Chapter 6

Calvin's gaze swept across the room, his dark eyes growing deeper. He stayed silent for a moment and didn't agree right away.

Sabrina squeezed Regina's hand and said considerately, "Thank you, Gina, but it's fine. I'm okay living anywhere. I can move out if Elise gets upset."

Just the right hint of sadness flashed in her eyes once she finished speaking.

Rowan cried out, "No way!"

Regina chimed in, "You can't!"

Their anxious voices rang out at the same time.

Rowan's face scrunched up in conflict. He did kind of miss Elise, but who knew when she would come back? It wasn't every day that Sabrina was in Halston with them. Letting her stay in Elise's room for now should be fine…

"Sabrina has to stay! Mommy's so petty—she's the one who should go!" Regina's cheeks puffed up in anger at the mention of Elise. How could she still be so annoying when she wasn't even around?

She tugged on Calvin's hand, pleading, "Daddy, that room was supposed to be Sabrina's, anyway. Say something. Isn't Sabrina your favorite?"

The tips of Sabrina's ears reddened. She covered Regina's mouth in fake embarrassment and said softly, "Gina, stop that… If it's really an issue, I can share a room with you."

"That won't do." Calvin frowned and vetoed it on the spot. "How could I let you squeeze in with Gina? I didn't bring you here to babysit the kids."

Sabrina looked up at him, her slender neck stretching from the motion. Her eyes were slightly reddened as she gazed at him, and she murmured, "It's fine. I'm not upset…"

At that sight, Calvin's expression turned wistful for a second, as if he were seeing the girl from all those years ago. He instinctively reached out and patted her head. "It's just a room. You'll stay there."

Worst case, once Elise moved back, he would reluctantly let her share a room with him. Hmph. She'd lucked out.

Calvin's word was final.

"Yay!" Regina cheered excitedly, tugging on both his and Sabrina's hands. Things would be perfect if Elise never returned.

Then, after some thought, her shoulders slumped a little. Elise, who was nagging and overbearing in her mind, would probably be back stirring up trouble again before long. She'd blocked Elise's number earlier. The latter had to have called a million times by now.

Regina pulled out her phone and haughtily went to the list of blocked contacts. Her fingers moved with practiced ease as she unblocked the number, and she expected to see a flurry of notifications on unread messages and missed calls. However, save for Elise's first few attempts at calling her, there were no other notifications.

Her eyes widened in shock, and a thin, inexplicable thread of unease slipped into her chest. Elise hadn't called her even once since that day?

Sabrina noticed Regina staring blankly at Elise's number and deliberately tightened her grip on her hand. "Come on, Gina. Let's go have dinner. I'll help you two with that big puzzle afterward."

"You're the best!" In an instant, Regina shook off that twinge of unease and locked her phone.

So what if Elise hadn't called? She couldn't care less. It'd be best if Elise never bothered her again. She had Sabrina now—that was more than enough!

…

At 8:00 pm, a light rain fell over Halston. The heritage crafts festival was winding down.

Shannon had something come up at the last minute and left early. After saying goodbye to her, Elise continued going through the exhibition on her own. Along the way, she exchanged contact information with a few up-and-coming talents in the industry. It was a fruitful day.

She hadn't expected that after being away from this field for so long, her blood would still run hot the moment she came back in contact with it. Talking with people from all over about the craft made the heart that had lain dead inside her for so long feel like it had come back to life.

Thankfully, it probably still wasn't too late.

Once everything wrapped up, she called an Uber and waited at the entrance for it to arrive. Just then, a black SUV slowly pulled up to the curb, the window gliding down.

"Ms. Stanton, the rain's picking up. Do you need a ride?" a man asked politely.

Elise looked up and met his kind eyes. It was one of the people she'd exchanged contact information with earlier that day—Louis Ford. He was a master woodcarver whose skills were considered an intangible cultural heritage craft, and he had an exceptionally refined technique.

She smiled and was about to decline when a sharp, mocking female voice suddenly cut through the rain. "Hah! I was wondering why you weren't at home taking care of Mom like you're supposed to. Turns out your heart's already strayed. You've now got the guts to sneak around with another man behind my brother's back."

