The event

Lillian’s POV

Today was the last day of Mrs Laughlin's birthday event, and I couldn't be more relieved, even though the past five days had gone smoothly, without any form of ruckus or distraction from Stefano.

I just wanted to be done with it, so I would never have to lay eyes on him again.

For some odd reasons, a tiny part of me wondered why Stefano had kept his distance from me during the past few days.

Sure, he always greeted me whenever he saw me but that was it. He didn't ask after my wellbeing or work or even apologize or give me unsolicited explanations for stuff I couldn't be bothered to care about.

But then again, that was exactly what I had been hoping for, so what was this weird, almost sad feeling?

Pushing the weird feeling and thoughts away, I reduced the heat of the stove to the lowest, before removing my apron and stepping out of the kitchen to go check up on my kids.

As Nora was currently on a work trip in Germany, and I had no one else to look after them, I had brought them to work, and thankfully, Mrs Laughlin hadn't taken any offense.

She was also yet to really notice them, as she was busy conversing with her guests.

Stepping into the room Mrs Laughlin had given me for the day, I smiled when I saw the triplets sitting around their tablet, watching a car racing video.

“Hi, babies,” I greeted, and they instantly spun around to face me.

“Hi, mummy,” They chorused before Connor turned off the tablet, and the three of them stood up.

“Do you guys need anything or are you okay?” I asked.

“No, we don't,” Caleb replied, glancing at his brothers who nodded in agreement. “We are fine, mummy.”

“You are not hungry yet, either?”

In response, the trio shook their heads in negation, and I smiled again before crouching to their heights.

In contrast to how I used to think, I knew I must have saved a country in my past life for the heavens to give me three adorably smart kids.

“Okay, don't hesitate to let me know if you need something, alright?” I uttered. “You guys can still remember where the kitchen is, right?”

“Yes, mummy,” Carter replied.

“Good.” I said, ruffling their luscious locks.

“Well-done, mummy.” Caleb said, grinning at me, with his two missing front teeth, automatically widening my smile even further.

“Thanks, baby. I will see you there soon,” I said, standing up. “And don't go out of this room, okay?”

“We won't, mummy.” Carter reassured, to which I nodded.

“Okay, bye, babies. I'll check up on you again.” I said, blowing them a kiss as I made my out of the room.

On getting to the kitchen, I saw Miss Nancy thawing a packet of frozen Turkey and another of gizzard, which I intended on using to make a special dish that I recently came up with.

“Thank you so much, Miss Nancy,” I said, turning the heat of the gas cooker to a medium intensity.

“You are welcome, Miss Lillian,” She smiled, and for an inexplicable reason, she reminded me of Beatrice.

Kind and caring Beatrice.

Only the heavens knew how she was doing at the moment. My heart panged as a wave of cognition suddenly hit me, causing the scales of idiocy to fall off my eyes.

To think I had been subconsciously yearning for a douchebag like Stefano who put my life thorough hell and completely disgraced me in front of his mistress.

I really never learnt my lesson.

Knowing how much of an unfaithful jerk he was, Stefano had probably started seeing someone else and that person had his whole attention, which was the reason why he had stopped bugging me.

Inhaling shakily, I removed the cold slabs of cake from the refrigerator, in preparation to cover it with buttercream frosting.

Moments later as I worked on the cake, I couldn't help but hope for the day to go by sooner, so I wouldn't have to come across Stefano ever again.

+

Stefano's POV

Driving into my grandmother's estate, I tapped the steering wheel, my mind a baggage of several thoughts.

Three days ago, Gregory had called to inform me that Lillian was neither married nor in a relationship with anyone, which led me to instantly deduce that they were probably a product of a one night stand.

I wasn't judging her of course. I mean, I could never because I wasn't exactly a saint myself.

Honestly, I was even relieved that the father of her kids wasn't in the picture, and I hoped the bastard remained wherever he was and never returned.

If Lillian gave me a chance, I would gladly be their father.

For almost a week now, I had been suppressing the urge to ask her about the father of her kids, because I knew asking Lillian would make her despise me further.

So I had only been greeting her and nothing more. I knew if I did more than greeting, the question may slip out and I couldn’t have that.

I had to come up with a perfect plan to win both her and the triplets now.

Just then a little boy came running out of nowhere, almost causing me to hit him, if not for my timely swerve to the other side of the road.

Huffing, I turned off the ignition and went out to see him. The little boy was crouched mere inches away from my car, his head buried in his hands as he tremored with fear.

Crouching beside him, I placed a hand on his shoulder. “You are fine, little man. I didn't hit you.”

He looked up and at me immediately, tears streaming down his face before looking at himself.

“You are right. I'm sorry, mister,” He said. “My mummy told us to stay inside. We should have listened to her. Mummy is going to be so angry at us.”

I was about to respond to him when two little boys who he shared some resemblance with ran up to us, causing me to instantly deduce that they were brothers.

Eying me tentatively, the taller of the two asked. “Who are you, mister?”

“He's a kind mister, Connor,” The one I first met replied. “I was chasing a butterfly and didn't see his car. He was able to stop his car before it hitted me.”

The tall one seemed like the oldest of the trio, and for some reasons, I found his protectiveness over his little brother adorable.

“You are not hurt, right?” The third boy asked the crouched one, who shook his head in negation as he stood up, which made me realize that he was the tallest of the three.

“Thank you for not hitting our little brother, mister,” Connor said, and I smiled.

“You're welcome,” I said, repressing the urge to ruffle their hair which looked alluring for some reason. “What are your names?”

“Connor! Carter! Caleb! Where are you guys? Mummy is getting scared now.” The unmistakable voice of Lillian wafted into my ears from behind, causing me to straighten to my full height and look back to see her walking toward our direction, a frantic look on her face.

Only then did it dawn on me that the three little boys were her triplets.

“Mummy!” The triplets yelled, and she started sprinting in our path.

On seeing the triplets, she visibly relaxed. However, the moment she noticed me, her expression turned cold as she grabbed her children’s hands.

Darting me the iciest glare ever, she said. “Let's go.”

And with that, she left with the triplets, without uttering a single word to me.