SWNOVELS Chapter 27
Chapter 27 Home Sweet Home
"Wait a minute! I think I've just figured it out!" At that moment, something seemed to cross Jameson's mind. "Jojo, do you think this could be the wedding ring that Dad wants to give Mom? Oh, dear! What is he gonna do without the ring now that it's with me?"
Nevertheless, Jameson's words were met with silence, as Joaquin only stared at the ring in silence. "Well, people buy a ring to propose. Since Mom and Dad are not married yet, could Dad be planning to propose to Mom?"
Jameson gently thumped his head and beat himself up. "Oh, man! I shouldn't have taken the ring! Dad is gonna be so mad when he realizes his ring is missing."
"Just go to bed now. Keep the ring somewhere safe and give it back to him later on." Joaquin lay down on the bed straight away.
Meanwhile, Jameson put the ring back into the case and said, "Dad is not good at sweet-talking, so I wonder how he's gonna propose to Mom. In fact, I think I could do better if I were in his place. Anyway, is Mom gonna cry when she sees the ring?" After mumbling to himself for a while, the little boy eventually dozed off in bed.
In the meantime, Selena began to recognize an important issue ever since the abduction that had happened previously. Earlier on, she refused to enroll Juniper into a kindergarten because she was too young to go to school, not to mention the fact that she hardly had time to spend with her daughter. Nevertheless, she appeared to have changed her mind, as she began to think that it was time to get Juniper enrolled in a kindergarten.
In fact, Selena had once read a book about parenting and learned that a child was meant to grow apart from their mother ever since the moment they were born.
I guess all parents can never get away with the fate of watching their kids move on and leave them behind when the time comes. After all, Juniper's world shouldn't be just about me. She ought to expand her social circle and learn as many things as possible. Therefore, I'm grateful that Juniper got to know Pierre and his two sons, or else she wouldn't have lightened up. At the thought of that, Selena made up her mind to enroll her daughter into Sunflower International Kindergarten after surveying all schools in terms of teaching quality, facilities, and meals.
As soon as they exited the kindergarten, Selena received a call from a number that she hadn't seen for a long time. At that moment, Selena's assistant, Linda, and Juniper stopped in their tracks and watched the lady answer her phone. "Alright, understood!" Selena's smile slowly faded away, but shortly after she hung up the call, she put on a smile again and gazed at her daughter. "Juniper, can you listen to Mommy and go home with Miss Linda?"
"Who just called you, Mom? We promised each other not to tell lies!"
While Selena initially intended to hide the truth from her daughter, Juniper's innocent look instantly melted her heart. Thus, she came clean and honestly told her everything. "It's your grandpa."
Nonetheless, Juniper found the term 'grandpa' strange, as Selena had never mentioned anything about Roland to her daughter. Instead, Juniper was more familiar with her grandma because Selena had only talked about her mother in front of her occasionally. Ever since the incident at the bakery shop, she had developed a bad impression on the two women who called themselves her aunt. Therefore, she subconsciously stereotyped her grandpa to be a bad person.
"Is Grandpa gonna bully you? I could come along and protect you."
"Come on, Juniper! You wanna be my good girl, don't you? They're not gonna bully me, so don't worry. I'll be back soon."
Fortunately, Juniper didn't insist on tagging along, as she knew she was just a four-year-old child who could barely even protect herself, let alone her mother. "Okay, Mommy! Please be back early!" After that, Linda took Juniper along with her and left.
"Miss Linda, can you sign me up for a Taekwondo class? I wanna learn Taekwondo so that I can protect Mommy! By then, nobody can bully her!"
Upon hearing those naïve words, Linda rubbed Juniper's head and said, "Sure."
Meanwhile, Selena drove to the Yard Residence in a preoccupied manner, as she didn't expect her father to give her a call. From now on, my daughter is dead! Soon, those heartbreaking words that Roland had once said to her when he cast her out of the house began to reverberate in her mind. He sounded unusually polite over the phone when he invited me to visit. What's he really up to?
