Chapter 1233: 644: Extra Story: The Little Rabbit Lets the Wolf Into the House 3_2

Alice Robinson hadn’t expected her child’s innocent little mind to hold onto this matter. She squatted down, nervously holding her daughter’s shoulders, "Sweetie, I’ve told you before that in this world, there are people who look alike, so there are also people with the same name... the person that the reporter talked about that day, he isn’t your uncle; he just has the same name as your uncle."Rachel looked at Alice with wide, innocent eyes, "Then is he Rachel’s daddy?"

"He..."

Rachel dropped her plush toy and reached out to hug Alice, murmuring, "Mommy, the kids in kindergarten always laugh at me for not having a daddy... Am I a child that my daddy doesn’t want?"

Alice let Rachel lean on her shoulder and softly soothed her, "It’s not like that... your daddy didn’t abandon you."

"Then why isn’t daddy with me and mommy? Other kids’ moms and dads are always together."

"Because... because..."

After all these years, she still hadn’t figured out how to answer this question for her child.

When Rachel was younger, it was easy to brush it off, but now she was older and understood the meaning of "daddy," and Alice could no longer be vague and dismissive.

Rachel slowly pulled away from Alice’s embrace, her young face tinged with disappointment. "Mommy, I heard from Tommy in kindergarten that his mommy and daddy are divorced, so he’s with his mommy. Are you and daddy divorced too?"

"Yes." At this moment, this was probably the only excuse she could use to stall her child.

"Mommy..." Rachel hugged Alice again, snuggling into her shoulder, "I want to know who my daddy is. Will you tell me when I grow up and understand?"

"Alright." Alice hugged her daughter tightly, kissing her soft hair by the temple.

Rachel pulled away from Alice, instantly letting go of her worries, "Mommy, I’m going to play..."

Alice nodded.

Rachel bounced out of the room happily.

Watching Rachel’s carefree demeanor, Alice finally exhaled slowly.

Holding a pillow, she sat on the sofa in the room, slightly dazed.

For some reason, scenes from her dream flashed in her mind again.

In the sunflower field, the three of them as a family, joyfully wandering...

Even though she and he hadn’t been in contact for the past year, she still repeated such dreams, and each time she woke up, her heart felt bittersweet.

Why did she keep having these dreams?

Why did her heart feel bitter whenever she thought of him, saw him, or dreamed of him? Had her feelings for him really not ended?

Knock knock――

The sound of knocking interrupted Alice’s thoughts.

"Come in."

Thinking it was Aunt PA, Alice didn’t turn her head to look until she felt two intense beams of light staring at her, and she blankly turned her head toward the door.

When Alice’s eyes met Claud Laurence’s standing at the door, Alice was stunned for a moment. Her pillow slipped from her hands, and she slowly stood up.

"Claud."

Claud Laurence’s voice was slightly hoarse, "Can I come in?"

"Of course."

In the room, Claud Laurence sat on the sofa opposite Alice, his elbows resting on his knees, his fingers interlocked.

Alice looked steadily at Claud Laurence, her heart surging with guilt and remorse.

Claud Laurence was the first to speak, "I apologize for the way I spoke to you that day."

Alice shook her head vigorously, "I should be the one apologizing to you. It was me who hurt you."

Claud Laurence sighed heavily, his dim eyes meeting Alice’s filled with apology, "I’ve been thinking a lot over the past two days. I feel that it was my selfishness on a whim that led to our situation today."

Alice’s eyes turned red with distress.

Claud Laurence chuckled softly, tinged with sadness, "If it weren’t for the misunderstanding I deliberately created a year ago to make Chester Robinson give up on you, the issues we face today might have been resolved a year ago."

"I never blamed you, Claud. I know everything you did was for my good..."

Claud Laurence looked at Alice with deep pain, his voice extremely hoarse, "I’ve always been aware of your feelings for Chester Robinson. Even this year, when you pretended to have forgotten him, I still knew that the deepest part of your heart still belonged to him..."

Alice’s nose tingled with sourness, "Claud, whether you believe it or not, my choice to be with you was made after deep thought. I didn’t choose you out of lingering feelings for Chester, and even now, I haven’t thought of getting back with Chester... The reason I wanted to talk to you that day about reconsidering our marriage wasn’t because I wanted to start anew with Chester. It’s just that my heart was terribly confused that day..." Red tears welled up and spun in her eyes, "During the few days on Foam Island with Chester, nothing happened between us. I always thought about leaving soon. He tried every way to keep me, and confessed his feelings to me many times, yet I still didn’t have lingering feelings for him. But that day, when Rachel was in trouble, you rushed to France first. I was at a loss and instinctively returned to Foam Island to find him... That night, I didn’t even expect myself to cry like a child in front of him. He comforted me while holding me, and I wasn’t afraid. Watching him seriously call his subordinates in T City made me feel so at ease..."

As she spoke, Alice choked up, "That night, he drank a lot. Seeing him so lost and desolate, I inexplicably felt a twinge of heartache... I stayed by his bed taking care of him all night, and the next day when I heard him, at a distance, offering to send me off the island, I felt really upset... I thought this sadness was only because I couldn’t bear to see him so desolate and heartbroken, that I was only feeling sorry for him, but when he took me to the dock, and I heard him saying his best wishes, at that moment, the uncontrollable tears told me that I hadn’t let him go..."

Claud Laurence took a deep breath, turning away to look out the window. His heart ached and twisted into knots, wishing he could just smash everything in the room to vent his feelings.

But he couldn’t bear to hurt her even a fraction.

With blurred vision filled with tears, Alice looked at Claud Laurence’s faintly reddened eyes, and her heart grew ever more guilty, "Claud, I chose to be with you without any lingering ties to the past. I genuinely wanted to have a new beginning with you and truly believed that I had completely let go of the past. But... I don’t know why, when I met him, I became so panicked, so helpless. I..." Alice choked up, unable to speak, only able to say repeatedly, "I’m sorry, I’m really sorry..."