“I will not challenge you for Charlotte’s custody again. She will always be yours,” he said again. Seeing his actions and his ocean-deep eyes, she was moved, and she believed him. “I believe you,” she said in a soft but serious tone of voice. “And thank you.” It had been a long time since he last saw her so docile. His brows moved with the corners of his lips turning up. But he was not happy about her reaction. “Just a thank you?” “Then what do you want? As best as I can, I will—” Before Summer could finish her sentence, Mark leaned forward and came down with his fiery kisses. She was slightly startled. She frowned and glared at him as soon as she knew what happened. Mark pulled away from her and looked at her. “But I keep the right to visit Charlotte anytime I want.” “You are her dad. I can’t deny your right to see her. Yeah, I agree,” Summer said. “Now, where are we going now?” “Buy Charlotte a kite.” There was a kite shop selling a dazzling array of kites not far
His lips, however, curled up as he leaned his tall and proud body against the counter ever so lazily. He watched her every move without saying anything, but he did not loosen his grip. Instead, he held her more tightly. They were not alone in the store. At that moment, the people around them were all shifting their gazes toward their direction. It was really inappropriate for them to act like that in public. Summer clenched her jaw as she stopped moving and reluctantly stood still.After half an hour, the staff finally brought their kite over to them. Compared with the blue kite, it was evident that the orange one was more appealing.After paying for the kites, they walked out of the shop and returned to the hospital.Charlotte had already woken up. She was sitting on her sickbed as she played with her building blocks uninterestedly. Her round eyes lit up as soon as she laid eyes on the kites. “Which one do you like?” Mark asked her while he stood in front of her bed, holdin
Soloman was not one to interfere in his daughter’s business, but he also chimed in this time. “I fully agree with everything your mom said. I won’t say anything else, but I have to say this—we should always have a conscience!”“One more thing, and it’s going to be hard to swallow. If Dean really becomes paralyzed, it will be hard for him to find a partner. Regardless of how just, kind, honest, and charming he is, it won’t be easy. In this generation, who isn’t realistic? If they saw Dean’s legs, do you think they’d still want to be his partner?” Daisy looked at Summer as she spoke from the bottom of her heart. “Oh Summer, we should really have a good conscience.”“I know all that, Mom.” Summer’s expression was deep and dark.At the same time, Summer understood in her heart that those were very real issues. Even if her parents did not bring them up, she was already making plans for what she had to do.“Good. We are not forcing you either, but you should really take some time and car
Yvette took a picture out of her purse with delight as she glanced at Summer’s back disdainfully. The women all took turns to look at the picture.Summer was not far from them, which meant that she could still hear their conversation fairly well.She subtly watched them from the side of her eye and saw the picture that the group of women was passing around. ‘Yeah, that’s probably a picture of Mark and Raine…’But it was no longer her concern. There was no reason for her to turn back and look!‘They spent four years together overseas. The pictures they share together might even fill a whole photo album. So, what’s so special about this one picture?’When she reached the hospital, Charlotte was already awake. Summer then carried her to Dean’s ward.Charlotte was sitting at his side when she looked at him with admiration in her round eyes. “Uncle Dean is the best! Uncle Dean is a hero!”Dean laughed with satisfaction as he patted her soft dark hair. ‘Look at this little girl.’“
He did not want her to feel guilty. Besides, he already took Charlotte as his own daughter. It was only justifiable for a father to save his daughter.“I understand, but if it wasn’t for Charlotte, I would still take care of you. You were already her daddy in her heart.”Summer talked slowly as she wanted to utter every word clearly.Her words definitely moved him and made his heart flutter, but he still rejected her. “Summer, you should just bring Charlotte back. I will be fine in Santabaca; I’m working here too.”“You’re not recovering anytime soon. What do you mean ‘work?’” Summer furrowed her brows. ‘Dean can really be kind of stubborn!’“I can’t do anything that requires me to use my legs, but I’ll still be able to work on the cases.”Summer did not want to talk about this with him further as she changed the subject and said, “You really don’t understand me. The decisions I’ve made have no space for changes.”This time, the clueless Charlotte also tilted her head upward. He
The phone call lasted for a long time and Charlotte could not get her hands off the phone. She was chuckling and her eyes were bent into crescents. No one would know what Mark was saying to her at the other end of the phone. She finally hung up after half an hour. The nurse took the phone from Charlotte’s tiny hands and put her to sleep. The train was leaving at nine the next morning. Summer was pushing the wheelchair while Charlotte was carrying her little backpack with an orange kite in her arms. Obediently, she walked by Summer’s side.After that incident took place, it taught her a lesson and she learned to be more disciplined. She would walk closely behind Summer without wandering off even when her hands were not being held.They were already at the waiting lounge before the boarding time. The place was crowded with people and the noise was overwhelming. There was a middle-aged man who let out a strong burp from eating too fast, “Bwaaaaap…”“Pardon me for being so rude.
“Didn’t know that breaching privacy’s a trend now!” Jazz clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction. At the very next moment, he heard the sound of a car engine starting, and he smacked his lap. “My Lexus!”After some time, there was an announcement reminding the passengers that they will start punching the tickets. Summer got onto the train while holding Charlotte’s hand in one hand, and pushing the wheelchair with another.There weren’t many seat choices while Summer was purchasing the tickets, so she was forced to buy three tickets with separate seating numbers. Fortunately, Charlotte was sitting next to a man who was traveling alone. Summer asked him for a swap of seats, to which he agreed. Consequently, their seats were not far from Dean’s. They were only separated by a few rows of passengers so it was really convenient. Leaning her head on the window, Charlotte played with the kite in her hands. “Mommy, are we not going to see uncle anymore?”“I thought you hated him. Didn’t yo
Dean was not visiting Nokocola Bay for the first time. He had been there quite a number of times over the past four years. So he was no stranger to the place. The room was dusty after a few days of being empty. Summer asked Charlotte to turn on the TV for Dean before she started cleaning the room. Summer cleaned room after room from inside out. There were two rooms which were just enough for them. One for her and Charlotte and another one for Dean. She hung all of Dean’s clothes in his wardrobe and changed his sheets.She made some light food and purposely brewed some bone broth. After everything was served on the table, she went and called them for lunch. Charlotte was showing excellent manners. After Summer was done ladling out the soup into small bowls, she first served it to Dean, then Summer, and herself last.Lunch was very harmonious. While they were eating, the police station called Dean to get him to finish up the analysis reports for a few cases. Summer arched her