Chapter 7

“I’m sorry. He doesn’t know any better.”

An elderly woman came hurrying after Mint, shuffling along and breathing heavily.

She immediately took his hand and led him away from Eustace, scolding him softly. “Mint, don’t call just anyone ‘Daddy.’”

Eustace rarely softened his expression, but his stern features relaxed as he crouched down and spoke gently to Mint.

“I’m not your daddy. You need to stay close to your grandmother when you go out. Don’t run off again, all right?”

Mint blinked at him.

The happiness on his face disappeared, and he lowered his head.

Although he looked disappointed, he still answered politely, “Okay, handsome mister.”

Felix roughly understood their exchange and sighed. “He looks so much like you. What a shame…”

Evan was still recovering from his shock. The child was not Eustace’s son, but in all the years he had worked beside Eustace, he had never seen him look so gentle.

“Goodbye, handsome mister!”

Mint held Helen’s hand as she led him away.

He kept looking back at Eustace every few steps, his little face full of reluctance.

He felt sad that the handsome man was not his father. He liked him very much.

Eustace smiled and waved back at Mint.

Even he had not expected himself to be so patient with a child.

For some reason, he felt an instant affinity with Mint.

Perhaps it was because the boy looked a little like him.

Claire was busy answering Caleb’s questions and naturally failed to notice the little exchange.

“So, Claire, you’re waiting here for my uncle?”

Caleb was naturally friendly.

Once Caleb learned that Claire was unmarried, he started calling her “Claire” instead of “Miss Jones” within a few sentences.

Claire nodded without denying it.

Caleb hesitated.

He remembered how coldly Eustace treated Claire earlier.

The chances of her successfully speaking with Eustace seemed very slim…

“Mommy!”

Mint suddenly appeared with Helen.

The moment he saw Claire, he rushed into her arms. “I found you!”

Helen followed behind them and explained, “I brought Mint to play nearby. He said he saw you from far away, and I didn’t expect him to be right.”

Claire rubbed her son’s head. “Thank you for your help, Mrs. Reed Sr. He’s been full of energy lately.”

“Oh, sweetheart, you don’t need to thank me.”

Helen was a kind-looking elderly woman who smiled warmly as she spoke. “Mint is already such a well-behaved boy.”

“Hello, ma’am.” Caleb stood up and greeted Helen politely.

Claire only then remembered that Caleb was still beside her.

Before she could say anything, Mint looked up first.

He stared at Caleb for a few seconds before greeting him enthusiastically. “Hi, buddy!”

Claire paused slightly at the way he addressed Caleb.

Caleb looked at Mint seriously. “You should call me Mr. Sterling.”

Caleb was delighted by the youthful title, but he could not allow Mint to treat him like a peer.

The moment Caleb met Mint’s eyes, he froze.

The boy stirred a strange sense of familiarity in him.

He quickly dismissed the feeling and thought nothing more of it.

Mint did not answer Caleb directly.

He clung to Claire’s hand and said in a disappointed, childish voice, “Mommy, I met a handsome man just now. He looked like Daddy…”

The word “Daddy” stabbed straight through Claire’s heart.

Whenever Mint asked about his father over the years, she always invented one lie after another to brush him off.

She once believed that she could raise her son well on her own.

But later, she realized that no matter how much love she gave Mint, it could never fill the empty space where a father should have been.

Helen explained from the side, “Mint called a man ‘Daddy’ just now. How strange. He’s never done that before.”

Claire gathered her scattered emotions and crouched in front of Mint.

Her tone was serious. “Elliot Jones, you mustn’t call random people ‘Daddy’ when we’re out, all right?”

Mint nodded obediently.

Claire softened her tone. “I have to work late tonight. Why don’t you go home with Mrs. Reed Sr. first?”

“Then come home early, Mommy.”

Mint held Helen’s hand and said goodbye to everyone. “Bye, Mommy! Bye, buddy!”

Caleb stared after him. “Seriously? That kid is so stubborn.”

At Dyer Group, Felix was discussing the project’s progress with several senior executives in the conference room.

Eustace found a moment to step out and listen to updates on a few of the projects.

Caleb finished his report, but he did not leave.

“Is there something else?”

Eustace looked up sharply.

He sensed that Caleb had something else on his mind from the moment he entered the room.

“If there’s nothing else, you can leave.”

Eustace lowered his head again and continued reviewing the documents in front of him.

The image of Claire’s misty, broken gaze suddenly appeared in Caleb’s mind, giving him the courage to speak. “Uncle Eustace, is Zenith Global Language Solutions looking to partner with us?”

“Get to the point.”

“I just saw Miss Jones. She seemed to be waiting for you in the café downstairs.”

Eustace’s fingers paused. His eyes remained fixed on the documents before him, but his gaze had gone blank.

This was the Claire he knew. She looked delicate on the outside, but she was stubborn and resilient. She had never allowed a little difficulty to defeat her.

Her resilience was what attracted him to her in the first place. It was also what allowed her to slowly break through his defenses. She had been just as persistent back then, seeking him out again and again without ever giving up…

“Uncle Eustace?”

When Eustace failed to respond for a long time, Caleb could not help calling out to him.

Eustace finally looked up, his face expressionless. “Do you have too much free time? Have you finished all your projects?”

The sharp look made Caleb flinch. He no longer cared about anything else and could only leave with an awkward smile.

As the sky grew darker, Evan entered the room. “Mr. Sterling, it’s time to leave for dinner with Mr. Felix.”

Eustace lowered his head and glanced at the watch on his wrist, its face reflecting a cold gleam. As the minutes slipped by, an inexplicable restlessness grew inside him.

“Let Arthur and Caleb entertain them tonight.”

“Of course, Mr. Sterling.” Evan agreed, though a trace of confusion stirred in his heart.

Eustace usually followed his schedule strictly and rarely changed his plans.

When Eustace finally pulled himself away from his busy work again, he realized that heavy snow had begun falling outside.

His dark, unreadable gaze passed through the clear glass and settled on the distance.

Snowflakes continued to fall, covering the city in a vast sheet of white, while a layer of cold mist gathered on the window.

Claire stamped her feet and rubbed her stiff fingers together, trying to warm them.

The café had already closed, so she could only find a sheltered spot beneath the building to protect herself from the wind and snow.

No driver accepted her ride request, and the falling snow showed no sign of stopping.

Claire had waited for so long that she could barely feel her body when she saw a tall man walk out of the building.

The wind was bitterly cold, but his stride remained steady as he walked toward the entrance one step after another. He brushed past Claire without once looking at her.

“Eustace!”

Eustace stopped and lowered his eyes to his forearm. Claire had lightly grasped the edge of his sleeve. She was not holding him tightly, but her grip firmly stopped him from leaving.

“Can we… talk?”

He heard her cool, clear voice against the snowy night, and his heart gave a sudden jolt.

“About work or something personal?”

Claire moved her lips but did not answer. Her misty eyes revealed everything.

“Let go.” His voice was neither cold nor warm, but it was filled with unmistakable finality.

Her body trembled faintly. The breath she drew in was icy, traveling from her nostrils to her chest without the slightest warmth to soften it. Claire finally loosened her grip.

She heard his footsteps receding across the snow. Then her vision suddenly went black.

Before she collapsed, Claire saw Eustace, who had already gotten into the car, rush toward her.