Wendy did not notice the strange look on Stella’s face.
“Why don’t you come over and play with him?” she asked.
But that was Guinevere’s baby. The baby she had with Weston.
Stella’s eyes almost trembled with all that suppressed emotion, but she still had to pretend that she
was fine.
“Never mind,” she refused. “I have no experience with children. I don’t even know how to hold them…”
“It’s really not that hard!”
With Zach in her arms, Wendy walked towards Stella and handed him to her.
“Every woman has to learn how to do it someday anyway,” she told Stella. “Come on; I’ll teach you how
to hold him!”
Wendy was so kind to her that she found it hard to refuse her, but at the same time, she just froze
when Wendy pushed Zach’s little body towards her. The boy leaned against her chest; his face flushed
red from all the crying. Soon, he closed his eyes and cried his lungs out again …
“Waaah! Waaah!”
Stella’s whole body stiffened. She looked down lumberingly at the boy, not knowing what to do or say.
Wendy laughed when she saw how clueless and awkward
Stella was with Zach.
“You have to coax and soothe him!”
“…but how do I do that?”
“Just shake his arm a bit. Pat his back a little. Be gentle.”
Stella did as she was told and imitated what Wendy did earlier with Zach.
“Don’t cry…” she cooed, gently patting Zach’s tiny back. “It’s alright…”
Perhaps there was a special connection between Zach and Stella, or perhaps Zach was just tired from
all the crying, but in any case, he suddenly stopped crying.
The boy let out a long sigh, and his reddened face gradually recovered as he stretched and yawned as
though he was so cozy that he was ready to sleep.
“Ahh…”
“Did he stop crying just like that?” Stella marveled. “His mood changed so quickly!”
“Children are like that,” Wendy nodded. “One minute they’re crying their lungs out, the next minute they
start laughing their hearts out! You can never guess what
they’re thinking!” Mixed feelings stirred Stella’s heart. She gazed fixedly at Zach’s little face, feeling as
if she could see her child in this boy…
Chris Ford stomped across the living room, hell-bent on leaving the house, until he bumped into
Weston, who had just returned from sending off the guests.
Weston paused his steps and greeted his father with a simple nod and a terse. “Dad.” He had always
been this chilled and reserved. Chris used to admire this side of his son’s character, believing it made
him independent and reliable and the sort of person who would achieve great success.
But now, it just came off as cold and heartless.
“How can you still be here after all that’s happened?!” he barked.
“Where did you expect me to be, Dad?”
“You should be with Gwen, comforting her! Don’t you know how heartbroken she must be right now?”
Weston’s lips twitched.
“I think you’re in a much more suitable position to comfort her,” he reminded his father. “So why don’t
you do it instead, Dad?”
Chris gasped hard as if he had just woken up from a nightmare. He took a few steps back and slapped
his forehead, defeated
“I should’ve expected this,” he said with a tone of regret. “Of course, you wouldn’t be willing to settle
down and marry Gwen, now that you’ve fallen for that woman… So all those promises you gave me
meant nothing at all to you, huh?”
Chris was no longer challenging his son. He merely stated the facts with a sense of powerlessness.
Weston remained silent, his countenance impenetrable, and his eyes were like a stormy night at sea –
dark and turbulent.
“I just had a huge fight with your mother,” Chris muttered. He leaned back against the wall beside him
as if utterly drained of energy.
“If you didn’t care so much about Gwen, you and Mom would never have fought,” Weston replied. “If
you could just be with Gwen, then I wouldn’t be worried about her so much,” Chris sighed. “If you would
take care of her, then I can finally relax.”
Even now, his father still insisted on forcing Guinevere on him.
“Are you saying that it’s my fault that you and Mom are fighting?” he interrupted Chris plainly, looking
straight at him.
“That’s… that’s not what I meant…”
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