Filed to story: A Second Chance with My Billionaire Love
“Well… let’s go with your plan then.” Seraphina gritted her teeth and agreed, closing her eyes.
It was late at night when Margaret returned to Ellsworth Manor with Adie.
Flossie couldn’t sleep out of worry, and was sitting in the living room and sighing.
Abby felt sorry for Flossie, and had stayed up with her. “Are you scared because you can’t see, Mommy? Do you want anything to eat or drink?” Abby poured a glass of water for Flossie and stuffed snacks into Flossie’s hands.
“Thank you, Abby, but I’m not hungry or thirsty. Isn’t it late? Why don’t you go to bed first?” Flossie reached out for her daughter and hugged her.
Abby stared up at Flossie, who was wearing sunglasses, and tears welled up in her eyes. “Will your eyes get better, Mommy? What will we do if you can’t see me anymore?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll get better. Plus, you and Adie can be my eyes if I can’t recover, right? Isn’t that great? Are you willing to be my eyes, Abby?”
“Yes, I am!” Abby held Flossie’s hand tightly and continued firmly, “I’m willing to be your eyes, and I’ll never leave you. I’ll take you to wherever you want to go, and I’ll get you whatever you want.”
“Thank you, dear!” Flossie teared up as she hugged Abby. The surgeon had warned cry during the recovery stage to avoid infections, but the thing she did most given her current state was cry.
At that moment, Adie opened the door and came in. He sighed in relief when he saw his mother. “You’re finally home, Mommy. I was worried sick about you!”
“Adie?” Flossie turned towards the sound of Adie’s voice, but didn’t dare to stand up because she couldn’t tell his exact location.
Adie immediately noticed something was wrong with Flossie, and his joy morphed into anxiousness. He carefully asked, “What’s wrong with your eyes, Mommy?”
“I…” Flossie wanted to lie, but Adie wasn’t as naive as Abby, and he would see through her lies easily.
“Mommy’s eyes are sick, so she can’t see right now. Come here, we’ll be her eyes together,” Abby explained on Flossie’s behalf and waved at Adie.
Mommy’s eyes are sick?” Adie walked over to Flossie swiftly and frowned as he observed her. “What kind of sickness is this? Why can’t you see? Let’s go to the hospital and have a doctor see you.”
No, I’m fine.” Shaking her head, Flossie explained, “It’s just temporary-l’ll be able to see after a while. Also, I’ve just returned from the hospital, and the doctor said not to worry about it.”
“No!” Adie said sharply, then urged, ‘ Be honest with me, Mommy. What happened? Was it Jovan who hurt your eyes? He took your eyes for himself because he’s blind and unhappy, didn’t he?”
“Adie, that’s not possible, you can’t replace your eyes that way. Stop imagining things, I’m just suffering from an eye inflammation.” Flossie waved and denied it guiltily, wondering how Adie was so smart.
“Yes, you can’t replace your eyes that way, but it’s done after matching, right? You’ve been missing for so many days, but you were just in Jovan’s manor having the surgery. Isn’t that right?” Adie kept up his interrogation. He had found out that Flossie was in Jovan’s manor based on her GPS signal, but he didn’t know why she was there. Now, he could see through Jovan’s evil schemes.
“No, that’s not true. Stop asking me questions. Why did you go out on your own? Didn’t I ask you not to do that? I’m going to be angry with you…” Flossie scolded Adie, Do you know how dangerous it is out there? You’re just a kid, but you went out alone late at night. If you met a kidnapper, you wouldn’t get to see Abby and me for the rest of your life.”
“I’m not afraid of kidnappers,” Adie muttered and added,” You know I’m not scared of bad guys; I’m just afraid that you and Abby might get in danger or be bullied. I’m the man of this house, and I want to protect you both… So, did Jovan take your eyes? I’ll ask him to return them now!” He clenched his fists, feeling sorry and angry for Flossie.