Elise frowned. She turned toward the voice. "It's not what you think."

Candace gave a derisive little laugh. Her eyes slid from Elise to Louis, full of insinuation. "So this is what you meant by being busy? The moment you're away from my brother, your taste just nosedives, huh?"

Back in the day, Elise had pulled a stunt as dirty as drugging Calvin and crawling into his bed. Yet Calvin had still gone out of his way to protect her reputation, covering it up from all sides and marrying her in a shotgun wedding after she'd gotten pregnant. That had left Sabrina practically choking on her grievances.

Only a few years had passed since then, yet the first chance Elise got, she was out here flirting with other men and fooling around again. Seeing her act like some back-alley prostitute made Candace sick to her stomach.

Her expression twisted with disgust, and she spat, "Don't forget who you are, Elise! Do you think Rowan and Regina would still acknowledge you as their mom if they were to find out you're out here acting like this? If you're so desperate to be with another man, then hurry up and divorce Calvin first!"

Elise's lashes trembled, a wave of bitterness spreading through her chest. Over the years since she'd married into the Fulton family, she'd practically become synonymous with being improper and shameless. She'd been forced to cut off almost all of her social ties.

But that night… someone else had drugged her. When she'd finally gathered herself enough to think about calling the police, Calvin had pulled her into his arms, his body burning hot.

He'd promised to take responsibility, which had led to that outrageous night and to a marriage that had felt like exile ever since. She'd endured six long years of cold neglect.

His way of taking responsibility was by giving her a marriage certificate that locked her into the role of Mrs. Fulton like a shackle. And over all these years, she'd been foolish enough to swallow it all down like it was sweet.

Elise mocked herself in her heart and said weakly, "Just like you wanted, I've already asked for a divorce."

Surprise briefly flashed in Candace's eyes before she scoffed. "You'd better have."

Would a clingy little parasite like Elise dare to bring up divorce with Calvin? What a joke. If that day ever came, Candace would gladly do a striptease throughout the night on the most expensive street in town.

She got into her car without another look back.

Elise turned back to Louis and forced a small smile. "I'm sorry you had to see that, Mr. Ford."

"I'm sure there's been some kind of misunderstanding. You don't need to blame yourself, Ms. Stanton," Louis said with a courteous nod, offering a few words of comfort.

He didn't press her for details. Only after making sure the Uber she'd ordered had arrived did he finally drive off.

Elise had been standing in the wind and rain. Her head started pounding the moment she got into the car. On top of that, she still hadn't fully recovered from her recent bout of the flu. Her whole body felt chilled, and her face had turned ashen.

"Miss, are you alright? Do you want me to take you to the hospital?" The driver, noticing her condition, began to worry and pressed down harder on the gas.

Elise sat there clutching her phone, staring at the screen in a daze. Sometime earlier, Regina had unblocked her on WhatsApp and had even, very uncharacteristically, posted a status update.

In the photo, Sabrina had her arms around both Rowan and Regina, all three of them smiling brightly. Calvin stood just behind them, his gaze soft and full, every bit of that warmth aimed at Sabrina.

What no one could miss were the matching teddy bear pajamas they were all wearing. It was the only project Elise had taken on after leaving the design world—the one and only time she'd personally designed something just for their little family.

She'd obsessed over every last stitch, revising the pattern over and over again. But when she'd finally shown the finished pajamas to the kids, full of excitement, they'd both looked utterly horrified.

"Mommy, you're so childish. I'm not wearing that," Regina had said on the spot, completely rejecting her.

Even Rowan, who was usually well-behaved, had thrown a tantrum. "These pajamas are so ugly, Mommy. I don't wanna wear them! I don't wanna!"

Elise had tried to coax them into just trying them on once, but Regina had burst into tears.

When Calvin came home, Regina had run straight to him, looking extra aggrieved as she complained to him. He'd swept a cold glance over the pajamas hanging on the rack and asked icily, "Could you be any more immature, Elise?"

Yet now, every one of them who'd once despised the matching pajamas had donned them, but not with her. They'd done it with another woman.