Ch. 1046..1050
Chapter 1046 Before Odell could make his next move, Sylvia quickly hopped off the bed and went to the dressing area to get changed.
Odell looked at her silently.
In an instant, all the lust inside him was washed away. He glanced at Flint.
Flint stopped snickering suddenly and looked at his father. His eyes widened into two large, reflective marbles. The pair of father and son stared at each other sometime before Odell went to pick him up.
Flint began crying out, “Mommy, Mommy...”
Odell‘s face darkened briefly. He walked out of the room with Flint in his arms, but Flint's cries only grew louder from that point on.
Sylvia, who had just gotten changed, quickly stepped out of the dressing area. She stepped out just in time to catch a glimpse of Flint being carried out of the room by Odell, his feet wrangling frantically in the air as he repeatedly called for his mother.
She felt a twitching sensation inside her chest when she witnessed this picture. “Here‘s Mommy, here‘s Mommy.” She Immediately rushed over and took Flint into her arms.
Flint wrapped his arms around her neck with a weak pout and looked at her with tears welling up in his eyes. He looked distraught.
Sylvia frowned and turned to Odell with a pointed look,” Why is Flint crying? What did you do to him?” Odell did not utter a word.
“| didn't do anything to him,” he finally said as he glanced at Flint. Upon feeling Odell's glare, Flint immediately buried his face in Sylvia‘s neck and began wailing again.
While Odell was at a loss for words, his expression darkened. Sylvia glared at him. “Leave. You're not allowed to sleep in this room from now on.” With that, she took Flint, who was bawling his eyes out, and left Odell.
Odell stood rooted to the same spot like a sculpture and simply watched Flint being carried away. For the first time, he wanted to punish Flint to teach him a lesson.
Flint was easier to appease than Sylvia had expected.
Before she even had to do anything, Flint’s mood took on a dramatic turn when she saw his brother and sister waddling down the corridor to greet him. He babbled on and on, “Brother, brother...”
Liam took him into his arms.
Isabel appeared behind Liam and said, “How about me? Call me Sister.”
Flint babbled, “Brother...”
Isabel repeated, “Sister!”
“Brother, Brother...”
Isabel grumpily snatched her toy back from Flint's hands.
Nevertheless , Flint was not upset by this and continued burrowing his head into Liam‘s neck.
As Sylvia watched them silently , a voice inside her head told her that she had been unfair towards Odell. The children quickly went downstairs after that.
Aunt Tonya and the others were waiting for them downstairs already, so Sylvia knew that she did not have to worry about the children. She turned back to the bedroom again.
Odell had changed out of his pajamas and put on a fitted black shirt and trousers. He was just stepping out of the dresser with a jacket in his hand when he stumbled into Sylvia.
His large figure obstructed the lights and cast a shadow over her.
Sylvia stammered, “You've already gotten changed?”
Odell squinted. “You don't want me to?”
“No, that's not what | meant. | was just asking.” Odell drew himself in front of her and immediately sensed her guilt from the way she mistreated him. He softly took her chin and asked, “Is the brat still crying?”
The brat?
It seemed like he was still upset about Flint.
She muttered a short reply, “Yeah, he went down to play with Isabel and Liam.”
She had only just said this when Odell suddenly leaned into her and pressed his lips against hers. She was shocked by this bold approach.
He grabbed the back of her head with his large palms so she would not resist and kissed her deep and passionately for what seemed like forever. Before drawing away, he lightly bit her lips as if to reprimand her.
At last, he pinched her cheeks and said, “Go get changed.” Sylvia pursed her lips to answer, “Okay.” After breakfast, Odell went to work while Isabel and Liam went to school. Everything was routine as usual.
Sylvia played with Flint for a while until he became tired and fell asleep. After leaving Aunt Tonya in charge of the boy, she went to the third floor.
The paint had dried on the painting she made yesterday and was resting on the table.
Chapter 1047 She observed the painting for a while before moving off to where the sculpting tools were and went to work. The day passed quickly. Night soon fell and it was time for bed.
When she returned to the bedroom from the third floor, she saw Odell and Flint's figures lying on the bed.
Flint was sleeping soundly next to Odell. Just like yesterday, the man leaned against the bedboard while reading a book. When Sylvia entered , he smiled and looked at her. “Are you done?”
Sylvia grunted.
