Just as their lips were about to touch, Angela knocked on the door and Olivia instantly placed her feet on the floor and stepped away from Ethan as she tucked her hair behind her ear.
Not knowing how to act, they both cleared their throats as Olivia told Angela to come in.
Angela only came to ask what to prepare for their dinner.
As Olivia explained to her, Ethan stood by the wall, directly staring at her, not even hiding that he was. He wished Angela had shown up just a few seconds later because now they both had to deal with the kiss that never happened.
When Angela left, it took a while for Olivia to turn around and face Ethan, flustered by the kiss they almost shared. "I have to ..... Uh... I have to..." She trailed off as she moved backwards, daring not to look at him.
Just as she made attempts to construct her words while still moving backwards, she gasped when she stepped on something with the heel of her foot. When she turned around with her gaze directly on the floor, she realized she had just bumped into his foot. She then wondered when he had moved from where he stood before.
When she looked up at him, she was flustered even more when she found him staring down at her with the same expression from just before he was about to kiss her.
Unable to deal with the awkwardness she felt, and how flustered she was, with the energy she had, she rushed to the bathroom and locked herself inside.
When he was all alone, he drew his lower lip between his teeth with a chuckle as he wondered what it would have felt like after such a long time of not feeling her lips on his.
~
Angela brought Olivia's food to the bedroom and found her constantly biting on her finger anxiously and she couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with her.
"Is something bothering you, Ma'am?"
"It's nothing," said Olivia, too embarrassed to speak about it.
She had no idea how she would face Ethan since she had made it so clear that she wanted to feel his lips. She shut her eyes with a grunt at the way she had closed her eyes and stood on her tippy toes in readiness for their kiss.
"Ma'am? Is everything alright?"
"No...I mean yes."
As Olivia had her meal, Angela stood by and they engaged in small talk, but she noticed how Olivia constantly fumbled with her words. She could tell that something was wrong but Olivia chose not to speak about it.
Later, after the meal, Ethan pushed the door open and stepped inside Olivia's bedroom.
As she watched him close the door, her heart started racing and she remembered the kiss they almost had and the awkwardness that came with it.
"Hey," he said, slowly approaching the bed until he sat on the edge and close to her.
"Hey," she said nervously, having him so close.
"Last night, I slept in the same bed with you." He glanced at her lips. "I didn't even realize it until it was morning. Tonight, since I'm in my right mind, I'll sleep in the other bedroom, unless you want me here tonight." He glanced at her lips again.
She equally glanced at his lips, then faced the floor as she cleared her throat. "Sleep in the other bedroom."
He sighed. "Just as I thought."
"What?"
"Nothing, I'll leave now."
"Yeah," she said, glancing at his lips again and noticed he did the same.
When they heard Angela's footsteps in the hallway as she hummed, it broke the tension and they both looked away. It was followed by an awkward silence until he remembered something.
"I haven't yet told you about Natalie," he said.
"Oh yeah," she said, relaxing her shoulders a bit more.
"You should've seen how crazy she was when I told her I wouldn't marry her."
"You did?" she asked loudly.
"Yes, do you know what else?" he asked in a low tone.
"No, tell me." Her eyes softened.
He slightly inched forward, looking straight at her lips. "I have no feelings for her."
"Uhm... that's great," she whispered, looking down at his lips as well.
"Why is it great?" he tilted his head, ready to move closer the moment he would hear his expected response.
"It's great because....you were honest."
As soon as Ethan heard that, he sat upright and nodded, Olivia wishing she had said something else to bring him closer.
Right after, he excused himself and told her he would see her the next morning with a blank expression.
"Are you already going to bed?" she asked, wondering if she should ask him to stay.
"No, I have a book to read."
"What's it about? Business?"
He nodded, knowing pretty well that it wasn't.
"Angela once told me about a book she had seen you reading a lot but couldn't tell what it was about. I couldn't believe it."
"Nothing gets past Angela, huh? It's actually the same book. All I can tell you is it's special."
When he left and she was all alone, she couldn't help but wonder if he meant to be suggestive when he had said he had no feelings for Natalie, especially with the way he had inched forward. Not to get her hopes up, despite how she felt about him, she had decided not to read too much into it and it was for that reason that she didn't say anything that would've led to them kissing, even though she greatly desired it.
When Angela returned to watch over her, she told her all about the moment he finally apologized, but left out the kiss that didn't happen, all thanks to her knocking on the door.
