Filed to story: A Second Chance with My Billionaire Love
If it wasn’t for this being their children’s graduation trip, he would have let her go, but right now, he didn’t want her to make a scene and ruin everyone’s mood.
“Yeah, Mommy.
Daddy is right.
Calm down.
Although they bullied me just now, I resisted.
Tubby and his mom are having a bad time too, and they might leven have it worse than me. After much consideration, Flossie put the rock down.
“You’re right, it’s more important to look for the treasure.
I’ll teach them a lesson later.”
The more she thought about it, the more Flossie realized that she had to accept reality-in the eyes of society, a divorced family could never be a good thing. There would always be prejudice and discrimination towards the children.
Luckily, Adie was a strong child, and could stand his ground when others bullied him. If it were a gentle child like Abby, facing that kind of hostility would create lifelong trauma. After much thought, Flossie felt the children had to have a father, even if he were just there in name.
Halston held Adie with one hand and Abby with the other, and they soon arrived at the cave. Flossie took a deep breath as she watched them, and decided to talk it out with Halston for the sake of the two children.
Besides, many pupils and parents were standing outside the cave, too timid to go in.
The cave came with a karst landscape with long and narrow spaces full of stalactites in various strange shapes. It was a good place for adventure and looking for treasure.
“Mommy, come here. The treasures must be in the cave. Let’s go in now!” Abby’s face was flushed as she happily waved at Flossie, who quickened her pace to reach them. “This cave looks very dark, and we don’t know if there are any wild animals in it. Let’s not go in…”
A parent standing nearby quickly stopped his child from going into the cave. “Yeah, I don’t know why the kindergarten would arrange a dangerous activity like this. If anything happens, will they be willing to compensate?”
“Let’s go. Just leave those lousy treasures behind! We won’t look for them. We’ll just shoot the graduation photos.”
A few parents left with their children, and finally, only Halston, Flossie, and the two children were left standing at the entrance of the cave.
“Mommy, let’s go in. We’re not afraid!” Abby might look timid but was actually quite adventurous. She was eager to go into the cave to check it out.
“I think those parents are right. This cave looks quite dangerous, so we shouldn’t act impulsively…” Flossie took out a torchlight and shone it into the cave. After a while, she turned and told the children, “Why don’t you two stay here and keep watch? Your daddy and I will go into the cave to look around. If it’s safe, we’ll bring you both in. What do you think?”
“I agree.” Halston felt that it was better to be careful. “The three of you should wait here-I can go in alone. I think the kindergarten would have checked out this cave since they chose it as the treasure spot. There shouldn’t be any issues.”
“No, we should go in together,” Flossie stepped forward and said firmly, “If anything happens, We can help each othen”. That was only one of the reasons. Mainly, she wanted to make use of that chance to talk to him.
“Are you worried about me?” Halston looked at Flossie, feeling moved.
Flossie rolled her eyes at him. After giving the children some advice, she of advice grabbed the torchlight and some basic self-defense tools before heading into the cave.
“Wait for me!” Halston followed Flossie into the cave.
“Ah, let them be since they want to be alone with each other so badly!” Adie turned around and shrugged at Abby helplessly. He didn’t want to be a third wheel anyway.
Halston and Flossie walked into the cave silently. The atmosphere was tense and almost suffocating, like there was something threatening to surface. Maybe the oxygen level in the cave was low, or maybe it was the tension between them.
Flossie held the torchlight and shone it ahead of her. However, she wasn’t really checking the cave out or searching for treasures-she was trying to figure out how to talk to Halston about the children. ‘You…” Flossie started, but gasped as she accidentally stepped into a dark pit. However, before she could fall, Halston grabbed her and held her, and they both tumbled to the ground together. Flossie had fallen on Halston, and immediately panicked when she realized it. “Are you alright? Did you hurt your head? Can you move?”
At first, Halston was fine, but when Flossie pressed down on his body, he winced in discomfort. “Maybe I’d feel better if you weren’t crushing me.”
“Oh, I’m sorry!” Flossie immediately tried to stand up, feeling embarrassed when she realized she was overreacting.
“Just stay like this for a while.” Suddenly, Halston held her to him, then said seriously, It’s better not to move around in case we fall and hurt ourselves.”
“Really?” Although Flossie was doubtful, she obeyed him just to be safe. They laid on the ground together for a while, looking like something out of a romance movie.
“Is it okay to move now?” Flossie lay on Halston and asked carefully, not daring to move.
“Let’s wait a little longer. Halston sounded serious. This was something he could only dream of, and he didn’t want it to end. This was the only way he could get closer to her. “Did you have something to say to me just now?” Halston asked Flossie quietly.
“Yes.’ Flossie nodded.
“Go ahead then. There’s no better time to speak than now,” Halston said meaningfully. Here, they were away from prying eyes, and he could forget all his worries and be himself with her.
“I know what you meant that night and have accepted it. I also didn’t include you in the travel list even though the teacher requested it.” Flossie gazed at Halston’s face in the dark and whispered, “At first, I didn’t think I’d done anything wrong. After all, my children and I led a great life without you all these years. We don’t need you, but… realized something when I heard how Adie was bullied just now. Society will naturally think badly of divorced families, and that reality won’t go away even if I chose to ignore it.” After a pause, Flossie decided to throw away her pride. “So… I want to know. What’s your plan for the future of our children?”
