Ch. 181..185: Powerful Papa with Triplet Babies Chapter 181-185

Chapter 181 The three hurried to her and held onto her legs.

Anne chuckled and set the bags in her hands down to wrapher arms around them.

Every time she was apart from her children, she would miss them dearly.

The triplets immediately noticed the bandage on her forehead.

"Mama, what happened to your head?" "Did you fall, Mama?"

"Does it hurt, Mama?" Chloe asked with tearsgathering in her eyes.

Not wanting to worry them, she immediately said, "It doesn't hurt.

I just fell.

It really feels like nothing!" "What did you hit? I will break it!" Charlie said.

Just as she was about to say something, she noticed Lucas walking over.

"If there's something in the way, you should get rid of it," he said with a mature tonethat naturally made people respect him.

She hastily let go of the children and bowed.

"Hello, Mr.

Newman." Lucas glanced at her forehead and picked up the bags on the floor.

"Come in." She realized that she should not be standing at someone else’s door and went inside with thechildren.

Anne felt embarrassed at how caring Lucas was, not only did he offer to let the children stay with him, heeven helped her carry the bags when he had no reasons to help her.

"What do you want to drink?" Lucas paused for a moment.

"I heard from the children that you like milk?" Anne blushed because she only drank milk when her children could not finish theirs.

"I'm fine.

Um, Mr.

Newman, can I buy you dinner?" She suggested.

"Is it safe?" He asked.

Instantly understanding what he meant, she hesitated and said, "It should be fine.

I can't be that unlucky." 1 He pointed at the kitchen.

"Dinner is already ready.

Join us for now, and buy me dinner another time." Chloe took Anne's hand.

"Say yes, Mama." "Mama, remember not to eat seafood outside," Charlie reminded her.

"Yeah!" Chris nodded.

Anne stayed for dinner and it was a feast and she could tell that Lucas took the time to arrange it.

After dinner, the triplets played games in the living room while Anne kept them company.

Lucas gave her a glass of fruit tea.

"It's good for digestion."

She stood up.

"Thank you." Without another word, he headed to the balcony with his cup of coffee.

After hesitating for a moment, she followed him outside.

"Mr.

Newman, thank you for helping me out.

If you need anything from me, please don't hesitate to let me know." She had been gratefulfor his help since her children started studying in

the kindergarten.

Lucas turned around.

In his casual wear, he looked far more approachable compared to when he wore a suit at the school, theglasses on his face gave him a wise

impression and this was precisely the type of man that was admired most by women.

"Don't worry about that.

I will be sure to order you around when the time comes," he deadpanned.

She chuckled, "Okay." 1 He glanced behind her and into the living room, where the triplets were watching television, reading books and

playing with toy knives alongside one another.

"Pets and children are the perfect remedy for an exhausted heart," he said, "wherever I live, the place always feels empty so I appreciate

having the kidshere." "If you like kids so much, you could find a girl you like and have kids of your own!" He nodded and turned to look at

Anne.

"Can I take a look at your wound?" She could not refuse because she was taken by surpriseby the request, at the same time, she could not

bring herself to reject any of Lucas's requests.

Chapter 182 She lowered her gaze when he leaned in closer. She felt the cold air when her woundwas exposed and the warmth of his breath

on her skin.

Anne gazed up to meet Lucas’s eyes and felt her pulse speeding.

"Did Anthony do this?” He asked.

She looked away frantically.

"No.

I drank too much last night and fell.

It’s true.J'm sorry for not being there when you went all the way there to pickme up.

I didn’t expect Anthony to be having dinner there as well and he just forced me into his car..." "What exactly does he want?" Lucas asked

calmly.

”l...my aunt married into the Marwood family and he resents me because of that.

It’s been going on for a while now, so I’ve gotten used to it," she explained gloomily.

Lucas must already know about the situation, but what he did not know was why Anthony would resent Anne’s mother somuch that he had to vent his anger on Anne, in Anthony's eyes, Sarah was a homewrecker and Anne was the daughter of the homewrecker that destroyed his family.

"Have you tried thinking of a way to resolve this?" "He gave me half a year, but I don’t thinkit would take that long.

He has someone he likes and she’s come back recently so he doesn't care much about me now.

I just ran into him by accident last night." "Half a year..." Lucas muttered.

"Nothing will happen during this time.

Anthony cares a lot about that woman,” she stressed, ignoring the fact that Anthony tried to force himself on her the night before, because nothing happenedin the end.

