As he spoke, he even turned and glanced at Alice. “
Our family of four can go and try out the ride together, okay?”
Brettley raised his slips in a smile, then reached out and took the tickets from Neil. “Okay.”
He turned and looked at Alice. “Since you don’t want to go to the hospital by yourself, you should stay and accompany the kids. Bethan is right, the timeframe when she was most upset has already passed, we can go visit her tomorrow.”
With that, he reached out and held her hand. “I remember you once wrote in your diary that you hope one day, we can be like any other couple, and try out all the exciting rides in the amusement park.”
The man looked at her, his eyes filled with deep and unfailing affection. “I was too busy before and never really took the time to spend time with you. Today is our chance.”
He spoke solemnly as if by accompanying her like this, he really wanted to make up for the loss and regret he caused all those years ago.
But Alice paled as his words drifted into her ears. She never expected Bethan, who looked all soft and gentle on the surface, would write something like this in her diary. What was even more unexpected was that not only did Neil want to drag her onto the roller coaster, even Brettley wanted to!
She grit her teeth, cursed Bethan viciously in her heart, then glanced at the time. “Brettley, I ‘in still worried about my mother… “
With that, she sucked in a deep breath, her expression bellying her awkwardness and reluctance. “I know you want to accompany me, but you want to spend time with the children too. But to me, my parents who gave birth to me and raised me are still more important… They’ve gotten on in age too, they don’t have much time left with me. But we still have a lot of time with each other… I think I should go now.”
She turned and strode away, as if she was making an escape.
Looking at her retreating back, a cheeky, self- satisfied smile appeared on Neil’s lips.
However, Brettley was deeply moved by this incident. This was the Bethan Peterson of his memories. A filial daughter, kind and gentle. But the remaining regret that he had never truly spent time with her… It would have to wait.
“Mr. Morrison.”
Neil turned and looked at Brettley. “
Since I already bought the tickets, they’ll go to waste if we don’t use them. Why not ask Mommy Bethan and Nellie to join us, and the four of us can ride it together?”
Brettley narrowed his eyes and looked at the two girls, one big and one small, who were riding on the carousel.
Their bright, beaming smiles were identical.
Brettley watched them for a while before turning and glanced at Neil. “Her injury… is she okay?”
“She should be fine.”
In an extremely rare gesture, the little guy reached out and held onto Brettley’s sleeve. “My Mommy promised she would accompany us to the amusement park, but she was always so busy. Why not take this opportunity to fulfill her dream?”
Brettley was silent for a moment before agreeing.
Together, the family of four sat on the roller coaster, the swing pendulum ride, and many, many other rides that Bethan always wanted to try but never had the chance to ride.
Brettley was surprised, despite her quiet and gentle appearance, he never expected Bethan would go so crazy when she played with the kids.
In the end, when they were riding on the Ferris Wheel, he sat opposite her, and looked at her side profile as she stared out the window with Nellie in her arms, his gaze could not but turn gentle
He seemed to have seen many different sides of Bethan today. He gradually understood why the children liked her so much, why they still tried their best to protect her even though they knew she was the fake mommy that stole them away.
Because she was worth it.
Throughout the day, the family of four tried out all the rides in the amusement park.
Outside, Alice never left. Through the CCTV feed, she studied Bethan and Brettley’s smiling faces, her hands clenched into fists beside her. Brettley had initially planned to work today. But because she still held a grudge after being taunted by Bethan at the hospital yesterday, she pestered Brettley, insisting he bring her along today to stir up trouble.
However, she did not expect Bethan herself to remain passive, instead Bethan’s two little bastards started causing trouble for her! The more she thought about it, the more furious she grew. Finally, her fist slammed into the screen of the laptop in front of her!
In the evening, it started raining heavily. The heavy downpour filled the roads with rainwater.
Standing at the entrance to the hotel beside the amusement park, Lucas raised his head and looked at the raindrops pouring from the sky. “Sir, I don’t think we can make it back tonight.”
