Chapter 156: Give My Brother a Call
Rachel Royce made a call to Marcus Sheldon to sort out so work matters.
Then she took lissa straight back to the Royce family ho.
On the way there,
Rachel Royce chatted with lissa.
lissa was still pouting, grumbling, "I’m not a kid with no mommy. I have Aunt Evelynn now. Aunt Evelynn, can you be my mommy, please?"
Hearing her daughter’s plea, Rachel Royce’s heart clenched painfully, and the tip of her nose tingled as she fought back tears.
’I am your mommy. You’re not a child without a mother, and I never, ever abandoned you.’
But in the end, she held it in.
When they arrived at the Royce family ho,
Florence Preston and Wendy Royce saw Rachel Royce return with a listless and dispirited lissa and imdiately grew anxious.
Florence asked worriedly, "What’s wrong? Why is lissa so unhappy?"
Rachel, holding lissa, said, "Dad, Mom, I’m going to take lissa upstairs first."
The two didn’t press further. "Okay, hurry and get lissa so rest."
Since lissa was a frequent visitor, Rachel’s room was well-stocked with her daily necessities and her favorite stuffed bunny dolls.
Rachel stayed in the bedroom with lissa, coaxing her to take a nap.
After lissa fell asleep,
Rachel lay on the bed with her, holding her small body tightly. Her heart was filled with endless guilt and unbearable pain.
She lowered her head and kissed lissa’s forehead, her voice hoarse. "Sweetheart, I’m so sorry. It’s all Mommy’s fault. Mommy really, really loves you."
She slept beside lissa like this for a while.
When she woke up again,
lissa was still fast asleep.
Rachel didn’t wake her, carefully lifting the covers to get out of bed and go downstairs.
Florence Preston and Wendy Royce were watching TV downstairs.
Seeing her co down, Wendy Royce asked, "Rachel, what on earth happened with lissa?"
Rachel didn’t explain much, only saying, "She got into a conflict with another kid at kindergarten, so I brought her ho early."
"How could she suddenly get into a conflict out of the blue? Is lissa hurt anywhere?"
"No, lissa’s fine."
"That’s good."
"..."
「That evening.」
Florence Preston personally cooked a delicious al for lissa.
When lissa woke up, Rachel held her and teased her until she was happy again. lissa’s clear, giggling laughter echoed in the bedroom, and she was back to her old self.
Rachel helped her get dressed and led her downstairs.
Upon seeing Wendy Royce, lissa greeted him.
Seeing that lissa was happy again, Wendy Royce felt relieved.
lissa played with her young uncle, Bobby, who seed to adore his little niece. He watched lissa and giggled happily.
Infected by Bobby’s laughter, lissa started laughing too.
The more Wendy Royce looked at his granddaughter, the fonder he grew of her, but he couldn’t help feeling a sense of lant deep down.
"How are things progressing with your divorce from Tristan Sterling?" Wendy Royce asked in a hushed voice.
Rachel replied, "It probably won’t be resolved anyti soon."
Lawyer Goodman said the court hearing would be at the end of the month, but given the current situation, the verdict definitely wouldn’t be handed down that easily.
Wendy Royce’s expression darkened.
’lissa is a good kid, and the child is innocent, but I still don’t want my daughter to remain entangled in this painful marriage.’
’How could a cold-blooded man like Tristan Sterling possibly live a stable life with my daughter? A family like that would only cause more harm to the child. All that matters is that both of them love lissa enough.’
Wendy Royce said, "Since he wants to drag this out, Rachel, don’t get too hung up on it. Don’t let it affect your normal life. Just focus on spending more ti with lissa."
Rachel nodded in agreent.
"Has lissa started to suspect anything about you?" Wendy Royce asked.
Rachel shook her head gently. "She’s still too young. She doesn’t understand anything yet."
’lissa can sense the discord between and her father, but she doesn’t understand the complicated relationships between adults.’
’lissa doesn’t know I’m her mother, but she wants to be.’
「During dinner.」
Peter Preston didn’t co ho.
Rachel asked, "Is Peter not coming back for dinner tonight?"
Florence Preston said, "He’s busy at the company today and has to work overti. We don’t need to wait for him. Let’s eat."
"Okay."
Because she had napped for a long ti in the afternoon,
lissa didn’t go to sleep until ten o’clock at night.
Before bed, lissa had a video call with Tristan Sterling.
When Rachel went downstairs to get a glass of milk, she saw that Peter Preston had just gotten ho. "Peter, why are you back so late? Were you that busy today?"
Peter grunted in affirmation. "Yeah, sothing ca up. I heard from June that Stella and lissa got into a fight with another kid at school today. Is lissa okay?"
June Jennings and Peter Preston had exchanged contact information and were now talking quite a lot privately.
’Although neither of them has explicitly stated their feelings,’
’Rachel could tell her brother was definitely interested in June. A tech guy like him really needed an enthusiastic and cheerful girl like June in his life.’
Rachel was quite pleased with their progress.
Rachel said, "Yes, she’s fine now. I brought lissa ho today, and by this evening, she was back to normal."
Peter nodded. "That’s good. But for soone to say a child has no mother... a kid wouldn’t co up with that on their own."
Before dinner,
Rachel had chatted with June Jennings and told her the whole story.
June had been filled with righteous indignation. "It must have been that bitch Claire Ainsworth talking trash about lissa behind her back. How can she be so vicious? Doesn’t Tristan Sterling adore lissa? Is he just going to let it slide after lissa has been wronged so badly? Besides her face, what does Tristan even see in Claire? Has he lost his mind?!"
As for what Tristan Sterling would actually do, Rachel didn’t know.
However, seeing how guilty Claire Ainsworth had looked yesterday, it was clear she was truly afraid that Tristan would hold this incident with lissa against her.
’Even if Tristan were to remarry soday, she didn’t want it to be to Claire Ainsworth.’
「The next day, it was the weekend.」
June Jennings brought Stella to the Royce family ho.
The two little girls were getting along exceptionally well when they t.
June laughed and said, "lissa and Stella now share the bond of comrades-in-arms who’ve fought together. I never thought Stella had it in her to fight; I was always afraid she’d get bullied. And lissa seems so sweet and well-behaved, but I didn’t expect she had a temper too. Now that Stella is rolling with lissa, I won’t have to worry about her anymore."
’lissa was Tristan Sterling’s child, after all. How could she possibly be the type to have no temper and let others bully her?’
The two won watched the children play in the yard.
Seeing lissa’s happy smile, Rachel’s heart ward.
"I was going to have my brother drive here today, but it seems like sothing unexpected ca up at work. I think it has sothing to do with Cedarwood. I asked him about it, but he just said I wouldn’t understand. But you would, Rachel. You should give my brother a call and ask."
Hearing June’s words, Rachel grew worried too. Julian Jennings hadn’t ntioned anything yesterday. She took out her phone and dialed his number.
The call connected quickly. Rachel asked, "Professor, June ntioned sothing happened at the company. What’s going on?"
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