Broken Oath: I Left, He Regretted-Chapter 118: Julian Sinclair Flirting with a Married Woman
On the other end of the phone, Sophia Kendall’s voice was sharp, and Doris Xavier frowned tightly, saying, "I wanted to go with her myself, no one forced me."
"Why don’t you listen, child!" Sophia’s shout suddenly heightened, "Hasn’t Grandma repeatedly told you not to get into anyone’s car except the family driver?"
Doris’s voice was full of grievance: "I’ll be alone at home too, the nanny only stares at her phone, no one plays with me... I don’t want to be alone."
"What do you know!" Sophia’s voice carried some impatience, "Your mom is pregnant with your little brother, the pregnancy is unstable, and we’re afraid you’ll be naughty and bump into her. That’s why you can’t live with us. Can’t you be more understanding and think about your brother more?"
"I don’t want to think about my brother!"
Doris’s voice choked with sobs, said: "You all go care for him, I don’t need you to care for where I go!"
After saying that, she pressed the hang-up button fiercely and threw the phone aside, her little head leaning against the car window, her shoulders lightly trembling.
I saw her reddened eyes from the rearview mirror and couldn’t help gripping the steering wheel tightly.
At this moment, my own phone rang too.
My fingers instinctively wanted to swipe to hang up, but accidentally answered it.
Sophia’s curses immediately surged in, "Zoe Ellison, you really have no shame! How dare you take advantage when Serena Sawyer is pregnant and meddle with Doris! You slut, send Doris back to The Xavier Manor immediately, did you hear me?"
I faintly retorted, "What do you mean by being rude? With such a foul mouth, aren’t you afraid of damaging your karma and having it come back to your cherished grandson?"
Her voice became sharper, "You’re just jealous that Serena is pregnant with Timothy Xavier’s son! I’m warning you, Doris Xavier is just a girl, don’t even think about touching The Xavier Group’s assets, don’t use her as a pawn!"
Doris seemed to hear Sophia’s words, her head slowly turned from the car window, her little face was full of confusion.
Although she didn’t understand what assets meant, she could feel Sophia’s anticipation for the future grandson and her disdain for herself.
I directly interrupted Sophia, saying, "If you want to bring Doris back, let Timothy Xavier come himself."
Then, I hung up the phone.
The car remained quiet for a long while before Doris slowly raised her head and whispered, "Will my dad really come to get me?"
Before I could speak, Sharon Hawthorne said, "It’s okay if your dad doesn’t come to get you, we can live with Auntie Ellison together. Look, my dad doesn’t come to get me either, but I feel really happy living with Auntie Ellison! If he doesn’t come, it’s okay."
I was amused; this girl really thought things through now.
But Doris still wasn’t happy, she sniffed and said, "But I still want my dad."
We had just arrived downstairs when Doris’s children’s phone rang again.
She took it out and her eyes lit up, "It’s my dad!"
As we walked into the house, she answered it.
I wasn’t planning to be involved in her conversation with Timothy Xavier, so once we got home, I went to the fridge to find ingredients, thinking about what to cook for dinner.
Just then, Doris came over with the phone, handing it to me: "Dad wants to say a few words to you."
I paused, not sure what low words Timothy Xavier would say.
So I said, "Turn on the speaker."
Whatever he wants to say, let his daughter hear it, and let Doris see how shameless the dad she depends on and admires is!
Doris obediently turned on the speaker, and I washed the vegetables while saying on the phone, "Say what you have to, quickly!"
Timothy Xavier said, "I’m on a business trip; I won’t be in Veridia for the next few days, so I can’t pick Doris up. My mom said she’s at your place."
I said, "Aside from business trips, you’re with Serena Sawyer, do you even remember you have a four-year-old daughter?"
Timothy’s tone sounded a bit weary, "I’ll explain this to you later, but since Doris is willing to stay with you, please take care of her for a few days. At least, it’s more reassuring than leaving her alone at home."
Timothy seemed to be stretched thin, a bit overwhelmed.