He put down the book and got out of bed. It seemed like he was heading out.
Sylvia immediately asked, “Where are you going?” He replied, “To the guest room.”
Why was he scuttling away to the guest room? She did not tell him to leave. She became slightly upset and said in an accusing tone, “You were lying down already. Why are you going to the guest room?” Odell approached her with a somber expression. “Didn't
you tell me this morning that I'm not allowed to sleep here again?”
Sylvia was speechless. She suddenly seemed troubled and consumed by guilt. Odell looked at her for a few seconds , and upon noting her silence, he was prepared to walk past her and leave the room.
When Sylvia noticed that he was going to go, she quickly explained , “I was just upset at the time. | thought that you were getting angry at Flint which is why | said all that.”
Odell turned to her. “What do you mean? What did you
say?”
He said this with great solemnity, not understanding what Sylvia meant.
Sylvia stammered, “Y-you know, | got upset and it all just came out.”
Odell squinted and approached her. His large figure towered over her like a mountain.
Sylvia stepped back instinctively.
He continued advancing toward her without the slightest intention of stopping. Eventually, Sylvia backed into a wall with nowhere else to go. She looked at him unnervingly. “What are you doing?”
As he grabbed her chin and grazed against her lip with his finger, a shimmer of light flashed in his eyes. “You know what.” Sylvia stayed quiet.
“I'll kiss you if you‘re not going to say anything.” With that, she zipped her lips and remained silent. Odell chuckled softly and drew closer.
Their lips pressed together, and the dim lights inside the room gave the outline of their figures a different glow. .
After the kiss that lasted an eternity , the silence in the room was at last broken.
Odell picked her up effortlessly.
Her cheeks were flushed with red, and her eyes seemed to sparkle. Underneath the lights, she blossomed like a flower. Odell could not resist the urge to continue to suffocate Sylvia with kisses. He advanced toward the bed with her in his arms. She began shoving at him. “Odell, Flint is still...” “He‘s asleep.”
“What if he wakes up?”
“He won't.”
“But if—”
“Not buts.” With that, he sealed her lips again so that she would not utter another word of protest.
Sylvia was not going to say anything, to begin with.
Besides, Flint was asleep and was not going to wake up anytime soon. At this point, she would be a spoilsport to refuse him. They went at it until midnight.
Just as Odell said, Flint remained sleeping in his crib the entire time.
Sylvia was sweating all over and exhausted as she leaned against Odell.
He rested his chin in one hand and looked at her contentedly like a hungry wolf relishing in the meal he just had. He suddenly asked, “Are you tired?”
Sylvia could fall asleep at any second, so she groaned weakly. “Want me to carry you to the shower?”
Chapter 1048
Sylvia instinctively mumbled ‘yes‘ and quickly regretted it when she met the gaze in Odell‘s eyes. Although he was also drenched in sweat, he still seemed rather energetic.
It was a trap!
She wondered if she would even have the strength to walk out of the shower if she agreed to go with him. Tl
“That's alright. I'll go by myself.”
After that, she scurried out of bed and went to the bathroom.
Odell lay on his side and watched her all the while, chuckling at her escape.
Suddenly, the phone on the bedside table rang. It was a customized notification only triggered when receiving messages from a specific sender.
He sat up and picked up the phone.
It was a message from Skylar. “Master Carter, | got in touch with the clairvoyant at last. He told me that the reason | could not help Sylvia restore all her memories was that | was going too fast. My skills were not honed yet, and | was rushing things. He told me that | should
perform the hypnosis a few more times and that there's a strong chance that it will help her restore all her monies.”
On the day after Sylvia went to Glanchester, he had gone to Skylar when he was on the way to join Sylvia and had requested Skylar to contact the clairvoyant again.
She must have only just tracked down the clairvoyant today.
He pondered for a moment and replied, “Got it.”
Skylar asked uncertainly, “Umm... You've brought her home, haven't you?”
Odell replied, “Yes.”
“That's good to know. | should be in Westchester by noon tomorrow. I'll head straight to your place to look for her.” Odell frowned and told her, “You shouldn't come here just yet.” “Why not? Did something happen between you two?”
“We're doing great.”
Skylar did not press the issue and replied, “Okay, I'll wait for your update then.”
Odell set his phone down. He turned in the direction of the bathroom with a grim expression. He could not let Skylar try hypnosis on Sylvia again.
