A Wrong Surrogate for the CEO-Chapter 78: I chose you, Lara

"Oh my God. Oh my God Oh my God Oh my God. You were telling the truth? Girl, I am so proud of you," Kayla squealed, her eyes wide with excitement.

Curtis, who had no idea who she was, raised his eyebrows at Lara.

Lara laughed at both of their expressions.

"Curtis, meet Kayla. We’ve been friends for a long while. Kayla, meet Curtis, my husband," she said, introducing them both to each other.

Curtis stepped forward and held out his hand.

"Hi, nice to meet you, Kayla," he said politely.

Lara’s friend didn’t waste one beat, she shook his hand back, her eyes still shining with amusement.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Rodney," she responded.

Curtis turned back to look at his wife.

"I’ll give you guys privacy. Do you need anything before I leave?" he asked.

Lara shook my head.

"No. I’m okay."

He nodded and leaned down to kiss her on the forehead gently before he walked out. The moment the door closed behind him, Kayla let out another exciting squeal.

"Calm down, girl. You’re going to ruin my ears if you continue screaming like that," Lara said as she rolled my eyes at her.

Kayla sat back down and took her hand in hers.

"You, my dearest friend, have hit the jackpot this time around. See? I always knew you could do better than that son of a bitch. I am really happy for you, Lara. Really really happy."

She squeezed Lara’s hands gently, and Lara squeezed hers back.

We made small talk for a while until it was time for her to leave.

"I’ll come back tomorrow and check in on you before I leave for work," she promised.

"Yeah, sure. No problem about that."

Kayla said goodbye and took her leave. The moment the door closed in behind her, Lara took a deep breath.

A small wave of relief slammed into her. It wasn’t as though she wasn’t happy about the visit.

No. The relief stemmed from knowing that it doesn’t matter what happened between her and Curtis now, Lara would always have someone to talk to.

And that was a very nice thing to be assured of.

The door opened and Curtis stepped back in. There was a paper bag in his hand, and Lara groaned as soon as she saw it.

"You’re going to feed me to death at this rate. I literally just finished eating less than two hours ago," she mumbled, her brows furrowed into a slight frown.

Curtis raised his eyebrows at her.

"And what exactly is the issue? Two hours is a long time. You’re in a delicate state. You should eat more and rest more. At least that’s what the doctor said. So stop being a baby and sit up," he responded.

Lara knew that arguing with him would be useless, so she sat up.

"Good girl. I take it that your friend has left?" he asked.

Lara nodded.

"Yeah. She has to go to work tomorrow," was her response.

"I like her. She seems... nice."

Lara laughed at his hesitation. "You don’t have to hesitate before complimenting someone, darling. She is actually a nice person. She’s a good friend too."

Curtis was silent for a while as he laid out the food he had gotten her on the hospital bed.

"Why wasn’t she your best friend? Why was Tolu the best friend instead?" he asked.

Now it was Lara’s turn to be hesitant.

"It’s...I have no idea. Kayla has always been a busy person. Back then, we only had time to speak once in a while. Then she moved away. She wasn’t in the country for so long, and the distance played a huge role in tearing us apart. So, yeah. I guess that’s it," she explained.

Curtis nodded. That made sense to him.

"At least she’s back now. Alright, enough of the storytelling. It’s time to eat," he clapped his hands together.

Lara pouted, but he ignored her.

"Open your mouth."

"Why?" she frowned.

"What do you mean, why? I am going to feed you, of course," Curtis deadpanned.

Lara thought he was kidding, but the look on his face was dead serious.

"Absolutely not! I am not a baby, Curtis. I can feed myself," she countered.

He shrugged.

"The fact that you can doesn’t mean you should. Now stop nagging and open your mouth," he insisted.

Lara sighed.

"I don’t have a chance with you," she mumbled, but she knew she had no choice than to give in.

Lara opened her mouth, eliciting a smile from Curtis.

"Good girl."

She rolled her eyes at him but said nothing.

Comfortable silence stretched between them and he fed her, neither of them saying anything.

After a few minutes had passed, someone knocked on the door.

It was Lazarus.

Curtis asked him to come in. The bodyguard said nothing at the sight of Curtis feeding his wife, but there was a glint of amusement in his eyes.

"Someone is here to see you, sir," he stated instead.

Curtis frowned.

"Who is it?" he asked.

Lazarus was silent for one beat, just one, tiny beat.

The silence was enough to raise Curtis’s hackles.

"Who is it, Lazarus?" he asked, his voice colder this time.

"It’s your sister," he said.

Curtis turned back to Lara, gesturing for her to open her mouth.

"Send her away. I have nothing to say to her."

Lazarus nodded and went back outside.

"Maybe you should give her a chance to speak, Curtis. I mean, she came all the way here to see you," Lara said gently.

"No. I want nothing to do with any of them. They don’t exist to me," he deadpanned.

"But they are your family. You just can’t...exclude them from your life," she stated.

Curtis let out a bitter smile.

"Listen to me, baby. I already have. After everything they did, there’s no chance of me forgiving them. So no. Absolutely not. I have excluded them from my life and my decision is final."

"Curtis..."

He shook his head at her.

"Don’t you understand? The choice is to choose between you and them, and my decision is final. I choose you, Lara. In this lifetime and any other, I’ll always choose you."