No choice

Danica knew that Steven was angry, but she still followed him. She wasn't a fool to not figure out what they had done earlier in Nicole's room. Before he could enter Daniela's room, she pulled the young man by the arm.

"Steven, I want to set up our wedding as soon as possible. So that Sean can accept me as his second mother as well."

"Not now, Danica. There are things I should pay more attention to." Steven replied coldly and he didn't bother to look back at Danica.

"If what worries you is that you don't have time to take care of or join me in arranging what needs to be arranged, don't worry. Rita and I will take care of everything." Danica insisted. She sounded like they were running out of time.

"You know the situation isn't the same as before, Danica. You heard what Sean said earlier."

"What? Our marriage now depends on that boy?!"

"Lower your voice," Steven said in a calm voice because Sean might hear.

"No…!"

Steven quickly pulled Danica by the arm and dragged her to her room.

"What role will I play in your life now? Guardian of your child who you can throw away like trash when no longer needed?!" Danica asked while fuming. She did not mind the redness of her arm due to the tightness of Steven's grip earlier.

"You know from the start what my priority is and I have promised you nothing. You can stay here like a family member and no one will make you leave even if I don't marry you."

Danica's lips parted and she shook her head. Disappointment could be read through her eyes as they began to water.

"I'm sorry, but that's all I could offer you as a way of showing my gratitude for saving my sister’s life." He averted his eyes from Danica because he didn't want to see a woman cry.

"I don't need your wealth, Honey. You know how much I love you!" Her voice trembled and she couldn't accept how he changed his mind.

"I can't ignore Sean’s wishes."

"How about Daniela? You know she was very excited to see our wedding." Danica continued to convince him hopefully.

"I'm still trying to get Sean’s heart, so we can't do what you want."

"I'll do everything for him to accept me, just don't throw me out of your life." She approached the young man and hugged him.

He calmly removed the arms wrapped around his waist. "Please, Danica, let's not make the situation worse. There's their real mother and…"

Her eyes staring at Steven suddenly became sharp. "Don't be so stupid to think of starting your family with that woman! You might have forgotten that she's only chasing you for money and she's using Sean to get what she wants!"

Steven closed his eyes tightly and tried to dismiss the past in his mind. Before, he was quick to accept their criticisms about Nicole, but now there is a part of his heart that refused to accept that what Danica is saying is true. He knew Danica wasn't lying or slandering because Nicole's parents said those things, too.

"If then she was able to leave Daniela, she will most likely do the same to Sean!"

"Enough!" his voice rose slightly and didn't want to hear any more bad about Nicole.

Danica stood motionlessly for a long time and was taken aback by his shout.

"Let's just talk some other day. I need to take care of Sean."

Danica slumped on the floor when Steven left the room. She looked very miserable for being defeated.

"No… you can't!" Danica talked to herself as she hugged herself on her knees.

Danica was in that position when Rita entered. She immediately attended to her friend and helped her to get up and sit on the bed.

"What happened?" Rita asked her friend as she hugged her tightly.

Tears welled up in Danica's eyes as she told her what Steven had said. She wanted to attack Nicole and strangle her to death so she won't be in the way anymore. But she can't hurt her, they're in the mansion.

Rita couldn't do anything but sympathize with her and did not leave her. She, too, couldn't think of anything she could do just to get her brother to marry Danica.

Steven went to Daniela’s room and thought of bringing her to her twin’s room. He wanted the two to get along before bringing her closer to Nicole.

Steven saw his daughter who was watching TV in her own room, but it seemed that her attention was not on the show.

"Can I know what my Princess is thinking?" He spoke tenderly to her. She looked surprised when she saw him and she quickly hugged his neck.

"Daddy, doesn't my real mother like me?" She asked sadly because Nicole didn’t make way to talk to her.

"That's not true, Baby. Your Mom was sick, she loves you as much as she loves your brother."

Daniela was suddenly happy after the mention of her brother. "Can I go to his room?"

"Sure, I'm here to take you to your brother's room. You have to do something to make him want to live here with you, okay?" He knew he sounded selfish, but that was one of the ways he thought of to convince Sean to stay.

Smiling, Daniela nodded to her father and she herself pulled his hand out of her room.

Steven happily watched the two children, they seemed to be comfortable with each other as they talk.

"Brother, are you going to stay here?"

"When Mommy and Daddy get married, yes." Sean replied as they played with the blocks.