“It’s not that simple. Jovan is a victim too, and he would never do something like that to me,” Flossie answered vaguely. She knew that she couldn’t keep it from Adie for long given his intelligence.
“So, he didn’t take your eyes, but you gave them up to him… Am I right?” Adie instantly found the loophole in Flossie’s words and questioned her.
“I…” Flossie bit her lip, starting to sweat. Why did Adie have to be so smart? She hadn’t even eaten nutritious food when she was pregnant with him! In just a few minutes, he had almost dug the truth out of her. However, considering how naive Abby was, maybe her food intake during her pregnancy had nothing to do with it. The twins were just too different.
“Okay, Mommy. I know you’re tired, so you should go to bed. I’m sure your eyes will get better after some rest. Abby, you should go to bed too.” Adie patted Flossie’s shoulders and said to Abby, “Go and sleep with Margaret, Abby. I’ll take care of Mommy.”
“No, I want to take care of Mommy too because I’ve promised to be her eyes forever.” Shaking her head, Abby hugged Flossie tightly and refused to let go.
“Listen to me, Abby-just go to sleep. Mommy’s eyes might have recovered when you wake up, or… it might all just be a nightmare,” Adie said reassuringly.
Eventually, Abby went to bed with Margaret obediently because of Adie’s coaxing.
“Can you tell me the truth now, Mommy?” After Abby left, Adie turned to Flossie. Although he was the same age as Abby, he was more mature and rational. Sometimes, he was even more mature than adults. Besides, he didn’t believe that Flossie was blind because of sickness; he firmly believed that it had something to do with Jovan. However, he understood Flossie’s reluctance to tell the truth because she didn’t want to make Abby and Margaret worry. Thus, he came up with a way to send them away.
“You’re a smart kid, Adie. You should know that no one can take away my eyes. I’m not that weak.” Flossie reached out and felt around, finally managing to grab Adie’s hand.
Adie immediately understood what she was saying, and his eyes glossed over with unshed tears. “I know. You willingly gave up your eyes to Jovan…”
Flossie didn’t say anything, silently admitting to it.
“He should have refused even if you were willing because you’re not the one who owed him! How could he take your eyes…” Adie wiped away his tears furiously, feeling frustrated and outraged. Although he didn’t understand the strange relationship between Halston, Flossie, and Jovan, he knew the normal relationship between a creditor and a debtor. The debtor should be the one paying the creditor, so it shouldn’t be Flossie who had to pay this price.
“Come with me, Mommy. We’ll go to Jovan and ask for your eyes back!” Adie tried his best to pull Flossie up as if he wanted to go see Jovan right away.
“Calm down, Adie.” Flossie understood Adie’s pain and why he reacted that way. She whispered, “I did it willingly, and I won’t ask him to return them. Plus… he didn’t even know about this.”
“You mean you didn’t even tell him after you did it? Do you think you’re some kind of saint?” Adie was fuming now. He wanted to ask Flossie if she had thought about him and Abby when she so generously gave up her eyes, but he stopped himself. He knew she would be filled with grief and selfblame if he asked her that.
“I’ve just had the surgery, so I’m a little tired, Adie. Can you help me back to my room to rest?” Flossie asked Adie softly. She was really tired and couldn’t stay awake anymore.
Besides, the swelling around her eyes felt like knives slashing her skin, and if an infection occured, she wouldn’t be able to get a transplant even if she found a suitable donor.
“Okay, Mommy. Let me help you to bed.” Adie knew that he couldn’t change Flossie’s mind, so he reluctantly forced himself to accept what had happened.
Adie helped Flossie to the master bedroom upstairs and tucked her into bed. He even poured a glass of water for her and placed it on the bedside cabinet. “There’s water on the bedside cabinet, Mommy. You can drink it if you’re thirsty,” Adie said considerately.