'Nothing will happen from now on,’ she thought to herself, "everything will get better.’ Her heart skipped a beat when theireyes met and she immediately looked away.

Lucas picked up his mug that he had set down by the fences and took a sip.

The night breeze was cool and comforting.

With fiery bouquets and stars of gold in the background, the atmosphere was peaceful but slightly awkward.

"I...I will go check on the kids,” she said.

"Sure." He nodded.

She went inside to stay with the children.

"Mama, look at my fighting skills.

It’s super cool!” Charlie waved his toy knife as he moved around actively.

"Mama, watch cartoons with me," Chloe leaned onto Anne’s legs.

Chris brought her a book and asked, "Mama, what does this word mean?"

Anne responded to each of them and turned to glance at the balcony where Lucaswas staring into the night while enjoying his coffee.

She was suddenly reminded of what Anthony had said to her before, asking who she was acting the virtuous woman for, she tried asking herself if it was becauseof Lucas and knew instantly that he had nothing to do with her decisions.

She did not dare to consider finding someone when she was already a mother of three andeven if she did like Lucas, she felt that her

admiration would merely be an insult to the man.

At night, she put the triplets to bed and Chloe clung to her.

"Mama, are you not living here with Daddy?" "We can all sleep together!" "Daddy wants Mama to sleep here as well!" Chris said.

"Mr.

Newman said that?" Anne asked in surprise.

"No.

I just think he would want you to stay," Chris said.

Anne chuckled and pinched him on the cheek.

"Mama can’t stay.

I’ve already caused Mr.

Newman a lot of trouble for leaving you here.” Charlie leaned against Anne's shoulder from behind.

"Don't worry, Mama.

Chapter 183 Perhaps her children had noticed an abnormality in her recent behavior, but telling her children thetruth felt like she was doing

something wrong in front of them.

She headed home alone at night, drowning in her own thoughts.

She felt as though she could barely breathe from all the pressure in life and itwas only when she was with her children that she could forget

about the troubles for a while.

Ultimately, all the pressure she was feeling originated from Anthony.

The next day at work, she went to the restroom to pour herself a glass of water and found her gossiping colleagues falling into silenceas

soon as she returned.

The awkward atmosphere was painfully obvious and Anne wondered how she had become the topic oftheir gossip.

Her colleague that sat across from her asked, "Anne, do you pay attention to scandals or things like that?"

She hesitated for a moment and asked,"Like what happened with Michelle Grainger, you mean?" "Do you know about the scandals

concerning the Marwoods?" "Yeah.

Aren't you Mr.

Marwood’s girlfriend?" "If you marry into the Marwood Family, you should get to know his family better." Anne smiled bitterly and said, "It's not true.

Me and him...it's not what you think...what scandal are you talking about?" She turned to open the news onher computer while asking, and immediately spotted the headline that said, 'Mrs.

Marwood found to be a homewrecker and the Marwood couple are currently in the process of getting a divorce.' She neednot ask to know who the headline was referring to.

No matter what happened, Sarah simply could not seem to shake the accusation of her being the homewrecker.

However, the one thing that concerned Anne was another link above the headline that said,' Homewrecker Sarah Val lois and a certain pioneer in the educationindustry are close friends.’ Anne could not help but click into it and saw the news of a suicide case in Pinnacle Academy from five years ago, there were debates on whether the school had handled the situation with justice and proper consideration.

At the time, the internet had been broadly used, so there were no public announcements as to what had happened, how it ended, and whether theschool had abused their power.

With the press highlighting the incident, it sparked a heated discussion about the accident five years ago.

Some of the students’ parents even went onto interviews, demanding a refund of the tuition fees because they did not want their children to study in such a horribleacademy.

1 The scandal had affected Pinnacle Academy’s reputation and Anne’s colleagues were still talking about it.

"If the school comes forth with the truth, wouldn't we all have to thank that homewrecker for bringingattention to this?" "That homewrecker probably hadn't imagined that she would be doing the world a favor." "The Pinnacle Academy is in trouble this time." Anne listened to her colleagues' conversation and stared thoughtfully at the screen of her computer.

The fact that there were discussions about the past incident in Pinnacle Academy was not that worrying, but for it to be associated with Sarah, who destroyed someone'sfamily and acted immorally, the situation could escalate at any point.

Suddenly, she was reminded of what Anthony had said to her two days ago.

"I look forward to seeing what would happen to that principal now that he has you on his tail." She paled and her lips startedquivering when she came to realize that Anthony might be targeting the Pinnacle Academy because she had disobeyed him.

