Chapter 119
“Can I go stay with Grandma for a while? She said she misses me. Xander blinked at Anathea.
It was normal for Eleanor to miss Xander. Anathea had no real reason to say no. After all, when Xander was born, Eleanor had claimed Anathea was too weak to take care of him and had just taken him away from her. She hadn’t been able to stop Eleanor.
In truth, Anathea had only seen Xander once at the time–right after she’d given birth to him. After that, she hadn’t caught so much as a glimpse. As for Gregory, she hadn’t seen him at all since she’d entered the delivery room.
During her entire postpartum recovery, aside from the maternity nurse and the occasional visit from Jenny, Hannah was the only one who’d been by her side.
No one else had shown up. It was as though she’d been abandoned and forgotten.
She hadn’t seen Xander again until his one–month celebration party, which Eleanor had thrown.
Eleanor had been beaming, cradling Xander like a precious treasure as she basked in all the praise from the guests. When people asked who the baby’s mother was, she just avoided the question.
At that party, no one had even known that Anathea was Xander’s mom.
Eventually, it was Brisa who’d stepped in and insisted Anathea take Xander home.
But even after Xander was back with her, he’d still been raised by the tutors and caretakers Eleanor had arranged. Anathea wasn’t allowed to intervene. That was probably why he’d never gotten close to her.
She’d tried everything she could to bridge that gap,
but he was so much like his father–distant and unreadable.
Still, she hadn’t given up. She’d poured even more effort into caring for him, believing that one day, he’d come around.
After years of trying, their relationship had just started to warm up a little when Natalie had appeared, and everything was back
to square one.
Anathea was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. So, when Xander asked if he could stay with Eleanor, she just nodded.
“Yay!” Xander started bouncing with excitement.
“I can stay Ms. Whit… I mean, Grandma!”
That was so close! Xander wondered if Anathea had noticed his slip–up.
He watched Anathea carefully. When she didn’t react, he smiled sweetly and said, “You must be tired, Mom. You should go get
some rest.”
Anathea nodded slowly and headed upstairs, step by step.
As soon as she was out of sight, Xander pulled out his phone, excited to share the news.
“Ms. Whitman! Mom said I can stay over! I told her I’d be at Grandma’s place, of course! If I’d said anything else, she would’ve definitely said no. That was smart of me, right?
“Don’t worry, with Grandma backing me up, she won’t ask how long I’m staying. I can be with you as long as I want!”
His voice was full of excitement and pride—he was clearly pleased with himself for coming up with that plan.
Honestly, he hadn’t really liked how distant Anathea was when they’d first started living together again. He’d wanted her
attention.
But now that she was finally trying to be close with him, he wasn’t so interested anymore.
Since Natalie had invited him over, it just felt right to go.
Chapter 119
+25 BONUS
“Ms. Whitman, I’m going to pack real quick and come see you! I can’t wait!”
Xander hopped into his room, grabbing his toys and picture books to stuff into his little suitcase.
What he didn’t know was that Anathea had heard everything from the stairwell landing.
She lowered her eyes. To be honest, she’d known he was lying the moment he asked the question. But she didn’t call him out on it. His heart wasn’t with her anymore, and keeping him by her side by force wouldn’t change that.
Besides, she wasn’t planning to stay either.
As Xander happily packed for his stay with the person he truly cared about, Anathea quietly wheeled her already–packed suitcase down the stairs.
Chapter 120
