Chapter 17 As If They’re Unrelated

"We're here to…" Before the boy could finish that sentence, he saw an older lady walking toward them. Was this grandma Miss Bea’s mother? “Hi, Grandma!” Lanie greeted her politely. Grandma…? Bianca followed Lanie’s gaze and looked behind her. There was an older woman in her fifties, wearing a white-and-pink Adidas tracksuit. She was just passing by, but then she suddenly stopped in front of the three of them. Luke knew that she was not Bianca’s mother, so he did not greet her. “Is something the matter, ma’am?” Bianca was confused by the woman’s intense stare. The woman then frowned and began to sincerely advise her, “Once you’re married, girl, you gotta learn how to take care of your family. You can’t let your husband and child go hungry. I mean, look at you! It’s already this late, and you’re only back now?” By “your husband”, she clearly meant that man with the poker face behind her. Bianca felt quite embarrassed and awkward. She was about to explain when the woman looked at Luke instead and turned on him mercilessly as well. “You’re not being a very good husband either. You can’t go throwing a tantrum at your wife just because she ticked you off. What kind of an example are you giving your son? These days, men have to learn how to cook too. You can’t ask your wife to take care of all the housework alone. You married a wife, not a maid!” Bianca was starting to think that the woman was going too far. How could she misunderstand something like this?! After all, anyone should be able to tell at a glance that the two of them were from vastly different worlds. “Ma’am, you’re mistaken. He’s just my boss, and I’m just his employee,” Bianca explained hastily. After a pause, the woman opened her mouth again, but she did not manage to say anything. She just appraised the man, woman, and child once more… As if they were unrelated. Did they take her for a fool? ‘It’s clear as day that you have something to do with that handsome man! ‘Seriously, what has the world come to these days? To think that there’s a sugar baby living here in this area…’ Bianca was misunderstood for no apparent reason, and she pursed her lips as she watched that woman leave. She had no idea what she should say to the father and son if she turned around now. After all, she was not really familiar with the man or the boy. She knew very well what an unmarried girl should and should not do. It was fine for her to interact with other men for work, but it was wholly unsuitable for her to meet with another man in the middle of the night privately. Luke suddenly looked down at his son next to him and said in a low voice, “You have something to say, right? Get on with it!” Bianca turned around. Blanche Crawford blinked at the two adults. He had no idea what he was supposed to say… but Dad said that he had something to say… and he wanted him to say it now! Oh, Lanie remembered now! He was only here because his dad wanted a sidekick, though. The little boy walked over with his short legs and carried two huge boxes from a dark corner with his short arms. It seemed to take him some herculean effort. One of the boxes was light blue, and the other was white. They even had silk ribbons on them. “Miss Bea, these presents are for you.” Lanie even turned around to look at his father after he said that, worried that he had said something wrong. Blanche was still a short little kid, after all. Bianca could hear what he was saying, but she did not see his face. Although she did not want any more gifts from Luke Crawford, Bianca decided to accept them for now when she saw how hard it was for the boy to hold the gifts up. At least that way she could see his face… Bianca met the boy’s eyes as he looked up at her, and they exchanged a friendly smile. “Why did you give me this?” Bianca asked the boy at her feet, but she was waiting for his father to answer. What she did not know was that the icy-cold man happened to see the diamond ring on her left ring finger right at that moment… The ring meant that she was already engaged. “Hmm… I don’t know either…” Blanche was not guarded around Bianca any more. His expression was pure and innocent, befitting his age, and he scratched his hand as he turned around to look at his father in confusion. “Since you’ve done what you had to do, let’s go home!” Luke told his son. His dark deep black eyes gave Bianca, her arms full of the presents, one more glance before he turned and left. Bianca and Lanie both looked at the man who had left all of a sudden. “My dad, he…” Lanie wanted to say something, but he shut his mouth again halfway through the sentence, looking disappointed. Bianca was exasperated. “I really can’t accept these presents, though.” “Why?” She could not explain the real reason why to a five-year-old boy. He would not understand anyway. That was why she had to come up with a reason a child would understand, saying, “I can’t accept a reward that I didn’t earn.” With that, she put the presents back in Lanie’s arms with a smile. “You should catch up to your father before he goes too far away. Take these presents back to him for me.” … There was a white Porsche stopped by the curb at the entrance to the neighborhood. The man’s expression was dark as he sat in the driver’s seat, one hand on his steering wheel while his other hand was raised. There was a cigarette between his fingers, and he brought it to his mouth, taking a dreg from it viciously. “Do you see the trash can behind you? Throw it in there!” Luke said coldly, staring at the presents his son had carried back to the car. … When they were back at the Crawfords’ place. Luke had barely pulled the car to a stop when he saw his son take off his seatbelt and leap out of the car. The boy had not said anything the entire way back. Old Master Crawford was having tea in the yard. When he saw his little great-grandson rush out of the car and into the car, going upstairs without a word, he was quite shocked. “What happened to my little great-grandson? Who made him that upset?” For one, Luke and Lanie had never once argued with each other in the past five years. Luke loosened his tie slightly and strode into the mansion. “Did little Lanie bump into another woman trying to make a move on you again?” Luke’s mother, Allison Tanner, came out to take her son’s coat and hazarded a guess. Luke shook his head. Just like that, Allison was stumped. What else could have happened? That was usually the only thing that would get to Lanie like that. Lanie and Rainie had been very protected growing up, and they did not get to meet many other people. When they were younger, they did not even understand the concept of a mother. It was only when they got to know other children that the two of them found out. Other kids had a mother as well as a father. The moment Lanie got home that day, he asked, “Where’s our mother?” Old Master Crawford continued lying to the children, saying they had no mother. However, Lanie understood a lot of things at five years old, and his great-grandfather’s lies could not fool him this time. The sheer desire in his eyes had the old man defeated, and the latter sighed. “Your mother went somewhere very far away. If she comes back one day, I’ll ask your father to introduce you to her.” Only Lanie heard and remembered those words, taking them to heart. Allison passed her son’s coat to the maid, who took it away. Going to the window, Allison looked downstairs. As Luke’s mother and the two children’s grandmother, it was impossible for her to not be curious about the children’s mother’s true identity. Still, five years had passed since then, and it would be very difficult to find out the details of the deal back then now. As his mother, it was not as though she had never asked Luke before. He simply did not say a single word about it. As for Faye Thomas and Charles Finn, the ones who had once served by her son’s side, they had long since retired due to illness. Allison thought that she might pay them a visit one day if she was in the area. Maybe they might let something slip...