The Reclaimed Rose (Annalise and Steven)

Tears spilled from Zachary's eyes.

"Yes," he murmured. "I miss you a lot, Mommy."

He continued mumbling, "Mommy, when are you coming back? It doesn't matter if you hate Daddy. Just take me away with you. I'll take with me all the money and the shops you gave me. We can live a good life with the rent we collected and the money we saved." His tears dripped onto his blanket, leaving obvious marks on the fabric.

Zachary knew that Annalise didn't want him anymore. Therefore, she wouldn't come back to comfort him, no matter how much he cried.

He wiped the tears from his eyes wistfully and continued scrolling on his tablet.

Suddenly, he realized that before the divorce, Annalise had always been the one to send him messages. However, he almost never replied to them.

Words couldn't describe how terrible he felt at the moment. He felt like bursting into tears again.

He could still remember the time when Steven took him to meet Jessica every day and told him how kind and excellent she was as a person. Steven also told him that Annalise was awful and wasn't good enough.

And Zachary believed Steven and started to hate Annalise.

Zachary hated her to the point that he found it annoying when she messaged him. At that time, Annalise was still in the dark and didn't know what happened. She still voice-messaged him when he headed back to Chloe's house.

Back then, Zachary disliked Annalise and thought she was an annoying woman who liked to nag all the time. But now, she didn't even want to talk to him anymore.

Zachary played the voice messages one after another until he found the one telling him goodnight.

"Goodnight, Zach," Annalise's gentle voice came from the tablet.

Zachary finally smiled. "Goodnight, Mommy," he said.

He hugged his tablet and pretended that it was Annalise beside him, as if she were there in the room, keeping him company. Only then did he feel a bit better.

...

After Willow had her breakfast the next morning, Zane and I took her to the kindergarten. On our way there, she couldn't stop curling up in my arms.

She couldn't stop telling me how great it was at school every day. Needless to say, her grandparents were more than excited to find out that she could speak now

As if afraid that I would get jealous, Willow told me, "But of course, I love you very much, Mommy."

I pecked her on her forehead. "I love you, too."

Willow giggled, and I ruffled her hair smilingly.

Just then, I heard Zane ask calmly, "Don't you also love me?"

Willow replied curtly, "Yeah. I love Daddy a lot, too."

Satisfied, Zane indulged himself in silence after that.

When we reached the entrance of the kindergarten, Willow didn't head into the school grounds right away. She stood at the gates to wait for Penelope.

Willow waved excitedly when she saw Penelope getting out of the car. Then, as if waving wasn't enough, Willow made a beeline for Penelope.

Penelope herself ran toward Willow, and they hugged each other tightly and told each other just how much they missed each other.

Amused, I looked away from them. "Are children these days so naive?" I mused.

This was Zane's first time seeing Willow so enthusiastic. Surprised, he said, "Sure enough, she became quite a lively little girl after learning to communicate with others

en

"Yep," I said, heading to the car.

GUMS

Just then, a man and a woman stood in my way and blocked my path.

"Who are you?" I asked, puzzled.

"I'm Zachary's tutor, and he's Zachary's driver," said the woman.Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

Neither of them gave me their names. Instead, they simply told me their identities. I had no idea why they would come to me, but I politely asked, "Is something the matter?"

"There's something we need to tell you. This isn't the right place to talk, though," said the driver. "Let's find a café nearby and discuss it."

He looked grave when he spoke. After hesitating for a bit, I said, "Okay."