After taking a deep breath, I tiptoed toward him and kissed his lips gently.
Instantly, Anthony was stunned as though he was struck by lightning. A few seconds later, he lifted his arm and touched his lips.
“Consider it a small prize.” Gazing at him, I grinned and said, “I’m rewarding you for opening your heart to me. Mr. Featherstone, expect more rewards to follow when you’ve finally reconciled yourself to letting go of the past.”
Anthony opened his heart to me not because he failed to hide his secrets. On the contrary, he chose not to hide them from me anymore.
None of us could claim that we didn’t do anything wrong in the past. Hence, I believed we didn’t have the right to put someone under torture permanently. Instead, we could choose to let go of the past and embrace each other.
I competed with Rylee and resented Anthony in the past. However, it turned out that I gained nothing from it. Now, I knew that nothing could change if we refused to free ourselves from the chains of the past. Instead, we ought to calm ourselves down and treat our loved ones gently and sincerely.
Anthony pursed his lip as though he was still tasting the kiss. The next second, he suddenly pulled me toward him.
Before I could react, I was locked within his embrace. He stared right into my eyes passionately. “Let me have some interest first.”
I was stunned momentarily as I struggled to get up. “There’s no such a rule…”
I almost forgot. It’s useless to talk rules with him. Forget it. I’ll just let play along…
After diner, it was almost nine. However, Audrey had no intention to go to bed as she stared at the door while hugging her doll.
Without a doubt, she was waiting for Shaun.
I nudged Anthony slightly, signaling him to ask Audrey to go to bed. After all, Shaun would never appear, no matter how long she waited.
A moment later, Anthony put down the tablet in his hand and uttered faintly, “Audrey, what time is it?”
Audrey took a glance at her watch casually. “It’s eight fifty-seven, Daddy.”
She seemed to have deliberately ignored the fact that it was three minutes until her bedtime.
Anthony’s tone turned stern. “And?”
Audrey’s heart skipped a beat. She immediately stood up and pretended to tidy up the toys.
I felt helpless as I watched her go about it with a turtle-like pace. With that pace, it will be morning by the time she finishes tidying.
With that thought in mind, I interrupted her trick to stall the time without hesitation. “All right, I’ll tidy the toys later. You need to go upstairs now and freshen up together with Summer. After that, you’ll go to bed. I’ll tell you guys a bedtime story in a while.”
“No!”
Anthony and I were startled by Audrey’s sudden shout.
Audrey lowered her head immediately as she realized she was misbehaving. “Shaun isn’t back yet. I’ve promised him that I’ll wait for him. Daddy, Mommy, I’m not sleepy yet. So can I please wait for a while more?”
The three kids had always been obedient, and they knew they should never disrespect their father. Nonetheless, the atmosphere turned tensed as Audrey remained stubborn despite Anthony’s numerous persuasions.
Audrey would probably comply with Anthony if the latter took on a stricter gesture. But still, Anthony did not show any sign of persistence.
One would quickly act up when one was emotional, especially kids. If the parents gave in to such moments, it would send the kids the wrong message. They would think they could achieve the things they wanted by acting innocent. It would be challenging to educate them in the future once they had that kind of mindset.
“Ahem…” I pretended to cough, reminding Anthony not to be softhearted.
Yet, Anthony turned toward me and furrowed his brows, his expression extremely reluctant.
I was left speechless by that.
How could a man be so useless? I thought men should be the cold-blooded ones. Forget it. Let me be the bad guy, then.
“Au…”
“Audrey.”
Before I could call her name, someone else did. I turned around and saw Summer at the stairs.
Summer nodded at me, signaling me not to be worried. The next moment, she walked toward Audrey and squatted down to her level.
“Audrey, what’s wrong? I’ve been waiting for you for a long time. Why haven’t you come upstairs?”
Summer was only a young girl, but she behaved exactly like a mature adult. Whenever she talked in such a gentle tone, it would remind me of Macy.
Even though Macy was more of a loud character, most of my memories were about her mild side.
Audrey lifted her head and pursed her lips, looking aggrieved. In that instant, tears rolled down her cheeks. “Summer, Shaun said he would be back. I’m not being naughty. But he doesn’t have a family, so I want to be his family. I can’t just go to bed without seeing him first…”
Summer’s heart twitched in pain as she rubbed Audrey’s tears off her face. She let out a long sigh. “I know you’re a good girl, Audrey. You always are. But sometimes, even a good girl will do wrong, understand?”
Audrey sniffed and stared at Summer with a confused look. Apparently, she did not comprehend what Summer meant.
Summer flashed a gentle smile and continued to explain patiently, “Let me ask you. Do you remember the time when you were in M Country? With so many people keeping you company at that time, do you still miss Daddy and Mommy?”
“Of course!” Audrey responded without hesitation. “There was not a single day that I didn’t miss them! I even dreamt of them every night!”
“That’s right. I know you did.” Summer caressed Audrey’s head gently. “I’m saying this because I want you to understand that parents are the most important people in everyone’s life, and that includes Shaun. He has been alone for so many years. Do you think it is better for him to stay with us or to go back and live with his parents?”
A gloomy expression loomed over Audrey’s face. “With his parents…”
A second later, she shouted emotionally, “But he’s got no parents!”
Summer was still smiling. “That’s not true. He was just like you. He got separated from his parents, and now he found them. In fact, you’ve met them. They’re the uncle and aunty who picked him up this morning. They look like good people, and I’m sure they’ll take good care of Shaun. Don’t you think so?”
Audrey did not respond as she sank into deep thought.
It was not easy for a young girl like her to understand love and human nature. Even though I don’t get it, I’m sure everyone won’t lie to me.
Seeing how Audrey was starting to relent, Summer feigned a stern look. “If you insist on seeing Shaun, then we can only separate him from his parents again. Ask yourself, would you be happy if you were separated from Daddy and Mommy? Are you sure you want that?”
“No way!” Audrey burst out crying. “I don’t want that! Never!”
Wiping the tears off her face, Audrey reached out to Summer, wanting to be carried by her sister. “Let’s go to bed now. I don’t want to part with Daddy and Mommy!”
“Okay.”
Summer scooped Audrey into her arms as she cast a glance at me. With that, both of them went upstairs.
After their figures disappeared thoroughly from the stairs, I turned toward Anthony, intending to give him a good scolding.
“Mr. Anthony, are you the head of this family or not? Shouldn’t you have some principles as a father? How could you give in so easily?”
Anthony shifted his gaze at me and smiled faintly. “It might be easy for you, but not for me. I’m finally able to get close to her after so long. I don’t want to ruin it.”
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