After a while, Cristofer finally stopped. He seemed to have gone back to his side. Soon, his breathing became even, and he drifted off to sleep.
Not knowing whether she was happy or disappointed in Cristofer’s behavior, Estelle also felt very sleepy a while later. As she finally didn’t have the strength to keep her eyes open, she closed her eyes and gradually fell asleep.
The next morning, Estelle woke up feeling refreshed. She hadn’t slept this well in a long time.
“Morning,” Cristofer was drinking milk at the table, and when he saw her approach, he greeted her with a smile, “How was your sleep last night?”
Estelle suspected he was implying something. Still, she answered him honestly, “I slept well. And I seemed to have had a dream.”
Hearing that, Cristofer looked slightly disappointed. He then asked, “Was it a sweet dream?”
“Sort of,” Estelle curled up the corner of her mouth and replied meaningfully, “It used to be a scene that I wanted to happen in real life. If only it could become a reality much earlier.”
Breathing a sigh of relief, Cristofer felt that the heavy rock in his chest fell down. And he replied, “Sweet dreams can come true, can’t they?”
‘I’ll help you make your sweet dreams come true, Estelle. In return, can you help me make my dream come true? Like marrying me and holding a wedding at church with me?’ At the same time, Cristofer thought to himself.
After pulling his mind back to real life, Cristofer asked Estelle, “Right?”
Yet, just when Cristofer was eagerly waiting for Estelle’s answer, the children rushed toward him like wild horses out of control, laughing out loud. Immediately after that, their laughter filled the house, sweeping away the awkward atmosphere.
And Estelle used the situation to play dumb, pretending she hadn’t heard what Cristofer had said just now. And after having breakfast, she decided to go straight to the office.
With Luke and Mrs. Moorsum around, she didn’t have to worry about getting the kids to school for a while. And before she left the house, Estelle asked the kids, “Where do you want to go tonight?”
Yvonne and Christina naturally wanted their Mom and Dad to be together all the time. Yet, last night, they promised Estelle that they would go home. When they were caught in the middle, Yohan said, “Of course, we want to stay with Grandma. We can come back to spend the weekend with Dad.”
Because Yohan always made the call, Yvonne and Christina had no choice but to agree with his decision. Estelle was satisfied with this arrangement, so she agreed to meet them in the evening. After that, she went straight to the office.
****
During the day, Estelle was so busy with her work that she didn’t even have the time to go out for lunch. Eva brought the lunch to her office instead. After refilling her coffee several times, Estelle rubbed her temples and looked at the mountain of work in front of her, and she made up her mind that she would never skip work again.
When Estelle was working, Eva offered to help her. When asked about what she had in mind about the revision of the previous program, Eva recited Cristofer’s ideas, which were forwarded to her by Vincent.
“Did you come up with this yourself, or did Vincent come up with it?” Estelle felt that the style of the program was familiar.
“Well, I followed your advice and asked Vincent for some suggestions,” Eva answered, knowing that if she lied to Estelle, Estelle would definitely expose her lies. After that, she immediately picked up the empty cup on her desk and said, “Estelle, I’ll go make you a cup of coffee.”
Crossing her arms in front of her chest, Estelle sensed that Eva wasn’t completely honest with her. Then she said helplessly, “Go ahead. No sugar, no milk. Got it?”
Right after Eva brought Estelle the cup of coffee, she left her office hurriedly, not wanting to stay there any longer. She thought, ‘Estelle is way smarter and sharper than me. If I stay at her office longer, she will ask me about the truth, and then I will probably spill the beans, telling her that Cristofer is helping her all the time. Well, they seem to be closer now, though. I guess it will be alright if I tell Estelle the truth. But… Nah! I’ll pass.’
Looking at Eva, who was immersed in her own thoughts with her brows furrowing, Estelle knew that she had guessed it right; Cristofer did help her through Eva.
Estelle had planned to send a text to Cristofer to thank him after work, but she got so busy that she forgot. It wasn’t until her phone unexpectedly rang that she shifted her attention from work to her phone. After searching through piles of papers, she finally found her phone and answered it.
On the other end of the line, she heard a familiar voice, “Hi, Ms. Hudson. This is Yohan’ teacher. I’m calling to let you know that Yohan’ father picked him up from school. They left in a hurry, so I couldn’t discuss something important with his dad. I hope you can pass this message along.”
Estelle was puzzled and glanced at her watch. She realized that she had been so absorbed in her work that she forgot to pick up Yohan from school. In a rush, she said, “I’m really sorry. What’s the matter? I’ll inform Yohan’ father as soon as possible.”
“Yohan’ grades are exceptional, and the school is considering letting him skip a grade. If you agree, please come to the school this week to sign an agreement.”
“Alright, thank you.”
“By the way, I’ve never met Yohan’ father before, and today was the first time he came to pick up Yohan. Initially, I was cautious because I didn’t know him, so I didn’t allow him to take Yohan. After Yohan recognized his father, I allowed Mr. Hans to take him. I apologize if this caused any inconvenience.”
With a light chuckle, Estelle replied, “No. You didn’t cause us any inconvenience. I should thank you for taking good care of Yohan for me.” After a few more words with the teacher about Yohan skipping a grade, Estelle hung up the phone. And she was still a bit dissatisfied about what Cristofer did.
‘I thought we made it clear that the children would go to see their grandma today. Why did Cristofer pick up the kids? What is he up to?’ Estelle wondered. With that in mind, she hurriedly called the kindergarten teachers. And she was even more furious when she heard that Cristofer had picked them up.