Tanya Sinclair was outside the door, listening clearly. She painfully closed her eyes, her chest hurt so much that she almost couldn’t stand steadily.
After a moment, Tanya forced herself to walk over, deliberately using her cane to knock on the door and make a sound.
"Caden, Joy, can Mommy come in?"
The door was ajar, and a little push would open it.
Tanya clearly saw that the moment she appeared, Joy immediately ran to the bed, pulling the quilt over her head, obviously unwilling to engage with her.
Tanya felt a wave of disappointment in her heart.
Caden looked at Tanya Sinclair, who suddenly appeared, clearly a bit at a loss. He clenched his little fists, his big round black eyes nervously darting around.
This woman... did she hear what he just said?
A five-year-old’s thoughts are written all over his face; there’s no need to guess.
Tanya naturally saw Caden’s guilt, her heart softened, and she intentionally said, "Mommy’s hearing hasn’t fully recovered yet. You need to speak a bit louder for me to hear you."
Hearing this, Caden visibly let out a breath of relief.
As long as she didn’t hear.
He jumped off the bed and walked step by step to Tanya Sinclair.
God knows how much Tanya wanted to hold her precious child in her arms without hesitation, but she couldn’t yet; she couldn’t scare Caden, nor could she let Vincent Hawthorne notice any flaws.
"Caden?" Tanya slowly squatted down, showing a smile to Caden and cautiously asked, "Can Mommy hug you?"
Caden looked at this woman, who was both unfamiliar and familiar, with complicated emotions in his heart.
He had seen her many times before, lying quietly in bed as if asleep but never waking up...
Tanya saw Caden remain still and thought he didn’t want to be close to her. Just when she felt bitter and disappointed, she heard Caden hesitantly ask softly.
"Will you fall asleep again?"
Tanya was taken aback and hadn’t had time to speak before Caden’s small hand gently touched her face, as if to confirm she was real.
Tanya almost burst into tears.
"No!" She firmly pressed her face into Caden’s little hand, letting him feel her presence. She promised seriously, "Mommy will never leave you again!"
Considering that Vincent Hawthorne would soon come up, even though reluctant, Tanya let go of Caden’s hand. Before leaving, she took one last look at Joy on the bed.
She was still hiding under the quilt, unwilling to show her face, not even willing to look at her.
Tanya’s gaze dimmed, her throat felt bitter, she said nothing, and turned to leave.
Only after hearing the door close did Joy poke her head out from the quilt, her little face scrunched up, clearly unhappy.
She had heard everything Tanya Sinclair said just now.
Although her brother always told her that Tanya Sinclair was their real mom, she only liked Mommy Cindy!
She once thought this woman would never wake up, but now she not only woke up but also said she would never leave... she planned to stay at home, which meant Cindy mom couldn’t come over to play like before.
As long as Tanya Sinclair was at home, Cindy mom could never openly become her mom.
The more Joy thought about it, the more annoyed she became, tossing and turning on the bed.
She angrily burrowed back under the quilt, ignoring her brother’s attempts to get her attention through the covers.
"Joy, can we talk..."
"Brother, I don’t want to talk to you right now."
She knew what her brother wanted to say; he had been won over by that bad woman. He was probably going to persuade her to accept Tanya Sinclair, but hmph, she would never betray Mommy Cindy!
In the master bedroom on the other side, Tanya Sinclair was standing on the balcony, letting the wind blow over her as her thoughts gradually cleared.
In her five-year absence, the two children, especially Joy, had become habitually reliant on Cindy Lynn, and it’s unrealistic to think of removing Cindy from their hearts overnight.
She had to slowly approach them step by step.
The next morning, Tanya woke up very early, insisting on going with Vincent Hawthorne to send the two children to school.
The two children sat in the safety seats in the back.
Caden had a high IQ, was raised bilingual from a young age, and had already formed the habit of listening to English broadcasts every morning. Vincent was very strict in his requirements and upbringing. This text is hosted at N0v3l.Fiɾe.net
But he was obviously more indulgent and pampered towards Joy, completely raising her as a precious little princess.
At this moment, Joy was holding a phone, playing with it deftly with her little fingers tapping on the screen, clearly sending messages to someone.
Every so often, she would purse her lips and giggle, looking incredibly delighted.
Tanya, through her sunglasses, watched this scene in the rearview mirror, guessing that Joy was most likely contacting Cindy Lynn.
Saying she wasn’t disappointed would be a lie. The whole way, she tried to come up with topics to talk to the children about, showing concern for their school life and interests.
Only Caden would respond to her with a word or two, while Joy was unwilling to engage. Even when she had to respond, it was just a couple of grunts, not giving Tanya any chance to continue the conversation.
When they were fifty meters away from the school gate, Joy put down her phone and reached out to grip Vincent’s seat, leaning in to act spoiled, "Daddy, can you stop here? I’m a little tired from sitting in the car and want to walk to school."
After saying this, her big, dark eyes flashed a bit of guilt as she quickly glanced at Tanya on the front passenger seat.
She lied; it wasn’t because she was tired from sitting in the car.
She was worried that when the car reached the school gate, Tanya would get out to see her off, and with so many kids and teachers around, it would reveal that her mom was a blind person — that would be too embarrassing!
Joy secretly observed Tanya. She wasn’t exactly unpleasant to look at, but she wasn’t stylish at all.
She didn’t wear pretty earrings or big diamond rings, nor did she dress in designer clothes... She seemed so unfashionable.
The mothers of her classmates were all like Mommy Cindy, beautiful and fashionable. She much preferred other kids to think of the stylish and beautiful Mommy Cindy mom as her real mom!