Filed to story: A Second Chance with My Billionaire Love
Both Adie and Abby didn’t know what was going on between Flossie and Halston, and were just happy at the thought of having a family reunion. They hugged Flossie. “Mommy, I knew that you and Daddy must have left suddenly because of something. We can be a happy family again soon!”
Flossie felt uneasy, and touched their faces, saying hesitantly, “If… I said if your daddy won’t come back, or even if he does, I might not be with him… Can you accept that?” It wasn’t the first time the children had faced such a situation, but while they unconditionally supported her back then, she didn’t know how they would be after living with Halston. Halston had taken great care of them when Flossie was blind, and it made Flossie seem like an extremely irresponsible mother. She didn’t know if she could surpass Halston’s position in their hearts.
“Daddy won’t come back?” Abby pouted, looking sad. “But didn’t Daddy email Adie and say that he would soon be home?”
“Umm…” After a pause, Flossie said gently, “Sometimes people don’t mean what they say. What if he doesn’t come back even if he promised to? I just want you to be mentally prepared so you won’t be heartbroken if he doesn’t come back.”
“No, I won’t be!” Adie clenched his fists, scowling. “If Daddy breaks his promise, he can’t be our daddy. He can just go. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time he abandoned us. I won’t be sad.”
His answer weighed hard on Flossie’s mind. She could tell that both her children relied on Halston, and cared about him a lot. If Halston abandoned them again, they would be heartbroken, so Flossie couldn’t fall out with Halston. She had become used to that kind of separation, but the children were still young. They shouldn’t have to suffer through this…
“It’s okay, kids. It’s normal to be sad. If that day comes, we have to accept it. We can cry for him, but we also have to embrace a life without him.” Flossie had to prepare her children because she didn’t know what Halston would do. If Halston decided to leave, the only thing she could do is teach her children to be brave.
“Mommy, why are you saying that? Did you argue with Daddy again? Did something happen to him? Why are you so sure that he won’t be back?” Adie’s gaze was sharp as he asked Flossie.
“Umm…” Flossie stalled, not knowing how to explain it.
Adie squinted at Flossie and said slowly, “You must have argued with Daddy. Daddy’s probably scared of coming home and facing your anger, right?”
Flossie sighed deeply, and confessed, “I do want to argue with him… but the problem is that I never saw him again after he left. How can I argue with him?” It was weird. They used to be madly in love with each other, and Halston was even willing to give up Guajardo Enterprise and his life for her, but why did he no longer want to see her? Adie might be right-stefan might have figured that Flossie was aware of his disloyalty and was afraid of her anger, so he was too scared to meet her.
“Mommy, ask yourself this-if Daddy appears before you now, will you be happy or mad? Will you welcome him with a hug, or will you slap him and drive him away? I think that will tell you whether he’ll be back or not,” Adie said wisely, having a good idea of his parents’ relationship. It was unfortunate that he and Abby had such fickle parents who were either deeply in love or fighting with each other, but they had gotten used to it by now.
“Slap him?” Flossie imagined what she would do if Halston appeared in front of her. Of course she might slap him first for causing so many problems, but… If he explained himself, she might hug him. She couldn’t help it-she was easily persuaded. She would willingly forgive Halston as long as he tried to comfort her, even if he was lying.
“Mommy, I’m sure that’s why Daddy is too scared to come home…” Adie carefully tried to persuade Flossie, ” Why don’t you email him and ask him to come home immediately? When he’s back, you can decide whether you want to slap or hug him.” While talking, he turned the computer screen, gesturing for Flossie to reply to Halston’s email. He had confidence that his parents would resolve their conflict and be madly in love with each other again as long as they met.
“Reply?” Flossie stared at Halston’s words on the computer screen for a long time, and suddenly, she was furious. She quickly typed her response and sent it.
[Don’t come back for the rest of your life if you don’t want to!]
Meanwhile, Halston stared at the computer screen in a manor not far from Ellsworth Manor. He read the email he had just clicked on and frowned, his gaze cold but also somewhat sad.
“Don’t come back for the rest of your life if you don’t want to?” Xavier sipped his coffee as he leaned over Halston’s shoulder to read the email. He chuckled when he saw who the sender was. “I’m sure Adie didn’t write this. It sounds so angry… I’m sure it’s Flossie.” “I don’t need your analysis. I’m not stupid,” Halston growled icily. He had been living next door to Ellsworth Manor recently, watching the house secretly. He had emailed Adie to reassure the two children, and they had been keeping in touch, so he knew how his son wrote emails. He didn’t need Xavier to point out the obvious.
“Halston, why do you insist on hiding from everyone?” Xavier could not bear to see Halston this dispirited, and tried to persuade him. “You should talk it out with Flossie so you can resolve this conflict. If you keep acting like a coward, nothing can be solved. You’re not usually like this.” “She didn’t do anything —it’s my fault, and I don’t want to resolve it.” Halston sounded gloomy. “If I wanted to, I could have just gone over and settled things.” “What the hell happened?” Xavier had just gotten in touch with Halston, and was still trying to figure out why Halston had been avoiding them. This issue would never be resolved unless Halston confessed to what he did.