The amusement park was located in the suburbs, traffic was already poor, and now the roads were clogged with rainwater. Plus, they had the two children with them.
Brettley glanced at the time and nodded. “Then we’ll spend the night here tonight.”
The heavy rainfall would continue for some time.
With that, the man raised his legs and headed upstairs.
In the restaurant upstairs, the owner of the hotel had the most luxurious dinner prepared for them. The moment they started eating, Neil and Nellie devoured their food ravenously.
Throughout the day, even though they thoroughly enjoyed themselves, they were also thoroughly exhausted. As gentle as always, Bethan poured some juice for the both of them and said, “Slow down.”
But no one listened to her. Soon, the two little fellows were done with their meal.
The atmosphere was quietly ambiguous. Bethan lowered her head, focusing on her food.
“I never thought you would enjoy such exciting games.”
Looking at her with her head bowed, Brettley opened his mouth and asked faintly.
Holding her cutlery, her hands paused slightly. A moment later, she raised her head and smiled. “
You’re very surprised, aren’t you?”
“Yeah.”
He nodded. “You’re the second woman I know who… has a gentle personality and yet is hiding a crazy side within her.”
“Who’s the first one then?”
“My wife.”
He raised his wine glass and took a sip of the liquid inside. “Or should I say, my wife as she used to be.”
As he sipped his drink, he started reminiscing about the past. “Like you, she used to be kind and gentle too, I always thought that was just who she was, a cute and obedient girl. Until later on, after she disappeared, I read in her diary that she wanted me to accompany her to the amusement park, and ride on all the dangerous and exhilarating rides…”
After he finished, he even hooked the corners of his lips upward and glanced at Bethan. “She’s very similar t o you, don’t you think so?”
Her hands that were holding her cutlery trembled slightly. A second later, she laughed.
A moment later, she laughed, “You’re right, we are quite similar. But she doesn’t seem to like them anymore.”
The man sucked in a breath. “People change, she’s completely different now from the woman she used to be.”
Bethan raided her eyes and looked at him. “Then what about you? Are you the same man you are now as you were back then?”
Brettley paused, then laughed, “You didn’t know me back then.”
Bethan lifted her lips in a smile. “That’s true.”
She knew the man he used to be, better than anyone else.
The atmosphere in the restaurant turned quiet again. By the time the both of them finished their meal, each occupied with their own thoughts, the downpour outside had stopped. The fresh, earthy scent of wet soil permeated the air.
Maybe because he had spent the day having fun with the children, Brettley felt particularly relaxed. That was why after dinner, he invited Bethan up to the roof for moon gazing.
In the night sky that was just washed by the rain, the moon was nowhere to be seen, with only tiny specks of golden stars shining brightly in the distance.
On such a beautiful night, he felt as if his soul had been cleansed too.
The man beside her downed the red wine in his glass, and started asking about the past few years, about her life, raising Neil and Nellie alone.
After spending the whole day together, he saw how she opened her heart to the children, and truly understood he could never make up for the six years that he was absent from the children’s lives.
But just because he could not make up for it, did not mean he could not try to understand.
In the beginning, Bethan was reluctant to discuss the children. He was too sharp and perceptive; she was worried she would accidentally expose the fact that she actually had three children. But…
When he had downed five to six glasses of wine, his voice started to grow vague and indistinct, his words slurring together. She finally felt at ease and quietly started to tell him about the children’s past.
“Since he was a kid, Neil has been very sensible, because Nellie was always sick, and I was busy all the time. He even learned how to cook for sister. Once, I came home from work and immediately smelled the fragrance of scrambled eggs wafting through the whole house. I opened the door and saw Neil standing on a little stool, frying eggs in the kitchen, his entire body covered in oil… “
She looked up at the night sky as she said this, gentle affection swimming through her eyes.
Brettley looked at her nearly-perfect side profile, and the glow in her eyes, and he started beating violently, as if it had been hit by an object.
Under the influence of the alcohol, any sense of rationality had long fled his mind.
He turned and looked at her. “Bethan.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.