Chapter 175: Making Daddy Kneel on the Washboard Again
Rachel Royce’s eyes widened as she stared at the man.
In the silence, the air beca deathly still.
After what felt like an eternity, Rachel spoke calmly, "So, Tristan Sterling, you can do whatever you want, and I just have to let you control , is that it?"
Tristan Sterling took a deep breath. He pulled his hand back, stood up straight, and looked down at the woman before him, his dark eyes seemingly coated in a layer of frost. "Since you chose to marry and gave birth to lissa, you should have understood that your life is no longer yours alone to decide."
Rachel clenched her fists, took a deep breath, and looked at him. "Falling in love with you was the stupidest mistake of my life. Because I loved you, I let you trample all over my dignity five years ago. I know I’ve let lissa down, and she is my responsibility, but I will absolutely not let you use her to control my life."
Tristan Sterling’s dark eyes narrowed.
Suddenly, an unreadable smile touched the corners of his lips. He let out a soft laugh. "You’re certainly more capable than you were five years ago, Rachel Royce, but it’s far from enough."
"Tristan Sterling, don’t push !"
Tristan Sterling just chuckled. "You should first think about how you’re going to make up for lissa’s lost five years."
With that, the man turned and strode upstairs.
Rachel stood frozen, staring at his back as he went up the stairs.
Until he disappeared from sight.
Rachel walked listlessly toward the sofa and collapsed onto it, burying her head in her hands.
She was utterly exhausted, body and soul.
Not until lissa’s voice rang out.
"Mommy, Mommy."
Rachel quickly composed herself and watched lissa run downstairs.
lissa rushed down the stairs and threw herself into Rachel’s arms, nuzzling against her affectionately. "Mommy, does lissa sll good?"
Rachel smiled, her lips curving gently. "lissa is the best-slling little girl in the world."
"And Mommy is the best-slling mommy."
"Where’s Daddy?"
Rachel lifted lissa onto her lap. "Daddy is upstairs."
lissa blinked her big eyes at Rachel, then suddenly fell silent.
Rachel’s heart inexplicably tightened. She gently caressed her daughter’s cheek. "Sweetheart, what’s wrong?"
lissa asked, "Is Aunt Evelynn really lissa’s mommy?"
Rachel hugged lissa tightly, her voice strained. "If lissa needs a mommy, then Aunt Evelynn can be lissa’s mommy today."
Hearing Rachel’s words, lissa’s little face fell again. She mumbled, "If Aunt Evelynn is willing to be my mommy, I’ll be happy... So, can Aunt Evelynn be my mommy for a whole week?"
Rachel felt a wrenching pain in her heart. She nodded. "Yes."
As she spoke, tears began to stream down her face.
"Why are you crying, Mommy? Did lissa do sothing wrong?"
Rachel wiped her tears. "No, lissa is a very good girl. You’re the best daughter."
"Then Daddy must have bullied Mommy! lissa will teach Daddy a lesson for you."
With her cheeks puffed out in anger, lissa scrambled out of Rachel’s arms and started to run upstairs to find her father.
"lissa!"
Rachel grabbed her.
Just then, she saw Tristan Sterling standing on the second-floor landing. He had changed into a fresh set of pajamas and was making his way downstairs, his figure tall and handso.
When lissa saw her father, she put her hands on her hips and glared at him huffily.
lissa scrambled onto the sofa to stand, tilting her little head up and puffing out her cheeks like an angry frog. As her father approached, she demanded angrily, "Daddy, apologize to Mommy!"
Tristan Sterling glanced at Rachel.
Rachel didn’t look back at him. "Alright, lissa, be careful. Don’t fall."
Tristan Sterling reached out, picked lissa up, and sat down next to Rachel. "How should Daddy apologize?"
Rachel shifted away from him.
The man noticed her movent out of the corner of his eye.
lissa said, "Aunt Evelynn is going to be my mommy for a week starting now, so Daddy has to listen to everything Mommy says and isn’t allowed to make her unhappy."
As Tristan Sterling listened to lissa, his deep, dark eyes fixed on Rachel.
Rachel turned her head away, refusing to look at him, but she could distinctly feel a cold, piercing gaze on her.
"Daddy, hurry up and tell Mommy you’re sorry! Say you’ll listen to her from now on," lissa urged.
Tristan pulled his gaze back, his voice gentle. "What if Mommy doesn’t accept my apology?"
lissa huffed. "Then Daddy has to keep apologizing! If Daddy is good to Aunt Evelynn, then lissa will always have a mommy."
Tristan patted lissa’s little head, a hint of helplessness in his eyes. lissa pushed his hand away, suddenly stood up from his lap, and looked at him with her hands on her hips, pouting. "If you don’t apologize now, Daddy, lissa’s going to get angry."
