Becoming the Secret Sugar Baby

Chelsea let out a soft sigh. Her lips pursed, and she stirred the cold mochaccino in the tall glass. She seemed to be discussing her parents with her friend, Indri.

Taking advantage of their lunch break, Chelsea used the time to seek advice. It was something she always did when her mother was caught having another affair, again!

"Cheating again?" Indri interjected, leaning back in her chair. She seemed weary of Chelsea's recurring issues. She was tired of dealing with the problems Chelsea faced, and tired of trying to prevent her friend's mother from seeking another lover.

Even though Chelsea's father was still alive, albeit in poor health, their family had been struggling since then. Financial difficulties, her father's declining health, and her mother's infidelity had started to affect their household. It began with dwindling finances, Chelsea's father's worsening health, and her mother's affair, driven by her desire to find a wealthy man to satisfy her socialite aspirations.

Accustomed to a lavish lifestyle, Margareth, Chelsea's mother, had started looking for a replacement for her husband, given that her company had gone bankrupt and her health was deteriorating. Now, it was Chelsea who supported them on her meager salary.

Chelsea nodded weakly. "This time it's going to be tough, Indri." She murmured.

"Why? It's usually easy, isn't it?" Indri pressed. The bespectacled girl couldn't wait for Chelsea's answer. So far, they had always succeeded in deterring Margareth from getting too close to other men.

"That man loves Mom, and he's serious. He wants to marry her soon, and this morning he even asked Dad to divorce her," Chelsea whispered, resting her cheek on the table.

Chelsea couldn't fathom how her mother could be so heartless just to marry a wealthy widower. Despite her own income being sufficient only for her father's medications and their daily needs, which often meant eating with the simplest of dishes.

"Alright, that means we'll have to work harder after this. Do you have a picture of the target, right?" Indri said, adjusting her glasses.

Chelsea nodded. Without lifting her head from the table, she handed her phone to Indri.

"Oh, Chelsea! Seriously, you've hit the jackpot!" Indri exclaimed joyfully, seeing the man's photo on Chelsea's phone.

The girl with long black hair raised her head. She blinked twice, puzzled by Indri's reaction.

"What do you mean?"

"Wait!" Indri pulled her phone out of her sling bag. Her thumb danced swiftly across the screen, searching for the chat app that people were using to find romantic partners.

"His name is Carlos Sanders, forty years old," she said, providing the person's details from the app.

Chelsea shook her head. "Where did you get the complete profile of that home-wrecker?"

"Tsk, that's why you're a good sitter. Look, Olive posted a status recommending handsome older men who are looking for love. And our target is one of them. Crazy, right? Is he looking for a partner or a sugar baby? He wants someone under twenty. This is insane, Chelsea," Indri complained, shaking her head.

Chelsea was taken aback. "What? A twenty-year-old sugar baby? This is crazy! So, what's the connection to my mom?"

"Oh my goodness... Seriously, Chelsea! She said she wanted to separate him from your mom. Why are you so surprised now?"

"It's not like that, In. After he proposed to Mom, why would he be looking for a sugar baby? He said he's serious and wants to make Mom his last wife," Chelsea mumbled, resting her cheek on the table.

"So, he's playing both sides. If they're meant to be together, then maybe what people say is true. Destiny is a reflection of oneself," Chelsea continued.

Indri shook her head, looking at Chelsea who seemed to have lost her zest for life due to her parents' issues.

"That's exactly it, you see. You should become this guy's sugar baby, so he forgets about your mom and you can also tell your mom that you're already married," Indri suggested, sipping her juice.

"What?" Chelsea exclaimed, slamming the table hard.

"Cough, cough, damn you!" Indri cursed, barely avoiding spraying juice out of her nose due to Chelsea's outburst.

Chelsea's eyes rolled lazily. "You're the one who's damn, you started it. You just casually suggest that I become a sugar baby." She sighed in frustration.

Indri, who had come up with the crazy idea, looked at her friend. It was impossible for Chelsea to become a sugar baby for her mother's lover. Where would she even put her face? If anyone found out that she was involved with a man nearly the same age as her father, she would surely become the subject of ridicule.

At twenty years old, Chelsea couldn't possibly be in a relationship with a forty-year-old man like Carlos.

"I absolutely won't accept your suggestion."

"Fine, it's up to you if you don't want to, whatever. I'm not forcing you. It won't be me who destroys your mother's marriage. It won't be my father who becomes your father's replacement," Indri was annoyed that Chelsea rejected her idea, even though she thought it was quite brilliant.