Caleb Grant stayed until the end.
No one knew if it was because Peach wanted to play with Leo, or if Caleb Grant and Landon Sutton had things to discuss, or perhaps for so other reason.
Caleb Grant and Landon Sutton went to the study. Shannon Quinn, after helping clean up the kitchen, ca out to find Sheila Yardley squatting beside the two children, playing with them.
Being a mother as well, Shannon Quinn could discern sothing from Sheila Yardley’s gaze towards Peach.
"Sister, where should I put this?" Peach held a puzzle piece, asking Sheila Yardley in a childish voice.
Shannon Quinn heard Peach call Sheila Yardley "sister" and felt a shiver run through her.
Then she thought that though Peach looked adorably dumb, she was actually quite smart and sweet, winning people over easily.
While Sheila Yardley patiently accompanied Peach with the puzzle, Caleb Grant ca downstairs from the study.
When he turned his head and saw this scene, Caleb Grant’s steps halted.
The scene seed to freeze for a mont, and he watched the mother and daughter without blinking, finding the picture so heartwarming he didn’t want to disturb it.
Later, Landon Sutton ca down the stairs, and Caleb Grant, upon hearing the footsteps, returned to his senses. As he walked towards Peach, he said, "Ti to go ho, Peach."
Peach looked up at him with a pitiful gaze and whispered, "Daddy, can I stay here for one night?"
Sheila Yardley stiffened at these words and turned to look at Caleb Grant.
Caleb Grant remained silent, looking back at her.
Leo stepped forward and said, "Uncle, since Peach doesn’t have to go to preschool tomorrow, let her stay here and play. I’ll take good care of my sister."
Caleb Grant stared at Sheila Yardley for several seconds, seemingly pondering sothing, and after a few monts, nodded and said, "Then Daddy will go ho. You must listen to Uncle and Auntie while you’re here."
Peach nodded vigorously, waved her little hand towards Caleb Grant and said, "Bye, Daddy!"
Caleb Grant walked a few steps towards the door, and as he was about to leave, he looked at Sheila Yardley one more ti before closing the door.
Sheila Yardley didn’t expect him to leave his daughter behind, giving her the chance to spend ti with her daughter.
It seed that he was different from before, yet the shadows he left in her heart lingered on.
Only when looking at sweet Peach, did she feel that her past experiences might have been worthwhile.
Yet she felt guilty towards Peach; since the child’s birth, she hadn’t spent a day with her, failing to fulfill her duties as a mother.
After leaving Caleb Grant, she often thought about the child, worrying that Caleb Grant would tornt the child like a lunatic, forcing her back by abusing the child as seen in the news.
But that was not the case.
All the news she heard showed the child was doing well. On several occasions when she secretly visited, he turned out to be a comndable father, always taking good care of their daughter.
Though sowhat reassured, there remained a void in her heart, filled with unspeakable regrets.
They all stemd from this child.
At one point, she felt this child shouldn’t have existed, a testant to her hellish experience, an acknowledgnt she refused to make public...
But looking at the obedient, adorable Peach before her, she realized that her thinking was wrong.
No matter how detestable Caleb Grant was, the child was innocent. She shouldn’t let her hatred towards Caleb spill over onto the child.
Yet she found herself unable to accompany Peach as a mother, convinced it was impossible in this lifeti.
Unless Caleb Grant no longer wanted Peach and returned her to her.
Though initially saying she wanted to stay and play, Peach later missed her daddy while going to sleep.
She wept pitifully, saying she wanted to find her daddy, and despite Sheila Yardley’s consolations, she couldn’t calm down.
It was only when Shannon Quinn suggested Landon Sutton video call Caleb Grant that Caleb, through the video, cald her down with so soothing words and told her bedti stories that Peach gradually settled down, falling asleep on Sheila Yardley’s arm.
Sheila Yardley, listening to Caleb Grant’s bedti story, found herself wide awake.
Hearing his familiar voice didn’t evoke terror anymore; the gentle way he spoke while narrating the bedti story to their child did.
This was unlike anything she expected him to do.
Yet, witnessing the child’s dependency on him, it beca apparent that he had been doing this consistently over ti.
In the dim room, the small night light on the bedside faintly illuminated the room’s layout.
He continued with the children’s story, and Sheila Yardley did not interrupt.
Listening to his voice, alongside the sound of the child’s steady breathing, she couldn’t articulate her feelings.
Her mind felt jumbled, yet utterly blank.
"Asleep yet?" The story suddenly paused, and he asked in a hoarse voice.
Sheila Yardley tensed, her scalp prickling, and she remained silent.
After a few seconds of quiet.
"Elaine." He softly called her na.
Sheila Yardley felt her hair stand on end, an indescribable strangeness within.
It seed he was sure she was listening, yet didn’t care whether she could hear, as he murmured to himself: "The daughter’s na is Cecilia Grant, Peach is just a nickna. After she turned a month old, her cheeks stayed rosy; her skin, like yours – fair and clean. At the hospital, the nurse said she looked like a small peach, so we kept calling her Peach."
"In the past, she used to fall ill easily, frequently catching colds and being hospitalized. It was a trying and exhausting ti, seeing her suffer pained as well."
"Truthfully, raising a child alone isn’t easy. Peach used to sleep poorly and would wake at the slightest sound. For the first two years, I didn’t get a proper night’s sleep."
"Not only does she resemble you, but her personality does too. Like you, she doesn’t like ginger. Even a little, she’ll pick it out from her food. Thankfully, she’s not picky about anything else."
"Peach is exceptionally well-behaved and obedient, but she’s timid and clingy. This was her first day away from , and I felt uneasy, as if my heart was emptied when you left back then..."
Listening to his soliloquy, Sheila Yardley’s eyes inexplicably moistened.
His voice was gentle, just as it was when narrating the bedti story.
It felt like he had been holding these words in for a long ti, wanting to share them this way, without truly intending for her to hear.
After a while, there was silence on the other end, along with faint sounds of movent, followed by a soft "click" that seed like a lighter, then a light exhalation, suggesting he was smoking.
In her mind, Sheila Yardley couldn’t help but envision him leaning against the bedhead, smoking.
Though the call continued, no words were exchanged.
She lay there motionless, without a sound, rely listening to the faint noises from the phone.
It was a bit monotonous, yet sleep eluded her.
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