“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. Fuller, you may begin now.”
“Alright,” Ashton 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 Ashton 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 Ashton: 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.
