After passing through the gates, I noticed several trucks parked in the yard, seemingly here to transport large items.
But the workers were making their way out, so I surmised that they were already done with their work.
The service was excellent as they made sure to avoid coming when there were many people at home, so as to prevent accidents.
But when I returned to the bedroom on the second floor at night, every trace of happiness was wiped from my face.
We were only out for a day, but Anthony’s master bedroom had been expanded to double its original size and was currently connected to the bedroom next to his.
Most importantly, the bed in the room was replaced by an excessively enormous one. If it wasn’t for the elaborate linen, one might even think that it was a communal bed stolen from a dorm.
I stood by the door, completely dumbfounded. Later on, when Audrey came over and saw the large bed, she instantly bolted in and flopped onto it with her slippers still on. “Wow! There’s a big, big bed! We can sleep with Mommy and Daddy now!”
Behind me, Summer and Gregory helplessly watched the scene before them. Similar to me, they had grimaces on their faces.
Audrey was probably the most innocent and ignorant one in this family, who was also easily satisfied.
After letting her roll on the bed for a while, Summer walked up and tried to persuade her. “Audrey, we haven’t seen each other for so long. Why don’t you sleep with me tonight, hmm?”
But Audrey suddenly sat up from the bed and came up with a mischievous idea. “Okay! Summer, Greg, Mommy, and Daddy will all sleep here!”
Summer was nonplussed and could only sit beside the bed to reason with her. “Audrey, you’re a big girl now. You must learn to sleep on your own instead of clinging to Mom and Dad all the time, understand?”
Audrey shook her head. “But other kids get to sleep with their parents. I want that too. I like Mommy and Daddy. I don’t wanna sleep alone…”
Children were difficult to reason with, and were also easily hurt. As they spoke, Audrey’s eyes became red-rimmed and her head drooped as she sobbed softly.
Of course my heart couldn’t take it when I saw this. Rushing forward, I comforted her. “Alright, alright. You don’t have to leave, okay? You can sleep here with me. You’re still small, so you can sleep on your own when you’re older. Don’t cry anymore, hmm?”
Audrey accepted my offer immediately, sniffling before returning to being all smiles. “Thank you, Mommy! I love you the most!”
Who could have resisted those large, tearful eyes of hers?
My mouth lifted into a smile. Then I told Summer to take her siblings to wash up while I, too, prepared for bed.
After all, we were out for an entire day. Tired, I took a hot shower.
Half an hour later, I opened the bathroom door and was surprised to see Anthony there. At that moment, he, Summer, and Gregory were huddled together and talking in hushed tones, which greatly aroused my suspicion.
The memory of how he’d put me on the spot at the mall resurfaced in my mind, and my expression soured. “What are you doing here? The kids and I were just about to go to sleep.”
Abruptly remembering how he’d changed beds without even asking me, I quickly added, “Don’t think that there’s space for you just because the bed is bigger now. You’ll take up Summer’s space if you sleep here. If you really want to be a ‘good father’, then go back to your study and sleep there!”
With that, I whipped around only to meet Audrey’s sad, puppy-dog stare.
As if having expected my reaction, she sat by the bedside with watery eyes and looked ready to burst out into tears at any second.
I took a deep breath to steel myself, not waiting for Anthony’s response before I caved. “Fine, fine. Stay if you want. I’ll take the right side and you take the left side, and the kids will sleep in the middle. Just try not to get too cuddly.”
Audrey threw her hands in the air and whooped in excitement, rolling over to lie down in the middle of the bed. She reached out and patted the empty spots to both her sides, calling out loudly, “Greg, Summer! Come on! Time for sleep!”
Upon hearing that, Summer and Gregory both got up from the sofa and headed towards the bed.
I’d expected them to sleep right by where Audrey was telling them to and thus take up most of the center of the bed, separating Anthony and me.
At first, they did exactly that, obediently taking off their shoes and crawling into bed to sleep next to their younger sister.
But as soon as I laid down next to them, Summer got up and moved towards the far right side of the bed.
Audrey instantly noticed this, whining and tugging on Summer’s clothes. “No, here! Sleep here with me! Summer!”
Summer, likely drained and jetlagged, didn’t budge an inch no matter what Audrey did.
In the end, Audrey had no choice but to get up from her own position as well, stubbornly squeezing in between Gregory and Summer and falling asleep there.
When I eventually opened my eyes, I instantly realized that there was now a sizeable distance between me and Gregory and jerked awake.
Pushing a hand against the bed to prop myself up, I wanted to reach over to correct their sleeping positions before a heavy weight pressed down on my body.
In the blink of an eye, I was suddenly trapped in Anthony’s embrace.
“You’re crossing the line, Anthony!” I struggled to break free from his arms.
His warm, sleep-addled voice sighed into my ear, “Quiet. The kids are asleep.”
I glanced at the kids out of the corner of my eyes. It was true; they’d immediately fallen asleep and were even snoring lightly, but there was still a risk of waking them.
Giving up, I whispered harshly, “Don’t even think about trying anything. The kids will be able to see and hear it all.”
“Is that so?” He huffed.
One of his arms let go of me, reaching behind him and fumbling around for a bit before pulling out a remote.
Holding it in front of me to make sure that I could see it, he pressed a large, red button on the remote control.
There was a small beep sound, and I felt the bed move under me. The mattress split into two, my side pulling further and further away from Gregory and the kids until I was nearly ten feet away from them.
The surprises didn’t end there. I was just about to ask Anthony what was going on when the floor in the gap between our beds opened up, a thick steel wall rising up from the gap. Within seconds, the bedroom was completely split into two separate spaces.
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
Dear God, Anthony. Scientists and engineers didn’t spend all their time designing this type of modern technology for you to misuse it in this way.
He gently pushed me down onto my bed and lifted himself up to hover over me, the fire in his eyes burning more intensely than it had before. “They won’t be able to hear us now,” he smirked.
As the saying goes, “absence makes the heart grow fonder”, and he seemed determined to prove his fondness for me after being apart for six years.
The sun was already high in the sky when I woke up the next day. The room had returned back to its original layout, with the two beds joined together and the steel wall nowhere to be found. I was also dressed in my pajamas as if everything from last night had all just been a fever dream.
A hand massaging my sore waist, I left the bedroom and walked down a quiet hallway. I looked out of a window and spotted Summer in the distance, having brought her siblings out to the backyard to play.
The two sisters looked to be having more fun out there while Gregory and the housekeeper were hiding under the shade, completely in their own little world as they fiddled with some miniature laptops like usual.
Hearing a commotion coming from the study, I tore my gaze away and headed there.
I stopped at the doorway. Anthony and John were acting strangely civil with one another as they stared intently at the painting bought from Nathaniel’s art gallery yesterday.
The painting was being displayed on an easel in the center of the study. John sat in an armchair off to one side, occasionally sneaking interested glances at the artwork.
Anthony, on the other hand, was standing right in front of the easel. His expression was completely serious and his gaze was sharp as he reached out to feel the texture of the painting, as if he would be able to understand the artist’s emotions that way.
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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