Filed to story: A Second Chance with My Billionaire Love
Francine felt that she had to break them up for the sake of Halston’s health.
Flossie nodded calmly. “Don’t worry, you don’t have to remind me. I know that I should stay far away from Halston but sometimes I need to come to him for urgent matters. It’s alright, I’ll give you my word now that I’ll never see him again unless I’m forced to.”
“R-Really?” Francine’s eyes widened, and she felt moved by Flossie’s promise. What a considerate and nice woman! If the fortune-teller hadn’t told Francine that Flossie and Halston couldn’t be together, Francine would never let Flossie go.
“I won’t break my word.” Flossie sounded firm and calm as she spoke, then added, “But I can’t be the only one doing this. You’d better remind your son to not meddle in my affairs. If he comes to me and ends up in danger, you can’t blame me for it.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll advise my son. After he recovers, he’ll marry Seraphina, and I hope that he can forget about you by then,”
Francine said somberly. Seraphina and Halston were childhood sweethearts, and their families knew each other well.
Francine believed that only an arranged marriage with no feelings tied to it could last, but… she wondered why she always felt a little disappointed about it.
“I’ll take my leave now if you’re done.” Flossie nodded at Francine as she held her bag and walked towards the elevator. She did not feel much about Halston and Seraphina’s impending marriage; the charming childhood sweethearts should have gotten married ages ago. Flossie felt that her previous marriage with Halston was an accident and a joke, and she needed to forget about it.
“Wait,” Francine called after Flossie softly.
“Is there anything else?” Confused, Flossie turned around and looked at Francine.
Francine pulled Flossie to a secluded corner of the stairs, then whispered, “Let’s talk alone.”
Seraphina quietly clenched her fists as she watched them leave, overwhelmed by jealousy. Unexpectedly, Flossie was capable enough to win both Halston and Francine over.
Francine knew that Flossie had strangled her beloved son and got him into the hospital, but she still treated Flossie with respect.
How it infuriated Seraphina!
Meanwhile, Francine led Flossie to an isolated corner
“I know I shouldn’t beg you for this, but you’re a good person, so I think I can discuss it with you.”
Flossie was curious now. “Please go on.”
“It’s about Adie and Abby’s custody—” Francine started, but was immediately interrupted by Flossie.
“No, I’ll never give up custody of them,” Reene said firmly.
Although Francine had anticipated this, she still felt very aggrieved. “Normally, I wouldn’t give up custody of either of them because they’re Guajardos at the end of the day…”
Flossie shook her head and argued, “You’re wrong. Biologically, only women’s genes are passed down, which means Adie and Abby are Ellsworths and don’t have much to do with the Guajardo family.”
Francine frowned petulantly and complained, “Stop being so stubborn. If this becomes a court case, the judge will surely give the Guajardo family one of the kids.”
“Fine, go ahead. I have the most outstanding civil attorney who has never lost custody cases like this before. Try it if you don’t believe me. The Murphy family won’t be quiet about it too if word gets out,” Flossie added calmly, pointing out that Francine had more to lose.
“The Murphy family isn’t important.” Francine waved her hand dismissively and added, “I’ve been thinking about it, and if you’re willing to give up custody of the kids, even if it’s one of them, I’ll make Halston cancel his engagement with Seraphina and guarantee that he’ll never get married again. He’ll focus entirely on raising the child.” After all, he didn’t care about other women, so it would be meaningless to ask him to get married. He might as well raise his child which would give him something to focus on and make his life easier too.
“I’m sorry but I really can’t do that…” Taking a deep breath,
Flossie continued, “Do I love my son any less than you love yours? I love Adie and Abby to the moon and back, and I raised them with a lot of love and care. They’re twins and can’t leave each other; you’ll be hurting them if you separate them. Have you ever considered their feelings?”
“I… I…” Francine’s stubborn front immediately crumbled, and she felt humiliated. Flossie’s logic made it difficult for
Francine to argue, and the elder woman finally admitted sadly, “I know I’m being selfish, but I love and miss them very much. I… I guess I didn’t think this through.”
Flossie sighed when she saw how crestfallen Francine looked, and her heart softened. “If you love and miss them, you all can pay them a visit once a month. Is that acceptable?”
