Hannah and Chandler were already at the Stovall residence when Ashton and I arrived. Clearly excited to be with Kiki after a long while, Hannah was holding her son in her arms as they played together in the child’s room while Chandler watching over them warmly. The whole image looked very heartwarming.
I had a sneaking suspicion that John might actually be a masochist of some sort. He knew that he would be upset by the sight, yet insisted on making up random excuses to keep going to Kiki’s room to take another look at them, and then returning to the living room and plopping down on the sofa in a daze. Even Louis couldn’t stand it anymore after watching this process repeat itself over and over, scolding him outright, “Get ahold of yourself! Didn’t you invite Ms. Lyons over? Go out and welcome her in; this house is too large for her to find her way around.”
“There are servants at the door that will help lead the way, so why should I go?” John kicked back and leaned against the sofa lazily.
“Greeting people at the door is the very basic manners of the Stovall family!” Louis shouted at him. “You know damn well why you should go greet her!”
Silently admitting defeat, John slumped away to the main entrance to wait for Emma to arrive.
Ashton then started up a conversation with Louis while Kiki started sticking by Chandler’s side, insisting on playing with him and him only.
Realizing that she was being left out, Hannah left the bedroom and sat down beside me. “I can’t believe I spent ten months fretting and worrying over my pregnancy only to give birth to a traitor,” she joked. “I couldn’t even get a good night’s sleep, but look at my son now.”
“Kiki kept looking for you these past few days, though,” I pointed out, laughing. “And his Uncle Louis has already been tormented enough. Kids are born mischievous and playful, so don’t blame him for it. He’ll come back to you when he gets tired and sleepy.”
She nodded and sighed. “I think Kiki stopped drinking breastmilk way too early. I’m a little worried whenever I see that his body is smaller compared to other kids his age. Did Summer not drink much breastmilk as well?”
“Macy left right after Summer was born,” I explained. “At that time, there were too many things happening at once and I was unable to take care of Summer, so Jackson and Nick essentially raised her. I did consider later on feeding her breastmilk, but it loses nutritional value after it expires, so I never ended up doing it. She used to be smaller than what Kiki looks like now, actually. Afterward, I brought her to live in R Province for a few years, where the environment was great and clean. She was getting better and healthier, and then I brought her back to K City again. Looking back on it now, my neglect and failure to plan ahead was a large reason why Summer fell sick.”
“There’s no way you could have planned for this, so don’t blame yourself,” she argued. “Besides, Summer still has a chance at growing up healthily if she just focuses on recovering right now. By the way, I heard from Uncle Louis that there are more guests coming?”
“My brother invited his blind date, a woman from the Lyons family. I think you’ve heard of her.”
Hannah nodded. “The Lyons family have a reputation in K City for being made up entirely of scholars, and their children have all studied literature. But, why would the Lyons want to arrange a marriage with the Stovalls?”
“The woman is around thirty years old, and this would be her second marriage. She doesn’t have any children because she’s physically unable to give birth to any. Maybe they agreed to let John marry her purely because they were afraid no one else would. On the other hand, John already has a child, so he doesn’t need to produce any more heirs or anything; he just wants to get married solely because he wants someone to stay at home to take care of the children and Uncle Louis. When Uncle Louis eventually grows old and weak, there will be a lot of chores at home that need a woman’s help.”
“Oh.” Hannah glanced at me. “But John is such a prideful guy. Do you think he’ll agree to the marriage?”
“Uncle Louis told him that it’s all up to him. Besides, John was the one who invited Ms. Lyons over, so he clearly knows what he’s doing. We don’t have to worry about him.”
John and Emma had entered the living room during our conversation. Emma had changed into an outfit with softer textures and warmer, lighter colors, and had also removed some of her makeup to appear kinder than usual.
Hannah and I both stood up, smiling politely at her. “Welcome to the Stovall residence, Ms. Lyons!”
I had already met Emma once before, so she greeted me casually. When she turned to Hannah, something flashed through the depths of her eyes. “Are you Hannah?”
Wow. She came prepared.
Hannah’s mouth fell open at the sudden question but quickly regained her composure. “Yes. It’s nice to meet you.”
John stayed silent in front of Hannah like he always did, gazing at her with a cold stare that had hints of regret and pain.
It seemed like he was determined to marry Emma.
Now that everyone was accounted for, Louis called for the maids to serve the food. Chandler carried Kiki in his arms as he came downstairs, giving Emma a polite smile as a greeting.
