Surprisingly, he picked up the call very quickly. “Why aren’t you sleeping yet?”
“I could ask you the same thing.” I intentionally raised my voice and demanded, “Where are you?”
“Hospital,” Anthony replied.
“Oh.” I puffed up my cheeks in anger and didn’t know what to say all of a sudden.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” Anthony queried.
“Nothing. I just made a hundred million in legal fee and wanted to share the news with you,” I said while grabbing the pillow next to me to vent my frustrations.
Anthony’s low chuckle drifted across the phone. “Mrs. Featherstone, you really are ideal wife material, hmm? At this rate, I won’t be able to catch up with your money-making speed anymore.”
Oddly, a thought flashed across my mind. Men only spoke honeyed words when they felt guilty toward their wives.
Feeling troubled, there was a bitter note in my voice when I spoke, “Is that so? Well, I doubt that. Once you collaborate with Thora, I’m afraid money would fall into your lap with a mere snap of your fingers. Clinching multi-billion business deals would be a piece of cake to you, no?”
Anthony could probably sense that I was mad.
He released a defeated sigh. After a few seconds, he found his voice again. “The medical team that’s developing the antidote for you just happened to be in this hospital, so I’m staying back to check their progress. Did you think I was sleeping over with Thora?”
Hearing his explanation, the weight in my heart abruptly vanished and I quickly threw the pillow aside to sit upright. Pressing my lips together, I guiltily changed the topic. “So how’s the development of the antidote going?”
“The first generation of the finished product is ready and the trials will commence immediately. If it’s a success, they’ll make it available for your use at once. When that time comes, our hands and feet will no longer be tied. We’ll be able to deal with Armond and the rest once and for all.” Anthony sounded very confident.
“Okay.” I nodded obediently and continued speaking through puffed cheeks, “Get home as soon as you can.”
A faint voice spoke up from his end of the call. It was foreign and sounded like it belonged to a man. “Mr. Featherstone, you may begin now.”
“Alright,” Anthony responded to the voice before turning back to me. “I have to deal with some stuff here, so you should go on to bed without me. I’ll text you when I get home.”
Then he hung up before I could manage a “goodbye” or even an “okay.”
Looking back at the call history, something didn’t quite sit right in my chest.
Am I mistaken or did Anthony sound a little nervous earlier? As I contemplated giving him another call after he was done with his work, my phone buzzed—it was a WhatsApp message from Anthony: Don’t worry, Honey. I’ll be extra careful so no one can cop a feel.
A soft smile broke out on my face, thinking that he must be fine if he can joke around like this.
Feeling relieved, I put away my phone and decided to check on the twins in their nursery. On my way there, I noticed a faint glow coming from Summer’s room. Seeing that her door wasn’t fully shut, I peeked into her room out of curiosity.
Surprisingly, Summer was still awake at this hour. She sat before her brightly lit computer with her head leaning down, doing something that I couldn’t see from where I stood.
The last time this happened was when Stella tried to get close to Summer. I already transferred Stella to the Logistics Department and made sure she suffered for it. Don’t tell me that woman hasn’t given up…
Suspicion grew in me as I tiptoed behind Summer to get a better look. It turned out that Summer was practicing some fourth-grade math questions with the guidance of an online mathematics website.
My lips parted slightly as I took in the unexpected sight before me. Summer had just started school, yet she had somehow attained this level of knowledge.
Her head was still lowered, focusing on the fourth-grade workbook before her. She was so absorbed in solving equations that she hadn’t even noticed me standing behind her.
How can such a tiny human being look so mature and focused?
I inhaled and gradually approached her side, making sure to not startle her before asking my question, “What are you up to, Summer?”
“Mommy!” Summer beamed at me whilst eagerly motioning to the contents of her workbook. “Math equations are so fun, and Mr. Cress said I’m really good at solving them! He even assigned some extra homework so that I can practice. See!”
“Is that so…?”
I grinned before reaching for the workbook and flipping through its pages. Truthfully, there was nothing special about the contents since it mostly consisted of basic two-digit calculations. However, Summer nailed every single question so far.
I pressed my lips into a proud smile.
Summer resembled Macy, who had a gift for numbers before she passed. Back when Macy was a business owner, she would happily throw herself into the tediousness of bookkeeping. She loved it dearly; calculating, and tallying the sums like she was baking bread. When it came to this, Summer definitely took after Macy.
In many ways, this was comforting to see. It was as if Summer was living proof that a wonderful person like Macy had once existed on this earth.
I placed the workbook back down and petted the top of Summer’s head. A comforting smile stretched across my face as I encouraged, “That’s great, Summer! I’m so proud of you. Now, you’re still young, and your body needs to rest. So let’s get you tucked in, okay?”
Summer’s face scrunched as she glanced at the workbook. Eventually, she returned her attention to me, surrendering through a cheeky smile. “Okay, Mommy, but can you please tell me a story?”
She did work hard earlier… Oh! How could I refuse?
The next day.
I received Cameron’s call right after I dropped Summer off at school.
“Letty, are you free tonight?” Cameron asked casually.
I was too busy watching Jared, who had just come out of school to play with Summer. My eyes zoomed into his every move out of caution. Hence, I could only respond absently with, “I think so. Why?”
“Come over to ours tonight. Oh, and bring Summer with you because your father and I miss her,” Cameron stated.
Cameron and Zachary hadn’t reached out ever since I rejected Zachary’s offer to gift their company shares to my twins. They probably assumed that I was avoiding them and felt guilty, so they decided to give me some space until now.
Unbeknownst to them, I only refused because I wanted my kids to have a carefree life. I never expected them to misunderstand my actions or even go as far as to feel grief. So after some pondering, I spoke into the phone, “Alright, see you tonight.”
My gaze shot back to the school gate once I hung up. There, Jared and Summer held hands as they skipped into the school. Call me a softie, but I couldn’t help feeling a hearth-like warmth after seeing them hop away like father and daughter among the other children.
Though that feeling lasted for a brief moment because everything that Jared did in the past was unforgivable—he would always be a despicable piece of scum in my eyes, even if he spent a lifetime begging on his knees.
I understood that Anthony allowed Jared to meet Summer because he felt sorry for Jared as a friend. However, I personally disagreed with trusting or forgiving a horrible man like Jared. So for the sake of my children’s health and safety, I decided to take additional precautions.
On my way back to the law firm, I texted Holden to find a nutritionist; preferably someone certified and licensed.
All I had to do now was wait.
Arriving at the law firm, I opened my office door and saw Bryson waiting inside.
“Mr. Queen, what brings you here?”
I initially planned to have Brooklyn transfer the excess of the one hundred and fifty million to Bryson. Yet, Bryson had unexpectedly taken the initiative and shown up here.
Bryson burst out into boisterous laughter as he stated, “I’m obviously here to pay you, Ms. Stanhope!”
At this, my brow furrowed. Didn’t he shove me a check with a large sum scrawled on it last night? Did he lose his marbles?
Then again, he looked like he was serious. He then threw a quick look at his assistant. In a matter of seconds, the assistant pulled out a document and passed it to me from across the table.
“Sign this. From today onwards, your law firm will be in charge of my many companies’ legal affairs.” Bryson guffawed heartily.
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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