Chapter 0803
+25 BONUS
“Mary! Please…! This isn’t the place!” Maximus said, fully understanding where her reaction was coming from. Marcus, seeing his wife, had no idea what had just happened. But before he could spot Serenity, Alden, and Ethan, they had already slipped into Peter’s room.
Serenity had tears in her eyes, and her cheek was still red from the slap her mother had given her.
Alden held Ethan, who was still sound asleep, while wrapping his other arm around his wife.
“Serenity, just breathe… It’s okay. I’m so sorry–I didn’t see that coming. I should have stopped her.”
“No, Alden, you couldn’t have seen that coming… It’s the first time my mother has ever done something like this…
**
Alden quickly placed his son on one of the waiting room couches. The little boy hadn’t stirred—not from the slap, not from Serenity’s quiet sobs.
“Come here…” Alden pulled her close. “We knew this wasn’t going to be easy. I promised I’d protect you, but I never expected your mom to react like that.”
“Alden, she’s really angry… I saw it in her eyes.”
Meanwhile, Marcus stepped out into the hallway and was immediately confused by the scene before him. He approached his wife and asked,
“Valerie, what the hell is wrong with you? Serenity just got back after months away, and this is how her?”
“Marcus… Did you not see our daughter?”
you welcome
“Valerie, all I saw was you slapping her! I didn’t get a chance to see anything else. I think you owe me a damn good explanation.”
Diana, who had been watching from the couch, stood up and said,
“Marcus, do you mind if I have a few minutes alone with Valerie?”
Marcus clenched his jaw, trying to keep his temper in check. Valerie had never reacted this way before. He had never seen her act out in anger like that, and he couldn’t understand what had pushed her to do it.
“Fine… Take her to get some coffee. You need to walk this off, Valerie.”
“Diana… I need to be here. I have to talk to my daughter.”
“Not like this, you don’t. You’re too worked up, and if you talk to her now, you’ll say things you don’t really mean.
“Diana, please… You don’t understand what just happened.
“You’re right–I don’t. But I do know she’s your daughter. And if what I’m thinking is true, then you need to calm down first.”
“Calm down?”
“Yes. If you stay this angry, you might say or do something you’ll regret. Now, come on let’s get some coffee.”
“Diana…”
Chapter 0803
“Come on! Let’s go!”
+25 BONUS
Diana led Valerie away, leaving everyone else in the hallway trying to make sense of what had just happened.
Marcus turned to Maximus with narrowed eyes. “Do you know what’s going on? Why my wife reacted that way to our daughter? Because from the way you spoke earlier, it seems like you do.”
Maximus exhaled slowly, weighing his words. “I think, out of respect for your daughter’s privacy, it’s best if she tells you herself when she comes out.”
“One more thing… What is my daughter even doing here? Weren’t all the kids supposed to go to your house?”
“Marcus…” Maximus sighed again, rubbing his face.
“What, Maximus? What?”
“Serenity is in a relationship with Alden.”
“What?!” Marcus practically shouted, drawing the attention of a few hospital staff passing by.
“I told you I didn’t want to get in the middle of this… I’m just telling you what I saw.‘
“So my suspicions were right?”
Maximus turned to him, eyes full of disbelief. “Wait… You suspected this?‘
“No! Of course not… But I did start to get a feeling about it.
“How?”
“Alden asked me a lot about Serenity. At first, I thought it was just normal curiosity between siblings, but over- time, I realized his interest wasn’t the kind a brother would have.”
“And you didn’t think to tell me? Or say something to him?”
“I was the one who sent them on this trip together!” Marcus raked a hand through his hair in frustration.
“Marcus, Alden never struck me as a bad kid. I guess I was too trusting.‘
“You couldn’t have known what would happen, Marcus. Let’s be honest–they were practically strangers before this. And you know Serenity and Alden aren’t actually related by blood.”
“That’s not what worries me, Maximus. What worries me is the way I saw them interacting.”
Maximus immediately realized that Marcus hadn’t seen Serenity’s baby bump. And the moment he did… all hell was going to break loose.
If Valerie–who was usually the calm one–had reacted the way she did, what could they expect from Marcus?
