I felt myself let go of a breath that I hadn’t realized I’d been holding, and Anthony’s eyebrows finally stopped furrowing together.
Anthony himself was very aware of how selfish his methods had been, and had been working on improving himself to become a better person.
Last night had been a test. If he failed, he might have lost the courage to continue staying by my side. Only succeeding would be enough to prove to himself that he’d changed into a true man that would do anything to protect me and my family.
Anthony sighed deeply, as did I. Our eyes met and we exchanged relieved, wry smiles.
“Now that everything’s done and settled, I’ll go over to pick them up. You two recently recovered from being sick and stayed up through the whole night; hurry up and go upstairs to rest.”
John got ready to leave after saying that, but Anthony grabbed ahold of his arm. “Joseph will take care of it. Emma and Drew will be arriving this afternoon, and are you sure you want to meet them while in this state?”
“Emma?” John blinked owlishly at him. “What are you talking about?”
Anthony let go of his arm, heading towards me. “I arranged a private flight to M Country for them two days ago,” he told him over his shoulder. “They should already be on the way here as we speak.”
John and I wore mirrored expressions of surprise. “You’d made preparations that early on?”
Anthony wrapped an arm around my shoulders, his eyes shining humorously. “A family reunion would be incomplete without even a single family member, after all. Besides, my dear brother-in-law seemed extremely temperamental as a result of not being able to see his wife and child for a long time. So, I did this all for the sake of maintaining the peace at home.”
John squinted at him, raising an eyebrow. “That sounds very much like a complaint.”
“Was I wrong, Honey?” Anthony shrugged and turned the focus of the conversation towards me.
“Uh…” How am I supposed to respond? John was glaring at me icily from the other side of the room, while Anthony, mere inches away from me, was trying his best to look as pitiful as possible.
Looking between them both, I groaned and squirmed out of Anthony’s arms. “I’m getting sleepy, so ask me later after I wake up,” I waved them off, yawning as I dragged my feet upstairs. “I’m leaving the three kids to you guys. I want a good sleep, and I won’t tolerate anyone who comes to disturb me! Bye!”
Anthony trailed behind me, jokingly threatening, “You heard her! Letty said that she’s leaving the kids to you, so I’m going to go up and accompany her. She won’t be able to sleep well otherwise.”
“Hey! The both of you— What do you think you’re doing?” John chased us all the way to the staircase, shaking his fist at us as Anthony ascended the stairs three steps at a time. In the blink of an eye, John was left staring at an empty staircase. “I’m the president of a company, not your babysitter!”
His complaints echoed in the hallway and all around the living room.
It might have been the weekend, but children’s biological clocks were always accurate to a tee. Much to John’s dismay, he could only get about three hours’ worth of rest before he had to wake up to take care of the three kids.
I grew drowsy the moment my head hit the pillow, only vaguely registering the mattress shifting under me as Anthony laid down on the bed as well. Too tired to give any sort of reaction, I sleepily mumbled out, “We’ll be okay from now on out, right?”
“Yes.” He pulled me into his arms, burying his face in the crook of my neck. “Sleep. Arrangements have already been made for Uncle Louis and the others to rest somewhere else nearby. I’ll wake you when they return.”
His words acted like a sedative, instantly calming any leftover adrenaline rushing through me. Surrounded by his warmth and familiar scent, I drifted off to sleep.
When I came to, the bedroom was peacefully quiet. It seemed that I was the only one left at home.
Thinking that Anthony had left to handle the issue with Nicolas, I headed downstairs to make a phone call.
It was only when I arrived at the living room that I saw him and the kids all sitting on a sofa, each one of them as quiet as a mouse.
My husband was holding a tablet, probably working. Gregory was having online classes with earphones plugged in, while Summer was reading a thick book. Even Audrey was keeping herself entertained by sitting down at a table and practicing her handwriting.
There was something amiss about the entire scene.
Anthony was the first one to notice my presence, putting his tablet down and walking over to place a kiss on my forehead. “You’re awake.”
“Mhm,” I nodded. “You guys…?”
Audrey immediately jumped up at the sound of my voice, loudly announcing, “Mommy! Daddy was being mean and didn’t let me talk!”
Summer quickly reached over to tickle her little sister in an attempt to get her to shut up. “That’s because you were being too noisy and woke Daddy up! It would be bad if you woke Mommy up too, you tiny monkey.”
“No, I didn’t!” Audrey argued through a fit of giggles, scrambling away from Summer’s hands. “Uncle John said—”
Realizing that she was about to expose her uncle, she instantly stopped herself short and pursed her lips together.
Of course, I wasn’t that easily fooled by a kid who wore her heart on her sleeve.
“How long did you sleep for?” I asked Anthony.
“Daddy woke up early in the morning and helped Audrey wash up,” Summer interrupted before he could say anything.
Doesn’t that mean that he’d taken John’s place and only slept for three hours?
That realization tugged at my heartstrings a little. Just then, John walked in from outside, meeting my knowing gaze and then taking a look at Audrey.
He awkwardly shuffled towards the other side of the living room, mumbling in a small voice, “Don’t blame me. Audrey’s your biological child, so she ran to find you guys as soon as she woke up. I couldn’t have stopped her even if I tried.”
I hid a laugh behind my hand. “So you went back to sleep and left Anthony to take care of the kids alone?”
“She’s your daughter,” he shrugged. I couldn’t argue with him on that, and it seemed like he was going to stubbornly defend himself to the very end.
I had no choice but to try and make Anthony go upstairs to rest for a while longer. “Go take a nap or something. You haven’t slept well these past few days.”
Even though the day before had been because of…
I didn’t let myself finish that thought. Regardless, we were no longer in our young adult life; we’d grown old and needed sufficient sleep.
“I’m used to it,” Anthony laughed. “I’ve been surviving on three or four hours of sleep for the past few years. Don’t worry about me.”
My expression soured. He must have had a rough time while being the Hall family’s cash cow for so long.
Noticing that I was upset, he reached up and gently massaged my stiff shoulders. “I’ll have plenty of chances to rest in the future,” he reassured. “But I want to handle all our current problems before anything else. Next time, you’ll be free to determine when I sleep and how much I sleep.”
“You swear on your life?” I couldn’t stop myself from smiling.
“Of course! I would never dare to lie to my precious wife in front of her brother and our kids.”
“Bleurgh. I can’t watch this anymore,” John shivered exaggeratedly, causing the kids to sneak glances at us and giggle.
I let out a hopeless sigh at the kids’ amused expressions. What kind of little monsters were they going to grow up into with such a drama queen for an uncle?
“That’s it,” John clapped to gain the children’s attention. “A whole morning of being under your fascist dad’s strict rules is more than enough. Put down your homework and go out to the garden to play.”
“Yeah! Uncle John is the best!”
Audrey instantly jumped to her feet, dragging Gregory along to the side door that led to the garden. Laughing excitedly, Summer followed closely behind them.
A six or seven-year-old child was usually at the peak of their mischievousness, but thankfully, we had Summer to help decrease some of the worries we had about the two younger kids.
As soon as they were out the door, John’s face turned solemn. “Nicolas and his wife are being held in a basement. What are we going to do with the remaining Hall family?”
Anthony’s entire life of pain and suffering had been a direct result of the Hall couple’s actions. It was time for them to reap the consequences of their actions.
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.