Tristan looked at the silent Rachel and said, "I’m sorry!"
Hearing those two words, Rachel felt a sense of disbelief. ’A man as proud and arrogant as him is actually capable of saying them.’
lissa looked at Rachel, then threw herself into her arms. "If Mommy doesn’t forgive Daddy, should we make him kneel on the washboard again?"
Rachel couldn’t help but smirk. "Your daddy is certainly detestable enough to deserve a punishnt."
Hearing this, the man beside her couldn’t help but frown.
lissa imdiately scrambled down from Rachel’s lap. Unsure where she was running off to, Tristan reached out and caught her. "lissa, where are you going?"
lissa grumbled, "I’m going to get Mommy a broom."
Tristan pulled her back, coaxing her in a low, helpless tone, "Alright, alright, Daddy knows he was wrong. I won’t make Mommy angry anymore."
lissa looked at Rachel.
Tristan looked at her too. The overbearing arrogance in his eyes was gone, replaced by a clear signal for her to calm lissa down.
’So there is soone in this world who can make him feel helpless after all.’
Rachel’s lips curved into a smile. "lissa, go get the broom."
As soon as she said it, the man’s expression darkened.
lissa imdiately piped up, "Okay!"
lissa saw the nanny and asked her to get a broom.
The nanny was at a loss, but the young mistress had given an order, and she didn’t dare to disobey. Even if it ant angering the master, she couldn’t let the young mistress be unhappy.
The nanny had no choice but to fetch a broom and give it to lissa, who imdiately presented it to Rachel.
Rachel took it, stood up, and looked at the man.
Tristan Sterling raised his head and stared at her.
Rachel tossed the broom in front of him. "Then I’ll have to trouble Mr. Sterling to sweep the yard outside."
lissa looked at Rachel. "If Daddy sweeps the yard, will Mommy forgive him?"
Rachel humd in affirmation.
lissa went to pull her father’s hand. "Daddy, hurry and sweep the yard! lissa will help you, then Mommy can forgive you sooner."
Tristan picked up the broom. "Alright, lissa, you go to bed with Mommy first. Daddy will go by himself."
Rachel bent down, scooped lissa into her arms, and left with her.
’As for whether he would actually sweep the yard, who knew? But at least seeing him flustered had already lifted her spirits considerably.’
Rachel carried lissa back to the bedroom. After coaxing her to sleep, she went to the bathroom to wash up. When she got back into bed and picked up her phone, she saw a ssage from June Jennings: *Rachel, have you and lissa been reunited?*
Rachel replied: *For now!*
June was confused: *What do you an, for now?*
Rachel briefly explained the situation.
June sounded helpless: *If you do it this way, aren’t you worried that lissa will bla you when she finds out you’re her real mom?*
Rachel was, of course, terrified.
If she formally acknowledged lissa now, the child would have a mother and father in her heart. But Rachel was still in the middle of a divorce lawsuit with Tristan Sterling. She couldn’t give lissa a complete family, which would only hurt her more in the long run.
Tristan was simply using lissa to force her to compromise.
The two chatted for a while longer before ending their conversation.
June put down her phone and looked at the sleeping Stella.
Thinking back to her own past, she realized Rachel’s situation was a hundred tis more difficult and painful than her own had been.
She slowed her steps, left the bedroom, and went to Julian Jennings’s study.
She knocked and entered.
Seeing that Julian was still busy with work, she walked over and teased, "Brother, still in the mood for work?"
Julian Jennings looked up at her beaming face. "What is it?"
June Jennings walked up, leaned against the edge of his desk, and looked at him. "Dad was so angry tonight, and I was on your side the whole ti. How are you going to reward ?"
The Jennings Family had just been through a heated confrontation.
Mr. Jennings was furious about Julian’s feelings for a woman who had a husband and daughter, and for the first ti, he had spoken to Julian with extre harshness.
Julian hadn’t backed down at all, which only made Mr. Jennings even angrier.
June had always been her father’s favorite, but this ti, she had retorted in defense of her brother. "I’m divorced with a child now, too. Does that an I don’t deserve to find a man who’s never been married?"
Her words left Mr. Jennings speechless.
"Besides, my brother just likes her. He’s been behaving himself and hasn’t done anything out of line. It’s a miracle he’s even found soone he’s interested in. If you stand in his way, you can probably forget about becoming a grandfather in this lifeti."
Mr. Jennings was left completely speechless.
Mrs. Jennings also chid in to smooth things over, and Mr. Jennings finally relented. But he still gave a stern warning: "I don’t care if she gets a divorce. But right now, she is still a married woman, and you, Julian, are absolutely forbidden from getting involved with her."
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