Late at night, when Lainey got the news that Barbara was back, she thought she was dreaming.
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Ever since Barbara had stormed off after a fight with Anthony, no matter how much Lainey pleaded over the phone, Barbara just refused to come home. Things turned weird so quickly.
The maid who’d come to report this asked, “Ma’am, would you like to go down and see?”
“Of course.” Lainey got out of bed, quickly pulled on her pajamas, and followed the maid downstairs.
Meanwhile, in the third–floor bedroom, Anthony also received the news. He put down his pen, tidied up his folder, and only then followed the maid downstairs.
By this time, Barbara had washed off the temporary hair dye and her messy makeup. She finally returned to her original lively self.
So when Lainey and Anthony saw her, they didn’t jump in shock like Eliana had. They were home. “Barbie, my poor girl, you’ve lost weight.”
d she’d finally agreed to come
Barbara, held in Lainey’s arms, couldn’t help glancing toward the second floor. Theodore didn’t want a fuss, so Eliana and he had gone upstairs after bringing her home.
On the other hand, Barbara had been sent to take a bath by the maid Eliana ordered. It was probably because Eliana knew if Lainey and Anthony saw Barbara’s delinquent look, she’d get scolded again./
“Barbie, what are you looking at?” Lainey asked.
“Nothing, Mom,” Barbara replied to Lainey, then glanced awkwardly at Anthony.
Anthony was looking at her with a smile. “It’s good to see you back. I was too hard on you last time. Will you forgive me?”
Barbara suddenly felt like crying again. For these past two months, all she’d waited for was an apology.
Hearing Anthony say that, she let it all go. “Mom, Anthony, I really thought you’d both lost your minds at that time because you took Alice’s side to bully me like that.”
Lainey hugged Barbara tighter. If Alice hadn’t had secrets against Anthony, never would have let her suffer like that.
4 20.
After a while, Barbara lifted her head from Lainey’s arms and asked, “Mom, why did Alice suddenly leave our house?”
Lainey and Anthony exchanged a look before saying, “Because she did something wrong.”
Barbara asked, “What did she do?”
Lainey just patted her shoulder, changing the subject. “It’s getting late. Do you want a midnight snack?”
Barbara shook her head. “I’m not hungry.”
“Then
go
rest. We can talk more tomorrow, okay?” Lainey coaxed.
Barbara just said “Oh” and turned to go upstairs.
Once Barbara got into the elevator, Lainey wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, speaking happily. “That’s such a relief, Anthony You have no idea how worried I was that Barbie would grow distant from us because of what happened
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Anthony sighed in agreement. “Yeah, and she wasn’t all that close to me to begin with.”
Lainey continued, “Luckily, she figured it out herself. Anthony, you have to be nicer to her from now on. I don’t want you two growing further apart.”
“I know.” Anthony agreed.
“Oh, it’s anything okay with Alice?” Lainey asked,
Anthony said, “Nope. Her strict parents are keeping an eye on her, so she wouldn’t dare mess around.”
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“Fine.” Lainey nodded, then remembered something. “Oh, I heard Marcus has been going to Theodore lately to talk about jointly bidding for the Deepcove.”
“Yes, but Theodore doesn’t seem too interested in Marcus‘ proposal,” said Anthony.
Lainey wasn’t surprised. “Marcus‘ dad cut ties with Russell Group when Theodore was going holds a grudge.”
gh his hardest time. Of course he
Anthony thought for a moment. “But Wren Group is huge. If Theodore keeps refusing, it might make the Wrens lose face.”
Lainey said, “So Anthony, maybe you could play peacemaker here. You might get unexpected good results.”
Anthony chuckled. “You’re right, Mom. That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
Upstairs, as Barbara passed Jayden’s room, she suddenly stopped, then opened the door.
By the wall lamp’s light, Jayden’s face looked peaceful in sleep. Even though they hadn’t seen each other for over two months, Barbara cruelly pinched his nose until he woke up, gasping.
“Ah!” The second Jayden woke, he saw someone standing by the bed and nearly rolled off in fright.
“Stop yelling. It’s me.” Barbara spoke up in time to stop him from panicking.
Jayden squinted in the dim light from the wall lamp, saw it was Barbara, rubbed his eyes, and said in surprise, “Barbie? Y–you’re back?”
“Yep.” Barbara sat down on the chair beside the bed. “Jayden, tell me why Alice suddenly left our house.”
Jayden yawned. “I can tell you, but you can’t tell anyone. Especially not Eliana.”
Barbara narrowed her eyes. “Fine. I won’t let a third person know.”
Then Jayden told Barbara about the dirty deed Alice had done recently.
When she heard Alice had tried to make Eliana unable to have children forever, Barbara couldn’t help but slam her fist against the
chair. “How cruel that bitch is.”
If Eliana could never have kids, then Theodore would never have any descendants.
At the same time, in the second–floor room. Theodore and Eliana were lying in the sitting area when Eliana said, “Theodore, you didn’t have to hit her earlier. It’s too hurtful.”
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Theodore held out an arm for her to lean on, speaking softly. “You know what she was holding when I found her at that nightclub?”
Eliana asked, “What?”
Theodore’s voice turned grave. “Ecstasy.”
“What?” Eliana was so shocked that any trace of sleepiness vanished.
“If I hadn’t gotten there in time, the next time we saw her might have been at the police station,” said Theodore.
“Oh my God, those boys from Maplewood High–” Eliana sounded regretful. “I should’ve actually called the police then, not just threatened to.”
He asked, “So you tell me. Did she deserve that slap?”
Eliana had to agree with a hum.
“Besides, I have to be the bad guy to make her realize how much you care about her,” said The
- e.
Warmth filled Eliana’s chest as she heard that. She nuzzled his neck. “Theodore, you’re such a tough guy with a soft heart.” Theodore narrowed his eyes as she brushed against him. “Is it too late to just now realize how good I am?” he said.
Eliana stuck out her tongue, looking both cute and playful. “Blame you for hiding it so well all this time.”
Theodore stared at her rosy lips and wasn’t paying any attention to what she said.
The next second, he said hoarsely, “Mrs. Russell, you tempted me first.” With that, he leaned down and captured her lips.
Eliana thought, ‘Wait, when did I tempt him?‘
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