"Anne, what's wrong?" Her colleague noticed that she was acting oddly.

Anne simply smiled and said, "Nothing.

I need to go to the washroom." The colleagues might have noticed that Anne seemed to be affected by the homewrecker scandal in the

Marwood Family,when in truth, all she could think of was the Pinnacle Academy.

As soon as she stepped out of the finance department, she gave Lucas a call.

"Is what's going on the internet affecting you guys?" "It's fine.

The school will cooperate with the investigation.

There's not much to hide from the incident all those years back," he said.

"Okay, that's good to hear.

It's just that ...this is happening because of the Marwood Family, and I'm sorry..." She said apologetically.

"You have nothing to do with it, so don't apologize," he said, and she heard someone talking in the background.

Chapter 184 Anne recognized the voice and knew that it was Lucas’ assistant. Knowing that he must be busy at the moment, Anne did not continue the conversation and ended the call. For a long while, she could not seem to regain her composure because she felt like there was more to the situation. The attention on the incident had only increased in the past two days almost as though the school had hidden the truth about the death of the female student back then. At the moment, the triplets were the only ones who were in Lucas’ apartment and they had not seen him in the past two days. Just then, they heard the door knob turning and Lucas stepped into the apartment. Anne stood up abruptly. “Daddy!” The three children chirped and Anne blushed at the way they addressed him. Lucas casually walked over to pat them on the head, before turning his attention to Anne.” You’re here.”

Though there was still a smile on his face, Anne could tell how troubled he was and looked away. “I just got here.” “I was busy for the past two days so I didn’t have time to come home,” he said. “It’s okay. There’s a helper here and the kids are good at adapting to new environments. Don’t worry about it.” The only concern on Anne’s mind was that the situation at the school remained unresolved. “Yeah. Don’t worry about us, Daddy!” Charlie said. “Good boy.” Lucas chuckled and asked, “Have you all eaten?” “We did, but Mama hasn’t!” Chloe said. “Eat with me?” Lucas said, and Anne obliged. The triplets stayed in the living room to play while she headed to the dining room with Lucas. “Have you managed to settle the issue?” She asked. “Not yet.” He frowned. “Everything is still under investigation…” “Are you in trouble?” If there were not any complications, the situation would have been resolved by now. – The girl who committed suicide did so because her parents had neglected her. The school had compensated the family members and that was the end of it, what’s odd is that the parents came forth recently, blaming the school for the suicide and claiming that the girl had been acting strange even

before she committed suicide.” She lowered her gaze absently. Seeing that she remained quiet, he srniled. “It’s a little complicated, but we will handle it.” She snapped out of her dazed state. “Should I take the kids back for now? They might distract you.” “They will be taken care of even when I’m not home, but that’s not the case for you.” He shot her a reassuring look. “Don’t worry.” After leaving Lucas’ luxurious apartment, she took the subway home and along the way, she took out her phone to check Anthony’s location to find him in the Royal Mansion, If he was not at Archduke Group, could he be with Bianca at the moment? If they were together, Anne would only provoke Anthony further by going to look for him. She made a call to Anthony after getting off the subway and was anxious while she wait; she dreaded the moment when the call was answered, but felt nervous when it wasn’t at the same time. That was precisely how intimidating Anthony was. In the end, he did not answer his phone and Anne stood by the road, contemplating her next move while biting on her lip. Eventually, she sent him a message. (I will go to the Royal Mansion to see you.)

Chapter 185 She received no response after a while and got into a taxi to head toward Royal Mansion.

Anthony was a businessman,so it was not possible for him to miss a phone call, even if he was in the shower, she had waited enough to rule

that out as a possibility.

If Anthony had not replied, it meant that Bianca was not in the Royal Mansion, otherwise he would do everything to prevent herfrom ruining

his time with the woman he loved.

Half an hour later, she arrived at the Royal Mansion.

The Royal Mansion was not as bright as the typical luxurious mansions and was most hidden in the darkness in aterrifying manner that

would scare off any visitors.

Seeing the Rolls Loyce parked outside the gate, she bit on her lip and summoned the courage to climb up the stairs, feelingthe weight of her

fear with each step she took.

She knew that there would be no end to what was happening to the Pinnacle Academy if she did not cometo Anthony herself, since he was

the person pulling the strings and more precisely, Anne herself was the cause of the situation.

