"Miss, please wait a moment. We need..."
The servants hurriedly ran after me. As soon as the gate of the villa opened, I rushed inside, ignoring the man who was leisurely reading the newspaper and drinking tea. I was so familiar with every nook and cranny of this mansion, that I rushed upstairs and opened the doors of each room.
The servants seemed to be about to run up after them, but they were stopped by Dominic's warning gaze, so they all fell silent and left.
"Kenelm, Kenelm... Can you hear me?" I called out loudly hoping my son could hear. But disappointingly, it doesn't seem like he's here.
I did not expect Dominic to be so brazen and treacherous that he locked my son in another place.
With anger and impatience, I went down to the living room and gave Dominic an unfriendly look.
"Where's my son?"
"..." Dominic leisurely folded the newspaper and set his teacup down on the table before looking up at me. "When we meet again, should you at least say hello to me?"
"Are you in the mood to joke? I'm not. Where's my son after all?" I almost yelled at Dominic.
"He's fine. Ethan took him out to buy some toys and he'll be back here soon. Now sit down, we've got a lot to talk about." Dominic was very patient despite me expressing an aggressive and disgruntled attitude.
This was beyond my expectations, I didn't think Dominic after four years would be so calm and relaxed seeing me back. But before the storms usually clear clouds, so the fact that Dominic is not angry with me does not reassure me. Just one word from you could put my Kenelm in danger.
Thinking like that, I stopped questioning Dominic, but calmed down and sat down. We finally met face-to-face after four years, without any barriers or masks separating us.
"Have you lived well for the past four years?" Dominic asked me, his voice low but gentle, it was difficult to predict his emotions through this voice.
"I'm fine, as you can see."
"I have a lot of curiosity about you. How about you?" Dominic looks at me with loving eyes, involuntarily giving me goosebumps.
I wonder if he's crazy to have such a weird attitude. He did not get angry, nor did he look coldly at me. He simply asked me a lot of questions, such as when did I move to Goderich, when did I learn to knit or was it painful for me to give birth to Kenelm?
He didn't seem to care why I ran away, or why I had to fake my own death. Even in the conversation, he never once mentioned Frederick Vincent and Garrick Harvey.
"Well, it looks like your life is pretty good without me, isn't it?" Dominic rubbed his chin and smiled. "So do you have any questions for me?"
"I'm not curious about your life. Also, aren't you and Vivian having a good time together, what do you need to bother me?" I crossed my arms and frowned at him. My tone involuntarily got higher when it came to Vivian and Dominic's relationship without me even realizing it.
"...Your jealous look is still as cute as ever." Dominic covered his mouth and smiled, his eyes looking at me did not hide his love and indulgence.
"You... what are you saying? I don't understand what you mean. Stop talking nonsense." I stammered, my posture becoming awkward because he guessed my mind. My cheeks are also a little hot from embarrassment.
"Okay, it's okay if you're not curious about me. Let's take it slow and we'll talk about the past four years together. Now we have a lot more work to do." Dominic got up and called the servants to prepare a sumptuous dinner table.
"Wait. I don't intend to stay here long. I'll get Kenelm back to Goderich as soon as possible and..." I stood up too and walked over to Dominic.
"No no no." Dominic shook his head. He caressed my hair and smiled suspiciously softly. "You can't take our son back there without my permission." Dominic spoke slowly and clearly, but the pressure from him made me flinch.
Seeing me quiet and worried, he took a step back to widen the distance between us, absorbing the overwhelming pressure from him.
"According to what Kenelm said, you told him he doesn't have a father. If Kenelm knew I lied and separated him from his father for the past four years, would he still follow you about Goderich?"
Turns out he found out that Kenelm was his son. And just as I thought, Dominic will definitely get the right to raise Kenelm. If it weren't for Kenelm, I don't know if I would be able to live on.
"You don't deserve to be his father." I pursed my lips and spoke, but I couldn't hide the trembling from the bottom of my heart. Because I know he's right.
"Do I deserve to be Kenelm's father or not, we can ask him, right?"
"Don't say anything to the boy, please." I shook my head and panicked to the point of sweating. If Kenelm knew the truth, with his fiery and outspoken personality, he would definitely be angry with me, even refusing to return to Goderich with me.
It was an outcome I didn't want, so I had no choice but to beg Dominic not to reveal the truth to him.
