CEO Ex-Husband, Don't Bother Me-Chapter 108 - 106: Do You Really Not Have Me in Your Heart Anymore? 2
"Joy, it’s me, Dylan. Don’t you remember me?"
"Big brother..."
Joy glanced up, murmured the name softly, and then looked back down at her picture book. The little girl’s dismissal clearly frustrated Dylan. He leaned in closer to her, pulled the book in her hands a little toward himself, and said with a doting look,
"Joy, let me tell you what the book is all about!"
Joy didn’t say anything, so Dylan took her silence as a yes. With a know-it-all air, he began to explain it to her.
Julian Donovan leaned against the doorway, an amused smile on his face as he watched Dylan try to curry favor with the little girl. ’Finally, someone who can keep him in check,’ he thought. But a moment later, his amusement turned to regret. ’How wonderful it would be if Joy were his daughter.’
’If all else fails, maybe he should just force her to have a daughter with him.’
With this thought, he couldn’t help but glance down at Joy again. ’Based on what I know of Naomi Shaw, she isn’t the type to give herself away to Sean Donovan so easily. But Joy’s age doesn’t add up... It seems I need to do a thorough investigation into Joy’s background.’
Since she still hadn’t come to pick up her child, the kindergarten teacher was getting anxious; after all, she had to get off work too. Julian Donovan decided to give her a call, but to his surprise, she rejected it! He tried several more times, and she rejected every single one! He was furious. It seemed her determination to draw a clear line between them was absolute. Helpless, he had no choice but to use the teacher’s phone to call her. This time, she picked up immediately.
Naomi Shaw was about to ask why he was at Joy’s kindergarten, but he cut her off, saying that if she didn’t come get her soon, he would take the child himself. She quickly refused.
"There’s no need! I’ll be right there!"
’She couldn’t possibly let Joy spend too much time with him.’
But just as the words left her mouth, she heard a colleague calling out to her.
"Miss Anna, the patient in bed one is in bad shape! You need to come take a look, quickly!"
"Okay, I’m coming!"
She answered her colleague, then hastily said to Julian Donovan,
"Please tell the teacher for me, Willow Summers will be there to pick up Joy in a little while!"
Joy had only just started kindergarten. Sometimes when Naomi was busy, Sean Donovan would pick her up. This was the first time she had an emergency when Sean was also unavailable. Racking her brain, she could only think of Willow Summers to help her.
Who would have thought Julian Donovan would just toss a sentence at her and hang up?
"Is Willow Summers, a pregnant woman, your personal chauffeur? I’m taking Joy to my place. You can pick her up after you get off work!"
Though reluctant, she had no time to argue. She put down the phone and hurried to the patient’s room. She ended up being busy until after eight o’clock. Completely exhausted and weak from having skipped dinner, she hailed a cab to his house. In the car, she wearily rubbed her temples. ’Why is it that the more I try to avoid him, the more things seem to happen to get us entangled?’
He lived in a large, three-story, standalone villa. The taxi stopped in front of his house. She asked the driver to wait for a moment and then gave him a call.
"I’m here. Can you bring Joy out?"
"It’s so late, you haven’t eaten yet, have you? Come on up and have a bite!"
The concern in his voice made her feel very uncomfortable.
"No, thank you!"
"You’re already here. Aren’t you going to come up and see Dylan? He’s been waiting for you!"
Julian Donovan knew she would refuse to come up, so he immediately changed his tactic.
Naomi Shaw remembered Dylan calling yesterday to say he missed her. With a sigh, she paid the driver, got out of the car, and walked in. He opened the door for her, dressed in casual loungewear, his posture lazy and relaxed. His handsome features were the same as always, but the look he gave her was deep and intense. The corner of his mouth curved into a handsome arc that felt like a poison.
She lowered her gaze and walked inside. ’When we were together, he rarely ever smiled so freely. Every time he did smile at me, my heart would race. Three years have passed, and I still can’t resist that smile.’
The two children were on the large sofa in the living room. Joy was sitting quietly in a corner while Dylan sat beside her, earnestly explaining something to her, calling her "Joy" this and "Joy" that, and occasionally offering her tasty snacks. The moment he saw her come in, Dylan scrambled over and threw his arms around her.
"Mama, you’re here!"
"Yes!"