Daniela stopped picking up the blocks and thought. "What about my mommy? She wants to marry our dad too."

"She's not your biological mom, don't forget what the plan is."

Steven's forehead furrowed, even though Sean said it in a whisper, he heard it. He was about to approach them to ask, but the two suddenly stood up.

"Come on, let's go to Mommy's room!" Sean pulled his sister by the hand.

He just followed the two who don't seem to notice him anymore. But he was happy because they immediately get along well. He stayed in the doorway of Nicole's room when the two entered.

"Mommy, Daniela is here!"

Nicole, who was leaning on the headboard, straightened up and tearfully watched her daughter.

"My daughter, I'm sorry if we just met. Can I hug you?" She spoke softly to the child as she slowly got out of bed.

Daniela's gaze shifted to Nicole and her father and then to her brother who was waiting for her reaction. She still couldn’t forget Danica's bad description about the woman.

"She has a right to snatch Daddy from her because she's our real mother." A small voice whispered in Daniela's mind.

And since Danica was not around, Daniela allowed herself to get close to her real mother. When her father smiled at her and nodded, she slowly approached the woman. She wanted to feel her embrace as her mother. Now she understood why other people had said she didn't look like her known mother.

Nicole burst into tears as her daughter hugged her back.

"Don't leave me."

Nicole's heart almost broke when she heard her daughter's plea. She recalled the night she left her in the hands of the enemy. Her cries helped her so she wouldn't be sought.

"Yes, baby! I won't leave you anymore. Forgive Mommy if she only took your brother because I can't carry you at the same time. Let me make it up to you!"

Steven left the two to bond. Sean went with him and he also wanted to be alone with him.

When Danica saw that Steven had left Nicole's room, she hurried inside. Daniela was sitting on the bed and Nicole was combing her hair.

"Daniela, why did you approach that woman?" Danica rebuked the girl.

"Don't talk to my daughter like that!" Nicole said angrily. She quickly hid the child behind her when Danica approached her.

When Danica saw the anger in Nicole's eyes, she suddenly changed her mind about fighting with her. She can't force Daniela to stay away from her real mother.

Nicole's forehead furrowed when she saw Danica smile and become calm. She had a bad feeling about what was on her mind.

"Daniela, baby, can you leave us first?" Danica spoke tenderly to the child.

"If you have something to say, speak up. You don't have to ask her to leave." Nicole contradicted.

"She's too young to hear what I'm going to tell you."

Nicole thought for a while before deciding to stay away from the child temporarily. The room was large and they just kept their distance from the child, so that she could not hear what they would talk about. She left the TV on, so that Daniela's attention would be focused there.

"Now, speak!" She impatiently ordered Danica.

"I want you to make a way for Steven to marry me."

"Are you really that desperate?" She laughed insultingly. But Danica didn't lose her temper. She remained calm and seemed to have great confidence that she would obey her.

"You have no other choice but to follow what I want."

She raised an eyebrow. "Why should I?" She asked challengingly.

"You know who Soledad was with and I have her." Danica smirked when the smile on Nicole's lips disappeared and the color of her face suddenly changed.

"I don't know who you're talking about." Nicole forced herself to calm down to convince Danica that she didn't remember anything. She knew what she meant, and she will not let her use her weakness to subdue.

"You may have convinced them that you have amnesia, but I'm not the least convinced, Nicole. You know what I can do. If you want to see her alive, do what I want."

"You evil, where is she?!" Nicole could no longer hold back her impulse.

Danica laughed quite loudly because of the visible anger on Nicole's face. "You'll only see her when Steven and I are married. So if you want to see her again, hurry up our wedding."

"You're really evil! The day will come when you will pay for everything you did to me and to my children!"

Instead of being nervous, Danica was even more entertained by Nicole. To make her more angry, she showed her a picture of Natasha held and surrounded by her henchmen. The photograph was taken on the day they found Soledad. The child was crying and struggling to escape the grasp of Brando's henchmen.

Nicole could do nothing but cry, more after when Daniela went with Danica when she came out of the room. Her third child must be afraid at the moment. She was happy that she was alive and she looked like Daniela. But she was afraid that Danica might hurt her if she didn't do what she wanted.

Steven was confused by the behavior that Nicole had shown him when they met again. He didn't know why she was angry again and he was sure that she cried. She didn't want to talk to him and only talked to his grandmother.