"Okay." Dominic agreed so quickly and easily that I froze with surprise, but soon he added. "Remember we used to have a three-month deal? Now I want us to have a similar deal. We'll live together as a family for three months.
If I prove I'm worthy to be Kenelm's father, you'll come back to me, and I'll let go of the past four years. On the contrary, if you still don't trust me, then you can bring Kenelm back to Goderich. I won't interfere or disturb your life anymore."
The suggestion that Dominic made was really beneficial for me. Things developed in a direction I didn't expect, and Dominic didn't give me a hard time at all. But I know Dominic well, he is a connoisseur and adept, in every deal he always does his best to benefit himself. So the easier the deal was for me, the more suspicious I became.
I myself was fooled by Dominic's three-month deal and stupidly fell into his trap. I have indirectly pushed Joan's family into a position of being manipulated and arbitrarily controlled by Dominic.
"What are you thinking? Are you trying to trick me again?"
"Tricking you is easy for me. I don't have to put myself in such a difficult position just to trick you." Dominic shrugged and said. "Actually I'm not as complicated as you think. I want to make a deal with you because I'm confident I'll make you fall in love with me again. That's all."
I looked at him silently, my thoughts were a bit confused, in the end I had no choice but to sigh and nod in agreement with him. Somehow, I remember the time when we met in the garden of Joan's mansion, then I was just like now, driven by some emotion and then agreeing with Dominic.
His provocative, risky, and alluring appeal... I couldn't seem to resist.
"Mommy." Kenelm's voice was crisp.
He excitedly ran towards me, dropped all the toys on the ground, and threw himself into my lap. Hearing my son's voice, I couldn't stop my tears from flowing. I hugged him tightly and felt his small body fit into my embrace. It's only been two days since I've seen my son, but I've been so worried that I can't eat or sleep.
"How are you? Are you hurt anywhere?" I looked over his body and silently breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he was fine.
I also noticed that the boy had changed to a new set of clothes, the material and style was definitely the clothes of the rich young man still wearing. In the past, although Frederick generously gave me a lot of money to spend, I rarely used it, but only spent the money I earned from knitting. Therefore, Kenelm's clothes are nothing special, just popular designs in the local brand.
Kenelm's toys are also not lacking, I buy him a lot, but I have not bought him AI robot toys or remote control helicopters because they are quite expensive. Yet, just one afternoon out, he bought several boxes of expensive toys.
No wonder Kenelm looked so happy and excited.
He kept showing me new toys, delicious food, and interesting places to play that he had never tried before.
"Mom, can I move in with Dominic Arnold, he said that you and I are very good friends." Kenelm rarely begs me for anything, but this time he boldly stated his wish.
That proves Kenelm really enjoys living here.
It's only been two days but Kenelm has thought of wanting to live with Dominic, so how much does he still miss this place three months later? Now I understand why Dominic was so confident in making an easy deal for me. It turned out that he used the method of 'bribing' Kenelm's feelings.
"We'll stay here for three months until winter comes. Then we'll go back to Goderich. Don't try to convince me anymore, that's all I can accept." I spoke softly to him.
Kenelm looked like he wanted to say something more, his eyes sullen and regretful, but then Dominic moved closer to us, getting down on one knee to talk to him.
"Okay, Kenelm. You should listen to your mother. She must have her reasons. If you want to stay here with me then we'll figure out a way to convince her later. Keep it a secret." Dominic pretended to speak in a whisper as if I couldn't hear, which amused Kenelm and giggled. He considers it a private secret between the two men and trusts Dominic very much.
He obediently obeyed Dominic, stowed away his toys and washed his hands to prepare for dinner.
Meanwhile, I'm still bewildered by the quick intimacy between Kenelm and Dominic. I even doubted whether it was because they were father and son that they easily understood and got along so well.
"Shall we have dinner together?" Dominic held out his hand to help me up.
I looked at him, although he didn't show any emotion, but I vaguely sensed the cunningness in his eyes. It was as if everything in his plan was going so well and I had fallen into the trap he set.
"If you still deceive me and take a son with me, I will definitely not forgive you." I looked at him with angry eyes and said a warning. Then I got up on my own and went into the dining room with my son.
As I turned to walk away, I missed Dominic's familiar smirk.