Melting Her Cold Heart
Chapter 154

Chapter 154: 154

The answer was so simple, yet so difficult to give. Lloyd wanted to say yes, to assure her and promise her that Anna would become her mother, but he didn’t. He hesitated, and what ifs clouded his thoughts.

What if she left again? And all that she said there was nothing but lies.

What if she just wanted them to feel that everything was fine and she left again like before. Leaving no traces behind? What if Pearl got hurt this time around after giving her trust, love, and affection in her?

At this point, he didn’t care what he would feel or if he got hurt. But he couldn’t allow his daughter to get hurt. Never. Not even her own mother was permitted to hurt her.

There was the option of Evelyn. That woman would always be a thorn in his flesh. She had always been and still proved to be. He didn’t want her anywhere near Pearl.

"Daddy?" Pearl called, tapping his cheek lightly. "Are you fine?" She asked.

"Yes, I am fine," he replied as he tried to give a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, and Pearl noticed that, but she nodded, accepting his words as they were.

"Pearl, we don’t know much about your Auntie Anna. Why don’t we get to know her first?" He spoke gently as he asked.

"Okay," She said, now more awake than ever. The thought of spending more time with Auntie Anna made her happy.

"Since we are done talking now, I think it is time for you to sleep," Lloyd said, tempted to pinch her cheeks as she smiled.

"Daddy should sleep, too. And you will sleep here," she said before, crawling off him and tucked herself under the bed covers.

"I promised I would, so I will," Lloyd said while making sure that she was well tucked in. It was amazing how he could have a conversation as serious as this with a five year old child and stayed with him all the way. But that was only a reason to smile and be proud of her. She was an intelligent child.

"Good night, Daddy," Pearl’s cherry voice interrupted his thought as he blinked and smiled again.

"Goodnight, my princess," he said and leaned to kiss her forehead as she shut her eyes, ready to sleep again. "Daddy loves Pearl most, okay?"

He heard her giggle and nod and then followed by her words, "And Pearl loves Daddy the most too."

As soon as the sun crawled up the horizon, Anna got up to prepare for the day. She could already pick up the aroma of food wafting through the air, and she smiled, knowing Willow must be the one responsible for that.

Getting up to her feet, she walked into the bathroom to freshen up before tracing the source of the delicious aroma that’s about to make her mouth water.

Moments later, Anna walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her chest and another wiping her damp hair. She stopped to look at the time before proceeding to the dresser. Getting to the dresser, she caught sight of a familiar red envelope and frowned before picking it up.

Her eyes went wide when she saw the name written on it and the memories of the previous day cake back to her.

"How could I have forgotten about this?" She questioned herself. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and then back at the time. There was barely any time left, and if she wanted to be on time, she would have to skip a few things out of her routine.

"Let’s hope I make it on time," she said and picked up the hair dryer. Right now, it is the most important.

On the other side, Willow was already setting up the table. She looked at everything and smiled, pleased with what she saw. She was just about to leave and get the dessert when her phone rang and she frowned. No one should be calling her now. It was much too early to start receiving calls.

But her heart skipped a beat, and her fingers instinctively swiped on the decline button as soon as she saw the name of the lady on the screen. It was after she had done it that she realized what she had done and covered her mouth.

"What did I just do?" She asked, staring wide-eyed at the phone. "Please don’t call again..."

The phone started ringing again, and she hesitated, making sure she didn’t decline it a second time. Taking a deep breath, she answered the call.

"G...good morning, Madam," she said while inwardly praying the network connection would go bad right now and automatically disconnect the call. At least she won’t be blamed if that was to happen.

"You declined my call," said Evelyn’s cold voice. Willow started sweating, and she raked her brain and fumbled with her lips, thinking of what to say that wouldn’t sound as an excuse to Evelyn.

"It wasn’t intentional, Madam. My hands were slippery, that’s why..." Willow began but was rudely interrupted by Evelyn.

"Has Anna left already?" She asked. Evelyn was not at all interested in her daughter’s assistant’s explanation. She didn’t have that much patience to waste.

"Left?" Willow was lost, racking her brain once more to find what she was missing. "Ah...we are leaving right now, Madam. The Young is..."

"So it was a lie?" Evelyn said, and Willow could tell that she was beyond angry.

"It isn’t a lie, Madam. Miss Anna just overslept, that is all. She hadn’t had a good night’s rest lately. Yesterday must have taken a toll on her, causing her to oversleep," she tried to explain and hoped that Evelyn would at least but. It’s not as if it was a lie or something like that.

"Whatever your excuse may be, get it together and take her to the mansion before Ms Nova gets offended," Evelyn said.

Her believing the story was a surprise to Willow, but she summed it up as Evelyn still had sympathy and a tiny shred of understanding towards her daughter and the fact she was a human who needed rest.

"I will do that immediately," Willow said, and before she knew it, the call had been disconnected, and she blinked at how fast Evelyn had hung up.

"And I am not even surprised," she muttered while shaking her head. She looked up and wondered why Amma was still awake. Was she really that tired? Or did all the stress and burden she had been carrying all these years finally leave her yesterday so she could breathe and sleep properly?