“When was that?” I was completely clueless.
He pursed his lips but did not speak. He said as he gazed back down at Summer, “Let’s take her back to Peakville Estate. Jackson and Nick have their hands full with their own affairs. We can’t burden them with her.”
I was taken aback, for I had not considered that. For a moment I did not know what to say.
He sighed at my silence. “At Peakville Estate, you would have plenty of time and help, as I would be hiring a couple of housekeepers. You would be able to calm your thoughts and spend time with the child too. When Mrs. Eriksen comes back next year, she would be there to help you, as she has plenty of experience with young children.”
He looked me in the eye. “Would you agree to that?” he asked seriously.
I nodded without realizing it. When I had regained my wits, I shook my head. “I need to ask Jackson and Nick. They have been caring for the child for so long, I couldn’t just leave with her. They’ve grown attached too; I need to consider their feelings on the matter.”
Anthony nodded but didn’t object.
Nick came home for lunch at noon. He brought over some fruits as well. At the dining table, I noticed that he looked vastly different from the time I first met him.
Back then, he was a carefree and boisterous fellow from a rich family with no thoughts about the future. In the span of six months, he became more reticent and considerate, as he spent most of his time caring for other people besides himself.
He noticed that I was studying him. “What is it?” he asked.
“Are you going back for the new year?” The Harrisons were not a powerful family, but they owned a lot of property. Cameron, his mother, was responsible for expanding the family wealth. Though she had an heir, Cameron never considered for him to inherit the wealth.
Nick tidied up the cutlery and froze slightly at my question. “Go back where?” he asked sullenly.
I was embarrassed and did not know how to respond.
The rest joined us at the dining table. Nick turned to Anthony. “You two should bring Summer to the Registration Office and register her,” he said.
I couldn’t help looking at Anthony to see how he would respond to that.
“Jackson and I have no business officially raising her,” Nick said placidly. “You two are a legally married couple. It’s easier for you to follow along with the procedures to adopt her.”
Jackson was startled, but at Nick’s words, he fell into thought.
Anthony grunted in approval and cast his eyes on Summer. “I’ll deal with this as quickly as I can,” he assured Nick.
Nick nodded. “My mother would like to invite all of you for a meal,” he informed after a pause.
Cameron?
I was startled. “All of us?”
Rylee was her daughter. Though it was a while ago, the fact that I’d hurt her and made her famous for the wrong reasons remained vividly on everyone’s minds. Cameron was willing to invite me for a meal after all that?
Nick nodded. “You and Anthony as well.”
I glanced at Anthony instinctively. He nodded his consent as well.
After lunch, we parted ways. Nick made his way back to the office while Anthony and I took Summer for registration.
I brooded for a good long while. “Isn’t Nick Cameron’s biological son?” I asked Anthony, breaking the silence.
It was obvious how much Cameron loves Rylee. But she treated Nick completely differently. She was negligent and dismissive of him.
Anthony started the engine. With his eyes on the road, he grunted in acknowledgment. “When Nick’s father married Cameron, his birth mother had already passed away from an accident. He was in his early teens when Cameron became his stepmother.”
Early teens. He was old enough by then. Nick did not feel much affection towards Cameron as well.
“Why did Cameron invite all of us for a meal?” Logically, I would be the last person she wants to meet.
At a red light, Anthony pulled the handbrake and turned to me. “Are you still feeling a grudge?”
“What grudge?” I was startled.
“Towards Cameron and Rylee?”
I bit my lip and glanced towards Summer, who was fast asleep. “Life is long, we have to move forward one way or another,” I answered evasively.
It wasn’t possible for me to stay where I was. The matter with Macy and the child was out of my control. What was within my control was the ability to make my peace with it.
Furthermore, Rylee and Cameron weren’t doing so well themselves.
The process of registering for Summer was surprisingly easy. It was credited to Anthony’s influence within J City. He had good relations and decent financial capabilities. He must have pulled some strings to get the matter resolved for us without them asking us too many questions.
Anthony glanced over at my household register and smiled. “There’s a third member of our little family.”
“Has your Household Register always been at R Province?” He suddenly frowned.
I nodded. “When we got married, Grandpa told me to move it over here. But I was thinking of Grandma. She would be left alone if I did that.”
Anthony raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you and John create your accounts together?”
I shook my head. “When his father sent him to us, he was almost a grown man. The Stanhopes found him at Grandma’s and took him away. I think his registration was created by his father under the Stanhope name.”
Anthony narrowed his eyes. “The Stanhope family is influential in K City. Have you ever thought about why John’s father chose your grandmother out of all the other families?”
“It could be due to the circumstances at that time,” I replied, nonplussed. It was twenty years ago, who could remember?
He frowned and carried Summer to the car. “A lonely old lady in a forlorn county town was somehow acquainted with the heir apparent of the Stanhope family from K City, and a famous merchant in J City. Sienna, don’t you think that this is an astonishing coincidence?”
I thought hard about Grandma knowing old Mr. Featherstone in the past. I did think that it was a coincidence. When she brought me out of R Province, she told me that old Mr. Featherstone was an old friend of hers.
I did not think much of it at the time. Looking back at it now, however, it did seem strange. Grandma spent her entire life in a tiny county within R Province. How on earth did she come to befriend a man from a powerful family in another city?
The more I thought about it, the more it gnawed at me. Now that Grandma was gone, I couldn’t find out about their connection.
“There’s no use in investigating about the past. Forget about it. It’s cold outside, let’s hurry up and bring Summer home,” Anthony said.
I directed my thoughts towards the plan of moving with Summer to Peakville Estate. She may not like the sudden change, so Jackson and I agreed to have her at Peakville Estate by day and at Glenwood at night.
After a hectic day, we got home late to Peakville Estate.
I was rather tired. When the car pulled up and I threw open the door, Anthony appeared to lift me up in his arms before I had the chance to react. He carried me all the way into the villa.
After several moments of startled silence, I said, “Anthony, let me down. I can walk on my own.”
I was dreadfully thin after giving birth. Anthony didn’t seem to exert himself overly much when he carried me.
At the door, he shot me a sly look that plainly said he had no intention of letting me down. “Open the door!” he commanded.
I reached out and scanned my thumb. The front door swung open. He carried me past the living room and straight into the bedroom on the second floor.
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.
Leave a Reply