Averie was in a horrible mood and her patience for the children had ran out.
“It’s up to you to not like your father’s gift, but you didn’t have to throw a tantrum over something like this.”
Hayden froze.
He had not expected for his mother to be this stern and it felt as though Averie had chosen to take Elyette’s side instead of his.
Unable to accept it, Hayden grabbed his school bag and stormed out so swiftly that Averie felt a breeze brushing by her.
It was the first time Averie had a face-off with her son.
In truth, she had regretted what she said the moment the words were out.
Though her son was not a three-year-old, he was still a child who was not even ten years old; no matter how old a child was, they would always long for their mothers’ love and embrace, just like how Averie would still act like a child to Laura when she was alive.
How could she bring home the frustration she felt because of Nathan and vent it on her children? Just as she was about to go after Hayden, he had already left the mansion.
Averie went downstairs to find that the entire living room had erupted into chaos.
“Layla, don’t cry.I’ve already sent the bodyguard after him.He’s going to be fine.”
Mrs.Cooper held Robert in her arms and consoled Layla.
Averie was completely distraught.
While she was contemplating whether to calm her children down at home first, or to go after Hayden first, Layla came over for a hug.
“Mom, did you scold Hayden?”
Averie felt a lump in her throat.
“Maybe! I’m in a bit of a bad mood tonight, so I might have been a bit too harsh with your brother.”
“Boohoo…I don’t want Hayden to go! Mom, let’s go find him!” Layla wiped away her tears and tried to drag Averie outside.
Just as the two were about to go look for Hayden, their bodyguard called Mrs.Cooper.
Mrs.Cooper answered the call and said, “Yes, yes.”
Before hanging up.
“Averie, the bodyguard told you not to worry.He is following Hayden so Hayden’s going to be fine.Once he’s had some time to calm down, the bodyguard will bring him back,” Mrs.Cooper said to Averie.
Averie nodded.
“I was being too harsh on him.”
“Don’t blame yourself, Averie.Even if you were trying to be strict, just how harsh could you be? Hayden is the one who’s overreacting,”
Mrs.Cooper said with a serious expression, ‘He probably thinks that his father got him those workbooks to mock him for his handwriting.
The relationship between father and son works differently than that of a mother and daughter.
Averie felt inspired.
Elyette probably did not expect for Hayden to react so dramatically when he bought the workbook; but to Hayden, the action itself felt mostly like a challenge.
“Next time, tell Mr.Foster to ask you before picking out a gift for Hayden to avoid doing the wrong thing with a good intention.It’s the first time I’ve seen Layla and Hayden fight like this, my heart just aches for them.” Mrs.Cooper sighed.
“Sure.I will remind him of that.”
Averie took Layla to the bathroom to wash her face and the mansion soon returned to its original peaceful silence.
“Mom, you said that you are in a bad mood.Why?”
Layla had stopped crying, but her voice was still hoarse.
“It’s just something that happened at work.Don’t worry about it.”
Averie forced a smile and patted Layla on the head.
“When Hayden gets angry next time, let’s give him a hug before we lecture him, okay?” Layla nodded sincerely.
“I’ll remember that, Mom.”
After dinner, the sky had turned completely dark.
Averie looked up at the pitch-dark sky and decided to go out searching for Hayden.
As soon as she stepped out of the community, she spotted Hayden sitting on a street bench with the bodyguard.
The guilt within her deepened.
Even if the bodyguard didn’t follow Hayden, she knew that Hayden wouldn’t wander off.
‘He’s still so young, where exactly can he go?’ She thought, ‘He’s always been a good child and on this rare occasion that he lost his temper, why couldn’t I just be more forgiving?’ She strode towards Hayden and admitted her mistake.
“I’m sorry, Hayden.I shouldn’t have lost my temper, neither should I think that it’s a small matter.Hayden’s brows furrowed and pursed his lips wordlessly.
“The last time I talked to your dad, I mentioned that you are struggling with your handwriting.He probably paid attention to that and bought you the workbooks.He’s not mocking you or trying to undermine you, he’s just trying to help you improve; he just didn’t use the correct way and failed to consider your feelings.”
Averie knew that Hayden might not be in the mood to listen, but she had to say it.
It was the first time Elyette had the chance to be a father, so he was bound to fail in certain ways; so long as his love for the children was real, Averie would never stop him from trying.
Hayden did not respond, and Averie did not continue to explain.
The mother and son sat on the branch quietly and after half an hour, Hayden’s muffled voice was heard saying, “Mom, let’s go home.”
Averie was slightly stunned for a moment, but she immediately got up and held his hand tightly.
The conflict earlier had taken place because of Elyette, who hadn’t a clue about it, and Averie had told Mrs.Cooper to not inform him.
Elyette already had his hands full dealing with the wedding and Nathan White, Averie didn’t want him to worry over mundane details.
At around ten at night, she walked out of the shower and stared at the empty bed, only to realize that she was not tired at all.She just missed Elyette badly.
When he was here, he would talk to her about what happened during the day and discuss matters of education the children receive, or dream of the future with her.
Though they had been together for a long time, there were simply endless topics that they could talk about.
She sighed quietly and wondered what he was doing.
Half an hour later, she appeared outside the door of Elyette’s mansion.
When the bodyguard opened the door for her, she said, ‘Don’t inform Elyette.”
The bodyguard instantly took the hint that Averie wanted to surprise Elyette.
Averie went into the mansion easily and when Mrs.Scarlet saw her, instead of asking why she was there, she simply let Averie upstairs.
“Mr.Foster is still awake, probably working on details for the wedding.”
“Okay, go ahead and rest! I won’t be leaving tonight,” Averie replied shyly.
Mrs.Scarlet flushed and immediately left.
In the study room on the second floor, Elyette scowled as he relived all the memories he shared with Averie; his long fingers danced over the keyboard and typed.
He was writing their wedding vows.He had long finished his own vow and was stuck on Averie’s vow.He had told Averie to write her own vow and she did, but he wasn’t satisfied with it.He, a past student of science, wrote close to a thousand words for his vows, while as a past student of literature, Averie wrote only a hundred words.
By the time they read their vows on stage, he wasn’t even sure who would feel more awkward, so he intended on her now.
After all, he only intended on getting married this once.
Someone knocked on the door and his thoughts were interrupted.
He had told Mrs.Scarlet to not bother him before he headed upstairs, could something have happened? Just then, the door was pushed open and Averie’s smiling face appeared before him.
His world instantly lit up.
His brows relaxed and his lips curled into a smile.
“Why are you here? Did you call? My phone was on silent mode so I probably didn’t hear.”
He strode towards her as he spoke and took her hand in his palm.
“Luckily, I didn’t call you.” She glanced at his desk.
“It’s late now.What are you working on?”
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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