The Surrogate CEOs Child

"I'm disappointed in you, Cesilia!"

A man threw a magazine at his wife, who was in the midst of applying makeup to her beautiful face. Alexander Prakarsa, a thirty-five-year-old man, seemed unable to contain his emotions after seeing Cesilia's face featured in a beauty magazine.

"Why disappointed again, Lex?" Cesilia sighed, glancing briefly at her husband. "That shouldn't be the words coming out of your mouth. You should be proud of me instead of cursing like this."

"Proud, you say?" Alexander pointed to the magazine on the vanity. "You want me to be proud of all this? No! After you promised me to give up your entire career and focus on our pregnancy program on our sixth wedding anniversary. But instead, you accepted this offer, even though tomorrow is our anniversary!" he retorted, his face turning red and his jaw clenched.

Alexander felt the urge to vent his anger towards Cesilia even more, but he managed to maintain his composure for the sake of their marriage.

"Alexander, listen." Cesilia rose from her seat. "It's just a two-year contract. And becoming the brand ambassador for this product is the pinnacle of the modeling world. It has been my dream since forever. Didn't you promise to support all my dreams, Lex? So, this is the time." She straightened Alexander's disheveled appearance.

"But you promised me that you would let go of all this on our sixth wedding anniversary. And you also know that my mother is demanding a child from us." Alexander closed his eyes. "And you know that my mother is not young anymore, Cesilia."

"I know that. And I think two years will be enough for Mama to wait. Six years have gone by so quickly. Two years should be even easier."

"You..."

"Alexander, let it go. I don't want to argue with you anymore." Cesilia covered Alexander's mouth with her palm. "Just two years, my love. I beg you." She gently caressed Alexander's firm jaw, persuading the man who always granted all his desires.

Alexander let out a heavy sigh. He pushed away Cesilia's hand that was dancing on his jaw.

"I can't give you any certainty!"

Unable to stop him, Alexander walked away, closing the door with a forceful bang.

Cesilia merely smiled, letting her husband depart. There was no ounce of her desire to follow in Alexander's footsteps. Instead, she reached for her bag on the vanity and decided to leave for work.

***

"Alexander, is this true?" an middle-aged woman confronted him, holding a magazine in her hand. Without any preamble, she approached Alexander, who had just descended the stairs.

Alexander nodded. His handsome face looked weary now.

"Cesilia took the contract with that product. So..."

"That means Mama has to wait again?" she interjected quickly.

"How many more years, Lex? Huh, how many more years? Mama is getting older, and so are you. Do you want your child to be born while Mama is already dead and you're using a cane? Is that what you want?" She struck Alexander with the magazine.

Did it hurt? Not at all. Alexander didn't feel anything as the magazine landed on his body multiple times. But his heart ached deeply seeing his mother starting to sob, crying upon learning that his wife, Cesilia, had once again postponed pregnancy.

Again and again. After six years of waiting with hope and dreams of having grandchildren, everything vanished. All crushed because of Cesilia's ambition, never satisfied with her career. Meanwhile, Alexander had everything that could guarantee their lives for generations to come.

"Two years," Alexander whispered softly. If he could be honest and be himself, Alexander wanted to cry. To release his disappointment over Cesilia's unilateral decision.

The sixty-five-year-old woman shook her head. "That's too long. And Mama isn't sure if she can wait. As you know, Mama isn't young anymore. Mama has been ill, Lang. So Mama begs you, persuade your wife to cancel that contract. And Mama is certain that, as a wife, she will follow what you want. The money you have is more than enough to pay the penalty."