“Really?” Francine’s grief turned to joy, and she couldn’t believe that Flossie was being so generous. “Are you really willing to let me visit them? Can I take them back to the Guajardo manor to stay the night there?” After Halston had gotten injured, his recovery had taken six months, and the Guajardos had never met Adie and Abby during that time. Not only had Flossie prohibited it, but Quinton’s men always escorted the children and no one could approach them. Besides that, Halston couldn’t be stimulated with past memories while he was recovering, so they also purposely stopped mentioning the children. However, things were much better now, so it would be best if the Guajardos and Ellsworths could get along and raise the children together.
“Sure, but only if they stay for a day or two,” Flossie agreed after a brief contemplation. As a mother, she was happy to see more people doting on her children as long as they were sincere about it.
Flossie felt dejected after she came back from the hospital.
When she arrived at the Ellsworth Manor, she found Quinton digging the ground with Adie and Abby in the large back garden. The children were jumping around Quinton happily, a thin layer of sweat on their chubby faces.
“What are you all doing?” Flossie’s heart softened and she smiled tenderly when she saw them.
“Mommy, look! Uncle is teaching us how to plant flowers.” Abby’s cheeks were flushed from all the jumping around, making her look even more adorable.
“Really? What kind of flowers are you planting?” Flossie walked into the garden and asked curiously.
“Of course, we’re planting sunflowers, your favorite. Uncle said this kind of sunflower will blossom in a month, and by then, this garden will be filled with golden sunflowers as pretty as the ones in Sun Island!” Abby exclaimed, sounding a little wistful. Sun Island was where she and Adie were born, and they had so many wonderful memories there.
“Mommy, when can we go back to Sun Island for some fun?” Adie put his shovel down and wiped away his sweat, asking Flossie seriously.
“I can take you there anytime you want.” Flossie squatted down and held Adie’s shoulders. Smiling, she added, “But not now because I still have a lot of things to deal with.”
“What kind of things?” Adie asked innocently, “Can I help?”
“No, you can’t help me with it. The important thing is that you’re happy and go to school every day with your sister.”
“Don’t worry, Mommy. Abby and I will do just that.” Adie clenched his fists in determination, looking like an adult about to take on a challenging task.
Flossie chuckled in amusement and said, “Great! Can you tell me the interesting things happening at your kindergarten?”
“Sure, there’s a lot…” Adie started, but Abby beat him to it. Abby held Flossie’s hand and said petulantly, “Mommy, Adie is very popular in the kindergarten. Everyone calls him Prince Charming and many girls want to play with him. He doesn’t even have time to play with me.”
“No, that’s not true,” Adie objected. “Don’t listen to her, Mommy. She’s the princess there, and many boys want to play with her. She’s too busy to play with me!”
“Haha! It looks like both of you are very popular.” Flossie relaxed after she heard that they had adapted well to the kindergarten. They’d grown up in Sun Island, and although it was a beautiful place, there weren’t many people around.
She’d always been worried that they would be socially awkward around other kids, but it seemed like her children had better social skills than her.
“Mommy, my teacher said there’s a carnival next Wednesday, and that Daddy and Mommy have to go. Can you go?” Abby blinked and looked at Flossie eagerly.
“Of course, I can,” Flossie agreed enthusiastically.
“Umm… Can you ask Daddy to go too?” Abby asked Flossie carefully.
“Why are you calling him Daddy? He’s just a scumbag, so forget about him!” Adie said angrily, his deep hatred for Halston obvious. He didn’t know how it happened, but he’d read in the news that the man who promised to take good care of his mother was now dating another woman and was about to marry her.
Also, he had purposely snuck away from Quinton’s bodyguards one day to go to Halston’s office, but when he found him, Halston had just walked past him, laughing and talking to another woman, as if he didn’t know him. At that moment, he knew that his father had been snatched by someone else, and he had lost him. He was fine with it since he hadn’t grown up with him, but he just couldn’t bear to see his mother get hurt.
“I knew he was a bad guy! He let Mommy down. I would have taken revenge on him if Mommy didn’t stop me,” Adie huffed sulkily.
“But… But the teacher said both Daddy and Mommy have to come. What will we do?” Abby asked, still hoping Halston could come. She still had a good impression of her handsome daddy, and hoped that he could still be her daddy.
Their conversation made Flossie’s heart ache. Adie hated Halston and Abby loved him, and the whole situation made Flossie feel very helpless.
“Did you forget about your uncle? I can go with you,” Quinton flashed the children a smile and suggested. He planted the last of the sunflower seeds, adjusted his sunhat, and sighed in satisfaction.
“Yeah, what about your uncle? I’m sure all of your teachers will be dazzled by him…” Flossie grinned at Quinton teasingly.
She felt that it was pretty good to have a man in her family.