“So what? I think Julian’s right. I’m not related to you anymore, so it’s better to let the children acknowledge the fact earlier.”
“Rachel Hudson!” Justin forcefully punched his fist beside her ear.
Rachel closed her eyes in shock as wind gushed by her ear as a result of Justin’s force. Moments later, she opened her eyes only to be met with Justin’s which were still filled with rage.
“Are you done?”
Rachel’s eyes were as calm as still water when she spat the three simple words while staring quietly at Justin. “Let go of me if you’re done. Charlotte and Samuel are coming out soon. You don’t wish for them to see you treating me like this, do you?”
“Are you threatening me?”
“Threatening you?” Rachel snorted and looked downward.
The next second, Justin gasped all of a sudden. He started jumping on one foot while holding his other foot which was stomped and stared at Rachel in disbelief.
While Justin was still wincing, Rachel quickly kept a safe distance away from him.
“You’re still as arrogant as always. I have many other ways to make you let go of me. Why would I threaten you?”
Rachel crossed her arms. Justin was blood-boiled hearing her sarcastic tone, but the pain in his foot was so intense that he couldn’t even say a word. Sure enough, Rachel did not show mercy at all when she stepped on him.
Just then, Julian came out with the two kids. Seeing Justin leaning against the tree with an agonized look, Julian darted a perplexed glance toward him and Rachel. “What happened?”
Rachel shrugged. “He said he’s having a stomachache. Maybe he has eaten some unclean food in the morning.”
Julian asked kindly, “A stomachache? Let me take a look.”
“No, thanks!” Justin shot a fierce glare at Julian.
After that, they went to a restaurant to meet Jolly
“My elegant queen who’s going on a vacation, where’s your hat?” Rachel started teasing Jolly’s flyaway hair the moment she saw her.
Jolly, on the other hand, looked crabby. “Who knew the wind would be so strong at the peak of the hill? My hat was blown away!” After that, she glared at Rachel. “You already knew that, didn’t you?”
“Even if I did, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you so. You would surely insist that the hat wouldn’t fly away if you held it tight.”
“Oh, sure. You just wanted to see me being embarrassed!”
“There, there. I’ll buy you another hat, alright?”
“That’s more like it!”
Seeing the two men from a distance who accompanied the kids to take some fruits, Jolly nudged Rachel. “Do you feel that the atmosphere is rather tense today?”
“What do you mean?”
“The silent competition between the two men.”
Following Jolly’s gaze, Rachel stared at Justin and Julian in the distance.
Samuel pointed at a piece of cake and said, “Mr. Peters, I’d like to have that.”
“Sure.” Just as Julian was about to get that piece of cake, Justin quickly took it away. “I’m sorry. Charlotte loves this.”
Nevertheless, Julian soon regained his composure. “It’s okay. I’ll ask the waiter to get us more.”
A waiter who happened to be serving dishes near them overheard their conversation and said apologetically, “I’m sorry. That is the last piece of the cake. There are many customers since today is a weekend.”
“It’s okay.” Julian caressed Samuel’s hair and cooed, “Samuel, let’s get other desserts.”
“Samuel can have mine,” Charlotte offered generously.
But before Samuel spoke up, Justin quickly replied, “Charlotte, some things can’t be shared.”
With that, Julian immediately fought back. “Charlotte is willing to share, so why not? It’s just a piece of cake.”
“That’s because she has never lacked cakes, but it would be a different story when it comes to other things.”
“You’re not referring to the cake? Then it’s not an issue of whether to share or not. Samuel wanted the cake first anyway.”
“A family can’t be shared.”
Julian’s pupils dilated at once. “Justin!”
Although Samuel was not Rachel’s biological child, Rachel had been raising him ever since he was a baby, so he was just like a biological son to her. On the other hand, Samuel had always thought that Rachel was his biological mother since the adults had never mentioned anything in front of him. How could Justin say such things in front of the kids?!
While the atmosphere was getting tense, Samuel blurted, “A cake can be shared.”
Justin was stunned.
“Yeah, a cake can be shared.” Charlotte held Samuel’s hand. The two kids then looked at Justin and Julian in puzzlement. “What’s wrong with you guys?”
Justin and Julian exchanged glances. At this moment, both their eyes were filled with complexity. The atmosphere was rather weird at the dining table; Justin and Julian were in a stalemate to divide the cake.
To clear the tension, Jolly couldn’t help but speak up, “Come on guys, it’s just a piece of cake. Why do you have to be so particular about whether it is divided fairly?”
“Have you heard that inequality rather than poverty is the cause of troubles?” said Justin.
“What are you talking about? Can’t we just simply cut it?”
“No way.” Justin rejected it resolutely.
Jolly grumbled impatiently, “What do you want to do then? Are you going to let the kids have the cake or not?”
Justin glanced at Rachel and said, “You can divide it for them.” He would like to see who was more important to Rachel-the adopted son or the biological daughter.
Frowning, Rachel did not hesitate but directly placed the cake in front of the two kids and gave each of them
a fork. “Samuel, Charlotte, you guys can have them together, alright?”
The two kids had no issues with that to begin with, so they answered at the same time, “Sure!”
Rachel said, “Not everything has to be divided equally. There’s no need to be so calculative between friends and family.”
Justin wore a complicated look as he was being snubbed.
After the meal, they went to the musical fountain on the hill. There were many pigeons flying all over the square. Julian bought two packets of corn and passed them to the two kids. However, Charlotte shook her head incessantly and shrunk into Justin’s arms. “I don’t want them.”
Rachel was confused. “What’s wrong?”
Justin caressed Charlotte’s hair. “She’s afraid of birds.”
Rachel was startled. “I’m sorry, Charlotte. It’s my fault. I didn’t know you were afraid of birds and I even brought you here.”
Justin looked into the distance and said nonchalantly, “How would you know? We came here because of Samuel, am I right?” With that, he carried Charlotte and walked away immediately, leaving Rachel stunned for quite a while.
On the other hand, Samuel loved feeding pigeons and had already started feeding them with Jolly. There were even a few pigeons that stopped on his shoulders and made him giggle joyfully.
“Rachel,” Julian’s voice emerged. “Don’t worry. It’s normal for children to be afraid of something. You didn’t mean it anyway.”
Rachel passed the packet of corn to Julian. “I’ll go check out on Charlotte.”
The absence in the past 5 years couldn’t be made up in a short time. As much as Charlotte was fond of Rachel, the latter felt that she had not fulfilled the responsibility of a mother.
Meanwhile, Justin had already walked away from the square with Charlotte. “Charlotte, there are no pigeons here. Don’t be afraid.”
It was only then did Charlotte lift up her head from Justin’s arms, but her face was still pale as a result of fright when she saw the pigeons which were flying from afar.
“It’s okay.” Justin patted Charlotte’s back gently.
“Why is Charlotte so afraid of pigeons?”
When Justin heard the voice, he saw Rachel who caught up with them from the corner of his eye.
