CHAPTER 5

Dylan walked toward their bed and saw the divorce papers on the headboard. He hadn't read them yet; there were two copies, and they had been given to him when he was already leaving Rosie's house.

He took one of the papers and glanced through it, put the divorce paper into his black briefcase, shut the briefcase, and went into the bathroom to bathe.

Dylan decided to prepare for office work and thought to read the divorce paper in his office.

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Meanwhile, Jessica rushed downstairs into the living room and saw her two kids sitting on the couch eating the popcorn from the previous night that she had used to keep herself awake while waiting for Dylan to return home.

She saw the living-room wall clock: it was after 8:35 a.m., and she knew her two kids were very late for school.

"Mummy! Mummy!" Caleb and Nina both rushed up to hug her legs as soon as she stepped into the living room.

Caleb asked, "Mummy, aren't we going to school today?"

Jessica knew her two kids were already late for school, and she knew if their former maid were around, the maid would have helped prepare them, bathed them before she woke up, and prepared their breakfasts too.

The maid would even have assisted Caleb and Nina in having their breakfasts at the dining table, but now Jessica had to do it all alone because Dylan was strongly against them having any maid.

Jessica had thought the young maid tried to seduce her husband in her absence, but after the maid left, Jessica didn't get any complaint of such a report from the maid's parents, and the housemaid was even crying to be sent away, saying that she had done nothing wrong.

Jessica had to dash the young maid extra money; she told the maid she would still be going to school and that she wouldn't stop paying the maid's school fees, even though the maid was no longer under her care.

The young maid was very smart and nice and did all the house chores even before Jessica woke up or sent the maid on an errand.

Florence Gregson was a 15-year-old maid and Jessica had seen how Florence cared for Caleb and Nina so much and even helped them with their homework like a real elder sister. Yet Florence was only a maid and not related to them.

"Time has gone for today, Caleb. Don't worry, I will try to wake up very early tomorrow morning to take you and Nina to school on time. Wait here; let me prepare something for you both to eat first, then I will go and prepare your bath afterwards," Jessica told her son, smiling as she squatted to meet his height and her little daughter's too.

She finally stood up from the floor and went into the kitchen to prepare their breakfast.

Jessica wondered if Dylan was serious about divorcing her, and she walked into the kitchen toward the cupboards to check what she would prepare.

She resumed mopping the kitchen floor since she didn't have a maid anymore.

After she finished cleaning the kitchen floor and the cabinet tops, she proceeded to prepare the kids' breakfasts. She made noodles and fried eggs and went to the dining table to serve them.

The aroma of the fried eggs and delicious noodles attracted her two kids' noses and they rushed to the dining table to take their seats.

Nina was too small to climb the dining chair by herself; she cried and reached out to Jessica to be carried up. However, Nina's third attempt to climb the chair ended with her little bottom crashing to the tiled floor, and she cried, "Mummy!"

"Wait, Nina, I'm coming," Jessica quickly rushed to carry Nina in her arms, dusted her little bottom, sat with Nina on her thighs, and fed her.

Nina kept stretching her small hand to take the spoon from Jessica, trying to feed herself, but Jessica refused and continued to feed her daughter.

Jessica knew her two kids were happy children, and she didn't want them to grow up sad, seeing their parents quarreling and no longer in love.

"Mummy, why are you crying?" Caleb asked, noticing Jessica was crying silently as tears rolled down her face.

Nina looked up at her mother's face as she sat on Jessica's thighs eating the noodles Jessica fed her.

Just then, Jessica heard footsteps behind her. She quickly sniffed and plastered a smile on her face, replying to Caleb, "I'm not crying, I'm just overwhelmed."

"Over what?" Caleb tried to ask, not understanding the big word his mother had used, but Dylan cut the mother-to-son conversation short with his deep sharp voice and said, "That's enough, Caleb. Now eat your food. You should know that talking isn't allowed while eating."

"Okay, Dad," Caleb smiled, and Dylan stood with a strict face. He had already put on a black suit to leave for the company and adjusted his necktie over his white shirt.

Jessica stared at Dylan's hardened expression.

She wanted to put Nina down on the next chair so Nina could start eating by herself and planned to stand to prepare Dylan's breakfast, but Dylan coldly said, "There won't be any need for that; I cannot wait to eat again."

Jessica stood up from the dining table and saw that Dylan didn't want to wait for his breakfast. He finished adjusting his suit, placed some money on the center table for them, and left the house.

"Mummy..." Nina cried as she couldn't reach the dining table by herself. Her little hands couldn't reach to pick up the spoon.

Nina's crying snapped Jessica out of her trance, and she rushed back to her daughter. Jessica carried Nina back on her thighs and resumed feeding her.

Jessica knew Dylan wasn't joking about divorcing her, and she silently thought of what she could do to appease him as she continued to feed her daughter.

After Jessica finished feeding Nina and Caleb had also finished his meal, she knew Dylan had only left the security man at the gate to lock and open the gate for him whenever he left for the office in the morning and returned in the evening, since Dylan had sacked all the maids and domestic staff.

Jessica heard Dylan's car start in the garage and drive out of the compound; she knew he was leaving for the office.

She went to the kids' room downstairs to prepare their bath. After bathing them, she dressed them in new clothes and brought them back to the living room with their toys to play. She switched on the television to a cartoon channel for the kids to watch before going back upstairs to her bedroom.