Upon arrival, Selena stood outside the Yard Residence for a long while before she pressed on the doorbell. Not long after that, the maid opened the door and greeted her with a smile, much to Selena's surprise.
This is strange! Back in the days, no one among the maids ever respected me, and I can still remember how they left me in the cold when I was hungry and made me do my own laundry. The best part of all, they ordered me around as if I was the maid.
As soon as she entered the house, she saw Roland sipping his tea on the couch, along with Jezebelle and her two daughters, Megan and Meredith. At the same time, Megan was enjoying some fruits while sitting on the couch until she noticed Selena's arrival. Then, she stood up and passionately greeted her half-sister. "Mom, Dad, look who's here!"
Acting as if she had just reunited with her long-lost sister, Megan seized Selena's hand, only to be shaken off by the latter. After all, Selena was still mad at Megan for what she did to her daughter earlier. "Are you still mad at me, Selena? Come on. It's been so long since that unhappy incident. So, couldn't you just let it go?" Megan sympathetically added, "I was young and reckless back then, so let's just put it behind us. Alright?"
Oh, really?! Does she seriously think I'm gonna let things slide easily just because she was young and reckless?
Soon, Roland quickly defused the situation and said, "Megan was indeed young and immature when she dated Finneas, but he didn't leave you entirely for Megan because you also had yourself to blame for... Well, let's not get to that. After all, what's done is done. Anyway, come and sit here." Deep down, Roland wasn't surprised to witness Selena's indifferent attitude because his favoritism toward Megan and Meredith in their youth was so obvious that it made Selena feel as if she wasn't one of his own daughters.
"Fine, we could set aside our history, but what about my daughter? You slapped her in the face a few days ago! Did you keep count of how many slaps you gave her?!"
Megan bitterly pouted and explained herself, "That was all a misunderstanding! I swear! I didn't know that she was your daughter, as I mistook her for someone else's brat! Moreover, I only raised my hand to her because she misbehaved and bit me."
"Exactly! Megan didn't mean it at that time. Furthermore, kids nowadays are so spoiled that salt won't save them. Thus, as Juniper's aunt, I don't think I did anything wrong in educating my niece." In the face of their chicanery, Selena only responded with a nonchalant grunt. "Hmph!"
Meanwhile, Jezebelle, who was watching on the sideline, took a sip of her tea and said, "I heard that you've recently just hooked up with JNS Corporation's president. Am I right, Selena? Your mom would be so proud of you if she knew that you'd done such a good job! You're indeed a talented b*tch who has a knack for making men crazy over you! I suppose it runs in your genes, doesn't it?" As soon as Jezebelle finished her sentences, Roland immediately gave her an evil stare.
"Speaking of that, you're the perfect example of passing down a good gene for taking my mom's husband away from her. Coincidentally, I happened to suffer from the same fate years later," Selena implicitly shot a gaze at Megan and added, “and that's all thanks to your daughter, Aunt Jezebelle! Therefore, I suppose you're right! It does run in your genes!"
"How dare you say that?!" Jezebelle angrily tossed the teacup onto the ground, shattering it into pieces.
"That's enough! Selena just got back, so what's with all the fuss you're making here?! If you're not happy, you could always go upstairs!" Roland criticized Jezebelle's provocative attitude, as the latter only glared at Selena without saying a single word.
"Selena, I've been told that JNS Corporation has plans to exploit the market in Astoria. Now that you're the president's wife, I'm sure you know a thing or two about the company's plan, don't you? For old times sake, you'd help your old man seize this golden opportunity, wouldn't you?" Roland flattered Selena with his words.
Meanwhile, staring at the man in front of her, Selena's mind was brought back to the scene that took place four years ago. At that time, she was bleeding all over the ground due to Roland's severe caning and chased away from home, although she was still in her postpartum recovery.