Halston did not answer Flossie’s question immediately, and the silence in the cave made everything more awkward.
Flossie wasn’t used to being so close to him. She could feel his breathing and the warmth of his body, but it felt like their hearts were far apart. She didn’t know what he was thinking. Humiliated and disappointed, she tried to stand up, keeping her distance from Halston. “Is it that difficult to answer?’ Flossie huffed angrily. She could accept Halston’s fickleness and insincerity, but she couldn’t accept his silence and avoidance when it came to their children.
“What do you want me to do?” After a long silence, Halston quietly stood up, upset that their romantic moment was cut short. However, he didn’t regret his decision to stay away from her-he knew she would suffer less in the future.
“What do you mean? You’re their father, but you never thought of how you’d take care of them in the future?’ Halston’s casualness infuriated Flossie, and she had to stop herself from slapping him. “Are you satisfied just seeing them once in a while like this?”
“It’s fine, isn’t it?” Halston asked calmly. “The kids are quite happy to spend time with me.”
“How could you!” In her anger, Flossie forgot to ask him about their relationship. It was true that the children did get along well with Halston. Although they hadn’t met him for a long time, they didn’t see him as a stranger… but Flossie did. Whenever she looked at him, it felt like their past romance had gone, and they were just passerbys. “I’m their daddy, and you’re their mommy; that’s enough for me. As for the two of us, I made myself very clear that night. I don’t want to repeat myself.” Halston turned away from Flossie, his tone icy.
“The things you said that night…” Flossie started at his back and sneered. “I know you’ve had a change of heart. You’re madly in love with Jessanna and don’t want to think about me. Well, I don’t want to pester you either, but I find this family arrangement weird. If it goes on, I’m afraid the kids will learn bad things from you. They’ll think that romances and families are not important, and that they don’t need to be loyal to their partners.”
“So, what’s your plan?” Halston paused but did not turn around. “You clearly think I’m not a good role model, so… what do you want to do?”
“I’ll be frank with you.” Flossie kept her head hung as she said sulkily, “The kids are still young, and they need both parents around. If you don’t want to come back… might just find another father for them!”
“You want to find another father for them?” Halston laughed when he heard that, feeling angry and helpless. “If you think that’s the better option, just go ahead then!” Then, he walked ahead to look for the treasure.
“You…” An unspeakable sadness gripped Flossie as she watched Halston walk away. She hadn’t meant it-she just wanted to see his reaction. He had always been a very possessive man, and logically, he should have gotten furious at the suggestion of his former partner and children forming a family with another man. However, he didn’t stop her, and even seemed to support her plan. At that moment, Flossie realized that Halston might have really given her and the two children up. She naively thought that he would tum around and fight for his family, but it looked like they could not make peace with each other anymore.
Halston walked ahead absent-mindedly, adjusting his headlamp. He saw an undercurrent in the cave ahead of him, and there seemed to be something shiny beside it. “I think I found the treasure!” Halston stared at it in surprise, then turned and waved at Flossie. “I’ll let you enjoy this moment.’
Flossie calmly walked over to him, but wasn’t as excited as Halston about finding the treasure. She was still thinking about their broken and irreparable family. Halston, however, didn’t seem to care about it anymore. Instead, he seemed more interested in finding the treasure. Hmph! She really felt like a clown.
Flossie squatted down and explored the place with her flashlight, and soon found a small box. It looked like the treasure chests from fairy tales, and had gemstones on the outside and some pearls and gold bracelets on the inside. “It’s so pretty!” Flossie gazed at it in awe, and immediately took out all the items in the box to study them carefully. Coincidentally, there happened to be four bracelets, two large and two small, and the bracelets came with a small lock and keys. The keys could only be used to open the locks of the other bracelets.
“Did they design these for our family? This kindergarten is so kind and considerate,” Halston looked at those bracelets and said admiringly. There were four bracelets and keys, proving that their family of four could not stay apart.
“Let’s go!” Flossie hugged the box and got up to exit the cave.
The two children had been waiting for them impatiently, and ran to Flossie and Halston excitedly when they saw them. “Daddy, Mommy, did you find the treasures?
“Yes, we did.” Flossie handed the box to the children. “Do you like them?”
Wow, there are four bracelets! Each of us can have one.” The two children admired the bracelets, and were about to put them on for Flossie and Halston.
“Not for him!” Flossie immediately snatched away Halston’s bracelet and snapped, “He doesn’t deserve it!”
Sunset gradually came, dying the sea and clouds orange. The scenery was beautiful as they returned to the campsite at the foot of the hill. After their discussion, Flossie no longer had any expectations of Halston. She merely regarded him as a stranger and ignored him. Holding the treasure chest, the children followed thern cautiously, tired of the ups and downs of their parents’ emotions.
“Daddy, what did you do in the cave? Mommy looked so weird after she left the cave. She looks… scary!” Adie didn’t dare provoke Flossie after she had scolded him, so he went to pester Halston instead.