Emery knitted her brows and appeared displeased. “But you’re the Moore family’s daughter. No one can change that.”
“So what?” I looked at her, feeling somewhat agitated. “I never plan to acknowledge them as my biological parents. Since they’ve already adopted Rylee formally, then Rylee can just carry on being the official daughter of the Moore family.”
She sighed as she commented, “You’re still not over it then.” She paused for a moment before staring at me. “By the way, I’m getting married in October. Make sure to be there!”
I was stunned. “Who are you marrying?”
“A man! You’ll know who he is if you attend the wedding.”
I-
Anthony’s meeting had just ended. Seeing as it was late, and he still had things to discuss with Emery, I decided to fetch Summer from school alone.
As I exited Featherstone Corporation, it was just my luck to bump into Jared.
I wanted to avoid him but he already spotted me. Waving at me enthusiastically, he asked, “Where are you going? I’ll give you a lift!”
“No need!” After the incident with Macy, my impression of his character had fallen significantly. I had no interest in hearing his side of the story. All I knew was that he shared half the blame for Macy’s incident.
His brows furrowed as he followed me. “It’s raining right now. I’m free and I can drive you.”
I stopped and turned around to look at him. “Do you want something?”
He frowned before nodding. “I want to have a meal with her.”
He was referring to Summer.
I pursed my lips. Summer is his kid after all…
After a moment of silence, I replied, “Fine, but just this once.”
He was surprised that I agreed to his request. His smile was bright as he stared at me, seeming somewhat in a daze. “That’s great!”
“Let’s go then, I’m picking her up in a while. We can go together,” I said before getting into my own car.
He quickly entered my car. It was drizzling just like he’d said. Traffic jams were a common sight in K City, and they became worse during rainy weather.
The car inched slowly along the jammed roads. I kept my mouth shut, unwilling to initiate a conversation. So he decided to start one himself. “I didn’t know she was pregnant. If I had known, I’d never have let her leave.”
I frowned, choosing not to comment on his relationship with Macy.
“What’s her favorite food?” he asked, sighing lightly.
Evidently, his interest would be in knowing her favorite food.
“She’s not picky—anything is fine!” Summer had never been a picky eater. If I had to pinpoint a specific food, her favorite food would probably be sweets like most kids.
Finally, realizing that I had no intention to carry on a conversation with him, he remained silent for the remainder of the car ride.
We reached the school gates half an hour later after the classes ended for the day.
Just as I parked the car, I saw Summer walking behind a teacher as she looked around for me.
Once she saw me, she tugged on her teacher’s clothes and said goodbye to her teacher before running towards me.
“Mommy, is Mr. Featherstone busy today? Why didn’t he come to fetch me?”
These days, Anthony and Summer were behaving more and more like a father and daughter. Summer had grown to depend on him.
I took her school bag from her and said, “He has a lot of meetings to attend to, so he couldn’t come today.”
Summer pouted but accepted my answer without making a fuss. She lifted her head and stared at Jared, who was standing beside me.
After some thought, she asked, “Aren’t you the man standing in front of mommy Macy’s tombstone that day?”
I was shocked at Summer’s memory. She actually remembers him after seeing him only once.
Jared nodded as a small smile grew on his face. He stared at her intently.
After getting into the car, Jared suddenly appeared nervous and at a loss for words. He just continued staring at Summer.
I quickly asked Summer, “What would you like to eat?”
Summer thought for a while before replying seriously, “This morning, Mr. Featherstone said he would bring me to eat steak. Mummy, are we going to meet Mr. Featherstone later?”
I was momentarily stunned. I totally forgot that Anthony had mentioned his intentions to bring Summer out for a meal this morning.
Jared let out a cough before saying, “I’ll give Anthony a call. We can eat together later.”
I nodded but didn’t say anything else.
Ever since Macy had entrusted Summer to my care, I had never planned to reunite Summer with Jared. Though this had indeed been Macy’s last wish, I also had my own selfish reasons.
Anthony was late to the restaurant because of his meeting. We waited at the restaurant for half an hour before he finally arrived.
After we ordered, Summer climbed into Anthony’s lap and jabbered incessantly to him. It was obvious that she was clingy towards him.
Jared made a few attempts to engage Summer in a conversation, but she always replied politely before turning her focus back to Anthony again.
I could empathize with Jared’s feelings at that moment. To prevent the situation from getting more awkward, I asked, “I heard that you’re planning to move to W City.”
Jared nodded. “That’s right. W City is where the Crest family first laid its roots. It’s past time for me to return anyway.”
I heard about the Crest family from Anthony. Though the Crest family had begun as a family of academics, its subsequent generations had made exceptional achievements in various fields ranging from business to medicine. They were well-known everywhere.
Over the years, the Crest family had gained extensive control over W City. Jared’s return to W City would thus serve two purposes—he would be able to spend more time with his family as well as partake in his family’s business.
This is all well and good, but what about Kristina?
Just as my thoughts drifted in that direction, Kristina appeared as if my mind had summoned her out of thin air. There weren’t many customers in the Ferropenian restaurant, so her arrival was hard to miss.
After all, an impeccably dressed pregnant lady who still emanated a youthful air was an eye-catching sight.
I wanted to ignore her presence so we could have a peaceful meal.
However, it seemed like she had purposely dropped by to look for us. After she passed the front counter, she headed immediately for our table.
She looked at us with a sweet smile pasted on her face. “Jared, you’re eating here too?”
It may look like a coincidence, but it’s starting to seem more likely that she planned this. After all, why would a pregnant lady come all the way to a restaurant to eat alone?
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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