Andrew carried Ashley like she was something delicate. Ashley herself was reeling at Andrew's words.
Soon enough, however, she came to her senses.
She understood what Andrew meant with those words.
The corners of her mouth twitched. She secretly looked at Andrew from the corner of her eye and
helplessly placed a hand on her forehead. Could he stop being like this?
Ashley sat on Andrew's lap, only a few feet away from Cayn.
"Andy, what are you doing?" Ashley whispered harshly into Andrew's ear.
Without answering her question, Andrew glanced at Fabio.
At that moment, Chant was also speechless, shocked by Andrew's actions.
Fabio curled his lips in aggravation.
Even Ashley thought even though they had just sat down together for a meal, the situation was not
doing Fabio any good. What was wrong?
"Andy, stop it," Ashley told Andrew under her breath.
Andrew looked back at Ashley, his eyes brimming with cold disappointment.
Ashley thought that if they continued at this rate, Andrew would just leave without saying a word, with
or without her.
Ashley was dumbfounded.
Even Chant could not say a single word.
Ashley had to ask Fabio to move to the side. "Fabio, be good, okay?" Ashley said in a soft voice as she
winked at him.
Compared with the stiff, cold words Andrew had thrown at Fabio, Ashley's words were like a warm,
soothing balm.
Despite his unwillingness, Fabio still moved to the side so that Cayn could sit next to him.
Richard also silently moved one space sideward.
Ashley saw them move and finally felt relieved.
It had been rare to get them to have a meal together.
Ashley returned to her seat.
The dishes in front of Ashley were different from the rest on the table.
Given her pregnancy, she could not eat a lot of foods that were considered hazardous to the baby.
Ashley was about to pick up a piece of vegetable to put on Dany's bowl when a faster pair of
chopsticks suddenly beat her to it.
It was Cayn who had picked up a piece of braised pork rib and put it in Dany's bowl.
"Here you go Dany, you'll like it!" Cayn said gently.
"Thank you, Daddy!"
Dany said obediently.
"You're welcome, Dany. Now eat,"
Cayn responded as he affectionately rubbed Dany's head.
"Dany, eat some vegetables, too," Ashley gently admonished. "Don't just eat meat, or you will not grow
tall." She picked up some vegetables and placed them into Dany's bowl.
"Yes, thank you, Mommy. I got it."
"Good girl!"
Ashley leaned back, satisfied.
Although Fabio and Richard were seated a little far away from Ashley, she still did not forget them.
Ashley told them to go ahead and eat whatever they wanted.
The meal went smoothly after that.
What Ashley didn't know while she was away, was that when Dany stayed in the Lu family villa, Cayn
would visit whenever he had the time.
It was almost as if Cayn regarded it as his own home.
Of course, that would be a story for later.
After dinner, Cayn played with Dany for a while and eventually left.
Seeing that annoying man finally go, Richard and Fabio were relieved.
Dany never paid attention to them whenever Cayn was with her.
That was why the two of them disliked Cayn.
They thought that Cayn always stole Dany's attention and time.
Although the kids were independent enough to wash their faces and brush their teeth on their own
before going to bed, Ashley still worried about them and usually fussed around before going back to
her own bedroom.
"Where are you going?"
Andrew asked, stopping Ashley just as she was about to step out of the room.
"I'm going to see Dany and the boys. I'll be back soon," said Ashley.
Ashley knew how mean Andrew could be.
He was a very jealous man.
"How about you come with me?" Ashley suggested, apprehensive if Andrew would agree or not.
Ashley knew that it was a good idea for Andrew to spend some time with the kids and possibly bond
with them.
However, Ashley did not know that it was impossible.
Andrew feared that the children would hog Ashley's attention and make her spend all of her time with
them.
That was why Andrew did not like children.
All along, he thought that Ashley needed no one else but him. Why would she go and see anyone
else?
It did not matter to him that those people were his own children.
"Let's go together. Fabio would be very glad to see you," Ashley said as she tugged at Andrew's hand
and dragged him out of the room.
