Chapter 1735 Always Stay By My Side
But on second thought, it makes much sense. Indeed, it’s safer the further away they stay from me during this time.
After putting down the phone, I realized that Gregory and Audrey had come home at some time. The two children were standing at the side of the living room, holding hands while gazing at me from afar without saying a single word.
At once, I schooled my expression and opened my arms to them. “Quick, come over here, my darlings!”
Audrey’s eyes flicked down to my arms before she dropped Gregory’s hand and sprinted toward me. She lunged at me so forcefully that I was thrown back. Still, she giggled happily and kissed me fervently while hugging me around the neck. “Mommy! I missed you so much, Mommy! I love you loads!”
Undeniably, the warmth brought by one’s flesh and blood could easily banish one’s gloom. Grinning, I righted her and placed her on my lap. Patiently brushing off the strands of hair before her forehead, I inquired about her day at school as usual. “Tell me what you learned today, Audrey.”
At that, Audrey immediately scrambled off me and trotted over to Gregory. Snatching the drawing paper he was holding in his hand, she joyously ran back over to me and spread it open.
“Look, Mommy! I drew this! My teacher praised me in front of everyone in my class. She said that my drawing was the best!”
It was a crayon drawing with a few simple colors, but one could make out the basic outline of several people. Two adults and four children were holding hands as they enjoyed themselves in the grassy meadow under the bright sunlight. Truly, it depicted a blissful and peaceful life.
Audrey didn’t even forget Shaun, making it apparent that she loved every single person in the family.
I spaced out as I looked at it, forgetting to give her an appropriate response. In turn, it resulted in her feeling a sense of uncertainty and uneasiness. “Do you not like my drawing, Mommy?”
“Of course, I do!” It wasn’t until then that I snapped back to reality. I hurriedly planted a kiss on her forehead as a reward. Then I took out my phone and tapped on the camera before taking a picture of the drawing to flaunt it off. “Here, let me take a picture of this beautiful drawing. I’ll post it on Instagram so that everyone can see how smart and incredible my daughter is!”
Such jubilance inundated Audrey that delight danced in her eyes. Lifting her head, she stared at me blankly, like a chubby porcelain doll. “Mommy, if I continue being good, you’ll always stay by my side, right?”
Puzzled, I reached out and stroked her head. “Why would you think that? Regardless of whether you’re good, I’ll always love you.”
Pouting, Audrey shook her head. “No, that’s not true. I was too naughty, so Daddy isn’t coming home. He doesn’t want to be picked on by me anymore.”
At that, her eyes went red. She clutched at my arm and shook it. “Mommy, tell Daddy that I’ll be good. Tell him to come back, okay? I miss him…”
Tears trickled down her face as she spoke, every drop hitting me squarely in the chest.
I hugged her tightly. After consoling her and inquiring about the matter, I finally learned that Audrey had been privately questioning Gregory relentlessly about Ashton’s disappearance in the past few days though she made no mention of it before me. Gregory didn’t understand the matter between adults, so he had picked an excuse that sounded relatively reasonable to shut her up. Alas, Audrey took it to heart and thought that she had driven Ashton away.
Seeing his sister weep, Gregory grew distressed. With red-rimmed eyes, he apologized, murmuring, “I’m sorry, Mommy. I just didn’t want her to think too much. I never thought that she’s bad or anything…”
Ah, they’re all sensible children! How am I to keep my defenses up in front of them?
I beckoned Gregory over and hugged them both. Tears promptly escaped my eyes, but I held myself back and kept my sobs silent.
They don’t understand anything, but ironically, it’s also as though they understand everything.
After I had released the bottled emotions within me and put the children to bed, it was already nine o’clock at night. Just when I was planning to sleep earlier so that I could wake up early tomorrow to make a trip to the hospital, my WhatsApp notification started pinging like crazy.
I saw a brief preview of a video that Emery had sent me. In just the time I spent picking up my phone, several voice messages came in back to back.
After unlocking my phone, I was about to play the voice messages out of habit when my attention was suddenly snagged by the thumbnail image of the video.
