happened. We were not aware that it would turn out like this."

Her post got many reactions from so many people and since Cayenne was mentioned on her post, it notified her. She had no idea why Caroline was helping her since she didn't pay any attention to other people's business except hers, her family's, and friends'.

Seeing her way of public apology, Jessa Amari and Anya Pardillo followed what she did as well. They posted their positive opinion of Cayenne and said something about Julia's plan to crash the party. They even included the messages that Julia sent them.

Now that the issue involved three other prominent families, the discussion became heated with varying opinions. Other people were now saying that Stefan bought Julia's friends to speak ill of the woman. Some people commented that Julia was poor after she was betrayed and abandoned. Others say that Cayenne was very unfortunate because she got dragged into the internal conflict of the Dumrique family.

It was hard to tell who was right or wrong, but one thing was for sure, Stefan won't let his wife be aggrieved for so long.

At this moment, Julia was facing her mother in the living room. Celestine was livid at her daughter's recent conduct. She couldn't believe that Julia acted without her consent. It was during this time that they needed to be careful but Julia was so stubborn to even listen to her mother.

"Why did you do that?" Celestine questioned while trying to control her emotions from going haywire. "You knew very well that Stefan is overprotective of that woman. You knew that he would go to any length for her, and you already crossed his bottom line during your wedding. What were you thinking? Do you really want us to perish from this world?"

"Isn't blood thicker than water? He even forgave his father for all the things that he did. He is now living with Grandpa even after all the things that happened to them. Why can't he do the same thing to us?"

"Do you believe he would forgive us after what you did? Stefan forgave his father and grandfather because those two only did something to hurt him, not his wife. Now, what you did was the exact opposite."

"Mom, is it just me or are you turning soft? It seemed to me that you are siding with them."

"No! Of course, not. I am not siding with them, but it doesn't mean I will let you do whatever you want even though it is wrong."

Julia clicked her tongue and stood up from her seat. "I'm going back to my room. I'll talk with my husband."

"We're not done talking yet."

"I have nothing else to say," she said and left without turning back.

Celestine felt a throbbing headache in her temple. She was already conflicted because of the things she found out and now, her daughter was causing trouble here and there. She still hasn't figured out the best way to reconcile with her family yet, but she already thought of just giving up. After what Julia did, it would be impossible to reconcile with Stefan.

Celestine closed her eyes and sighed. [I'm tired.] She thought.

Back at Cayenne and Stefan's mansion, the couple was preparing for their picnic for the next day. Picnic wasn't really a big deal for other people, but to Stefan, he loved spending time with his wife and now with his children, too. However, since many people wanted his life, he could not risk their safety. Therefore, a security plan must be implemented.

Stefan talked to the bodyguards about their task tomorrow, while Cayenne talked to Carla about the food that they could cook for the next day.

Their picnic destination was a little odd for other people, but it was the place that Stefan would never forget. Aside from that, tomorrow would be the first time that their children would eat something other than milk. Stefan wanted it to be special.

It would also be their first time to do something with just the five of them, except for the bodyguards who needed to be there for their safety.

After an hour, Cayenne went upstairs to bring the children's milk and not long after, Stefan came to help her. After feeding them, he stayed for a while to play with them before going to his study room to do a little bit of work. Those were the important things that he didn't manage to finish yesterday.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Cayenne pressed the button on the side of the bed and a border popped up to keep the children from falling. She quickly opened the door and found Ferdinand there with his caregiver. "Come in, Grandpa," she said and opened the door wider to let the man inside.

Ferdinand went inside and directly went over to his grandchildren. Jahzara was tossing a rubber ball to her twin brother Aziel while Zeki played with the animal cards. The youngest seemed to be very interested in the pictures on the cards.

"I can already tell that Zeki would grow up smart," Ferdinand commented and rubbed the child's head.

"I hope so," Cayenne said without thinking much about it. Her children were still young and she didn't want to determine their future right now. Aside from that, she already discussed it with Stefan that their children will always have a voice to make their choices in life.

"By the way," Ferdinand turned his attention to Cayenne and sat on the chair near the bed. "About the party last night, can I talk to you about it?"

"Uh...yeah. Sure. What about it?"

"To be specific, I want to talk to you about Julia."

"Grandpa, do you want me to get involved in your family dispute? I mean, yes, I'm married to your grandson, but would it be alright to step into your family matter?"

"Honestly, I'm hoping you could talk to Stefan about this. I hope you could persuade him not to pursue his cousin and auntie anymore. I owe Celestine a lot. What Julia said last night was right. I wasn't a good father to Celestine and I wasn't a good grandfather to Julia, and even to Stefan. I lack in so many ways, and I don't have time to deal with all of this."

"Isn't it better if you would just forgive her and bring her back?"

"She's not the one that should be forgiven, but me. I'm sure you have learned what happened already. Celestine's hatred has run deep in her veins. She could no longer forgive me. I don't hope to receive her forgiveness either. I just hope that Stefan would be lenient to them."

"Why would my husband go after them? Nothing happened last night."

"Have you not checked your social media account today?"

"No. I have not," Cayenne answered while pulling out her phone. "Did something happen?"

"A lot happened," Ferdinand responded and waited for Cayenne to check her account. "I'm sure that Stefan would do something to his cousin for you. I'm hoping that you would stop him."

"Grandpa, I don't think it's right for Stefan to handle this matter alone. Why don't you invite your daughter and granddaughter back? Why don't you talk to them? It's not too late for you to reconcile with them."

Ferdinand stared into space. He thought that Cayenne would help him persuade Stefan to stop making things difficult for Celestine and Julia. He didn't expect that she would tell him to reconcile with them instead. "I'll think about it."

Cayenne believed that Ferdinand would choose to follow her advice. However, this reconciliation would also depend on Celestine and Julia's response.

Unfortunately, things weren't that simple.

MINI THEATER

Jahzara threw the rubber ball to Aziel but it hit his head and bounced to Zeki. The latter was hit on the back and he turned to look at his siblings.

Jahzara looked at her brother with tears clinging on her lashes. She was ready to cry should Zeki scold her.

Aziel was also worried even though he didn't purposely hit his brother.

Seeing their expression, Zeki didn't say a word and went back to look at the animal cards.

Jahzara's face brightened when her brother ignored her and Aziel also felt relieved. The problem was, Zeki got the ball and they were afraid to get it from him.

Jahzara thought of crying again, but before she could do it, Zeki spoke in words that only the children understood.

Zeki: Don't even bother yourself to cry for their attention. They won't understand what you want anyway.

Jahzara: Ki, can I have the ball? You won't play it anyway.

Zeki: Get it if you dare.

Jahzara pouted and crawled to Aziel. She hugged him and cried in silence.

By the time Ferdinand left and Cayenne returned to her children, she was shocked. She could tell that her little princess was crying but she didn't cry loudly like she used to. Aziel was also patting his sister's back with his tiny hands.

[What happened here? What is this drama?]