It'll Come Naturally

"Fine. It's your own private matter. Sorry for intruding. Maybe I asked for too much." Rain fidgeted, his lips turning into a wry smile. From her frown, he could tell the question had annoyed her. "No. I want you to be clear. Who was this other man?" Annie would never admit to doing something that didn't happen. Rain obviously held a misunderstanding.

"Annie, oh no, Mrs... I don't know... You have kids, don't you?" He recalled the photo of the two adorable children on her phone. Rain wished they were his kids, instead of some unknown bastard's. "You... How did you know that?" Annie turned white. She should have guessed this would happen. Janice was Duke's right hand; she would have told his boss everything.

"It's easy to know. You must love the man a lot, so you had his kids." A wretched look dominated his expression, revealing his prolonged suffering. He felt as though his heart was sinking.

"Yes, I love him very much." Annie gazed at him profoundly. Rain, having lowered his head, missed the deep feeling in her gaze.

Her answer almost tore his heart apart. It was time for him to move on. Finally, he had her answer. She truly fell in love with someone else.

"I should have known." Rain picked up his cup of bitter coffee and swallowed it neat. It tasted like water to him, overcome as he was by disappointment and sorrow. His chest felt heavy.

"What should you have known?" Annie frowned, wondering if he knew the man was him. She was in love with Rain, but he was already a married man. She couldn't tell him the kids were his and ruin his family in the process. Besides, he didn't love her. Why would he care?

"Nothing. Is he nice to you?" Rain smiled sardonically. There was nothing he could do now but wish her happiness.

"He..." Annie bit her lower lip. Her heart felt like it was being stabbed. "No, he is not," she finished.

"What?" Rain didn't expect her answer to be in the negative. His head snapped up to her in confusion.

"Rain, can't we just move on? I don't want to talk about it anymore." Annie was unwilling to linger on the issue. The man they were talking about was right in front of her. How could she criticize him when he was around? The only thing she could do was cover up her feelings for him. "That's why you came here all alone, with your kids?" Rain cast his eyes down, miserable. He wished he were that man. He would have never left her in the lurch.

"Yes." Annie looked away, mortified. She could not convey the grief she felt.

"Call me whenever you are in need while you're at S City." 'Damn, ' he thought. 'Fred looked so decent. I didn't expect him to be such a jerk. How could he not cherish Annie?' "Okay, sure. You..." Annie debated whether or not she should remind him of something, but dropped the idea eventually.

"What?" Rain was confused when she didn't finish her sentence.

"Oh, it's nothing." After all, it was none of her business.

"Give a call to your family. They are worried about your safety." A month ago, Annie's brother had come to see Rain, thinking he'd find Annie with him. Her brother had blamed him for not convincing her into staying. He didn't even know her phone number then. Rain admitted to his fault. He should have been more responsible.

"How are my parents?" Annie hadn't been in touch with her family. Once they knew where she was, they would have definitely told Rain. The same would have been true for the opposite. She wondered if Rain had already told her family where she was.

"What do you think? All of a sudden their beloved daughter was nowhere to be found. How could they have been okay?" Annie had sent them a message when she left, but there hadn't been any communication since then. It was natural that they were worried about her safety.

"I am not a good daughter." Annie licked her lips, thinking that she should go home and see her parents.

"Right, please get in touch with them. Talk to them. They are very understanding. I'm sure they would accept your kids' father," Rain said, seemingly calm, even as his heart broke.

"Okay, thank you." Her family might be willing to accept her kids, but they would not be so understanding if they knew that their father was married to another woman.

"When are you free? I want to take your kids out to dinner." Their relationship might not have survived, but Annie could still be his good friend. Plus, she was staying in S City all alone with her kids. As a good friend, it was Rain's duty to take care of them. "Well! There's no need for that. My kids are noisy. I am afraid they would bother you." Annie turned him down quickly, worried that he would know Huey was his son as soon as his eyes landed on him. The little guy looked just like his father.

"It's okay. I am used to kids." Rain was pretty much always surrounded by kids, so he was used to their noise and mischief.

"Oh, right. I forgot that you have a kid too." Annie smiled thinly, misunderstanding what Rain meant again.

"Me? A kid? What do you mean?" Rain asked.

"That little boy at the party. Isn't he your son?" Annie asked. At his response, she began to wonder if he had more than one kid.

"Oh, you mean Richard! He is adorable, but he is Leena's son." Rain's mouth curved upward. He couldn't help but grin when he thought about that little guy.

"What? Leena? Who is Leena?" Annie had met Leena once, but at that time she had been totally wasted. She didn't remember that Leena was Duke's sister. When Annie had seen Rain and her hugging at the gate of FX International Group, she had misunderstood their relationship entirely.

"You don't know who Leena is? She is Duke's sister, and our little princess." Rain felt surprised to know that Annie didn't know Leena. A thought struck him and he wondered if she had perhaps misunderstood something.

"Sorry. I don't think I've ever met her." Among the people in his circle, Annie had only met Daisy and Belinda. As for Leena, the name didn't ring a bell to her.

"It's fine. She's a nice girl and very easy to get along with. She's our precious sister. You will definitely like her once you meet her." Rain talked about Leena with pride. She was so charming and lively that one couldn't help but love her.

"Is she? I am interested to meet her now." In the past, Annie didn't make time for friendships because of her family. And after she had kids, she was so busy taking care of them that she didn't have the chance to go out and make friends.

"Next time, I will introduce her to you. You're both girls. Since you are in S City, you can ask her for advice anytime." Rain would be the first one to step up when Annie was in need, but after all, he was a man. If Annie had girl problems, he could scarcely help.

"Okay. I am looking forward to meeting her." The real reason Annie wanted to meet Leena was because she was a mother too. They could share experiences of raising kids with each other. Even though Leena's kid was younger than hers, there were always new things Leena could tell her.

"I thought you already knew her since she came to the party too. Maybe you didn't notice her." Rain frowned. He remembered Leena talking to him all night. Annie couldn't have missed Leena if she noticed him.

"No. It seems I didn't see her." Annie had panicked when she saw Rain with his wife, so she hadn't paid attention to anyone else. She still felt the sharp pain in her heart at the image of her laughing with him.

The misunderstanding between them could easily be solved as long as both of them were on the same page, but neither of them wanted to press the issue. They kept a lid on their feelings in fear and deviated when they got close to the truth, again and again. After meeting Rain, Annie went to a shopping mall instead of going home. She didn't carry a lot of clothes with her as she had two children to take care of, so she wanted to buy a few things for them. She had realized something when she was with Rain, earlier. She couldn't help but want to get close to him, even though he was a married man now. It was awful. How could she be so shameless?