“Is Mom really as beautiful as she is in the portrait?” the eldest son asked, slightly touching Leland’s heart. He raised his hand to pat the boy’s round head and said, “Your mom has changed; she doesn’t look like the person in the portrait anymore.”
“Ah…” Wayne felt disappointed upon hearing this. He knew the mother in the portrait was very beautiful-more so than any women he had ever seen. He often looked at the portrait of his mother, longing for the day he could finally meet her in person. But now, his father said she had changed and no longer looked like the woman in the portrait.
“Why did she change?” Wayne couldn’t understand. Could it be that his mother had aged?
“She may have changed, but she is still your mother, and that’s a fact no one can change. Just because she doesn’t resemble the woman in the portrait anymore, does that mean you won’t acknowledge her?” Leland’s voice was gentle, but his expression was threatening, as if he would punish them severely should they admit they wouldn’t acknowledge her.
Unaware of the danger, Wayne shook his head sincerely and said, “Of course not. No matter what Mom looks like, she is still mine and my brother’s mother. It’s just that… I’m afraid I won’t recognize her when I see her. I want to be able to identify her at first glance and tell her that I’ve grown up.” After saying this, he turned to his bewildered younger brother, Shawn, and asked, “Right, brother?”
Shawn nodded vigorously, “Yes!”
A small sapling seemed to sprout in their hearts, swaying in the wind. Leland softened his voice. “It’s okay if you don’t recognize her at first glance. I will be there to remind you. Do you have any other questions?”
“What does Mom like?” Wayne asked next.
“She likes beautiful things.”
“Then she must like me and my brother because we are so beautiful,” Wayne said, grinning proudly.
His smug appearance made the nanny laugh, and even Leland felt a bit more relaxed.
“What does Mom hate? What doesn’t she like?” Shawn asked.
Leland was taken aback. He didn’t know how to answer; the thing Winifred hated and disliked the most was him. If she regained her memory, she might hate the sudden appearance of these two children as well.
“I don’t know what she dislikes…”
Wayne looked disappointed. “Ah? How can Dad not know?”
“Your mother can’t remember the past; she has amnesia and has forgotten a lot, including me and that she has children. Right now, I truly don’t know what she dislikes…”
“Why does Mom have amnesia?”
“I don’t know. Let’s just think of it as meeting her for the first time. She doesn’t know about you, and we won’t tell her, so as not to scare her. If we frighten her away, you’ll never have a mother.”
Upon hearing this, the children showed a look of panic and shook their heads. “We definitely won’t tell her!”
Leland thought to himself, since Winifred disliked him, he could have the children charm her.
His sons, needless to say, had a knack for being likable. Every servant, nanny, cook, and driver in the house adored them for their cuteness and sweet talk. It was unclear whose personality they had inherited.
“Your mother might not like me very much, so when the time comes, you’ll have to sweet-talk her,” he said.
Sweet-talking adults was their forte, but still…
Wayne looked up at Leland, puzzled, and asked, “Why doesn’t Mom like you, Dad? Did you do something to upset her?”
Leland didn’t want to dwell on this topic. He pressed Wayne’s head gently and turned it towards the dining table, “Just finish your meal, it’s getting cold.”
Facing the bitter melon, Wayne was unhappy. With his father watching, he couldn’t dare ask his younger brother to eat it for him. He had to obediently pinch his spoon and shove the bitter melon into his mouth, his face filled with the bitterness, looking like he wanted to spit it out but dared not, forcing himself to swallow.
His expression reminded Leland of Winifred. Their children were as picky as her and disliked bitter melon.
Leland thought of the text message he had read; Winifred was sick with a cold, unsure whether she had taken her medicine diligently.
Back when Gentry Estate still existed, whenever Winifred was ill, he would cook delicious meals to coax her into taking her medication.
Wayne quickly finished the bitter melon in his bowl and then pushed the empty bowl towards Leland, looking pitifully as if to show that he had finished.
“Dad, I’m done. When can we see Mom?” Wayne asked.
Shawn looked on eagerly too.
With both children’s innocent gazes upon him, Leland said, “No rush, we’ll be there soon. Now, you’ve finished eating, the nanny will take you out to play, I have to work.”
Hearing that Leland had to work, the children, curious as they were, didn’t dare disturb him further. They obediently left the table, and the nanny took them out of the house, holding their hands.
Leland went upstairs back to his study. He opened the window and looked down to see the children playing joyfully below.
He took out his phone and flipped through the photo album; one picture was of Winifred from the past, and another of her now. He had said he could recognize Winifred even if she turned to ashes, so what if her appearance had changed? He had still found her.
Leland made a call to Henry, inquiring about the investigation into Garrison.
Henry, clearly having been up all night, was still asleep. Startled awake by the phone, he was about to snap until he saw it was Leland calling. He answered groggily, his voice hoarse, “I’ve done a cursory investigation; it’s not complete. Boss, do you want to see it now? If you want, I can send it over.”
“Send it over.”
Leland turned and sat in his chair, opened his computer, and waited for Henry to send the file. It arrived in less than three minutes.
The documents were clearly unorganized, a jumble of bits and pieces. Leland clicked through them one by one.
Even without these documents, Leland had guessed when Garrison had found Winifred.
He remembered that four years ago, Garrison had disappeared for a long time. During that period, he must have found Winifred and taken her for facial surgery. Over the years, Winifred’s face had likely been continuously adjusted and repaired.
Every detail could be traced; how had he not noticed at the time?
And now, Winifred was not only a changed person but also the fiancee of Garrison.