Chapter 343: A voice that was way too familiar.

Adelyn stared into Eira’s eyes, and she could almost see through to her thoughts.

Was that why people called children pure and innocent?

Just looking into their eyes was enough to see straight through to their souls.

She let her hand cover the little girl’s before slowly bringing it between them.

"Am I not your mother?" she asked softly.

Eira blinked before shaking her head.

"Mama is Eira’s mother."

Adelyn smiled and nodded at her.

"Then tell me, how can I not be hurt when I see you hiding your tears from me?"

The little girl’s lips trembled.

She didn’t know how she should answer that.

In the end, she lowered her eyes and said guiltily, "Eira won’t hide her tears from Mama anymore."

Adelyn knew the girl meant it.

Still, she leaned a little closer to look into the girl’s eyes and asked again, "Are you promising me that?"

Little Eira lifted her eyes and met hers once more before nodding.

Adelyn’s lips curled into a smile.

"Then I’ll believe in Eira’s promise. Now ..."

She paused for a moment, finally asking what she had been meaning to ask all this while.

"...will you tell me why you were crying?"

Eira’s tears had now dried up. Though her cheeks were still red, her eyes were no longer as glassy as they had been earlier.

Adelyn waited for a while —patiently.

She let the girl have her time without rushing her.

Children needed patience.

And an adorably sweet girl like Eira deserved it more than anyone else.

Adelyn was willing to spoil her with everything she had. Her patience was still the least she could give her.

She waited for a long moment.

And just when she thought she would have to gently urge her a little, the girl walked back into her embrace and hugged her, letting her arms wrap once again around Adelyn’s neck.

Unlike the other times, it didn’t catch Adelyn off guard this time.

However, it still made her pause for a second.

"Baby ..."

"Eira was ... scared, Mama."

The girl’s words made Adelyn’s eyes deepen with thought.

She didn’t need to ask to know what had scared the girl.

She could already guess.

She didn’t say a word. Instead, she let her arms securely wrap around the little girl before getting up to carry her inside the room.

Meanwhile, Eira simply clung to her mother like a koala, her legs hooking around Adelyn just as tightly as her arms did.

Adelyn carried her to the bed before sitting down at the edge of it.

She placed the girl on her lap and gently combed her bangs away from her eyes.

When she was done, she met Eira’s eyes and simply looked at her before asking, "Are you still scared?"

Eira hesitated before nodding.

Her fear was deeply rooted.

After all, Mama had forgotten her.

She had abandoned her.

How could she not be scared?

Adelyn understood that too.

And that was why she was here.

She couldn’t let the girl spend her days living in constant fear.

"Sweetie, there’s nothing to fear," she said to her slowly. "You call me Mama, and the bond between a child and a mother is unshakeable. Nothing could separate them. So, trust the bond between us. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll always be there for you."

The little girl blinked.

"Really?" she asked before rephrasing her words. "Is Mama promising Eira?"

Adelyn’s pupils dilated for a second, but then she smiled and nodded.

"Mhm."

Hugging the girl sideways, she repeated, "I promise. As long as Eira needs me, Mama will always be there. You don’t need to be scared anymore because Mama won’t bear the thought of abandoning you."

Eira leaned into her as well, finally letting go of the fear that had been clawing at her little heart all this while.

Adelyn didn’t know why she had reassured her with such a promise when there was nothing permanent in the bond they shared at all.

But at the moment, she only felt the need to free the girl from the fear that had been haunting her every day.

Even though she was serious about everything she had said, she was very sure about the promise.

After all, the farce between her and Dylan was bound to end sooner or later.

She wasn’t sure what would happen when it ended, but she was sure of one thing: as long as the girl needed her, she would be there for her.

As for Dylan ...

He would understand it when the time came, wouldn’t he?

Later,

Adelyn stayed with Eira for the rest of the evening.

However, playing with a kid wasn’t very easy.

It soon left her all sweaty.

Feeling uncomfortable, she turned to the girl and said slowly, "Baby, let’s pause here for today. We’ll play again some other day. As for today ..."

She checked the time on her watch.

"It’s already close to dinner time."

"How about we quickly freshen up? Your Dada must be on his way home already."

Little Eira nodded.

Mabel soon appeared to take the girl to freshen up.

As for Adelyn, she too returned to her room.

Taking a fresh pair of clothes, she entered the bathroom.

As she stood in front of the mirror and looked up, her eyes met her reflection.

And suddenly, she heard a heart-wrenching cry echo in her ears.

A voice that was way too familiar.

...to the extent that she almost felt it was hers.

"My children ..."

Her brows furrowed at the sound of that voice, and her legs almost gave way beneath her.

Hurriedly, she caught the edge of the counter to steady herself. Her fingers clenched tightly around the marble surface.

Her heart felt uncomfortable, and she closed her eyes, fighting against the pounding headache she felt coming.

This ...

What was happening?

Just before she could dwell on it any further, a knock came at her door.

"Ms. Grace, are you fine?"

Adelyn was snapped out of whatever she had been stuck in.

She recognized Mabel’s voice, as well as the concern laced in it.

Pinching the space between her brows, she responded, "Mabel, I’m fine."

She looked down at the scattered toiletries on the floor.

Only then did she realize that the bottles she had been holding had fallen from her hand.

"It’s just that those few expensive bottles from the counter are now scattered all over the floor."

Mabel spoke right after her.

"It’s fine, Ms. Grace. As long as you’re fine, we can replace those things."

Adelyn nodded.

She wasn’t fussing over the bottles. She was only trying to deflect attention from whatever she was feeling.

"Okay. You can relax. I’ve got this here."

She heard Mabel respond before hearing her footsteps leave the room.

Once silence filled the air again, Adelyn turned and stared at herself in the mirror.

Her brows furrowed in serious confusion.

The mirror showed only her reflection, but she still remembered the voice she had heard earlier.

A voice that almost felt like hers ...

But how could that voice be hers?

The woman seemed to be crying for something ... for someone. And she didn’t remember crying for anyone like that.

Then who was that woman ...?

She stared at herself in the mirror and tried to recall that voice again, just so that she could recognize it all over again.

However, she couldn’t.

Not even the faintest whisper.

As if what she had heard earlier was nothing but an illusion.

An illusion of something that didn’t really exist.

"Seems like the fever did take a toll on me," she whispered to herself.

Then she slowly bent down to pick up the bottles from the floor.

Neatly arranging them back on the counter, she glanced at herself once more before turning to the real business.

——————————

At Scott Villa,

Late at night, Liam was alone on the terrace, smoking.

Standing near the edge, he gazed at the wide expanse of the sky.

It was hard to tell what he had been thinking, but his thoughts were interrupted when Bryer walked into the space.

"You still know where to find me, don’t you?" Liam asked, dusting off the cigarette ash before turning around to face his brother.

Bryer’s expression was still hard, just as it had been before.

He still looked at Liam with the same disappointment he had shown him when they were downstairs.

"Though the house we live in is quite big, it’s still not big enough that I can’t find you when I need to. So stop overthinking it."

Liam looked at his younger brother for a moment before breaking into a smile.

When Bryer saw him like that, he immediately frowned.

"What’s so funny? Why are you laughing?"

Liam looked at him before shaking his head.

When Bryer’s frown deepened, Liam simply asked, "Didn’t you say you needed me for something? What is it?"

Bryer didn’t like it.

However, considering what he had come for, only Liam could help him.

So, keeping his disappointment aside, he simply extended a card toward him.

"Here. Take this."