CHAPTER 5

Dylan walked towards their bed and saw the divorce papers on the headboard. He had not read them yet, as there were two copies, and they had been given to him when he was already leaving Rosie’s house.

Dylan took one of the divorce papers and glanced through it. Then he put it into his black briefcase and closed it, before going into his bathroom to bathe.

He decided to prepare for work, as he thought he would read the divorce papers in his office.

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Meanwhile, Jessica rushed downstairs into the living room and saw her two kids sitting on the black couch and eating the popcorn from the previous night that she had used to keep herself awake while waiting for Dylan to return home.

Jessica saw that the living room wall clock showed 8:35 a.m., and she knew that her two kids were late for school.

“Mummy! Mummy!” Caleb and Nina both rushed to hug Jessica's legs as soon as she stepped into the living room.

Caleb asked, “Mummy, aren’t we going to school today?”

Jessica knew that her two kids were late for school. If their former maid had still been around, the maid would have helped her prepare the children for school, bathed them before she woke up, and prepared their breakfast too.

The maid would even have assisted Caleb and Nina with their breakfast at the dining table, but now Jessica had to do everything alone, as Dylan was strongly against having another maid.

Jessica had thought that the young maid had tried to seduce her husband in her absence, but after the maid left, Jessica did not receive any complaint or report of such a thing from the maid’s parents. The housemaid had even cried when she was sent away, as she had done nothing wrong to offend Jessica.

Jessica had given the young maid extra money and told her that she would still be going to school, and that she would not stop paying her school fees, even though the maid was no longer under her care.

The young maid was very smart and nice. She did all her housework alone, even before Jessica woke up or sent her on an errand.

Florence Gregson was a 15-year-old girl, and Jessica had seen how much Florence cared for Caleb and Nina. She even helped them with their homework as though she were their real elder sister. Yet, Florence was only a maid and was not related to them.

“Time has gone for today, Caleb. Don't worry, I will try to wake up very early tomorrow morning to take you and Nina to school on time. Wait here. Let me prepare something for you both to eat first, then I will prepare your bath afterwards,” Jessica told her son as she smiled at him and squatted to meet his height and his little sister’s.

She stood up and went into the kitchen to prepare their breakfast.

Jessica wondered if Dylan was still serious about divorcing her as she walked towards the cupboards to check what she could prepare.

She resumed mopping the kitchen floor since she no longer had a maid.

After she finished cleaning the kitchen floor and cabinet tops, Jessica proceeded to prepare her kids’ breakfast. She made noodles and fried eggs and took them to the dining table to serve them.

The aroma of the fried eggs and delicious noodles that Jessica had prepared reached her two kids, and they rushed to the dining table to take their respective seats.

Nina was too small and unable to climb onto the dining chair by herself. She cried out and reached for Jessica to carry her.

Nina’s third attempt to climb onto the chair by herself ended with her little bottom crashing onto the tiled floor, and she cried out, “Mummy!”

“Wait, Nina. I’m coming,” Jessica said as she quickly rushed to carry her daughter.

She dusted Nina’s little bottom and sat down with her on her thighs. She then proceeded to feed Nina.

Nina continued to stretch out her little hand to take the spoon from Jessica and feed herself, but Jessica refused and continued feeding her daughter.

Jessica knew that her two kids were happy children, and she did not want them to become sad as they grew up because their parents were quarrelling and no longer in love with each other.

“Mummy, why are you crying?” Caleb asked, when he noticed that she was crying silently and that tears were rolling down her cheeks.

Nina tried to look up at her mother’s face while she sat on Jessica’s thighs and ate the noodles that Jessica fed her.

Nina looked up once more to see if her mummy was truly crying, but just then, Jessica heard footsteps behind her.

She sniffed and plastered a fake smile on her face as she replied to Caleb, “I’m not crying. I’m just overwhelmed.”

“Over what?” Caleb asked, as he did not understand the big word his mother had used.

But Dylan quickly cut the mother-and-son conversation short with his deep, sharp voice. He replied to his son, “That’s enough, Caleb. Now eat your food. You should know that talking isn’t allowed while eating.”

“Okay, Dad,” Caleb said with a smile.

Dylan stood there with a strict expression. He was wearing a black suit and was preparing to leave for his company. He adjusted his necktie properly over his white dress shirt.

Jessica looked back at Dylan’s face and saw the hardened expression on it.

She wanted to put Nina down on the next chair so that she could start eating by herself.

Jessica also wanted to stand up from the dining table and prepare Dylan’s breakfast, but he quickly told her coldly, “There won’t be any need for that, as I cannot wait to eat again.”

Jessica had stood up from the dining table when she saw that Dylan did not want to wait for his breakfast. He finished adjusting his suit and shirt, placed some money on the coffee table for them, and left the house.

“Mummy…” Nina cried out, as she was unable to reach the dining table by herself. Her little hands could not reach her spoon to feed herself.

Nina’s crying snapped Jessica out of her trance. She looked back at her daughter, who was crying and trying to feed herself, and rushed back to her.

Jessica carried Nina onto her thighs and resumed feeding her at the dining table.

Jessica knew that Dylan was truly not joking about divorcing her, and she silently thought about what she could do to appease him as she continued feeding her daughter.

After Jessica finished feeding Nina, Caleb had also finished his meal.

Jessica knew that Dylan had only left the security guard at the gate to lock and open it for him whenever he left the house for his office in the morning and returned home in the evening. Dylan had sacked all the domestic staff.

Jessica heard the sound of Dylan’s car starting in the garage. He drove out of their compound, and she knew that he was leaving for the office.

She went to her kids’ room downstairs to prepare their bath. After bathing them, she put new clothes on them and brought them back to the living room with their toys.

She switched on the television and put it on a cartoon channel for her kids to watch, before going back upstairs to her bedroom.