Chapter 106 An Odd Way of Comforting Someone
Madeline hung up and turned to say goodbye to Michael and her brothers. Then, she left Wendel House and made her way over to the amusement park.
Michael had wanted her to take a car and two bodyguards with her, but when he got to the yard, he saw that her bodyguard was already in the idling car waiting for her, so he dismissed the thought.
Upon getting into the car, Madeline saw that one of Emory’s men was in the driver’s seat, and Emory himself was in the passenger seat. “Where did you get the car, Emory? We took a plane here,” she pointed out curiously.
More to the point, the car was a modified luxury ride. It was understated on the outside yet spacious on the inside, and it came with top-notch safety features.
Emory turned around and grinned toothily at her. “I have a pied-à-terre here in Wendel City with a couple of cars that I used to drive parked in the garage, so I had someone send one of them over.”
She gaped at him when she heard this. This was a very fine car, and she could hardly believe that it had been left to collect dust in a garage in some pied-à-terre. It seemed like the car was only used more than a few times in a year, but what could she say other than that she could never appreciate the worldview of the rich?
About half an hour later, she arrived at the amusement park. The car slid into a space in the nearby parking lot, and she hurried down. When she spotted Sebastian and her kids from afar, she started running in their direction.
Joel caught sight of her immediately with his eagle eyes, and he jumped up and down in place as he exclaimed, “Mom’s here! Dad, Mom’s here!”
At that moment, Sebastian saw Madeline too. She looked like a dancing butterfly as she fluttered her way over to them. The breeze picked up her long, silky hair and revealed the captivating artwork that was her face.
She was wearing a plain white t-shirt with black jeans, and the outfit accentuated her small waist and delicate figure. She looked tall and slender with her long legs clad in jeans, and coupled with her gorgeous facial features, she was a stunning sight to see. She turned heads as she ran over to where Sebastian and the kids were, and there were even a few passers-by who took out their phones to try and take pictures or video clips of her.
Without waiting for Sebastian’s orders, the Harts’ security guards immediately spread out over the area to stop these people from filming and photographing. Those who were stopped kept their phones obediently and mourned over their lost opportunity to take pictures of a rare beauty like her, but they couldn’t help but wonder if she was a young lady of nobility. If that was the case, it would explain why she traveled with bodyguards.
There were even some who believed Madeline to be a celebrity they didn’t know about. Previously, there was a female celebrity who had made headlines after she was pictured traveling with a dozen bodyguards or so.
Madeline certainly had the visual makings of a celebrity, and she appeared to have plenty of bodyguards at her disposal too, most of whom were tall and good-looking young men.
If the crowd couldn’t take pictures of the rare beauty, they didn’t mind settling for pictures of these handsome bodyguards.
There were a few young ladies who secretly aimed their cameras at the bodyguards and took their pictures. They giggled and ran away from the scene before the guards could reprimand them.
However, the bodyguards were already used to this, and they did not go after those gaggle of girls who had infringed their portrait rights. It was a small sacrifice to keep their master out of pictures, after all.
Sebastian kept a particularly low profile. Well, at least that was what he thought of himself; others liked to call him elusive.
He rarely ever appeared in public and during social events. Whenever Hart Corporation took part in social highlights for the sake of keeping up connections, it was always Lucas Hart—the vice president of Hart Corporation, Philip’s adopted son, and Sebastian’s younger brother—who attended these things.
Sebastian didn’t like showing his face in public, whereas Lucas was the polar opposite. He was a hedonist through and through, and he enjoyed a good time. He was like a fish in water when it came to soirees, dance parties, and other occasions of the sort, but Sebastian would find himself feeling out of place the moment he arrived.
As such, Sebastian became the most elusive bachelor of Dusktown; his name was intimidating in itself, and those who had actually seen him in person were as rare as they came.
This was the first time he had shown up in a public space that was crawling with people, but thankfully, no one recognized him. If they did, there would certainly be discourse.
Presently, he stood under the sun. The noise around him was spectacular, and the crowd only grew wider as time passed. He couldn’t help finding all this very curious and amusing.
He watched as Madeline rushed through the crowd and made a beeline for him. As his gaze lingered on her, something in him stirred. He didn’t take his eyes off her, and he didn’t even blink once.
However, she wasn’t looking at him; she had her eyes on her kids all this while. Before she reached them, Joel ran up to her and hurtled into her arms. Then, he wrapped his arms around her happily as he exclaimed, “You’re here, Mom!”
She bent over to pick him up and kissed him on the cheek. “Didn’t you say you were going to ask Quinton to wait outside for me while you and your father have fun in the park?”
“No.” Joel shook his head and cupped her face as he said seriously, “I wanted to wait for you with Aldo and Dad. We can go on rides together now that you’re here.”
Madeline was so moved by his sweet gesture that she planted a firm kiss on his cheek. “I don’t know how you can be so adorable, Buddy!”
Delighted by her kiss, Joel giggled and cupped her face before kissing her cheek repeatedly.
To the side, Sebastian watched both mother and son indulge in each other’s company. When he glanced down at Quincy, he began to feel a twinge of sympathy for the kid.
As such, he bent over to pick up the child and pecked him on the cheek.
Quincy gaped at him speechlessly.
When Sebastian saw the impassive look on his little face, he assumed that the boy was unhappy. He placated, “Don’t get upset, Aldo. Your mom loves you too, you know. It’s just that Buddy is a little more clingy than you are, so she spends more time with him. You’re adorable too.”
Quincy was at a loss for words. No one said he was upset, and it wasn’t in his nature to cling to his mother like some needy child. I’m doomed, he thought in mute despair as he eyed his father reproachfully. I finally get a dad, and he turns out to be an idiot! What should I do?
Just then, Madeline walked up to Sebastian with Joel in her arms, and she reached to caress Quincy’s face with her free hand. As she smiled, she explained to Sebastian, “Aldo doesn’t like it when I pick him up. He keeps saying he’s a big boy now, and he doesn’t want his mommy to carry him. You should be honored that he lets you hold him like that!”
Sebastian brightened up when he heard this, and he couldn’t resist giving Quincy another kiss on his doughy little face. “Well, my son certainly likes being carried by me!”
Quincy shot him a look of mild disgust and slowly squeezed himself out of his arms. Then, he headed into the amusement park without looking back.
Sebastian stared after his little figure in astonishment.
It took some determination on Madeline’s part not to laugh at this as she carefully set Joel down on the ground. Then, she watched as he ran after his brother while crying, “Aldo!”
Sebastian gazed at the little ones and said wistfully, “It’s like they say—all kids are different. Aldo and Buddy may be twins, but they’re complete opposites.”
“That much is true,” Madeline said as her eyes fell upon Quincy’s retreating figure. She seemed a little sad as she added, “Aldo always thinks he has to take care of me and Buddy because he’s the oldest kid.”
He was only five, but he saw himself as the only man in the family who needed to be a pillar for his mother and younger brother. There was no denying that Madeline had a part to play in this; it was her fault for not giving him the sense of security he needed to be a carefree child.
When he saw the sadness in her eyes, Sebastian pointed out comfortingly, “You aren’t him, so you won’t know how he truly feels. There are times when I see the way Aldo looks at us, and I swear, it’s like he thinks we’re some foolish peasants or something. You might be feeling sorry for him, but maybe he’s really happy the way he is.”
She tipped her head and gave him an assessing look. “You sure have an… odd way of comforting someone.”