“I don’t have a problem, and neither does she. It all comes down to fate…”
Halston clenched his fists. “It’s not on the cards for her to be with me.” “That’s nonsense!” Xavier snapped in exasperation. “You’re Halston, the famous president of Guajardo Enterprise. Is there anything you can’t resolve? And as for fate… All I know is that our destinies are in our own hands!” “You’re still young. You don’t know how helpless we are when it comes to fate.” Halston could not tell Xavier what he’d done. He could only keep this secret until the day he died.
“No, that’s not true!” Xavier stared at Halston contemplatively, rubbed his chin, then asked boldly, “Could it be that I was right? There’s something wrong with your male part.”
Halston was dumbstruck.
“Previously, Flossie and I discussed the reason why you were hiding, and the conclusion we came to was that something must have happened that you couldn’t talk about. Something must have happened that made you feel you couldn’t face her… After much deliberation, I felt that the only possibility had to be a problem with your male part.” Excited, Xavier kept talking. “You ran away from such a tall prison in the mountains, so you probably hurt yourself escaping, then you realized there was something wrong down there! And you have a lot of pride, which is why you’re too ashamed to face Flossie.”
Halston just stared at Xavier, speechless.
Xavier took Halston’s silence as confirmation and eagerly asked, ‘Am I right? That must be the case, right?”
Halston’s expression didn’t change and he was quiet for a while. Finally, he asked, “Do you have a needle and string?” “No?” Xavier looked confused. “Why are you asking?”
“I want to sew your lips shut,” Halston said casually, then stood up and walked towards the kitchen. “Actually, a knife will do too. I can cut off your tongue and solve this problem forever.”
“Halston, no! I know you’re upset that your masculinity is on the line, but don’t implicate the innocent! The medical field is very advanced now, and I’m sure a good doctor can cure it.” Xavier babbled nervously, picking up a pillow and using it like a shield.
Halston glared at him. “Why would you assume there’s something wrong with me?”
“It was just a guess!” Xavier argued, “If there’s nothing wrong with you in that aspect, why did you suddenly go missing? And you even watch them constantly. If you weren’t handsome, people would call you a pervert.” Recently, both Xavier and Flossie had almost lost their minds searching for Halston. Xavier had practically turned Beach City upside down in the process, but it turned out that Halston had actually been watching everything secretly. The thought that his closest friend had such a dark side to him sent a chill down Xavier’s spine. If Halston didn’t give him a good reason for his actions, Xavier could only assume the worst.
“It’s not because of that.” Halston felt like beating Xavier up. He said coldly,” I can easily resolve it if it was, but unfortunately…” He sighed deeply. His burden was something only he could bear.
“It seems like you’re not going to tell me what it is, so forget it… I’ll stop asking.” Xavier finally gave up. He knew the only way he would get an answer was if Halston willingly told him. “So, are you planning to hide forever? Are you just going to peep at Flossie all the time like a coward?” Xavier asked Halston.
“Can you not label me as a coward? It’s unpleasant,” Halston grumbled.
Xavier knew that Halston’s temper had mellowed over the years, which was why he could speak to him boldly now. “Only a coward hides in the dark where nobody can find them and does dishonorable things. You care about Flossie, and she cares about you. You both are only one kilometer apart, so I don’t understand why you have to do all this!”
“Of course, you don’t understand because you’re worry-free…” Halston stared at him intently. “You’ve never cared about someone the way I have. I care about her so much that I’m afraid of losing her, which is why I can only watch her secretly. At least, I can still see her life and everything she does, and that’s enough to satisfy me. I don’t want to lose even this.” Halston figured there was only one possible outcome if he met Flossie, and that was that they would stop having anything to do with each other.
If Halston lived near Flossie, he could at least watch Flossie secretly. It was as if they were still together but in a different way.
“Of course I care about someone a lot,” Xavier protested, immediately bringing up Leia. “Don’t I care about Leia? You know how shameless I am just to get close to her. Back then, didn’t I do everything for Shirley too? Did I give up? I’m bolder than you in my love affairs. Don’t you agree?” Xavier felt that Halston could doubt his morality, capabilities, and even looks, but he couldn’t doubt Xavier’s feelings. “Although we didn’t have dramatic pasts like you and Flossie, our feelings were real, and we faced the same challenges. We’re just not as crazy as the two of you!”
“So?” Halston stared at Xavier icily. “Are you both a couple? Are you closer to her than before?”
“Umm…” Xavier seemed to shrink, and looked away awkwardly. Halston was right in a sense-all Xavier’s attempts at a relationship were failures. At first, he had loved Shirley madly, but he then grew to love Leia after spending time with her. However, it seemed like the two women he had cared about were out of his grasp, and he had ended up all alone since they had ignored him. How could he have the confidence to tell Halston what to do? At least, Halston was once lovey-dovey with Flossie, and they even had two children.
