“Halle, stay for a more while. I rented this lobby for the whole afternoon. It will cost me the same whether you stay one hour or a whole afternoon.”
Gee, how much would it cost. He surly came from a rich family. How wasteful. But Halle didn’t say anything, allowing the kids to play.
Ronan kept silent and ordered some sweets. While the kids were playing, Ronan was playing the violin. Halle didn’t know that Ronan could play the violin so well. He seemed to enjoy the atmosphere here.
The kids played another hour. Then they asked to leave because they were tired.
Form the stairs to the door, there were two rows of waiters who were seeing them out. Halle was shocked by this grand sight.
“Mr. Grant, Miss Halle and the kids, looking forward to your next visit.” MD’s manager even escorted them to the door himself.
Halle froze a second, pointing at her nose herself, and asked in confusion, “Do you know me?” She’s been with Ronan this whole time and has never introduced herself to anybody. But this manager addressed her precisely as Miss Halle which was definitely odd.
“Yeah, of course. Sure I know you, Miss Halle. Though I haven’t met you for a long time, I still…”
But Ronan immediately interrupted the manager’s half-spoken sentence, “Mr. Powell, me and Halle have to deal with something. Talk to you later. Then, in the face of all the people present, Ronan held Halle’s hands and caught up with the children who were walking towards the BMW car.
Halle tried her best to break away Ronan’s hands but failed due to his strength. From stranger’s angle, they looked like they were just being intimate.
“Let go of me!” Halle lowly scolded. If there weren’t that many people present, she would really like to slap him again.
“I won’t. Get in the car.” Roman ordered. Pushing the remote car key, three kids friskily hopped on the car. Then the back door automatically closed with another click. Seeing that Nylah and Amirah were already in the car, Halle had no choice but to sit on the passenger’s seat. Ronan can always think of something to let Halle follow his order.
“Why wouldn’t you let me talk to Mr. Powell?” Halle had this hunch that the “Miss Halle” Mr. Powell has addressed wasn’t her. She still remembered that when she first met Ronan, he called her “Halle”. Was there another “Halle”?
“It’s not that. I just suddenly remembered that I got an appointment at four o’clock. I’d be late if I don’t leave MD quickly.”
“Ronan, who’s Helle?” Ignoring Ronan’s explanation, Halle posed the question which meant to let Ronan be caught off guard. He definitely didn’t know that she’s heard the name “Helle”.
As expected, hearing the question, Ronan’s hands which were holding the steering wheel paused. He was obviously taken aback by the name “Helle”, but then he cooled down quickly and said, “Halle? Isn’t your name Halle?”
Halle’s heart twitched, but she just knew that Ronan was lying. She suddenly remembered what Natalie has once told her. She already knew that she looked alike Ronan’s first girlfriend. Halle looked at Ronan’s profile with her hands clenched into a fist and whispered, “I’ve heard you called this name before.”
“Really? No wonder that you would ask me. But when?” Ronan couldn’t recall when he has called Halle “Helle”. Well, Halle obviously knew this name since she asked him, but he’s never called anybody this name except to Helle.
Feeling irritated, Halle licked her dry lips and lowly replied, “There was this time when you were asleep, and you called me Helle in your dream.”
She was actually testing him to see what did she mean to him. Halle felt relaxed when she posed the question. She just wanted her and Ronan to create a happy family environment for the kids. But was Ronan able to do that?
“Back at the apartment?” Ronan’s face has returned to normal, and he just silently changed the subject to when they were living together.
“Yeah, that’s right. Last time when you were drunk, you kept calling me Helle while holding my hands.”
“Oh, that’s right. I remember that night you wanted to get some drink, so I drank with you…” Ronan smiled. Seeing Ronan’s face with warm sunshine, Halle’s heart skipped a bit.
“But you ended up being drunker than me. You totally passed out.” Then they had sex that night. Halle’s heart was violently beating when she recalled the night. She felt like it was a dream, but Nylah and Amirah back at the car were living proof that everything was real.
“I really can just remember this much.” Ronan sighed. He just had a vague memory of what happened that night, except for he was really sad and drank a lot.
He must assume that she didn’t know anything, but actually Natalie has told her everything. She knew that she was just a sub. “Why would you want me back?” He was obviously surrounded by a lot of women. He didn’t love her and didn’t want her to fall in love with him, so why would he take her back? She really hated that he forced her using Hunter as a leverage.
Looking at the passing street view, Ronan got serious and suddenly said, “Because you’re not greedy. You won’t ask me for anything.” Maybe this was the best reason. She didn’t want his money and wouldn’t fall in love with him foolishly. But a strange feeling came to him when he said that. But at the moment, Ronan couldn’t really tell what went wrong.
He didn’t love her, not surprisingly. He just wanted her back because she’s not greedy and didn’t want anything from him.