On one hand, there’s pregnant Serena Sawyer, on the other is Doris, plus a bunch of stuff from The Xavier Group.
I really wanted to curse him for deserving it!
But with Doris standing right there, I swallowed my words and just coldly responded, then hung up the phone.
Doris stood in the kitchen, looking like she wasn’t planning to leave.
I asked, "What’s wrong? Are you hungry?"
She shook her head, looking up at me, said, "Are you going to be Sharon’s mom?"
I was taken aback, not expecting her to ask this, instinctively replied, "Why are you thinking about this? You have a mom anyway."
Her eyes carried a stubborn look, "I don’t like seeing you treat Sharon so well, didn’t you say I’m your real daughter? Why are you treating her better than me?"
Looking at her like this, I instinctively frowned.
This domineering personality, just like Timothy Xavier, even with the ’don’t want it oneself but won’t let others have it’ kind of dominance, identical.
But I didn’t indulge her, said, "If you can recognize someone else as your mother, why can’t I recognize someone else as my daughter? Whoever listens to me and is close to me, of course I’ll treat them well."
Doris was left speechless by my words, holding back for a while before softly murmuring, "What if I apologize? I shouldn’t have treated you like that before..."
I stopped what I was doing, said, "Apology accepted, but it has to be because you’ve truly recognized your mistake. Also, don’t use an apology as a tactic of jealousy."
She lowered her head, her fingers fiddling with the hem of her clothes, her voice softened: "I know you want me to call you mom, but... I’m not used to it yet."
"It’s okay." I turned around and continued preparing food, "I take good care of you as a mother’s duty. As for whether you want to recognize me or not, it’s up to you. I’m not expecting you to repay me anything."
Doris stared at me, half understanding, and said no more.
Just then, Sharon’s excited voice called out from the doorway: "Daddy!"
I was startled, quickly untied my apron and headed to the living room.
There stood Mason Hawthorne at the door, Sharon was clinging to his neck like a little monkey, and beside him stood Julian Sinclair, looking calm.
Julian’s gaze swept the living room, paused visibly when he saw Doris, with a bit of shock in his eyes.
I pulled Doris’s arm, whispered, "Say uncle."
Doris obediently called out softly, "Hello, Uncle."
Julian Sinclair merely gave a faint "hmm" and looked at Doris with an expression devoid of warmth, even carrying a slight hint of indiscernible coldness.
Sharon Hawthorne was still clinging to Mason Hawthorne’s neck, refusing to let go.
Doris saw this scene, and the envy in her eyes was almost overflowing.
I invited them inside.
After sitting down, Mason Hawthorne noticed Doris and looked at me perplexedly, "Miss Ellison, who is this little girl?"
I replied, "This is my daughter."
Mason Hawthorne was even more shocked, his eyes widening as he looked at Doris and then at Julian Sinclair, finally turning to me, "Miss Ellison, you... you have a child?"
I looked at him puzzled; wasn’t that reaction a bit exaggerated?
I was just about to explain, but Julian Sinclair spoke first, his voice carrying an indescribable gloom, "She’s the lady of the Veridia Xavier Group, Timothy Xavier’s wife. They’ve been married for four years; is it strange they have a daughter?"
With these words, Mason Hawthorne’s face was filled with embarrassment.
He must have recalled the time at the golf course when he chatted about Timothy Xavier’s gossip with Julian Sinclair right in front of me.
I shot Julian Sinclair an annoyed glance, unable to understand why he would mention such things to Mason Hawthorne, making the atmosphere awkward for no reason.
Mason Hawthorne caught on and quickly tried to smooth things over, "Miss Ellison, thank you for taking care of Sharon recently. Since I’m here, let me cook dinner tonight; you just wait to eat!"
With that, he really made his way to the kitchen.
I was dumbfounded. Are all of Julian Sinclair’s friends like him, competent both in the living room and the kitchen?
Sharon also hopped into the kitchen, sticking to Mason Hawthorne like a little tail.
