Chapter 148 Intentions
Without waiting for Caleb to say anything, Ann hung up.
“Ann?” Caleb called out, but when he heard the beeping tone on the other end, he felt frustration well up in him.
He knew there was nothing he could do to stop Ann. After all, he knew how much she loved Sebastian. She was borderline obsessed with him, and he was all she could think about; no one else could take his place in her heart.
However, Sebastian did not reciprocate her feelings at all. This was all fine in the past when he had been single and had taken no interest in women. After all, Ann was adopted by Sebastian’s aunt when she was a child, and both of them had grown up together. When family ties mingled with those of friendship, perhaps there might come a day when Ann could actually move Sebastian to take her for a wife.
However, not only was Sebastian married to Madeline on paper, but he also shared two sons with her right now.
While Quincy and Joel were illegitimate children, Philip had taken a strong liking to them and treated them as though they were precious bundles of treasure.
Sebastian didn’t seem to mind that they were born out of wedlock either; after having retrieved a marriage certificate with Madeline acknowledged as his legal wife, he managed to bestow legitimacy upon the children’s birth.
As long as Sebastian and Madeline did not divorce, Quincy and Joel would be the true successors-in-line of the Hart family name. As things were, Sebastian was already a married man with a family, and Ann’s return would only be filled with sadness and embarrassment, both of which did little good to her.
Although Caleb knew that Ann’s return was pointless and would only break her heart, he couldn’t bring himself to stop her. After all, he understood that love was something that could not be explained in clear, concise terms.
One couldn’t just stop loving a person after years of having feelings for them, and Caleb was living proof of that. He had known from the very beginning that Ann only ever loved Sebastian, but that didn’t stop him from falling in love with her anyway.
He knew that she would probably never have feelings for him, at least not romantically, but he still couldn’t help falling in love with her, and such affections did not wane over time.
Over the last few years, there had been plenty of girls who showed interest in him and pursued him, and among them were women whose accomplishments and background were on par with Ann’s. However, he was not interested in any of them.
His love for Ann could not be displaced, and he couldn’t ever move on without superhuman effort at the very least, much like how Ann couldn’t move on from Sebastian. There was nothing he could do about his feelings, and in the same way, he couldn’t stop her from coming back.
As for what might happen after her return, all there was left for him to do was to see how things would unfold.
At the thought of this, he closed his eyes tiredly and took a deep breath. Then, he walked out of the living room somberly.
The Taylors’ driver arrived early the next morning to pick up Madeline and her children, who did not get into the car bound for Taylor Residence until they were done with breakfast.
Since Michael and Crystal did not invite him, Sebastian did not tag along. He had quite a bit of work piled up at the company after he had made several trips between Wendel City and Dusktown. More importantly, he couldn’t have his world revolve around Madeline and her children.
Besides, it was very clear to see that Michael and his wife did not like him for constantly intruding upon their quality time with their daughter and grandsons, especially since he was the man who would take their precious daughter away from them.
After Sebastian saw Madeline and the kids off, he went to the company.
There wasn’t much distance between the Harts’ villa and the Wendels’. It would take only ten minutes or so to get from one point to the other if they did not hit traffic along the way.
The gates swung open as the car pulled up outside the Wendels’ place, and the driver cruised up the pathway until it finally parked outside the living room.
Upon hearing the sound of the car, Michael and Crystal hurried out the front door. They had been waiting to see their daughter and grandsons for a while now. Behind Michael was a young man who boasted handsome features.
The Wendels’ bodyguard opened the car door for Madeline. The two kids were the first to leap out of the vehicle, and when they saw Michael and Crystal standing at the door, they greeted brightly, “Grandma, Grandpa!”
“Hello!” Crystal beamed and immediately walked up to the children before pulling them into her arms. She smothered one of them with kisses and the other with tight hugs, and even then she didn’t feel like she had shown them enough affection.
“Mom, Dad,” Madeline greeted when she saw her parents.
“Come here, Maddie! I’d like you to meet Nelson.” Crystal beckoned her over with a grin and took her hand. Then, she brought her over to the young man standing behind them. “This is my adopted son whom I’ve told you about. His name is Nelson, and he’s in charge of the Wendel Corporation branch here in Dusktown, so he’ll be here for a better part of the year. You can go to him if you need help with anything. I’m sure he’d be more than glad to help!”
“Okay, Mom,” Madeline replied. Then, she flashed Nelson a smile as she greeted, “Pleasure to meet you, Nelson.”
“Good day, Miss Taylor,” Nelson greeted respectfully with a nod.
She quickly said, “Just call me Maddie, please. There’s no need to be so formal with me.”
Nelson smiled at her kindly and said, “Well then, pleasure to meet you, Maddie.”
“This is nice, isn’t it? You’re both such angels,” Crystal interjected indulgently as she let go of Madeline’s hand and reached an arm around each of her grandchildren. She had a warm smile on her face as she said, “Come on, let’s go into the house. I had the kitchen prepare some fruits and snacks for the both of you, so let’s eat while you catch me up on all the interesting stuff that you’ve been through this week!”
When Joel heard that there was food waiting for him inside the house, he said happily, “I love food!”
“Well, we did get the fruits and snacks ready for both of you,” Crystal said as she lowered her gaze to look at the child lovingly. “You can tell me what food you’d like to have, Buddy, and I’ll have the kitchen pack it for you!”
“Deal!” Joel was clearly delighted as he grinned from ear to ear, and it looked like he was going to be happy for the rest of the day.
When Michael saw how happy his wife looked, he cheered up as well. He gazed upon his wife, daughter, and grandchildren and felt his heart swell with gratitude and love.
After they had all gathered in the living room, Crystal immediately insisted on having her daughter and grandchildren with her on the couch. She turned to Nelson and said, “Nelson, could you please pour Maddie a cup of tea?”
“Of course, Mom,” Nelson responded as he went to promptly pour out a cup of tea. Then, he carried the saucer very carefully as he set it down in front of Madeline.
Madeline was just about to rise to take the cup when Crystal stopped her and held her down on the couch.
Madeline turned to look at her mother in confusion, only to see that Nelson had walked up to her with a tray in hand. He bowed and held the cup out to her before saying, “Miss Taylor, this is your tea.”
She gaped at him in shock. She desperately wanted to stand up, but Cyrstal seemed intent on keeping her on the couch.
Though exasperated by this, she took the tea reluctantly and took a ginger sip of the hot drink. Then, she placed the cup on its matching saucer before rising to straighten Nelson up. This time, Crystal did not stop her as she helped Nelson straighten up. She held onto his arms as she said, “Please, Nelson, call me Maddie from now on.”
She knew that the Wendels and the Taylors paid particular attention to one’s decorum. Crystal could say Nelson was an adopted son all she wanted, but he knew his place in the household was nothing more than that of a servant.
His mother had asked him to serve Madeline tea because she wanted to let him know her place in the household. This was Crystal’s way of making sure he knew that even if Madeline had grown up outside the family, she was still the young lady of the Wendel Family.
As such, Nelson would have to listen to her every word from now on and treat her as his superior.
While Madeline was grateful to her parents for having gone to such lengths to reaffirm her place in this household, she was sure that she would never treat Nelson as a servant. She knew the hardships of being victimized by the likes of Isabel, and as such, she would not dream of inflicting the same pain on others.