Halle’s heart was wrenching and her finger nails had already cut into her skin. But she seemed like nothing was happening. Her face slowly turned ghastly pale. She tried her best to hold back the tears. She has given birth to two daughters for him. But he took her back just because she’s not greedy.
This was ridiculous.
Truly ridiculous.
“Halle, are you okay? Are you in love with me?” Looking at Halle’s face in the mirror, Ronan asked in concern.
Softly biting her lips, Halle forced a smile and said, “Of course not. You told me from the day one that I shouldn’t fall in love with you. I am not a fool. I would never love you, so I won’t accept your conditions. As for me and Hunter’s problem, it’s my business. I won’t ask you for help. I will deal with it myself. Thank you for your ice cream today.” She thought about letting him know that Nylah and Amirah were actually his kids so that the kids can be happy. But she didn’t see the need now, because Ronan will assume that she’s taking advantage of the kids to hold him back.
He only needs a sex partner in his world, not a spouse.
Halle’s voice was very low and light. The kids in the back who were horsing around didn’t sense that there was something wrong with the two grown-ups in the front. Upon her speech, Ronan immediately hit the brake and stopped the car in the middle of the road. In the meantime, he’s already pressed the button that will raise the transparent glass window between the back and front seats.
Being divided by the glass, Halle can see that Nylah and Amirah were screaming something to her, but she can’t really hear clearly. Then Ronan suddenly rolled down the glass. The kids were obviously worried about her.
She was grateful of him for handling she and Natalie’s problem and signing those two contracts for Hill’s. But now, she really didn’t want anything from him.
She didn’t want his humiliation. Why would she just blindly follow his order and be his mistress?
She would never do that again.
Never, ever!
She’s a living soul with flesh and blood, not a puppet.
Maybe it was because that Ronan has never been bluntly rejected by women before, his face darkened and said, “Halle, do you know what you’re getting yourself into by messing with Hunter?”
“Well, it’s my business. It has nothing to do with you.” She didn’t want to see him anymore.
Compared with Jaiden, Ronan has really let her down. Ronan was just another guy who just wanted to treat her like a mistress.
She will never be his mistress!
She won’t be Hunter’s mistress, and neither will she be Ronan’s. She will raise Nylah and Amirah up herself. She wanted to live with the kids with dignity.
Then Halle straight opened the car door. This time, Ronan didn’t stop her. As soon as Halle got off the car, the kids also jumped down the car and rushed into Halle’s arms. “Mommy, what did uncle Ronan tell you? Why would he raise the glass window before?” Blinking her eyes, Amirah asked in worry.
“Oh, it’s nothing. Uncle Roman had to handle some business issues, so we have to get off the car here.”
“Really?” Nylah was a little doubtful. Both uncle Ronan and mommy’s faces were weird. They must be arguing about something.
“Of course.” Halle smiled. It was really nice to have gotten off the car. Then she held both kids’ hands. “Let’s go home.” It’s not far from home here. It will take about ten minutes by car. But she just wanted to walk back with the kids so that she can breathe more fresh air. She was nearly out of breath because of the depressing air in the car.
Halle let out a smile and walked away from Ronan with the kids in sunshine, not turning back to see his face.
Ronan didn’t start the car until they were completely out of sight, ignoring all the horns behind the car. As the car drove away, Ronan’s suddenly remembered two agreements, one for marriage and one for divorce.
He said that he would make the call in this relationship.
And he has never said that he’s done with her.
Halle won’t be able to escape him!
Thinking about Nylah and Amirah, Ronan once again called his assistant.
“Hello, president.”
“Any leads on what I told you to investigate?”
“President, I…”
“Tell me.” Ronan said right away. He must know who is Nylah and Amirah’s father to find out who Halle cheated with.
“President, except for you, Jaiden and Hunter, Miss Marshall didn’t have contact with anybody.”
Ronan didn’t believe this. The kids can’t be Hunter and Jaiden’s daughter. Punching at the steering wheel, Ronan said, “Go find out Hunter and Jaiden’s blood type and do a paternity test.”
He just wanted to find out the truth.
Somehow, the more he thought about Nylah and Amirah’s lovely faces, the more he wanted to know who’s their father.
The thought kept haunting him.
“Uncle, where are we going?” Kingsley suddenly asked. Kingsley wanted to go home and he recognized this was not the way home when Ronan took the turn.
Ronan then noticed that Kingsley was still in the car. He somehow got worried when he thought of Halle’s pale face as he asked her to be his mistress. So he suddenly got the urge to drive back and check on her. Was he crazy? He would’ve actually drove back if Kingsley weren’t in the car.
He was actually crazy for a woman.
Well, maybe it was because she was special.
Woman like her who wanted neither money nor love was rare these days.
Driving back to Elena’s house, Ronan told Kingsley, “Don’t tell your mommy what happened today. Okay?”