Andrew finally let himself be pulled and followed behind her.
They stepped out of the room hand in hand.
When they open the door, they saw the children discussing something with their heads close together.
Ashley didn't say anything to interrupt them. She just quietly walked up to them and found several
sheets of paper with drawings on the floor.
Ashley stared at the drawings but she could not figure out what they were.
After some time, she gave up.
At that moment, Dany raised her head and saw Ashley standing behind her. "Mommy!" she cheerfully
called out. It was quiet in the bedroom but her voice was a bit loud.
Richard and Fabio were startled by her voice.
Ashley was similarly surprised.
"What's going on, my darling?" asked Ashley affectionately.
"Mommy, Daddy, when did you get here?"
Fabio and Richard greeted in unison. They quickly put away the sheets on the ground.
They looked a little flustered.
Ashley watched in confusion as the three kids hastily packed up their things.
"What were you doing just now?" Ashley asked casually.
"Nothing. We were just learning how to draw," Fabio answered.
"Yes, Mommy. We are learning to draw. Mommy, look, this is my painting. Isn't it beautiful?"
Dany said as she spread out the piece of paper she had hurriedly picked up from the ground and
showed it to Ashley.
It turned out that Dany liked painting very much.
"It looks good!" Ashley praised the child as she took the paper and looked at it carefully.
Richard pressed his lips and said nothing.
"Okay, so when are you three going to sleep?"
Ashley asked. It was the weekend, so Ashley did not force them to do their homework like other
parents did.
She believed that the kids could play once they were done with their homework. During the weekends,
they were allowed to stay up late.
Ashley was not particularly strict with them.
"I want to play with my brothers for a while. Can I do that, Mommy?" -- Dany blinked and looked at
Ashley with begging eyes.
She looked absolutely adorable.
"Okay, but you have to pay attention to the time, okay? You must be in bed by ten o'clock, do you
understand?"
Ashley said softly.
"Okay, Mommy!"
The three kids answered in unison.
"Richard, you are the eldest, so I'm assigning this task to you, okay?"
"Okay, Mommy!"
Richard listened to every word she said, his eyes were serious and were totally focused on her.
Richard looked as lovely as he was when Ashley first met him.
Ashley's heart melted.
Back then, she had unnecessarily adopted Richard, but she had never regretted her decision.
If she had not done it, then would she have her handsome Richard with her right now?
"You are the eldest, and so you have to be the most responsible person in this room. When Mommy is
not around, I will leave your siblings to you. You need to take good care of them, okay?"
"I can do that!"
Ashley turned toward Andrew, whose hand she was still holding. "Don't you have anything to say to the
kids?"
"No."
Again, his laconic response left Ashley in disbelief. She could not decide whether it was a good thing or
a bad thing for these children to have such a father.
Andrew had been acting like a hostile wallpaper since entering the children's room. He said nothing the
entire time.
In fact, he was getting impatient.
Noticing his restlessness, Ashley pinched his hand, silently sending him a warning with her eyes.
"Okay, you guys have fun. Mommy and Daddy are leaving now."
"Bye, Mommy."
"Bye, Mommy and Daddy."
After Ashley and Andrew stepped out of the room, Fabio and Dany patted their chests in relief. "I was
so scared. I thought they'd find out our secret."
"Don't worry, they won't!" Fabio promised.
"But what are we going to give them, then? It's so hard to choose!"
Only the three of them were left in the room, so they did not have to hide anything. Holding the paper,
Fabio frowned in slight annoyance.
"Brother, do you have any good ideas?"
asked Fabio while looking at Richard.
"No!" Richard shook his head. He had yet to make a decision.
"Think about it carefully. We still have a lot of time!" Dany said.
Meanwhile...
After returning to the bedroom, Ashley began to scold Andrew.
"Andy, they are your children, and you are their father. Don't be so cold toward them!"
Ashley felt the onset of a headache. It was not the first time that she had said these words to Andrew,
but he never listened to her.
If not for the fact that Andrew treated her well while acting cold toward the kids, Ashley would have
thought that Andrew hated their children.
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