She bent down and patted Dylan’s head. As if presenting a treasure, Dylan quickly told her,
"Mama, I was telling Joy a story! Joy is so well-behaved, I really like her!"
It was clear that Dylan really did like Joy. With a little, gentle sister like her, Dylan had channeled all his protective instincts onto her.
Naomi Shaw walked over to the sofa and picked up Joy.
"Joy, let’s go home with Mommy, okay?"
Joy nodded. Naomi held her and turned to leave, but he was standing there and said coolly,
"I saved you some dinner..."
"Really, there’s no need. Thank you so much for picking up Joy for me today!"
She was putting on a brave face, but because she was tired and hungry, and also holding Joy, her voice was noticeably weak.
Dylan tugged on the corner of her clothes, his little eyebrows furrowed into a line.
"Mama, if you haven’t eaten, you should have a little something. Dylan doesn’t want you to work so hard. Besides, Dad’s cooking is really good!"
’Even though he knew this was his dad’s deliberate attempt to create an opportunity to spend time with Mama, he also didn’t want to see her so tired and still have to go home to make dinner.’
’He can cook?’ Naomi Shaw looked up at him in surprise. ’In my memory, he was completely detached from such things.’
Julian Donovan glanced at her and turned toward the dining room. He felt a pang of sadness. She wouldn’t listen to his words, but their son’s words could make her stay.
Dylan urged her on.
"Mama, hurry up and go eat! I’ll play with Joy!"
She had no choice but to put Joy down and follow Julian Donovan into the dining room. On the table were four dishes and a soup. It was an exquisite and lavish spread, but... not a single dish was one she liked to eat. The heart that had softened just moments ago from his tenderness instantly grew cold again.
’This was the man she had loved for six years, and he didn’t even know what she liked to eat. She knew all of his preferences, but he knew nothing about hers.’
She sat down at the table and began to eat listlessly, her head bowed. He actually sat down opposite her.
"I don’t know if you like these dishes. Naomi, I know I don’t understand you well enough, so I hope you can give me a chance to get to know you!"
She kept her head down, eating in silence as if she hadn’t heard a word he said. Julian Donovan was at a loss with her, so he could only join her in silence.
From outside, Dylan’s cheerful laughter drifted in, occasionally punctuated by Joy’s soft calls of "big brother." Unable to hold back any longer, Julian Donovan fixed his gaze on the serene face of the woman across from him and finally spoke.
"Naomi, I don’t believe you’re the type of person to give yourself away to Sean Donovan casually. So, about Joy..."
"That night, Sean Donovan and I got drunk, and it just happened!"
She answered with chilling calm. Julian Donovan’s eyes first showed astonishment, which was then quickly overwhelmed by a deep, pained expression.
Naomi Shaw instantly lost her appetite. She glanced at him, put down her bowl and chopsticks, and stood up.
"I’m finished. I’ll be leaving now!"
He shot up and grabbed her arm, his ink-black eyes filled with anguish.
"Naomi, is there... really no place for me in your heart anymore?"
She opened her mouth to answer, but he suddenly tightened his grip and yanked her into his arms, his eyes churning with emotion.
"Don’t answer that! It doesn’t matter if you have me in your heart or not. I will force my way back in!"
She was still reeling from his domineering words when he leaned in close, capturing her slightly parted lips with his own.
She struggled in a panic. Julian Donovan’s mind suddenly flashed to the memory of her kiss with Sean Donovan that night, and to what she had just said about getting drunk and sleeping with him. The thoughts drove him to press her tighter against him and kiss her more deeply, as if trying to erase every trace of Sean Donovan from her heart.
By the time he finally let her go, her eyes were already brimming with tears.
"Julian Donovan, you bastard!"
She cursed him, her eyes red. He grabbed her hand and pulled her into his embrace once more.
"Call me a bastard, call me a scoundrel, I don’t care. Don’t let me see you being intimate with Sean Donovan ever again, or don’t blame me for what happens next!"
Tears streamed down her face. Though he didn’t want this, he could only use this method to stop her crying.
"The children are right outside. If you want Dylan to worry about you, then go out there crying!"
She shot him a furious glare, then forcefully pushed him away and turned her back. Her slender shoulders heaved as she struggled to compose herself. He desperately wanted to step forward, pull her into his arms, and comfort her, but he knew it would only earn him a stronger rejection. All he could do was stand there and watch her.