~
The following morning, Ethan woke up from his bed since he had slept in the other room and decided to go for a morning run. Not wanting to disturb Olivia since she was still asleep, he walked past her bedroom door quietly.
As he ran along the street, he couldn't stop thinking about how much he wanted to kiss her the previous night. The thought of her standing on her tippy toes to get closer to his lips made him chuckle as it was confirmation she was ready for that kiss.
When he returned from his morning run, he found Olivia in the hallway and he stopped in his tracks as he saw her from a distance. For a few seconds, there was the awkward silence again but with so much running through their minds about each other.
Then, when she noticed him approaching, she couldn't help but look at him from head to tall in his workout outfit. His tight gray shirt was covered in sweat, which also dripped down his forehead, only making him more attractive to her.
When he was right in front of her, he exhaled deeply as his heart was still racing, then spoke with his head tilted. "Hey, how's my baby doing this morning?"
"What?" she asked, flustered and then soon realized he had asked about their baby.
She cleared her throat to not make it too obvious that she thought he had asked about her, then responded that the baby was alright.
"And how do you feel?" he asked.
"Better than yesterday."
"Good, I need to get out of these clothes."
"Oh yeah," she said, imagining him taking off his clothes, then realized she had been too obvious with her response. "I mean...yes, you do. You're so sweaty." She pressed her lips together, loving the view of his sweat all over.
When he saw her pressing her lips together, he looked down at them and wondered how she would react if he suddenly kissed her, but soon snapped out of it and said he needed to take a shower.
Since Olivia stood by the door to his bedroom, she stepped aside and the moment he pushed it open, without closing it because he couldn't wait to freshen up, he held onto the neckline of his shirt and pulled it over his head.
For Olivia, she was deep in the glory of seeing his toned back and side view of his torso. She then saw a glimpse of his bare chest just as he turned around to pick up his shirt from the floor.
She then groaned with disappointment when he stepped away from the door as she could no longer see any more of his upper body. She also couldn't step inside his bedroom just to see more of him.
Wondering what he looked like in the shower, she got carried away, then flinched went Angela called out to her and she looked at her with the puzzled expression.
"What are you doing there, Ma'am?"
"Nothing, absolutely nothing," said Olivia, walking away from the door.
~
Ms Hudson was still in her bed and had been bawling her eyes out since the previous day as she felt she should have never uttered those words in the presence of Ethan.
Her hope had been that he would come crawling back to her and apologize for how he had been ungrateful, not walking on her saying the most painful thing she could've ever said for him to hear.
She remembered how he wanted nothing to do with her and the feeling of losing him was something she couldn't handle and she planned not to let it happen.
A few hours later, after she had calmed down a little bit, she received the DNA test results. She composed herself as she gave Helena a call to sound bold and it didn't take long for her to arrive.
When Helena walked into the study, as instructed, she noticed how different Ms Hudson seemed. She usually had a cold expression but never the puffy eyes. "You look horrible. Did something happen?"
"Even if it did, it'll never be any of your business. Here," said Ms Hudson, slamming the envelope on the table.
As Helena picked up the envelope from the table, she narrowed her eyes, wondering what she would find inside and Ms Hudson's calm expression wasn't too promising of any good news for her and Martha. When she checked the envelope, the DNA test results revealed that Martha wasn't Ethan's mother and she dropped the envelope with a gasp. "No, this can't be real," she said, holding onto the table for support.
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Ms Hudson with a glare. "Did you not see the DNA test results for yourself? It's clearly written there! Now that we know the truth, stay far away from my son. Don't even dare go near him. Find someone else to claim as Martha's son."
"This is... unbelievable." Helena held onto the table tighter than before, almost breaking down.
Ms Hudson leaned back and crossed her arms, her tone loud and commanding. "Let this be the last time I see you and stay away from my son. Now, get out. I said get out!"
Helena composed herself, stepping away from the table as she nodded a few times. "It's alright. I'll leave."
Without anything more to say or further questions, she walked out as she wiped her tears.
As soon as Helena left, Ms Hudson rushed upstairs to her bedroom and took the other envelope that was underneath the pillow. She opened it and read the original DNA test results again, which had confirmed that Martha was Ethan's biological mother. Using her influence and power, there were two different results.
She had no intention of revealing the truth from the start, but it became her ultimate goal when she had a taste of what it was like to lose Ethan's affection and she didn't intend on losing him forever.
What she failed to take note of was how Helena suddenly accepted the results and left.