If her memories from the past years were restored, that
would complicate things so much more.
She would remember the crushing pain of having her leg broken, of how Tara almost murdered her at Cloudy Heart Lake, and she would remember the sixty slaps.
The sound of running water inside the shower stopped suddenly.
Odell quickly wiped away the solemn look in his eyes.
Shortly after that, the door was opened, and Sylvia emerged in a set of light pajamas. It took all the strength in her to keep her eyes pried open. When she got to the bed, she closed her eyes and collapsed without even sparing a glance at Odell.
Odell smiled and immediately pulled her into his arms.
Sylvia could smell the scent of sweat on him. Despite feeling revolted, she was too tired to do anything about it and could only mumble groggily, “Go take a shower.” Odell murmured, “Later.”
“You have to go now.” “Yeah.” He embraced her tightly and refused to let go.
After a while, her breathing took on a slow and steady rhythm. He gently lowered her to the pillow and kissed her on the forehead before getting up to go to the bathroom.
The next morning, the heat woke Sylvia up again. She opened her eyes and was instantly greeted by the sleeping Odell in front of her. He had his arms wrapped around her and was facing her.
Sylvia gently moved his arm away because it was too hot. Odell slowly opened his eyes and immediately smiled.” Morning.” “Hehe...”
As soon as he said that, he heard a soft giggle from behind, so he turned around.
Chapter 1049 Sylvia rose abruptly.
Flint was awake and had crawled next to them at some point. He lay down next to Odell and observed them attentively, being the adorable and playful boy he was.
Sylvia was enchanted by how adorable Flint was and waved him to go over with a loving smile. “Flint, come to Mommy.” Odell smiled and sat up to make room for Flint.
The little rascal ended up crawling directly over him. He crept atop his leg as if he was mounting over an obstacle and approached Sylvia who smiled and took him in her arms.
Flint babbled, “Moh...ning.”
Sylvia was pleasantly surprised by this and returned the greeting, “Good morning, you.” While the boy grinned from ear to ear, Odell was delighted to see the mother and son‘s wholesome exchange and grinned as well.
The following days passed uneventfully.
During the day, Odell would go to work while Liam and
Isabel went to school while Sylvia stayed at home with Flint.
She usually played with the boy until lunchtime, after which the boy would quickly fall asleep.
Then, she would hand him over to Aunt Tonya while she went up to the third floor. She had been going to the studio every day. Apart from some small sculptures, she also completed two paintings.
They were merely sketches of the landscape and looked rather remarkable. However, just like the previous painting, she felt like it was missing something she could not quite put her finger on.
She would dangle the paintbrush in the air with countless thoughts running through her mind only to place it back. Suddenly, her phone rang. She picked up her phone and saw a message from Odell. “Tomorrow is the weekend. Where do you want to go?”
He further supplied several locations for her to choose from. They could either go sightseeing or go somewhere fun with the children.
Sylvia picked somewhere where both children and parents could participate in activities together. Odell replied, “Alright.” After two minutes, she received another message. “It's
not very busy today, so we'll have time to go out for dinner tonight. What do you want to eat?”
Sylvia considered for a while and answered, “Hotpot
then.”
“Okay, just wait till | get home.”
Sylvia smiled and replied, “Got it.” She felt like she had never seen him chat this much.
She still remembered what it was like when she first had a crush on him. He had a completely different air around him compared to his peers at the time and was known for his stoic temperament. Even though he rarely, if ever, uttered so much as a sentence around her, she still could not help but fall for him.
It turned out that she liked him even more now that he was more talkative.
She wondered what exactly they had experienced in those six years that led to such a dramatic change. Aunt Tonya had told her what happened, but still, she was merely an outside observer of these events and had no insight into what had truly gone on between them.
She was aware that she could not rush the process of restoring her memory. Even someone as capable as Skylar could not help her fully restore her memory yet. She stopped worrying about these matters and decided to scroll through her phone to look for Sherry’s new contact.
She sent her a message.
“Sherry, how have you been doing in Glanchester?” The last time they texted each other was four days ago. Sherry usually took some time to reply to her. Sometimes, she would go missing for several days before an answer came. Chances were that she was being cautious so that John would not find out about the phone.
After sending the message, Sylvia picked up her sculpting tools and went to work while waiting for a reply.
