Chapter 7

At 1:30 pm, Cameron was in a meeting with senior executives at the company. The moment his personal phone rang, he instinctively thought it was Teresa. He was about to reject the call when he noticed it was a call from East Street Kindergarten. Worried that something might have happened to Rosalie, Cameron paused the meeting and stepped outside to take the call. "Is this Rosalie Langdon's parent?" "Yes, this is." "There's a parent-child event at the kindergarten today. Why hasn't Rosalie's parent arrived yet?" The teacher's question made Cameron pause for a moment. He was surprised. "Hasn't Rosalie's mother come?" "If she had, I wouldn't be calling you," the teacher replied. "Parent-child events may not seem very important to adults, but they matter a lot to children. "The event is about to start, and all the other children's parents are here. If Rosalie is the only one without a parent, how do you think she'll feel?" There was a hint of irritation in the teacher's tone, and Cameron wasn't an irresponsible parent. He had assumed Teresa would see the text message and accompany Rosalie to the event. But he hadn't expected her not to show up at the kindergarten at all. At this point, there was no time to try contacting Teresa again. Left with no choice, Cameron said, "I'll be there right away." He ended the call and had his secretary inform the executives that the meeting would be postponed. The parent-child event ended at 4:30 pm. Rosalie had worn a long face all afternoon, clearly unhappy. After school, Cameron took Rosalie to the car. They sat in the back seat, and Cameron asked her gently, "Are you upset today?" Rosalie's eyes reddened with frustration. "What's going on with Mommy? The kindergarten said we were supposed to come early. Everyone else had their moms there—only I had my dad. If it weren't for Ms. Cece's performance, I wouldn't have let her come at all." Cameron held her hand and reassured her softly. "That was my oversight today. It won't happen again." Even so, Rosalie couldn't cheer up. Everyone else had their mothers with them, and only she had her father. And in many of the activities, having a dad gave her an edge simply because he was male. She liked winning first place, but she wanted to win it fairly. Cameron knew Rosalie was unhappy and wanted to comfort her, but just then his phone rang. It was Julia Lindt calling. After he answered, Julia said, "Tomorrow is your dad's birthday. A few elders are coming over for dinner tonight. Bring Rosie and come pick me up at Lacey Mall." Cameron was momentarily taken aback, but then he recalled that the following day was William's birthday. Once it registered, he replied, "Alright." After ending the call, he looked at Rosalie, who was still scrunching up her little nose. He reached out and gently touched her cheek, his voice soft and affectionate. "Tomorrow is Grandpa's birthday. Your mommy didn't come today because she's probably busy at the Langdon estate preparing dinner. Don't you remember? Every year on this day, she cooks a lot of dishes there." Rosalie thought about it seriously for a moment. It did seem to be true. With that thought, her mood lifted a little. She tilted her chin up and said proudly, "Well, that's better. Otherwise, the other kids would make fun of me and say I'm a kid whose mom doesn't love me." Cameron chuckled at her words before saying, "Next time there's an event like this, I'll have Ms. Cece go with you." In an instant, all the gloom vanished. Rosalie squealed with excitement, "Yay! Daddy, you're the best!" Cameron ruffled her hair and asked gently, "Then shall we head to Grandpa's place?" Rosalie frowned again. "Will Mommy be there?" Teresa hadn't come to the kindergarten for the parent-child event today, and on top of that, there was the incident when she last lashed out at Cecilia. Rosalie still harbored some resentment toward Teresa and didn't want to see her for the time being. If they met, Teresa would kiss Rosalie, cling to her, and hug her. But Rosalie didn't want any of that. Teresa always smelled of cooking oil and smoke, but Cecilia was different. She always smelled nice, and her hands were soft and smooth. Cameron watched the conflicted look on Rosalie's face and answered honestly, "Yes." Rosalie knew there was no avoiding going back to the Langdon estate tonight, so she looked at Cameron with sparkling eyes and asked, "Then when I see Mommy later, can I ignore her? "I haven't forgiven her yet. I don't want to talk to her, unless she apologizes to Ms. Cece…" Cameron fastened Rosalie's seat belt for her and replied softly, "Mm-hmm." After soothing Rosalie, Cameron drove toward Lacey Mall. At 5:30 pm, he picked up Julia. By 6:00 pm, the car had arrived at the Langdon estate. Along the way, Julia kept herself busy on the phone, inviting friends over for dinner. When Cameron led Rosalie into the living room, they found that not even the lights were on. The dining table wasn't set, no tableware had been arranged, and the kitchen was completely empty—cold stoves, empty pots, without a trace of cooking smells. Julia was stunned. She rubbed her eyes several times before finally convincing herself that what she was seeing was real. After Teresa married Cameron, every year on this day, Julia never had to say a word—Teresa would automatically have everything prepared, and she did it with great ceremony. The spread was always so lavish that even friends who had tasted the finest delicacies couldn't stop praising it. Julia often took great pride in this, showing off to her friends. But now, the empty kitchen and deserted living room made her burn with fury. "What is Teresa up to this time? Does she really need me to remind her what day it is?" Cursing under her breath, she quickly dialed Teresa's number. However, no one answered. Julia tried several times again, and each time it was the same silence. She was so furious that she smashed her phone to pieces. Cameron, on the other hand, remained calm. He even made sure to shield Rosalie. Holding Rosalie close, he reassured Julia, saying, "Let's eat out. I'll book the best restaurant in Riverford." Julia rolled her eyes at him and snapped, "We host this dinner at home every year, and I already told everyone just now. And this year—what a stunt! "Who knows what kind of madness Teresa's gotten into? I think Mrs. Langdon has decided she doesn't want to do it at all. She has no sense of propriety." Julia had never truly supported Teresa and Cameron's marriage. If Cameron's grandmother, Margaret Langdon, hadn't insisted, who would have willingly accepted Teresa as a daughter-in-law? Rosalie was frightened by the irritated Julia and shrank into Cameron's arms without saying a word. Cameron ignored Julia's complaints, but he couldn't help wondering if something had happened to Teresa. He hadn't been able to reach her by phone the day before, and she hadn't attended Rosalie's kindergarten activity. And now, she hadn't prepared for the dinner. None of this was something Teresa would do. But then he reminded himself that she was a grown adult. What could possibly have happened to her? In his arms, Rosalie couldn't help but mutter, "Mommy didn't prepare the dinner and didn't even come to the parent-child event on purpose. She just wanted me to embarrass myself at kindergarten. "She's a bad mommy, not like Ms. Cece. Ms. Cece would never let me be humiliated like this. I don't want Mommy anymore…"