5: Refused To Eat

Dylan walked towards their bed and saw the divorce papers on the headboard. He hadn't read them yet; as there were two copies given to him when he was already leaving Rosie's house.

When Dylan took one of the divorce papers, he glanced through it before putting it down into his black briefcase. He shut the briefcase closed and went into his bathroom to bathe.

Dylan decided to prepare for office work, thinking 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 couch, eating the popcorn from the previous night that she had used to keep herself awake while waiting for Dylan to return home.

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

"Mummy! Mummy!" Caleb and Nina both rushed up to hug her legs as soon as she stepped into the living room.

Caleb asked, "Mummy, aren't we going to school today?"

Jessica knew her two kids were already late for school, and she knew that if their former maid were still around, the maid would have helped her prepare the kids for school, bathed them before she woke up, and also prepared their breakfasts.

The maid would even have assisted Caleb and Nina in having their breakfasts at the dining table, but now Jessica had to do it all alone, as Dylan was strongly against having any maid.

Jessica had thought that the young maid tried to seduce her husband in her absence, but after the maid left, Jessica did not receive any complaint of such behavior from the maid's parents. The housemaid was even crying to be sent away, insisting she had done nothing wrong to offend Jessica.

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

The young maid was very smart and nice and did all her house chores alone, even before Jessica woke up or sent her on errands.

Florence Gregson was a 15-year-old maid, and Jessica had seen how Florence cared for Caleb and Nina so much, even helping them with their homework like a real elder sister. Yet Florence was only a maid and 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 go and prepare your bath afterwards," Jessica told her son, smiling at him and squatting to meet his height and her little daughter's height too.

She finally stood up from squatting on the floor in front of her two kids and went into the kitchen to prepare their breakfast.

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

She resumed mopping the kitchen floor since she didn't have any maid anymore.

After she was through cleaning the kitchen floor and cabinet tops, she proceeded to prepare her kids' breakfasts. She made noodles and fried eggs for them and stepped out to the dining table to serve their breakfasts.

The aroma of the fried eggs and delicious noodles that Jessica had prepared attracted her two kids' nostrils, and they rushed up to meet her and took their respective seats at the dining table.

Nina was too small and unable to climb the dining chair by herself. She cried out and reached out to Jessica to carry her up. As Nina's third attempt to climb the dining chair by herself, ended with her little bottom crashing to the tiled floor, and she cried out, "Mummy!"

"Wait, Nina, I'm coming," Jessica quickly rushed to carry Nina in her arms. She dusted her little daughter's bottom, sat down with Nina on her thighs, and proceeded to feed Nina.

Nina continued to stretch her small hand to take the spoon away from Jessica's hand to feed herself, but Jessica refused and continued to feed her daughter.

Jessica knew her two kids were happy children, and she didn't want them to become sad when growing up, seeing that their parents were now quarreling and no longer in love with each other.

"Mummy, why are you crying?" Caleb asked, noticing that Jessica was crying silently, as tears were freely rolling down her cheeks.

Nina tried to look up at her mother's face as she sat on Jessica's thighs, eating her noodles while Jessica fed her.

Nina looked up again to see if her mummy was truly crying, but just then, Jessica heard footsteps behind her. She quickly 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, not understanding the big word his mother had used, but Dylan quickly cut the mother-to-son conversation short with his deep sharp voice and said, "That's enough, Caleb. Now eat your food. You should know that talking isn't allowed while eating."

"Okay, Dad," Caleb smiled at his father's words. Dylan stood with a strict face, already wearing a black suit to leave for his company. He adjusted his black suit necktie properly over his white inner shirt.

Jessica stared at Dylan's face and saw the hardened expression.

She wanted to put Nina down on the next chair so Nina could start eating by herself as she stood up from the dining chair to prepare Dylan's breakfast, but Dylan quickly told her coldly, "There won't be any need for that, as I cannot wait to eat again."

Jessica had already stood up from the dining table and saw that Dylan didn't want to wait for his breakfast. He finished adjusting his suit and white inner shirt, placed some money on the center table for them, and left the house.

"Mummy..." Nina cried out, unable to reach the dining table by herself. Her little hands couldn't reach the spoon to feed herself.

Nina's crying snapped Jessica out of her trance, and she rushed back to her small daughter after looking back at Nina crying and trying to feed herself.

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

Jessica knew Dylan wasn't joking about divorcing her, and she silently thought about what she could do to appease him as she continued to feed her daughter.

After Jessica finished feeding Nina and Caleb was also done with his meal, she cleared the plates to the kitchen and knew Dylan had only left the security man at the gate to lock and open it for him. Whenever he left for the office in the morning and returned home in the evening, as Dylan had sacked all the domestic staff.

When Jessica heard the sound of Dylan's car starting in their garage, she peered out through the kitchen window and saw him drove out of their compound. She knew he was just leaving for the office.

Jessica then went to her kids' room downstairs to prepare their bath. After she finished bathing them, she dressed them in new clothes and finally brought Nina and Caleb back to the living room with their toys to play.

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