Meanwhile, in the Stocktons‘ residence in Glanchester, more than a hundred kilometers away from Westchester, there was a lively party in the enormous garden.
The glow of the sun created a warm atmosphere, and there was a soft breeze,
Most of the people present at the party were daughters of wealthy households in Glanchester. All of them wore designer dresses in the latest fashion and patterns, and a lot of them donned a shawl as well which added to their refined look.
Standing out of the crowd, Sherry had nothing but a simple black dress on. She carried a handbag and walked through the crowd, feeling very out of place and awkward. She went to a remote corner and drank from a wine glass.
She leaned against a pillar and enjoyed the delicious food served at the party while she silently stared at a young and beautiful lady not far away from her.
Chapter 1050
The formal purpose of the party was for Madam Stockton to get together and catch up, but the true intention was to match John with a suitable candidate.
By all accounts, Sherry had no right to be there because Madam Stockton would never acknowledge her as John's partner.
John must have been out of his mind to make her attend. He even threatened that she would have to embroider twenty pieces of garments if she did not show up.
A gust of cold wind blew in her direction and made her shudder. She shielded herself from the wind with one hand and lifted the wine glass with the other.
At least, the wine was good.
The young ladies she saw attending the party were all captivating and beautiful. All of them commanded the attention of the passersby. As beautiful as they were though, she realized that she had never seen any one of them.
They must all hail from Glanchester.
When the party began, Madam Stockton showed up with Queenie and Julie to help her bridge the communication with the younglings at the party.
Julie had her hair braided for the occasion and wore a well —fitted gown that had elegance written all over. As Queenie followed after her, her curly blonde hair seemed to have a life of its own as it fluttered with every step she took. She donned a bright pink dress that commanded attention.
The moment they showed up, a group of people surrounded them. Julie was quite the socialite and made conversation with everyone.
Once the crowd slowly dispersed, she noticed Sherry standing in the corner. She was startled by the sight of Sherry but quickly greeted her with a polite smile.
Although Sherry was not as sociable as Julie was, she had amassed more than enough experience in her years of managing Lush Heaven. In just one glance, she could tell that Julie was merely greeting her out of practical decency.
Besides, she already knew that Julie had never been fond, of her. She was the heralded, much-praised daughter—in law of the Stocktons, and she considered herself too good for Sherry.
Sherry hated the way Julie smiled, knowing that she had nothing but contempt for herself deep down. Nevertheless, Sherry ignored her and turned her head away. She picked up a slice of cake and stuffed it into her
mouth,
However, Julie was not a fan of being ignored, so she seemed to do a double take.
Meanwhile, Queenie, who was currently being showered with praises by everyone around her, noticed Julie's strange behavior. She looked at her and asked curiously,“ What's the matter?” Julie raised her chin in Sherry‘s direction and said, “Isn't that Sherry? Why is she here?”
Upon hearing the mention of Sherry‘s presence, Queenie’s expression turned hostile. She followed Julie's line of sight and quickly identified her nemesis who she approached.
Sherry had just finished a sweet and delicious slice of cake and was about to help herself to another serving when she heard Queenie's judgmental tone from behind,” Sherry, who said you could attend this party? What even makes you think that you have the right to be here?” Sherry picked up the cake and looked back at her. She smiled briskly while taking a bite out of the cake. “Your brother was the one who asked me to come. | don't understand why some poor old peasant like me needs to be here as well. Why don't you ask him for me?”
Queenie's face became flushed red with anger. She finally burst out after a few seconds of silence, “That's a load of nonsense. Why would my brother let someone like you
attend? Get out of here!”
She screamed at the top of her voice and drew the attention of many people. Julie went up to them immediately and tried to calm Queenie down. “Come on, since John asked her to come, we'd better leave her alone.’
Queenie only became more upset upon hearing this. “My brother would never invite someone like her. She must have snuck in here herself! How completely shameless!”
As soon as she said this, many people turned to gawk at Sherry.
Did she really sneak in? How could anyone barge in here without being directly invited by Madam Stockton?
This was a party to help Master Stockton find a suitable marriage partner, so who would have the audacity to sneak in here uninvited? It was truly shameless.
Suddenly, everyone began to regard Sherry with a sense of hostility. Meanwhile, the apparently shameless Sherry took
another glass of red wine and downed it in one go. She could not be bothered to care about what they thought of her. Queenie's opinion was the least of her concerns.