Chapter 18
Leonard stood before the window in his study, tapping his knuckles against the rosewood desk.
le eyesore.
The photos he had just received from Victor were scattered across the surface, and each one of them felt like a complete “Are you sure this is the place?” Ilis voice was low and chilling.
Victor wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Absolutely. She’s opened a bookstore in Nimbu
In the photo, Jennifer stood in front of a bookstore named Jen’s.
City. As for her business, well, we took this photo last week.”
Sunlight shone on her through the trees, casting a glow over her figure. She was wearing a simple linen dress, and her hair was a little shorter than when she’d left. She was bending down, speaking to a little girl who was around five or six years old.
On her face was a gentle look that Leonard hadn’t seen for a long time.
But what struck him the most was the man standing beside her. The man was tall, with gold–rimmed glasses and a gaze full of warmth as he looked at Jennifer.
He was holding the little girl in his arms, and the three of them seemed to fit so well together in the picture that it was suffocating.
“Who’s that man next to her?” Leonard pressed his finger against the picture, smudging the man’s face with force.
“He seems to be a college senior of hers named Kevin Gordon. The child is his late sister’s daughter. They weren’t that close in university, and it seems like they just ran into each other in Nimbus City by chance,” Victor explained.
He continued, “But she seems very fond of the little girl. They often spend time together, and Kevin will usually be with them.”
“That’s enough,” Leonard cut Victor off with a wave, feeling an unfamiliar bitterness rise in his chest.
How could she? How Could she have dared to look at another man like that? That tender look in her eyes was clearly only meant for him.
Just then, the study door was flung open.
Yvonne and Yannick ran in with tear stains still on their cheeks.
Yvonne threw herself against his leg. “Dad! Mrs. Potts said you found Mom. Is it true?”
Leonard bent down and picked her up. His eyes drifted to the photo of Jennifer smiling gently.
It had been three months, and she hadn’t contacted the children once. Yet here she was, smiling so brightly at someone else’s child.
Yannick tugged at the hem of Leonard’s jacket. “Can we go find Mom? We miss her…”
The children’s voices felt like a knife that pierced his heart.
He looked at the three happy figures in the photo and let out a cold laugh.
“Prepare the plane,” he told Victor. Then, as he gently wiped away the tears on Yvonne’s face, he added, “We’re going to bring Mom home.”
He refused to believe that Jennifer truly liked that doctor. She was just doing all this to provoke him. After all, she used to love him so much that she endured six full years of cold neglect.
As long as he showed up in person with the children, she would relent.
After all, Jennifer could never bear to see him or the children hurt.
At the same time, in Mud Fun, a pottery studio based in Nimbus City, Jennifer was focused on shaping a lump of clay.
Clara was lying across the workbench beside Jennifer, and her face was smudged with streaks of mud.
“Ms. Jennifer, look at the bunny I made!” Clara held up a lopsided sculpture like it was a treasure.
Jennifer leaned in to take a closer look, then she playfully dabbed a bit of clay on Clara’s nose. “It really is a bunny, but shouldn’t a bunny have a round nose?” Clara burst into giggles and grabbed some clay to strike back.
The two of them were a mess of laughter and clay whe
Kevin walked over with three cups of hot tea. A bit of the clay even splattered on his glasses.
“You two…” He shook his head helplessly, though he couldn’t hide the smile on his face. “Are you trying to turn this place into a battlefield?”
Kevin pulled out a handkerchief and, without any hesitation, gently wiped a spot of clay off Jennifer’s cheek.
His hand paused for a second when it brushed her skin. Realizing how close they were, the tips of his ears turned slightly red.
Clara watched them with a big grin. Then, she suddenly put down her clay and looked at Jennifer innocently. “Ms. Jennifer, I’m so happy. I wish I could stay with Uncle Kevin and you forever.”
Jennifer’s heart trembled slightly. She looked up and met Kevin’s soft and careful gaze. In his eyes was a hope that he didn’t dare speak out loud.
But when she thought of Leonard and the two children, the light in her eyes dimmed again. She couldn’t find the words to say.
Clara,” Kevin gently broke the silence, sliding a newly formed little bowl toward Clara. “Look at this. Do you like it?”
As expected, Clara’s attention was shifted, and she forgot her earlier question.
Jennifer lowered her head, absentmindedly stroking the rough clay surface.
There was a warmth in her chest, but also a strange, bittersweet ache. She knew Kevin was giving her space, just as he had for the past three months. He always kept a respectful, thoughtful distance and never overstepped any boundaries.
“I’ll go change the water,” Jennifer suddenly said, getting up and hurrying off.
In the restroom, she stared at her reflection.
Three months had passed. The dark circles under her eyes had faded, the tightness at the corners of her mouth was gone, and the bruises on her body had slowly
healed.
Nimbus City’s sunlight and breeze had gently soothed some wounds she didn’t even know were there.
But when Clara mentioned wanting to be together forever, the faces that flashed in her mind were Yvonne’s and Yannick’s–the very children who she carried for so long, and who had pushed her down the stairs.
Could she really put the past behind her?
