The car enters the main road, and the man takes the initiative to ask, “Where is the supermarket?
Show me the way.”
Lily doesn’t want to interact too much with him as she replies, “Check the navigation system…”
“Are you sure you want to talk to me like that?” Although his tone is normal, he sounds a little bit upset
nonetheless.
She subconsciously looks at Adair through the rear-view mirror, but luckily he does not seem to hear
them. She grits her teeth hard, knowing that he is purposely torturing her, albeit verbally. She suddenly
feels a surging rage as she says coldly, “Continue forward, turn left at the next intersection!”
“…”
“Turn right at the next intersection, and follow the left lane.”
“…”
“Continue straight, make a turn in front later.”
Lily is giving directions quite professionally, and Rex doesn’t really reply her too. He is only concerned
about Adair as he keeps asking him whether he’s cold or not, whether it’s better to close the window.
Lily is turning a blind eye on his words.
Lily must be thinking that there’s something wrong with her, that’s why she is feeling angry.
What is she angry about?
She doesn’t expect Rex to be good towards her; she still recalls that he is shunning her when they met
just now.
When she is lost in her thoughts, the car is already parked in one of the parking lot spaces. Rex makes
sure the car is stopped fully, and then he alights from it. He heads to the back of the car and pulls open
the back door while stretching his hand towards the little kid.
Adair has unbuckled his seat belts as he steals a glimpse at the man’s massive shoulders. He is only
undecided for one second before accepting his help.
When Lily steps out of the car, she sees that Rex is bending low to put the child down on the ground.
The night breeze is caressing the man’s hair, and the young and tender voice can be heard clearly.
“Uncle, are you going to the supermarket with us?”
Rex is full of scheming intentions, unlike his usual cold and stony self, he is actually asking
hypocritically, “I am willing to do that, but I’m not sure whether your mum is happy with that.”
And this throws Lily into the position to decide things again.
While she is still mulling over how to navigate this situation for Adair, the little kid is already one step in
front of her as he says enthusiastically, “Mum, uncle has sent us here from so far away, can we shop
together? Uncle is your friend too, right?”
Adair is one of those kids who are clever yet naïve.
Rex is trying to hide his delight as he raises his fist beside his mouth and coughs for a while. He is
trying not to let laughter escape his throat.
Lily’s silence just now already admitted that Rex is indeed her friend, and now she is literally being put
on the stove to roast. No matter what she says, there is no way for her to refuse her son’s request.
It’s just that…
Are they really going to visit the supermarket together?
This idea never crosses her mind.
As she is still in a dilemma, Rex turns around and looks at the night sky, “Let’s just go together, it will be
late after you guys are done with shopping. I can send you back home.”
Adair claps happily as he hears this, “That’s good, thank you uncle.”
“…” Lily’s heart is in a wrench, they are really ignoring her now.
The next second, Rex solidifies what she is thinking. The man takes wide strides towards the side of
the supermarket entrance and pushes along a trolley. He says, “Let’s go.”
In the end, with no room for discussion, the three of them enters the supermarket.
Lily first goes to the fruits area, and she chooses some fresh blueberry, mandarin oranges and
avocados. Rex follows her from behind silently and he casually picks up some kiwi fruit and places it
into the trolley. Immediately after he did that, Lily picks it out of the trolley.
The man squeezes his brows while Lily says without looking at him, “Adair is allergic towards kiwi.”
When he hears this, he sinks into a silence.
When she can’t hear any reply, she raises her head feeling puzzled but she is immediately met with a
pair of dark and deep eyes. She freezes, but a low voice slowly enters her ears, “Sorry, I will take note
of that in the future.”
He’s actually apologizing, for such a trivial matter. Lily’s heart feels electrified, and her heart is beating
faster too. She instantly averts her gaze as she knows the meaning behind his apology. He’s saying
sorry for being absent these past five years, and for not fulfilling his responsibility for the child.
She expects Rex to care for the child, but she doesn’t expect him to actually want to be a good father.
She can feel Rex’s love and care towards Adair, and this confuses her greatly. She can’t comprehend
her own emotions and decide what she thinks about this.
Lily decides not to face these puzzling emotions head-on, so she walks to the front and holds the kid’s
hand without looking back. Rex quietly follows them from behind, and comes to the realization that
holding hands and walking side by side is not the only type of romance in the world. This sight that he’s
witnessing right now is very romantic too.
When they reach a shelf full of toys, Adair is glued to a box of Lego. It is a Porsche 911 model.
He can’t move his eyes away from it as a light is shining brightly within his eyes. “Mum, this car looks
good.”
Lily understands her son the most and she shakes her head adamantly. “No, you already have a few of
these.”
Although she is getting by quite well, she still wants to prevent her child from cultivating a wasteful
habit. Besides, he really has a lot of these toys, and they were all gifted by Ryan.
Lily’s thoughts on education are that if there is one person who is treating her son very well, then there
must be another who is stepping on the brakes. She can’t let him feel that he can get anything he
wants in the world.
“Do you like it that much?” Rex removes the Lego from the shelf and feels happy from within. He finally
can be of use to his son. “Then I’ll buy it for you.”
Adair’s eyes almost drop to the ground as he cries out, “Really?!”
“Yes.” Rex sees the admiration in his son’s eyes and his dignity as a father is slowly materialising in his
heart. “Just buy it if you like it.”
Lily wants to stop him, but she is too late.
She wears a sullen expression on her face as her mood that’s just starting to improve is getting bad
again. From this moment until they are finished with shopping and finally reaching home, she barely
says anything.
The car stops in front of their condo, and Lily holds the little kid’s hand as she locks eyes with the man
who is standing opposite them. “I send Adair home first. Wait for me.”
Rex is surprised that she is not going home straightaway, of course he replies happily. “Okay.”
…
Lily holds Adair’s hand as they head towards their condo block, and there is some distance from the
entrance to their block. The mother and son duo studies their shadows which are stretched long and
wide by the moonlight while they are savouring the warm and relaxing time that only belongs to them.
“Little Adair…” Lily is hesitating whether to ask him this, and she only states her question after some
time, “Do you like that uncle just now?”
“Of course!” The little kid immediately replies her without thinking, which makes her feel surprised.
“Why is that?”
Adair cocks his head slightly and gives it a thought; his face is full of happiness. “Because that uncle is
very good towards me, he has sent us home, bought me toys, and he also asked what kind of food that
I like and dislike. He even hugged me when we are exiting the car…”
Lily listens intently to his son who is reading out loud his good deeds, and her mind reaches the
conclusion that there is indeed the saying ‘blood is thicker than water’. Can it be that this is for real?
Even though the past five years they never met each other, but they looked like they were so familiar
with each other because of they are related.
Lily wants to produce a smile but fails in the end. She can only say dryly, “As long as you like him.”
After making sure the kid is upstairs, Lily doesn’t follow him inside, instead she goes downstairs after
watching him going into his room.
Outside the condo, the car is parked there very conspicuously. She stops in her tracks as she looks at
the scene in front of her silently while letting the night breeze mess up her hair. She feels that
everything is too surreal, it has been five years, and their fate is going to intertwine again. Is this mere
coincidence or is this all destined?
“Honk…”
An impatient honk blares through the street, signalling the man’s impatience as he sees her standing
there not moving an inch.
Lily lowers her head and swipes some of her hair behind her ears. She smiles bitterly as she thinks that
his bad temper probably does not change with time.
She sucks in a deep breath, and finally marches towards the car.
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