24. Cheated

GIANNA

~•~

“Aunty Sheila, can we go to the store?” Bella asked my sister but I pretended not to hear her.

“The store?” My sister echoed, staring at me as if she wanted me to answer for her. When I didn't, she turned back to her niece. “What do you want to go to the store for?”

“Toys!” Oliver yelled.

Bella scrunched up her nose cutely. “Toys? Are you a child?”

“Aren't you?” Oliver fired back at her.

She shook her head with an exaggerated sigh as though she was tired of dealing with him already. I held back a laugh. “I want to get art supplies. I'm bored, aunty.”

“If you had toys, you wouldn't be bored.” Oliver interrupted again.

“I do have them. I just prefer not to use them. There's a difference.”

When Oliver couldn't come up with a retort, he simply stuck his tongue out at her.

Despite how much she liked to act like she was mature, she stuck her tongue out in response and they made silly faces at each other until they were tired. I thought after that, Isabella would forget about the store but I was wrong. As soon as she was done with her fight with her brother, she turned back to my sister. “Auntyyyy…” she whined.

“Isa baby. I'm down for taking you to the store but we have to check with your mother first.”

I gritted my teeth as all three of them turned to look at me, putting me in the spotlight. At first, I just continued using my phone, hoping that would wear them out, but they were persistent.

I looked from Sheila to Oliver, and then Isabella. We had been inside all day doing nothing so I didn't blame them for being bored. I let out a sigh. “Fine.”

“Yay!” The kids screamed in unison.

“But you'll behave outside, okay?”

They nodded immediately, promising to be good when we got to the store. I didn't really want to go outside, especially after what happened the last time I was in Los Angeles. What if someone else saw me but this time, they announced my presence on social media?

I paused. What exactly was I afraid of? I was the one who was treated badly, not the other way around. I had no reason to hide.

With that in mind, all four of us stood up and headed outside. We took Sheila's car and I sat in the passenger's seat while the two little daredevils sat in the backseat.

The drive to the store was fast but quite slow for the kids who kept asking when we were going to arrive. They made several comments about how far the store was in Los Angeles, which made me laugh but didn't say anything else about it.

As soon as Sheila pulled over at the parking lot, Oliver reached over to open his door. Thankfully, it was on child lock. I undid my seatbelt and turned to him. “You promised to behave.”

He smiled sheepishly. “Sorry Mommy.”

Sheila and I got out of the car first and opened the door for the kids. We walked hand in hand into the store and Isabella was quick to find the art aisle, dragging us all there. She was fond of drawing and painting at such a young age and I had no intention of stopping her.

“Mommy, you should get a handwriting book for Olly,” Isabella said randomly as she picked out what she wanted.

Sheila placed a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing. Oliver, on the other hand, was offended. “What do you mean? I don't need it.”

“You do,” Isabella argued. “Can you even read what you write?”

“Mom!” Oliver yelled. “Bella is being mean again.”

I rubbed his hair soothingly. “Don't pay attention to her, okay? And Bella, stop being mean to your brother.”

Bella merely shrugged, not responding.

“She doesn't care.” Oliver continued complaining.

“Why don't we go and pick out what you want, hmm?”

At my words, he forgot everything he was mad about and suddenly had the biggest smile on his face as he nodded. “Okay, mommy!”

What I didn't expect though, was for him to suddenly take off. I let out a hiss as I increased the pace of my steps, trying to keep up with him. I didn't know why I believed him when he said he was going to behave. He never did.

“Oliver, wait up!”

My words fell on deaf ears as he continued sprinting down the aisle.

“Oliver!” I started running after him. I never had a reason to run so I wasn't used to it, but since I gave birth and Oliver started walking, I've had to run a few times. He was a literal menace.

He turned to another aisle and I did the same. My eyes went wide when I saw another little girl running as well, heading straight for Oliver.

“Oliver Windsor, stop running right now.”

Something about my words did it for him and he came to a stop immediately. As for the other child running, she was about to run past me when I held her back, keeping her still.

I could see her mother behind her, trying to stop her as well.

She had a big smile on her face as I steadied her as if she was doing it on purpose to mess with her mother. She looked back and saw her mother closing on her, making her smile grow even wider.

When her mom reached us, she placed her hand on her knee, trying to catch her breath.

“Thank you so much.” She raised her head, making both of us pause.

No matter how much time passed, I was always going to remember the woman who tried with all her might and succeeded in ruining my marriage. I looked down at the little girl I was still holding. She looked like Oliver’s age mate. She was Brandon’s child. She was literally Oliver’s sister.

I let go of her slowly, but the little devil was about to run again so I held her again and handed her over to her mother without saying anything.

I walked past them and took Oliver’s hand in mine, not wanting him to run again.

We were about to leave when we heard her speak. “What are you doing in LA? From what I know, you left some years ago.”

I chuckled, turning around to face her. “Wouldn't you like to know?”

“And you have a child?” She looked down at Oliver. “Did you really cheat on Brandon?”

I narrowed my eyes on her. “Watch your mouth.” I didn't want her to say anything that would give Oliver the wrong idea.

“Mommy, did you find Olly?” I heard a new voice and looked ahead to see Isabella walking toward me with Sheila. Bella’s hand was filled with her supplies, most likely refusing to get a cart because she wanted to carry them herself.

“Two kids?” Bailey had her back to Sheila so Sheila couldn't see who was speaking with me.

I intended to keep it that way because I didn't trust her to not create a scene. “Mind your business too.”

With those words, I pulled Oliver with me and walked toward them so they wouldn't get to see Bailey’s face.

“Who was that?” Sheila asked as we reached them.

“No one. Let's go get the toys and leave.”

Sheila tried to turn her head to see but I placed my free arm around her shoulder and forced her to look ahead.

She was still suspicious but I was thankful she dropped it anyway. I wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone from my past.