The lights in the living room were off and she could barely make out what was inside the hall, but she still managed to spota sophisticated

piano next to a glass wall, one that was not there before and she instinctively knew who it was for, the world-famous pianist, Bianca.

Hayden walked toward her.

"Ms.

Vallois."

"Where is Anthony?"

"Mr.

Marwood is in his study room.

Please follow me." She pursed her lips and followed Hayden, who knocked on the door to thestudy room and opened the door with Anthony's permission.

She forced herself to step inside and her heart stopped the moment she met Anthony's eyes.

"Who said you could bring her in here?" Anthony questioned coldly.

Hayden, who was about to leave, stilled and lowered his head guiltily.

Worried that Anthony would chase her out, Anne immediately closed the door and shut Hayden out in fear that Hayden wouldget punished.

There were only the two of them in the study room, but it felt as though there was not enough oxygen in the air.

She panted as she stared at Anthony from afar, before saying, "I...I am here because I need to talk to youabout something..." "You seem to be quite sure that I'm here in the Royal Mansion." The suspicion in his tone sent chills down her spine and she felt as though an invisible hand had grasped her by the throat.

Though she did not let it show on the outside, she was beginning to panic deep down.

She consoled herself silently that if Anthony had already found out about the GPS application she installed in his phone, he would notbe this calm and would have started punishing her for it long ago.

She licked her lips and said, "I imagined you would be here at this time and tried my luck.

I would have gone to Archduke Group if it turns out that you weren't here after all..." She paused, before continuing, "Are youbehind what's happening to the Pinnacle Academy right now?" He leaned back and sank into his black leather chair with a poker face.

"What do you think?" "The scandal about Sarah is just the tripwire and your actual target is the Pinnacle Academy because I am close with Lucas Newman.

I don't want to sound narcissistic, but I understand that I've enraged you..." She gave him a quick glance beforelooking down again.

"What will I have to do to get you to stop?" "You are asking me?" He asked, before snorting, "Let's seehow far you are willing to go for Lucas Newman's sake." She knew exactly what he wanted.

Lucas had helped her on so many occasions and seeing how she was the reason behind Anthony's wraith, she should be the one to put an end to it.

Letting go of her pride, she started unbuttoning her white shirt with trembling hands.

She had gone directly to Lucas' apartment after leaving the office, so she was wearing her white shirt with a bodycon shirt that outlined her curves perfectly, alongwith a pair of leather heels that showcased her milky white skin and slim legs in the most seductive manner possible.

1 She took off all her clothes including her shoes and anchored her pale feet onto the soft carpet.

Though the lights in the Royal Mansion were dim everywhere, the study room alone was as bright as day, and it looked as though herskin was glowing under the light.

She turned her face to the side at the humiliation and tried her best to ignore the embarrassment since she had slept with him before.

However, the feeling of being observed like a commodity on a shelf felt different and she could not help but flush.

Not knowing what to do next, she looked away and muttered, "Whatever you want to do, I...I won't fight back."

"What do you think Iwant to do?" He asked coldly, clearly unaffected by the temptation of her exposed body.

She looked up and her heart raced when their eyes met.

The tension rose when Anthony stood up and the suffocating fear had forced Anne to take a step back

He stood next to the clothesthat scattered on the floor and grabbed onto her face with one hand.

"Do you really think that your body is worth that much? There are plenty of women like you outthere.

Do you really think you have the right to come and bargain with me?" 1

Anne felt insulted.

She had presented him with the one thing she thought he wanted and he threw it back at her face, so the humiliation she feltwas beyond

imagination.

She looked up, stubbornly trying to keep her tears at bay.

"I'm not offering you my body, but the chance to humiliate me.

That's what you've always wanted, right? You just want to use me as a tool to vent your anger and resentment.

You don't care about anything else, but I can't...accept seeing someone suffer because of me.

This is going to drag other people into this mess between US, and I don't think that's what you want, is it?" He kept his fingerstightly around

her jaw wordlessly, his eyes two bottomless pits that revealed no emotions.

Suppressing her fear, she slowly approached him and rubbed her head against the black fabric on his shirt like a kitten seeking attention.

Enticed, the look in his eyes darkened and he slowly released her jaw when she leaned closer, only to grab herby the back of her neck and

shoving her aside.

"Ah!" Anne did not know how long she had been asleep, but by the time she woke up, she was still laying on the couch inside the studyroom.

The sofa was too soft for one to sleep on it and she felt as though every bone in her body hadbeen crushed, so it took her a while to get up.