Chapter 5

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

He took one of the divorce papers and glanced through it as he put the paper into his black briefcase and shut it closed. He then went into his bathroom to bathe. Before he decided to prepare for office work, as he thought to read the divorce paper in his office.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jessica had thought that the young maid tried to seduce her husband in her absence, but after the maid left, Jessica didn't receive any complaints about such behavior from the maid's parents, and the housemaid had even cried when sent away, insisting she hadn't done anything wrong to offend Jessica.

Jessica had to give the young maid extra money, assuring her that she would still be going to school, and she wouldn't stop paying the maid's school fees, even as the maid wasn't under her care anymore.

The young maid was very smart and nice, completing all her house chores before Jessica would wake up or sending 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, even helping them do their homework as if she were their real elder sister. Yet Florence was only a maid and not related to them.

"Time has gone for today, Caleb. Do not 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 baths afterwards," Jessica told her son, smiling at him and squatting to meet his height, along with her little daughter's height. She finally stood up and went into the kitchen to prepare their breakfast.

Jessica wondered if Dylan was still serious about divorcing her as she walked into the kitchen and toward her cupboards to check what she would prepare. She resumed mopping the kitchen floor since she no longer had a maid.

After she finished cleaning the kitchen floor and cabinet top, Jessica then proceeded to prepare her kids' breakfasts. She made noodles and fried eggs for them and stepped out to the dining table to serve their meals.

The aroma of the fried eggs and delicious noodles that Jessica had prepared attracted her two kids, and they rushed to meet her at the dining table to take their respective seats.

Nina was too small and unable to climb the dining chair by herself. She cried out, reaching for Jessica to carry her up. Nina's third attempt to climb the chair by herself ended with her little bottom crashing to the tiled floor, and she cried out, "Mummy!"

"Wait, Nina, I'm coming!" Jessica quickly rushed to carry Nina up in her arms, dusted her little daughter's bottom, and sat her down on her thighs, then proceeded to feed Nina.

Nina continued to stretch out her small hand to take the spoon from Jessica's hand, and feed herself, but Jessica refused, continuing to feed her daughter.

Jessica knew that her two kids were happy children, and she didn't want them to become sad while growing up, especially seeing their parents now quarrelling and no longer in love with each other.

"Mummy, why are you crying?" Caleb asked Jessica, noticing that she was crying silently, with tears rolling down her cheeks.

Nina tried to look up at her mother's face as she sat on Jessica's thighs eating her noodles.

Nina tried to look up again to see if her mummy was truly crying, but just then, Jessica heard footsteps from behind her and quickly sniffed, plastering a fake smile on her face as she replied to Caleb, "I'm not crying; I'm just overwhelmed."

"Over what?" Caleb asked, trying to understand the big words his mother had used, but Dylan quickly cut the mother-to-son conversation short with his deep, sharp voice, replying to Caleb, "That's enough, Caleb. Now eat your food. You should know that talking isn't allowed when eating."

"Okay, Dad," Caleb smiled at his father's words. Dylan stood with a strict face as he wore a black suit to leave for his company, adjusting his necktie properly over his white shirt.

Jessica glanced back at Dylan's face and saw the hardened expression on his face. She wanted to put Nina down on the next chair so that Nina could start eating by herself. She stand up from the dining chair to prepare Dylan's breakfast for him, but Dylan coldly told her, "There won't be any need for that; I cannot wait to eat again."

Jessica had stood up from the dining chair when she saw that Dylan didn't want to wait for his breakfast. After adjusting his suit and white shirt, he placed some money on the center table for them and left the house.

"Mummy…" Nina cried out as she was unable to reach the dining table by herself. Her little hands couldn't grasp her spoon to feed herself.

Nina's crying snapped Jessica out of her trance. She rushed back to her little daughter, who was crying and trying to feed herself.

Jessica carried Nina back on her thighs and resumed feeding her at the dining table. She knew that Dylan wasn't joking about divorcing her, and she silently thought of what she could do to appease him while continuing to feed her daughter.

After Jessica finished feeding Nina and Caleb had also completed his meal, she remembered that Dylan only left the security man at the gate to lock and open it for him whenever he was leaving in the morning or returning home in the evening. Dylan had dismissed all the domestic staff.

Jessica heard the sound of Dylan's car starting in their garage as he finally drove out of their compound, and she knew he was leaving for the office.

She sighed and 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. As she switched on the television to a cartoon channel for her kids to watch, before she went back upstairs to her bedroom.