“Thank you, Adie. You and Abby are my eyes, so… I’m not afraid. In fact, I feel relaxed and happier. Although I can’t see with my eyes, I can see with my heart!” Flossie said and smiled sincerely. Yes, her pain for losing her sight was real, but her children’s love for her was real too, and it filled her with happiness. She wouldn’t know how warm her children were if something like this didn’t happen. They were no longer merely kids under her care—they could be independent, and they could even take care of her when she needed it.
“Rest early, Mommy. Don’t worry, I won’t let you be blind for long. I’ll come up with ways to make you see again,” Adie promised firmly, clenching his fists.
“Just let things run its course. Of course, I would love to be able to see again, but if I can’t, I’m still happy with how things are.” Flossie told herself not to be greedy because she still had a lot of things. Besides, nothing was perfect, and imperfection was always the unchanged law of nature.
Flossie felt that she was luckier than a lot of people since she had two dear children, and she should learn to be grateful.
“By the way, Adie… you went to your daddy tonight. How’s he doing?” Flossie finally asked the question she wanted. She remembered that they had given each other blessings before they parted ways, and he had been about to get surgery too. She wondered if the surgery had gone smoothly.
Adie hung his head and confessed, “He’s pretty good, and his surgery was just over when I went to him. It looked like he had just woken up, and he remembered who I was.”
“He… remembered you?” Flossie’s heart began fluttering.
“Yeah, he remembered who you were too. He promised me to come and see you once he’s recovered.”
“No!” Flossie blurted out, overwhelmed by fear. She said sternly, “Listen to me, Adie-don’t let him come here. We’re already separated, and I don’t want to see him again.”
“You don’t want to see him again? Why do I feel like you wish to see him but you just don’t have the guts?” Adie said doubtfully, studying Flossie’s expression closely.
Flossie averted her gaze guiltily. “What… What do you mean? It’s not that, I just don’t want to see him.”
“You don’t want to let him see you this way because you’re blind. You’re afraid that he’ll think badly of you, right?”
“No, that’s not it!” Flossie clenched her fists and explained, “It has nothing to do with my blindness; I just don’t want to see him. My decision wouldn’t change even if I could see.”
“Just keep lying to yourself, Mommy. Anyway, I’ve made a deal with him, and he’ll come and see you. You can tell him yourself then…” Adie shrugged and said helplessly.
After a week, Flossie was getting used to being blind. She adapted quickly, and Margaret and her children took great care of her. She learned about current events through voice messages and Braille, which she picked up quickly, so she was quite up-to-date despite staying at Ellsworth Manor all the time. She found out from the news that the Guajardo and the Murphy families had fallen out with each other, and naturally, the marriage between Halston and Seraphina was off. Thanks to that, Guajardo Enterprise was facing its biggest crisis due to financial and technical issues, and many felt that the Great Eight of Beach City might be reshuffled.
Flossie didn’t know what to feel when she heard the news. She was neither happy nor sad, and felt like an onlooker calmly reading about people from another world. Finally, she could distance herself from that mess, and the thought of it gave her peace of mind.
After driving Adie and Abby to school every morning, Margaret would lead Flossie to the pagoda tree in the front yard of the manor for sunbathing. She would lay on her bean bag and enjoy the warm sunlight, breathing in the fresh air and the lovely scent of the tree. Although the days seemed longer, they were precious to her.
“How are you feeling, Ms. Flossie? Do your eyes hurt? I’ve made some medicine to reduce inflammation and swelling, remember to put them on your eyes briefly before you sleep. It’s very effective.” Having excellent medical skills, Margaret had been researching ways to help Flossie’s eyes recover quickly. A transplant would be possible as long as they found a pair of eyes suitable for Flossie that her body didn’t resist. In the meantime, they had to take great care of her eyes to ensure a perfect transplantation when the time came. However, finding such a pair of eyes was extremely difficult, and though Flossie seemed to be adapting well to her new life, Margaret felt devastated at the thought of Flossie being blind her whole life.