“Boyce…”
She was about to welcome Boyce home when she discovered Armand who was beside him. She couldn’t help but freeze in place, but she managed to recover rather quickly and turned to Boyce. Didn’t she say not to let Armand know that she was here?
Boyce shrugged his shoulders and acted nonchalantly, “I didn’t tell him, he was the one who insisted on following me back to the villa for dinner. I didn’t have a choice.” Theresa understood their relationship in and out, they were even closer than biological brothers, she clutched the door hard, “Do you think I would believe what you said?” “If you don’t trust me, you can ask Armand if he was the one who insisted on tagging along.” Boyce nudged Armand, “Talk then, go on and explain yourself.”
All Armand did was to stare at Theresa without uttering a single word.
He finally realized why Boyce urged him to come to the villa.
He ruminated on why Theresa left him out of the notice on her arrival here.
“Have you been to the hospital?” he tried to conceal his panic.
Theresa didn’t make a sound.
Boyce slipped sideways into the house tactfully.
Armand gripped Theresa’s wrist and pulled her straight to the wicker chair that was placed on the lawn, “Tell me, why didn’t you let me know you were here in City B?”
“I want to pay the two children a visit, can’t I?” Theresa sat herself down on the chair, with her head tilted upwards at him.
“Do you think I’m stupid? If you were here to only see the kids, why is there a need to hide this from me?” Armand contained his anger.
He was mad at her for not telling him the truth.
Theresa continued to feign ignorance, “It’s not that I’m hiding it from you, I just haven’t had the time to tell you.”
“Haha-“
Armand snickered, “The last we contacted was not too long ago, judging from the time, you were already in City B when we talked, no?”
Theresa paused for a moment and replied, “I just wanted to surprise you, can’t I?”
Armand closed his eyes and suppressed all his emotions, he then sat across the other rattan chair and pondered deeply before he asked, “You…know something do you?”
He didn’t believe that it was a surprise, if it was meant to be one, she would’ve done it earlier. In that case, Boyce had no need to be the bridge here.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Theresa turned away and averted Armand’s gaze.
Armand caught her hand and held it in his palm, “Have you heard something from my grandma?”
Things wouldn’t have been this abnormal otherwise. Now that he thought of it, the moment she rang him up was when he had just finished his conversation with the old lady. Was this all a coincidence? “You wanted to pay her a visit as well, and overheard what she said, am I right?” Armand held her hand tight, “Theresa, you have to believe me, I don’t need a child, as long as you…”
“You’re fine with it, but what about your grandma? Does having an offspring not matter to you?” Theresa shouted all of a sudden, but in the next moment, she was completely deflated, “Armand…” “You don’t need to say anything else.” Armand slid off from his chair and knelt in front of Theresa holding her legs, “I really don’t need a child, you have to believe me.”
“I do, but what do we do with your grandma?” Theresa bowed her head down and looked at him, her eyesight was going blur, tears started to well up in her eyes, “I don’t want to drag you down…” “What are you talking about?” Armand asked emotionlessly, “It’s not your fault that we can’t have a child, it’s me, it’s my fault!”
Theresa felt overwhelmed and she didn’t want this to continue.
“Armand…”
“Don’t think about telling me that we should break up, it wasn’t easy for us to start all over again. How could say such hurtful things so easily?”
“I’ll face my grandma and convince her, once everything is settled, I’ll take you to see her. Don’t go thinking about the unnecessary, alright?” Armand held her hand all the more tighter, he was afraid of losing her, “I know that the pressure is huge on you, so leave it all to me, I just need you to give me some time.”
Theresa took a deep breath and wiped her tears away, she said calmly, “I understand, everyone’s waiting in the house, it won’t be too good if we stayed out here any longer.”
Armand nodded, the both of them gathered their composure and went back inside.
The food had already been served, Cormac Mendelsohn wasn’t at home, so Jayden Mendelsohn was the man of the house. He made his own decision and requested Coral to open two bottles of wine. Maxina was released from prison today, and both Cormac and Loredana Flores weren’t around. He represented them in giving Maxina a warm welcome back home.
Even though she wasn’t Loredana’ biological mother, but she was the one who raised her up all her life after all.
They were considered as family if her past had not been brought up.
“I’ll give Cormac a call later in the evening, your release is good news, I’m sure Loredana would be happy to hear this too.” Jayden said.
Maxina was filled with guilt, what she did was bad, and it was nothing to be proud of. She stroked Amanda Mendelsohn’s hair and cherished this moment, “I’m grateful to everyone for not giving up on me, I’ll lead a good life from now on.”
“We’re not family if we paid any mind to that.” Jayden explained.
Kevin Forbis went along as well, he sat next to Jayden and raised his glass, “Let’s have a toast to your freedom.”
Maxina was a lightweight, but she cooperated, “Thank you.”
Kevin introduced himself, “I’m Cormac’s uncle, we’re considered as relatives, so don’t worry about it. Everyone’s living in the same villa, we’re a family.”
Maxina smiled.
“Only Daddy and Mommy are absent today.” Andrew Mendelsohn stared at the table full of people and voiced in disappointment.
They had suddenly left for overseas, grandfather told him that father and mother went travelling to other countries. School had just begun for him and his sister, and his mother was still pregnant, how could they possibly be travelling? He didn’t take a word of what he was told and was deeply troubled inside.
Maxina caressed his head and comforted the child silently.
Armand who loved to chatter was completely quiet at the table, Boyce and Jasmine were still too.
He had introduced himself when Maxina returned, and everyone knew each other already.
The elderly didn’t have much to talk about as well, with only Cormac not present.
Dinner was a pleasant one, when it was over, Armand said his goodbyes to the seniors. He told them that his grandma was admitted, and that he had to go back to the hospital.
He was being filial, no one would’ve said anything to stop him.
Theresa helped to clean up the dishes with no thoughts of talking to Armand, she figured it was best if the both of them could use this time to calm down. Nevertheless, Armand called out to her, “Theresa, can you give me a ride? I’m not driving today.”
Theresa glanced at him and said, “I don’t have a car.”
Boyce took out his car key and said, “Take my car then,”
Theresa turned and stared at him.
Boyce smiled, “Why? Is there anything wrong if I let you drive my car?”
“Of course, there’s something wrong. You know that I don’t know how to drive. What if I drove into the river, whose fault would it be?” Theresa purposely mentioned the incident of falling into the river in the past. Boyce pursed his lips, “Why can’t you see the kindness in people?”
“What? Has there been another argument?” Kevin Forbes interjected with a grin.
“Yeah, they’re still arguing. I’ll end up at fault if I help them.” Boyce complained when the opportunity came up.
New Book: Beginning with a Daring Encounter
Celsie was tired of being labeled as an introvert, workaholic, and dull virgin by her friends. Determined to prove them wrong, she made a bet that she would do something daring on her 25th birthday. Now that the day had arrived, it was time to fulfill her promise. On her daring to-do list, there was one task: a one-night stand with someone.