Suddenly, only Julian Sinclair, Doris, and I remained in the living room.
For some unknown reason, Doris took it upon herself to move closer to me, sat down very near, and kept staring at Julian Sinclair.
Julian Sinclair’s expression grew increasingly somber as he said to me, "Mason Hawthorne missed his daughter and happened to be in Veridia for a business trip, so I brought him here. There’s nothing more for me here, so I’ll head out."
As soon as he finished, Doris cheerfully shouted, "Goodbye, Uncle!"
Julian Sinclair didn’t acknowledge her at all and turned to head for the door.
I quickly stood up to stop him, "President Sinclair, why don’t you stay for dinner as well?"
After all, I’m not close to Mason Hawthorne; without him as the intermediary, dinner would be too awkward.
But Julian Sinclair stopped in his tracks, turned to look at me with a hint of mockery in his eyes, "Mason Hawthorne is Sharon’s father; it’s entirely reasonable for him to stay for dinner. If I stayed, what would that mean?"
I wanted to say that you cooked at my house the last two times, so what does that mean?
But I didn’t dare.
And Julian Sinclair had already opened the door and left, leaving only a cold, hard back view.
I sighed helplessly.
Ever since Serena Sawyer got pregnant, Julian Sinclair’s behavior towards me has been increasingly strange, sometimes cold, sometimes warm, with his words always having an obscure tone.
I returned to the kitchen, feeling uncomfortable leaving Mason Hawthorne to do all the work alone.
But Mason Hawthorne was adamant about not letting me leave.
So, I sent the two kids out to play and stayed back to assist Mason Hawthorne.
"Where’s Julian?"
Mason Hawthorne glanced outside and said, "When we arrived, he mentioned it might snow tonight, so we could have a snowball fight with the kids."
I paused.
So Julian Sinclair had initially planned to stay for dinner?
Did he leave just now because of Doris?
"Miss Ellison?"
Mason Hawthorne’s voice brought me back to reality, "Do you have oyster sauce?"
I quickly snapped out of it, "Yes, I’ll get it for you."
I hurriedly opened the cupboard, handed him the oyster sauce.
Then I answered his earlier question, "President Sinclair just left."
Mason Hawthorne paused, then knowingly smiled, "Ah, that guy, he’s always like this. The more he cares about something, the more he pretends not to."
"What?"
I looked at him, wondering if I’d heard wrong.
Mason Hawthorne said, "Don’t you feel Julian treats you very differently? I originally thought you were single; I didn’t expect you to be Mrs. Xavier. I guess seeing Timothy Xavier’s daughter just now might have set him off."
Embarrassed, I said, "Mr. Hawthorne, you’re really quite the joker."
"I’m not joking," Mason Hawthorne said. "I’ve known Julian for over a decade. I can tell he treats you differently from others. Julian never goes to any woman’s home by himself. But he brought me to your place as if it were his own."
I was left in a turmoil of emotions by his words, unable to respond, I kept my head down, chopping vegetables.
At that moment, Mason Hawthorne asked, "By the way, have you and Timothy Xavier divorced yet?"
I thought he was being somewhat forward, so I asked back, "What do you mean by that, Mr. Hawthorne?"
Mason Hawthorne, sharp as ever, immediately figured out, "It seems you haven’t divorced yet? Lately, the news about Serena Sawyer’s pregnancy has been everywhere. You really can endure. No wonder Julian is upset. I can see your deep feelings for Timothy Xavier."
The more he spoke, the more it felt like he was speaking some far-fetched fantasy.
I put on a stern face and said, "Mr. Hawthorne, President Sinclair and I are not what you think. It’s just because you’ve had Sharon staying here recently that he’s been in contact with me more. Please refrain from making assumptions about me without knowing the full story, and don’t randomly label me."
Mason Hawthorne wasn’t upset, he simply said, "I hope I misunderstood. I wouldn’t want Julian getting ambiguously involved with a married woman; it’s too risky."
