She frowned, feeling unpleasant, “But the fact that you are of the Lewis family can’t be changed.”
“So what?” Looking towards her, I was not that excited, “I don’t expect to be admitted. Since they have accepted Olivia, what they should do is to treat her kindly.”
She sighed, “You just can’t let it go.” After a while, she looked at me, “I will get married in October. See you that day. Don’t stand me up.”
I was shocked, “With whom?”
“A guy! you will know that day.”
I…
The meeting took a long time. When it’s done, Dennis went to Folly to talk about something. I was going to pick up Clarie.
Unfortunately, I came across Mario Bennett who was also about to leave.
I didn’t want to talk with him, but he greeted me, “Where are you going? Let me drive you.”
“No, thanks!” Due to Diana, I thought badly of him. I had no interest in his story. He was half responsible for Diana-thing.
He frowned, following me, “It’s raining. I’m available. I can drive you.”
I stopped moving, looking back, “What do you want on earth?”
He looked down, “I want to have dinner with her.”
The “her” meant Clarie.
Lips pressed. I had to admit the fact that Clarie was her daughter.
After a long silence, I responded, “Once for all.”
He was shocked that I would agree, grinning, “Alright.”
“I am going to pick her. You can join.” I said and went straight towards my car.
He also got in my car. The traffic became heavier because of the rain.
The car moved on slowly. I would not like to talk with him but he broke the silence, “I didn’t know she was pregnant. If I had known, I wouldn’t have let her go.”
I frowned, not wanting to make any comments.
“What does she like to eat?” He asked, sighing.
I knew he was asking about Clarie’s taste.
“She is not a picky eater.” Clarie wasn’t particular about food. If there was something she liked, that could be candy which is most kids’ favorite food.
Realizing I didn’t want to talk more, he also kept silent.
It took half an hour to get to the school.
On parking the car, kids were walking out. I saw Clarie looking around behind her teacher.
Seeing me, she said goodbye to her teacher and ran to me.
“Mom, is Dennis busy today? Why doesn’t he pick me?”
These days Clarie depended much on him. They two got along well like father and daughter.
I took her backpack and said, “He is busy with business, not available to come here.”
Clarie felt a little disappointed but said nothing. She looked up and noticed Mario staring at her.
The little kid thought for a while and asked, “Are you that uncle standing at the gravestone of Diana’s mother that day?”
I was shocked at her memory. Just meeting once, she remembered him.
Mario nodded, smiling. He stared into her eyes without saying a word.
Sitting in the car, Mario seemed nervous. He didn’t say any word but stared at Clarie.
I broke the silence, “What do you want to eat, Clarie?”
Clarie thought for seconds and said seriously, “Dennis promised to take me to eat steak this morning. Mom, are we going to find Dennis?”
I suddenly remembered he did speak like that.
Mario coughed and said, “I’ll call him. We eat together.”
I nodded and didn’t say more.
Since Diana entrusted Clarie to me, I had selfishly decided not to let the kid know who her father was.
Dennis came late due to the meeting. We waited for half an hour until he got there.
After ordering, Clarie snuggled up to Dennis, talking to him. She depended on him.
Mario tried to speak to Clarie, but the kid only replied with some polite words.
I could understand what he felt. To break the silence, I asked, “I heard you had planned to go back to H town.”
He nodded, “Yeah, my family takes root there. It’s time to go back.”
Dennis had told me about the Bennett family which was a literary one. For a hundred years, its offspring had made respectively great achievements, either in the business field or the medical field. The family had its influence at home and abroad.
Nowadays, the Bennett family had been a major role in H town. Mario returned to his hometown, not only to take care of his family but also to continue developing in his interested fields.
This was a good thing, but as for Nova…
While I was thinking about that, she came up. She was a bit conspicuous at this French restaurant which had not many people. After all, a chic young pregnant lady could always attract attention.
With the thought of having a rare quiet dinner, I had intended to ignore her.
But she went straight towards us from the front desk, as if on purpose.
She made a slight smile, “Mario, I didn’t expect you were here too.”
I couldn’t help suspecting she came here deliberately, because it’s uncommon that a pregnant woman would go to a western restaurant alone.
Mario frowned and nodded, asking with no expression, “On your own?”
She nodded and spoke softly, “I feel bored at home. You didn’t answer the phone, so I come out.”
“Have a seat!” Mario said unemotionally. He ordered steak for her.
The dish was served. Dennis put Clarie in the chair aside before cutting his steak.
Clarie was too young to deal with her steak, and I felt lazy to do with mine, so both of us simply waited for Dennis to do a favor.
Mario put his cuts in front of Clarie, and softly said, “How about eating this?”
With hesitation, Clarie nodded.
Seeing what Mario did, Nova felt unhappy. She pushed her plate in front of Mario with half uncut steak on, smiling, “Mario, could you do me a favor? I feel pain in my arms these days.”
Mario frowned unhappily, with a cut put into his mouth. He waved to a waiter.
The waiter came up, “Sir, what can I do for you?”