Thaddeus did well this time. The taste was pretty much as good as he had hoped for. He had mastered making the dish."Jessie, come sit here beside me," Thaddeus requested.Jessamine agreed and switched seats so that she and Thaddeus were sitting side by side.She helped herself to only one spoonful of mashed potatoes. She had already eaten two large pieces of jackfruit, so her calorie intake was over the limit. She needed to watch her figure."Is your knee still hurting?" Jessamine asked.Thaddeus had nearly forgotten about it until she brought it up. He had wanted her to take care of him on a whim earlier. But within a few minutes, he almost gave himself away.He stiffened his right leg and said, "It hurts a bit.""Do you have a first aid kit at home? Let me take a look. If there's a splinter that's gotten in, it needs to be extracted, and your wound must be disinfected. Otherwise, you might lose your leg," Jessamine said solemnly.Thaddeus raised an eyebrow and urged, "Let's
Jessamine tidied up the kitchen, took off her apron, and walked out of the kitchen."Where is your first aid kit? Let me take a look at your knee," she said.Thaddeus snapped back to reality. He admitted that he told the lie just to satisfy his own selfish desires and never expected her to take it so seriously."I haven't lived in this house for long and haven't prepared a first aid kit yet. Jessie, it's not a big deal. Come over here and rest for a bit," Thaddeus said."I'm not tired. Let me help you disinfect first," Jessamine said while rummaging through the cabinet in the living room. She found a box marked with a red cross and started examining it closely."Isn't this a first aid kit?"Thaddeus felt his throat tighten up. It did indeed require 100 lies to cover up one lie. "I forgot that I already had it at home."Jessamine didn't notice his discomfort and came over with the first aid kit. She reached out to roll up his pant leg after she reached the couch.Thaddeus couldn
Jessamine couldn't bring herself to lie to him. While she wanted to pretend to comfort him, she was also afraid that the truth would hurt his feelings.Jessamine remained silent.Thaddeus chuckled softly and lifted her onto his lap.What more could he possibly want? As long as she had him in her heart, that was enough for him. After reflecting on how he spent the past four years, he felt like a walking corpse. Being able to find her again and rebuild their relationship was already a stroke of incredible luck."Jessie, as long as you have me in your heart, that's enough. I'm not greedy, but I hope you are. You should want all of me, and have your heart filled only with thoughts of me. I want to give you everything; do you want to feel it?"He took her hand and placed it on his chest. He gazed at her intently. "Jessie…"Jessamine felt her eyes grow hot with tears and beneath her palm was his strong heartbeat. Each beat of his heart resonated against her palm and sent a warmth thr
Thaddeus looked at Thomas in a daze. He was momentarily unsure of what to say.Jessamine was sitting with her back to the door and didn't see Thomas standing there. She noticed Thaddeus' sudden emotional distancing. Frustrated, she hooked her hands around his neck, tilted her face up, and leaned in to kiss him again.Thaddeus froze for a moment, as he felt reluctant to evade her enthusiasm. Under Thomas' watchful eyes, he couldn't respond in any way, so he just stood there stiffly as she kissed him."What's wrong with you?" she asked.Jessamine noticed his absent-mindedness. He was the one who initiated the kiss, and now he was ignoring her. What was he doing?Thaddeus licked his lips and glanced toward the door again."Jessie, come down first," he said.Jessamine furrowed her brows slightly. She was evidently displeased with his attitude."Thaddeus, what do you mean? You were the one who just picked me up and put me on your lap. Is this how you act when you're trying to woo so
"Don't get annoyed with me for being so nosy, either. Whatever the two of you are doing, just take it back to your room and close the door," Thomas chided.Then, Thomas changed his tone and said, "Lock the door! You absolutely can't let the kids see this."Thaddeus felt a pang of bitterness. He hadn't reached that point yet; it was just nothing more than a kiss. Even though he deeply yearned for more…It seems that Thomas was overthinking quite a bit."Grandpa, I'm going upstairs to fix the lock."Thomas watched Thaddeus' back as he was about to leave and couldn't help but remind him of some things."Jessie is already tired from work, and she still has to take care of the children when she gets home. If you can't help her, fine, but don't exhaust her too much. You need to cherish your own wife and not just think about your own pleasure."Thaddeus now felt a sense of awkwardness creeping up on him as he realized what was happening."Grandpa, we didn't…"Thomas waved his hand di
Jessamine was fuming with anger. "Can you be a bit more mindful of the situation? There are elderly people here, and yet you…"Jessamine was at a loss for words and finally just exclaimed, "Shameless!"Thaddeus watched her with a smile the entire time she was fussing around before he walked over to hug her from behind."Jessie, it's not a big deal. We didn't do anything serious. It was just a kiss. Grandpa's experienced, so he won't mind it and will forget about it by tomorrow. Considering our current relationship, what's wrong with a kiss?"Jessamine was angry and pushed his hands away from her waist."Thaddeus, I think we need to set some boundaries between us. We can't just act recklessly whenever and wherever we want."Thaddeus turned her around so they were facing each other and raised an eyebrow as he asked, "What are the boundaries?""In the future, avoid intimate actions in inappropriate settings, such as in the office or in front of the children. You need to control you
Thaddeus gathered his things and turned around to see Jessamine sitting there in a daze. "Jessie, what are you thinking about?""It's nothing. I should be heading home now. If I get home any later, Layla will be upset if I miss her bedtime."Thaddeus' smile grew wider as he thought of Layla's adorable face."That little clingy one—are you sure you can handle them? How about leaving the two kids with me for a few days?""You don't even have a nanny and you still have to work during the day. I'm worried you won't be able to manage."Thaddeus thought to himself that what Jessamine said made sense. He could always hire a nanny, but having another person in the house would be inconvenient, so he dismissed the idea."How about picking up the kids this weekend?""I'll ask for their thoughts first. If the kids don't have any objections, then I don't either.""Can you come with them?"Jessamine gave him a disapproving look. "Mr. Holt, do you want to move in together before even making
Xander had to admit that there was something truly amazing about the bond of blood relations.Xander had watched the two kids grow up and did a good job as their uncle. Whenever he had time, he would take the children out to have fun.In their four years of being together, he had never seen Layla get this close to anyone.Thaddeus was an unexpected father who just showed up, and had he already won over the two little kids within a few days?Lucas ran out from the back as well. When he saw Thaddeus, he didn't show much of an expression on his face, but one could tell from his eyes that he was happy.Layla held onto Thaddeus' neck tightly with her small hands."Daddy, are you not leaving? Stay and sleep with Mommy tonight!"Xander was taken aback. "Layla, boys and girls are different, so they shouldn't sleep together so casually. Come here, let me carry you."Layla pouted. "But back in Zenville, Mommy and Daddy slept together."Xander's expression didn't look too good. When he g