“Well, I can do that. But you have to promise me that you will take me to MD next weekend.”
Ronan laughed and rubbed Kingsley’s hair. Looking at Kingsley, he weirdly can’t shake off Nylah and Amirah’s faces from his head.
He didn’t like kids. He didn’t even like Kingsley that much.
“Mommy, the ice cream is super yummy. Can you take us there again next month?”
“I love the Joy Castle.”
Seeing Nylah and Amirah discussing MD excitedly together, Halle was a bit upset. She can’t really afford going to that place again and she can’t let kids get used to that lifestyle. “Girls, we’re going to move to somewhere new. Shall we eat ice cream near our new house if we’re far from MD?”
“Sure, mommy.”
Shaking her arms while walking, the kids were sweet enough not to question her words.
Nylah and Amirah meant the world to her. She really wanted to bring them happiness, but their father just didn’t love them.
But she really tried her best, so she won’t be regretful after.
“Darcy, we’re back.” Halle shouted as she pushed the door. It was weirdly quiet when she opened the door. But instead of Darcy, another woman’s voice answered, “Halle, you’re finally back.”
Halle recognized the voice immediately. Natalie would always talk to her with endless despise. But today, her voice, though arrogant as ever, was not disdainful. Natalie glanced at Halle who was walking in with Nylah and Amirah. Ignoring Natalie completely, Halle said to Darcy, “From now on, don’t let some random people come into the shop.”
“Yes, Halle.” Darcy was confused. This woman who has waited a long time did say that she knew Halle and even called Halle’s name, but it looked like that Halle didn’t want anything to do with her. Darcy then walked to the kitchen and said, “I’ve already cooked the rice and washed the vegetables.”
“Okay, close the shop door. Let’s have a quiet supper.” During this time, there weren’t that many customers, so Halle said this to kick Natalie out on purpose.
Feeling neglected, Natalie suddenly stood up and raced to Halle, “Halle, is this how you’re treating your old acquaintance?”
Without even turning around, Halle said to Darcy, “Take the kids upstairs to watch cartoon. I’ll call you when food is ready.”
“Okay, Halle.” Darcy then rushed kids upstairs. The kids were used to seeing strangers in the shop, so they didn’t pay attention to Natalie. But while walking upstairs, Darcy was a bit worried. What’s the relationship between Halle and that woman?
Hearing that they were now upstairs, Halle slowly turned around and said to Natalie, “Miss Doyle, you should really have a talk with your husband. Tell him to leave me alone. I don’t even have the slightest feeling for him now like I had years ago. It’s really your problem that your husband bugged me constantly.”
“Halle, you…”
Pulling the kitchen door, Halle directly poured some cooking oil into the frying pan. What was Natalie doing here? Natalie once hired some rascals to mess with her just because Hunter still had feelings for her. Then Ronan showed up and helped her. Every time she thought about this, she would have an unspoken feeling towards Ronan.
She had mixed feelings for Ronan.
She could love or hate Ronan, but she was unable to forget him.
Memories can’t be erased once experienced.
“Halle, you are not the only woman on earth! It would be the same if I go ask somebody else!” Natalie growled at the door.
Halle smiled and ignored Natalie. Hearing that she kicked the stool, Halle was pretty calm. But she wondered that why would Natalie find Hunter a mistress herself?
Well, it’s really not her business.
Feeling not welcomed, Natalie just left awkwardly a moment later. Halle quickly made the supper and ate together with Nylah, Amirah and Darcy. It was already 10 o’clock when she tucked in the kids.
Halle was walking to her bedroom after a hot bath when she heard the phone ring which seemed way louder in the quite shop. Afraid to wake up the kids, she hurried in and picked up the phone. Jaiden’s name was popping on the screen. She called Jaiden multiple times after supper, but all calls went unanswered. So Halle hastily answered the phone, “Jaiden? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay. I have to leave early this afternoon, so I want to check if you are okay.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. He didn’t do anything bad to me. Nylah and Amirah have both fallen asleep. I was just about to sleep when you called.”
“I was a little worried. Just ignore Ronan next time you see him. Don’t get violent with him.”
“Okay, I know that.” She probably won’t see Ronan ever again after what she’s clearly told him that she didn’t want to be his mistress.
“I have a business deal recently, so I won’t be at T City for about two months. But my phone is on 24/7. If you need anything, just call me. I’ll pick it up no matter what.”
“Jaiden, thank you.”
“Halle, please, don’t mention it. I won’t be this busy after these two years. Right, Mrs. Stone was sick, remember to visit her when you are free. She mentioned you to me before.”
“Sure, I will.”
Putting the phone down gently, Halle had a weird feeling towards Jaiden. He’s always been super nice to her and wouldn’t force her to do things that she didn’t like.