The Bigshot Married Himself to the Heiress-Chapter 549 - 550: I’ve Been to This Small Courtyard
"Daddy, I don’t like that Auntie Agatha. Don’t let her live in our house," Curly said.
Sienna Johnson looked at her daughter gently and smiled. "She can’t take away your daddy. Your daddy will always be your daddy."
"Dad, will you be taken away by a bad woman?"
Both mother and daughter looked at Adrian Desmond, who was innocent yet now felt as if he were having an affair.
Adrian Desmond squatted down, touched his daughter’s two jaunty little pigtails, and said, "Daddy isn’t a fool. How could I lose your mom, Curly, and your little brother for Alice?"
"Would you lose three people for one?"
Curly counted on her fingers, thought for a moment, then said, "No!"
"Our Curly is so smart!"
"Curly is pretty too!" Curly added.
Sienna Johnson gently poked her daughter’s cheek, teasing, "You’re so cheeky! Such a thick skin, praising yourself for being pretty."
"Not at all! Everybody says Curly is pretty. Right, Dad?"
"Yes."
"Curly is pretty, Mom is pretty, Dad is pretty too... Everyone is pretty!" Curly declared, pointing to herself, then to her mom, and then to her dad.
"Dad is handsome, not pretty."
"Dad is pretty!"
"Alright, alright, Dad is pretty!" Adrian Desmond conceded, helpless against his daughter.
Today, they were going to Blackwood to attend Bryant Robertson’s wedding. The drive from Sileria City to Blackwood would take about three hours.
They were arriving a day early, so they weren’t in a rush.
"You two stop flattering each other. We should get going. If we don’t leave now, it’ll be dark," Sienna Johnson interrupted their conversation.
"Let’s go, let’s go..." Curly said excitedly.
Curly rode on her father’s shoulders, with Sienna Johnson walking beside them. The sight of the father and daughter, and the family’s warm, loving interaction, stung a certain woman’s eyes.
In recent years, Sienna Johnson had visited Blackwood often, as the Eastminster Pharmaceutical Factory’s medicinal herb base was located there.
Both Pauline Briggs and Samara had come along. Blackwood’s environment was excellent. With no polluting enterprises nearby, it was surrounded by lush green trees and clear streams—a place like an earthly paradise.
"This place is so beautiful. It really is a good place to retire," Pauline Briggs remarked, looking at the scenery outside the window.
Samara chimed in, "Sister has been saying how beautiful it is here and wanted us to visit, but you kept refusing. Regret it now?!"
Pauline Briggs glared at her younger daughter. "What do I have to regret? Aren’t we here now? It’s not like Blackwood grew legs and ran off."
The group stopped in front of the Robertson family’s old residence. It had been freshly decorated to welcome the bride and entertain guests.
As soon as the car stopped, Curly, who had been cooped up in the car for hours and couldn’t sit still any longer, bolted out the moment the door opened.
"Curly, slow down a bit! Don’t fall."
Curly paid no attention. Samara chased after her to look after her.
Hearing the commotion, Rose Collins herself came out to greet them. Seeing Sienna Johnson and the others, her eyes crinkled with delight. "You’re all here! Was the journey difficult?"
Sienna Johnson smiled. "Not at all. The scenery along the way was beautiful; we enjoyed it the whole drive."
Rose Collins’s gaze fell on Sienna’s belly, and she chided, "The mountain roads are bumpy, and you’re pregnant. I told you not to come, but you insisted. If anything were to happen, what would I do?"
"Mom, I’m not that fragile. Look, I’m perfectly fine."
"Besides, it’s my brother’s wedding tomorrow. How could I, his sister, not be here?"
Pauline Briggs stepped forward. "Don’t worry about her. We drove very slowly; otherwise, we would have arrived much earlier. Marvin and Sienna are very close. If Sienna doesn’t attend Marvin’s wedding, she’d regret it for the rest of her life."
"Madam Johnson, you’ve come too."
"Please, call me Pauline." Pauline Briggs’s attitude was much milder now; she no longer spoke to Rose Collins with an air of superiority.
"How could I do that?" Rose Collins said respectfully.
Sienna Johnson said, "Mom, we’re all family. Why stand on ceremony? My mom asked you to call her by her name, so you should."
Rose Collins hesitated, looking from Sienna Johnson to Pauline Briggs. The mother and daughter’s once-strained relationship had clearly eased. At least, Sienna had started calling Pauline Briggs "Mom."
"Rose, Sienna is right. We’re all family. All this ’Madam’ business just makes things sound distant."
"Mom, I’m hungry. Can I go inside, get something to eat, and rest a bit?" Sienna asked Rose Collins.
"Of course, of course, come on in..." Rose Collins welcomed them into the small courtyard.
As Adrian Desmond entered the small courtyard, he felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity, as if he had been here before.
"Adrian, what are you thinking about? Mom is talking to you," Sienna Johnson said.
"Huh?"
"Mom asked what you’d like to eat," Sienna Johnson said.
"I’ll eat whatever you make," Adrian Desmond said agreeably.
Sienna Johnson said to Rose Collins, "Mom, he can’t handle spicy food. His dishes should be mild, and he prefers things a bit sweet."
The cuisine in Abyanabad was generally mild and leaned towards sweet, flavors Sienna Johnson didn’t particularly care for.
Adrian Desmond sat on a stone bench in the small courtyard, observing the vibrant farmhouse. Loofah vines climbed in the yard, laden with long, plump gourds.
He felt as if he had truly been to this place before.
"Mom, look at this pretty flower!" Curly exclaimed, emerging with a large flower resembling a peony in her hand.
"Curly, that’s not a flower! That’s an Ebony snow lotus! Put it down, quickly!" Sienna Johnson rushed over to take the Ebony snow lotus from Curly’s hand, but Curly clutched onto anything she liked and wouldn’t give it up to anyone.
She was small and nimble, dodging her mother and slipping into her father’s arms. "Daddy, Curly found it! It’s Curly’s!"
"Be a good girl, listen to Mommy. Give it to me. That’s not for playing, it’s medicine!"
"No, it’s a flower! Curly likes it!"
Adrian Desmond’s gaze fixed on the Ebony snow lotus in his daughter’s hand. Suddenly, he remembered why this small courtyard felt so familiar.
His gaze swept over the small courtyard and finally landed on Sienna Johnson’s face. He said, "I’ve been here before!"
"What?"
"Many years ago, I came here. In this very courtyard, I bought an Ebony snow lotus. The woman who sold it to me... that was you, wasn’t it?" Adrian Desmond looked at Sienna Johnson, his eyes filled with certainty.
"Sienna!" Bryant Robertson, hearing Sienna Johnson had arrived, rushed in like a gust of wind.
"Brother..."
The siblings sized each other up. Bryant Robertson was tanner and looked more robust. For years, he had managed the medicinal herb base in Blackwood, shouldering many responsibilities.
"Sienna, they say pregnant women become less attractive, but look at you, still so beautiful!"