“Cat got your tongue?” Halston’s eyes gleamed, then he scoffed, “Just be quiet if you don’t have anything good to say. I don’t need you to tell me what to do when it comes to my love life.”
“Fine, I guess I was just being a busybody. I’ll let you be!” Xavier became furious, pissed off at Halston’s stubbornness and how he’d so accurately pointed out that all Xavier’s relationships had been failures. “I don’t want to peep at her with you like a creep all day. I’m going to take her side in this…”
Xavier turned to Halston and said wickedly, “I heard that Flossie brought home a handsome young man. He’s very devoted to her, and she takes good care of him.”
“I met that guy. He’s just a kid,” Halston’s tone was indifferent, but his eyes flashed with anger.
“How about your cousin? He’s always been coveting her. And the heir from the Baldwin family keeps hanging around too. Plus, she came home with that young man. Doesn’t that make you anxious?” Xavier pointed out. He didn’t have to remind Halston just how obsessed Jovan was with Flossie, and Justin always came prepared. If Halston kept hiding from Flossie, someone else would surely take his place in her heart. Xavier smirked confidently, then declared, “If I wasn’t in love with someone else, I would have pursued her too… and you wouldn’t have had a chance if I did!”
After that, Xavier left the manor and chose to head to Ellsworth Manor.
Even after Xavier scolded him, Halston still behaved like a nocturnal animal that lurked in the dark. He neither went out nor prepared himself to meet Flossie, and just sat there gloomily for a long time. Finally, he stood up and picked up the high-power binoculars on the table, then pointed it at Ellsworth Manor through the thick curtains. His bedroom was facing the backyard of Ellsworth Manor and Flossie’s bedroom. He saw Flossie having fun with Adie and Abby in the yard, and his heart ached. Her new eyes looked nice, and he was happy she could see again, even if they weren’t as beautiful as her old eyes. She could play with the children and take care of them well now. Jovan could be quite extreme sometimes, but he had done a good thing for Flossie. Because of that, Halston would give them his sincere blessings if Jovan did win Flossie over.
The backyard of Ellsworth Manor was large with lush grass and plenty of flowers. The children drew large and small squares on the ground to play hopscotch with Flossie. Children grew up fast, and Adie and Abby had both grown up a lot from the last time Halston saw them. They were almost at Flossie’s shoulders now. The three of them basked in the sunlight like fairies, joyful and active. Halston felt happy just looking at them…
He knew Xavier was right and that he was being a coward. He hid behind curtains, corners, and windows all day long, secretly watching everything Flossie did. When he saw her with Jovan, he would be madly jealous. If he saw her talking and laughing with Justin, he would yearn to hack him into pieces. Even if she was with a kid like Jeffrey, Halston would feel uneasy. But that envy came with the frustration of knowing he couldn’t do anything about it. Of course, Halston loved Flossie, and couldn’t bear to see her with other men, but if he got involved with her again, he would only bring pain to her otherwise peaceful life. He knew that love could not quell hatred, especially when it came to family. If Flossie learned the truth behind her family’s bankruptcy and her parents’ death, she would be even sadder. So, the only thing Halston could do was reduce Flossie’s pain. The only resolution was to leave Flossie and let her get used to not having him in her life. He would even make her hate him, so that she wouldn’t be too sad if the truth came out one day.
“Kids, we’re going to mess things up a little,” Flossie suggested suddenly to the two children laughing and jumping around the yard.
The children stopped, looking confused. “Mommy, we already drew the squares. The game is already difficult, but you want to make it tougher?”
“Of course. You both are no longer children, so you should learn to break the rules a little. Then, the game will be more interesting.”
“That sounds interesting… How do you plan to do that?” Adie rubbed his chin contemplatively.
“It’s very simple-well blindfold ourselves for the hopscotch. People who jump onto the Castle squares will get a reward, but those who jump onto the Poison squares will be punished. What do you think?” Flossie explained the rules of the game excitedly.
“Count us in!” Suddenly, Flossie heard eager voices behind her.
The person who spoke was none other than Xavier, who had just arrived from the other manor. Leia was also there, having rushed over after she heard the news, as well as Justin, who refused to leave, and Jeffrey, who was always cautious of the people surrounding Flossie.
Flossie turned around and saw them standing there. She sighed helplessly and complained, “You’re all so clingy!” She wanted to have some fun with the children alone, but these people followed her everywhere she went. Now, they were even insisting enjoining this simple game.
“You look great, Flossie! You have no idea how much I missed you when you were away. I couldn’t even sleep…” At first glance, Leia could tell that Flossie had changed a lot. The depressing aura surrounding her was gone, and she was back to her usual spirited self. Delighted, Leia rushed over and hugged Flossie tightly, sobbing, “Welcome home, bestie!”