Stefan was restless after the phone call. He immediately grabbed his jacket and car keys and rushed out of the house. Bianca saw him coming and smiled."Stefan, thank God you came out. Edward is finally awake," she said, not noticing the urgent look on his face. He strode right past her."Stefan, what's wrong?" Beatrice asked. She had seen him on the phone earlier, speaking in a soft tone—Beatrice figured it must've been Dorothy. He only ever spoke to her that way."Is Dorothy okay?" she called out, but Stefan was already gone.Bianca rolled her eyes at the mention of Dorothy. Of course, it was her. She never let anyone else have a moment. Just give her a second and she’ll make everything about herself again, Bianca thought bitterly.As soon as Stefan got to the car, he called Griffin. After one ring, Griffin picked up."Step out of the company. I’ll be there in a minute to pick you up," Stefan said and hung up, not waiting for a response from the confused Griffin.When he arrived, Gr
Dorothy snatched the package from Bianca immediately. It wasn’t low-fat butter- the label had been swapped to make it seem so, but she could swear with her life that she hadn’t done it.“I can’t believe you, Dorothy. Why would you want to hurt a child?” Bianca asked, her voice and expression full of disbelief.“I didn’t do this,” Dorothy said, trying to defend herself, still confused about how all of this had even happened.“If you didn’t, then who did? Was it Stefan? Does he hate his son so much that he’d want to kill him? Or was it Beatrice? Or do you think it was me? I wasn’t even there!” Bianca screamed.“Calm down, Bianca. There has to be some kind of misunderstanding,” Stefan tried to soothe her. The distress on his face was clear, but deep down, he knew Dorothy wouldn’t do something so cruel to a child.“What misunderstanding, Stefan? She’s never liked that Edward and I are around. Maybe she decided to do something about it!” Bianca said bitterly, tears falling down her cheeks.
Maxwell and Beatrice returned from the park, and he was surprised to find Edward in the living room."Maxwell, I've been waiting for you. Your aunty told me you lived here," Edward explained to him with full enthusiasm, it almost scared Maxwell."Why don't you show Edward your room and around the house while I bake some yummy cookies for you boys?" Dorothy offered with a smile."Yay! You're making cookies again!" Maxwell cheered, then turned to Edward. "You came at the right time. Aunty’s cookies are the best in the whole world.""I can't wait to try them," Edward grinned."Okay, let's go to my room. I want to show you my new toy!" Maxwell said, and Edward eagerly jumped up from the chair to follow him upstairs.Dorothy smiled and shook her head. Stefan had slyly escaped with the excuse of being "busy," leaving her with the kids. She was sure he was working upstairs—his body simply didn’t know how to rest unless it was occupied with something.She scooped a generous amount of butter i
Later that day, when Michael returned from school, he insisted on going to the company because he wanted to see Dorothy. Beatrice agreed and took him there.It was Dorothy’s lunch break. She was eating with Stefan in the office when Maxwell burst in. He ran straight to Dorothy and hugged her. Due to his small height, he ended up hugging her lower body.“What’s that for?” Dorothy asked softly.“I want to say thank you for coming to school today and having that talk with Edward. He’s been so nice ever since, and because he likes me now, everyone at school likes me too,” Maxwell said excitedly.“You talked to Edward?” Stefan asked, narrowing his eyes a little.“I went to school because I got a call that Maxwell was being bullied again. Edward used to be the bully. I said a couple of things to him, and I think it changed his mind,” Dorothy shrugged.“Isn’t that great, Stefan? You bagged yourself not just a beautiful but a smart wife,” Beatrice said with a smile.“I’m really lucky,” Stefan
The kids were having lunch in the cafeteria. As usual, Maxwell sat alone—no one wanted to mingle with him. He hadn’t even taken a bite of his food when it was suddenly snatched away and the next thing he knew, the food was splattered all over his face.He gasped and looked behind him. It was exactly who he expected—Edward.The kids around pointed and laughed at him."That’s for your evil aunt who stopped me from seeing my dad," Edward snapped, then stormed off, his crew trailing behind him.Maxwell stood up and ran to a corner, unable to bear the laughter echoing around him. He curled himself into a ball and began to cry. A gentle tap landed on his shoulder—it was his class teacher."What happened to you, Maxwell?" she asked, eyes landing on the food smeared on his uniform. She looked around at the laughing students and understood instantly."Get up. Come with me to the counselor’s office," she said, helping him up. Maxwell wiped his tears and followed her.Minutes later, Beatrice and
The next morning, at Bianca's workplace. A soft knock landed on her door before her personal assistant stepped in."Good morning, ma'am," Jack greeted. He looked slightly feminine and was holding a white envelope."This came from Stefan, ma'am." He placed the letter on the table.Bianca smiled as she took the envelope, but her expression dropped as she read through the letter."What's wrong, ma'am?" Jack asked with a concerned look."I can’t believe Stefan would do this!" she exclaimed, angrily handing the letter to Jack. He read through it and shared the same stunned expression."Is he serious? He meets his son only three times a week, and he even timed the hours they spend together? Does he think this is some kind of assignment?" Jack said, clearly upset."I bet Dorothy asked him to do this," Bianca scoffed."Like, God forbid a son wants to spend the whole day with his father," Jack rolled his eyes. "You're not agreeing to this, right?""Of course not. I'm going to Stefan’s now!" Bi