Charlotte felt uneasy about Sherlyn’s words; she could not, however, deny that anyone would naturally be worried about their future daughter-in-law meeting an ex-husband alone at a hotel.
Instead of voicing her discomfort, she set down her cutlery and declared, “I’m going to see Danrique’s kids. Please enjoy your dinner.”
“All right,” Sherlyn acknowledged briefly before turning back to her meal.
Louis placed his cutlery on the table and offered, “I’ll accompany you, Charlotte.”
She dismissed his offer coolly. “That won’t be necessary; you should stay here with your parents. I want to be alone for a while.”
Charlotte scuttled off soon after.
Louis watched her departing figure with a forlorn expression. His efforts to grow closer to her were always met with a frosty demeanor.
Despite their engagement, Charlotte had never once opened her heart to him.
Nothing he did could convince her to accept him as a romantic partner.
In the meantime, Charlotte had arrived at the playroom to meet Danrique’s kids.
The triplets seemed unusually listless that day, fiddling with their Legos distractedly. Their chattering selves were nowhere to be found, plunging the room into silence.
Charlotte asked gently, “What’s wrong? Why aren’t any of you playing?”
Alpha pouted and replied, “Ellie isn’t here, so it’s not fun. Robbie’s missing too. He doesn’t play with us, but he always sits beside us like he’s protecting us.”
“Aunt Charlotte, where did they go?” Beta tugged on Charlotte’s sleeve and asked, “Where did Jamie go? He looks like Robbie, and he knows how to do cartwheels. It was so cool! Where did they go to?”
“Did a bad person take them away?” Gamma asked with puppy-dog eyes.
She added, “Yesterday, I saw a super tall man wearing black clothes. He looked so fierce, just like a bad guy! Did he take Robbie, Jamie, and Ellie away?”
“That’s their father. He’s not a bad guy,” Charlotte explained with a smile.
“Really?”
Her answer piqued the curiosity of all three kids, who crowded around her, bursting with questions of their own.
“So that tall, fierce bad guy was Robbie, Jamie, and Ellie’s father? Does that mean he’s your husband?”
“No, he doesn’t have to be her husband. Mommy and Daddy aren’t married, but Daddy is still our Daddy.”
“Oh yeah, you’re right. Aunt Charlotte is marrying Sir Louis, so Sir Louis is her husband.”
“Then, who should we call Uncle?”
“Silly, of course it’s Sir Louis.”
“Then what do we call that tall fierce man?”
“We’ll call him the tall, fierce bad guy!”
“That’s too long. I can’t remember it.”
“Then we’ll just call him bad guy!”
“Okay! I can remember that!”
The triplets chattered among themselves and even came up with a nickname for Zachary.
Charlotte could not help but laugh at their antics, though it was a bittersweet moment that reminded her of her missing children.
She wondered how Zachary would explain things to them. If they found out about what happened, would they hate me?
Charlotte could not sit still any longer and told Lupine, “Get the car ready. We’re leaving for Pillere in half an hour.”
“Huh? Aren’t we setting off tomorrow morning with Sir Louis and his family?”
“I can’t wait anymore. Let’s go now. I’ll get Dr. Felch, and I want you to settle the travel arrangements ASAP. We’ll go to Pillere with these kids and the doctor,” came Charlotte’s firm orders.
“Got it.” Lupine immediately got to work.
