Cristelle let out a breath. Candace had been a bit depressed lately because she needed to go to school soon. But it seemed like the little girl quickly adapted to the environment quite well.
Betty also arrived after Amy and Thomas. The little girl’s eyes lit up the moment she saw Cody.
However, Cody turned away when he noticed Betty was looking at him. He didn’t even want to spare her an extra glance.
Betty pouted, acting as if she wanted to cry. She genuinely wanted to make friends with Candace and Cody this year. But it seemed like the twins still didn’t like her.
Macros and Lana came to send the girl to school today.
“Linford? What a coincidence,” Lana smiled as she saw Linford and Cristelle. Cristelle cast a glance at Lana and looked away.
To be honest, she felt sad for this girl. Her marriage was a lie, but she still insisted on acting like she was the happiest bride in the world.
Cristelle could tell Lana’s eyes were dead. But her tough nature forced her never to admit defeat. It must be exhausting to live that way.
Linford didn’t have many expressions on his face. He only nodded slightly at the brother and sister.
Lana crouched down to greet Candace, “Hi!.. Candace sweetie. Do you like school?”
Candace used to like this young girl. But she heard Lana trying to marry their Dad and kick their Mom out of the house, so she started feeling awkward when she saw this woman.
“I like school,” Candace said shortly after casting a glance at her Mom.
“You’re lying, aren’t you?” Lana laughed.
“No one likes school.”
Cody took a step forward and pulled Candace as his little sister hid behind his back, “Please don’t teach my sister how to think. Besides, this is really none of your business, is it?”
The boy glared at Lana unflinchingly. Lana finally looked a bit embarrassed. She slowly stood up, “Of course.”
Peter noticed the tension in the air. He went forward and laughed, “Alright, now that the kids are safely here. I’ll take care of the rest. Please go home, parents, and leave the babies to me.”
“Thank you,” Linford nodded at Peter and took Cristelle’s hand before walking out of the classroom.
Lana clenched her teeth, eyes boring viciously into their interlaced fingers. She only walked out of the classroom after her brother called her attention.
****
Linford was driving as they left the school. Cristelle asked carefully, “I noticed that Lana and her husband are living near us. Is she spying on us secretly?”
Linford glanced slightly at her, nodding, “I think so.”
Cristelle blinked after a short shock, “How long have you known about this?”
“I knew this when they first moved around,” Linford answered, his eyes on the road, “I guessed their intention of moving closer to us. But it’s okay. If she wants to watch our moves, she can do it as much as she wants. The sweeter we are, the more miserable she is. She can live that way if she prefers to be miserable. I don’t mind.”
Cristelle arched an eyebrow. Linford seldom said things like this. It was a bit mean, but she had to admit that she enjoyed hearing that since Lana had done many horrible things.
“But she’s known you since you two were little kids. Do you really want her to be miserable?” Cristelle hesitated.
Linford smiled as he turned to look at her, “I’ve tried my best to keep our distance, Cristelle. I also didn’t want her to be miserable, but she was so stubborn. There’s nothing more I can do, really. No matter how cruel it is, I have to make her face reality. Or it will only get worse for her.”
Cristelle knew Linford was just being honest, but she couldn’t bring herself to ignore the light smugness in his tone.
She rolled her eyes. She finally knew why Cody could be really narcissistic sometimes. He got it from his father.
The car turned and drove in another direction.
“Where are we heading? We’re not going back to our house?” Cristelle queried.
“Movie day, Mrs. Bradley,” Linford kept a straight face, “I’ve booked the seats.”
Cristelle blinked, “Why do you suddenly want to go on a movie date?”
Linford shrugged, “We’ve spent so many days at home, and it was so boring. You don’t want to relax a bit?”
The twins were cute, but they were always in his way when he tried to spend some time alone with his wife.
Now he finally got them out of his hair and just couldn’t wait to spend quality time with his Cristelle.
Cristelle could tell what Linford was thinking. She smiled and shook her head.
Linford picked a romantic movie. The cinema was private. They snuggled and shared some delicious popcorn and coke.
After the movie, Linford sent Alfred to book a table in the nearby Italian restaurant.
Cristelle wanted some boba tea. Linford asked her to sit on the bench, and the Boss himself went to get in line to buy some boba tea for his wife.
Linford didn’t wear a suit today. He was in some random jacket, jeans, and sneakers. He looked like an athletic college boy in that outfit. A couple of girls giggled as they turned around to look at him.
Cristelle yawned as she narrowed her eyes at the sun. She looked around and saw Fritzi and Paul walk down the street in the opposite direction.
Cristelle’s eyes widened in surprise. Were they here as well?
She wanted to greet them, but Fritzi and Paul just left before she could approach.
Linford came back with two cups of boba tea, handing one cup to her, “What are you looking at?”
Cristelle took a sip, “I just saw Fritzi and Paul. They just walked into the cinema. I didn’t expect things to work out so fast between them.”
“Fritzi skipped her work again?” The capitalist narrowed his eyes, sounding bossy.
Cristelle laughed as she patted his arm, “Hey, take it easy, Boss. Fritzi’s been through a lot lately, okay? You need to give her a couple of days off.”
Linford smiled, holding Cristelle’s hand to pull her up, “Paul is a great guy. You don’t need to worry about Fritzi.”