Beyond the Divorce

Everyone exchanged pleasantries and walked together to the table to take their seats.

I carefully scrutinized Cameron.

He appeared to be in his forties, exuding an intellectual aura. His grip was firm when we shook hands earlier, and his fingers had faint calluses. It showed that he was heavily involved in hands-on tasks.

The dinner was delightful, and Atlas behaved modestly. Initially, the other people were nervous, but seeing that Atlas was down-to-earth, they relaxed. Our conversations mostly revolved around doors during the dinner.

Atlas was very satisfied with Jaxford. The dinner concluded with a formal agreement to sign the contract the next day.

On the way home, Atlas said, "This is how business should be done. This person is good."

"It's all thanks to Eleanor. She's outstanding."

My phone rang, and seeing it was from my parents, I glanced at the time and then at Atlas. I stuck out my tongue, and he chuckled, ruffling my hair. "Answer it."

Reluctantly, I answered the call. My mom's voice came through, "Why haven't you reached home yet?"

"We met with a major client today and discussed the contract we'll sign tomorrow. It took longer than expected. But we'll be home soon." I quickly explained, realizing it was indeed late. Especially since they left today and I hadn't returned home to take care of Ava.

"Try to come home earlier in the future. Although the kids are safe at home, your presence makes a difference."

My mom didn't criticize me directly, but the implied blame was clear. "Tomorrow, I should be relatively free. But in the next few days, clients from Solaris will be coming, and I can't confirm which day yet." "If we had known this would happen, we wouldn't have gone away! We'd only leave once you're less busy." My mom grumbled.

They genuinely cared about Ava.

"Hey. If you keep waiting like this, you'll never leave. Recently, everything has been piling up. How can you wait indefinitely?" I asked, trying to make them understand. "Are you doing well?"

"Everything is going smoothly. Ryan's father and the others picked us up, and we had dinner together. I feel like I'm troubling them." My mom sighed.

"Mom, don't keep saying that. We're all friends, and that's how we should get along. Besides, they'll also come to Foswood in the future. They're practically family by then."

I comforted her, but their overly independent nature wasn't something I fully endorsed.

"Yeah. They mentioned that Ryan wanted them to move over." My mom shared the details with me.Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

"What did they say?" I asked for more details.

"They said they were considering it."

"Considering what? They'll figure it out soon." I chuckled. "Hurry back, okay?"

"Yeah. We really need to return soon. Otherwise, I'm worried about

u

kids being at home by themse

Leaving them alone at home isn't ideal," she nagged.

"Don't forget, I used to take care of Ava alone."

"That was in the past. You didn't have a job and could always be with her. Now that you're busy, I haven't seen you for days. How can that work?"

"Then let's quickly handle it." I seized the opportunity to say, "I'm home now. I need to check if Ava is asleep. I'll hang up. Hurry back, Mom."

I hung up the phone, got out of the car with Atlas, and went straight to Ava's room.

When I opened the door, I saw that

the two little ones hadn't slept yet. They were playing on one bed, chatting away. As soon as they saw me, Ava cheered, "Mommy! You're finally back."

She jumped from the bed into my arms. I smiled at her and asked, "Why aren't you asleep yet? Hmm? Did you take a bath?"

"I did," she said sweetly, "I can only

sleep when I see Mommy and Daddy come back. Otherwise I'll get insomnia. Mommy, when wilb Grandpa and Grandma be back?"

"They just left. How can they be back so soon?" I hugged her and said, "Why don't you and Jenny go to sleep soon? Hmm?"

I laughed, finding it amusing that the little one mentioned insomnia. She was becoming more and more dramatic.

"Okay." She agreed and ran back to the bed, lying down next to Jenny. "Good night, Mommy."

I smiled and kissed their foreheads. "Goodnight, girls."

After turning off the lights, I checked on them again. They had both closed their eyes. I was confident they would be in dreamland in less than five minutes.

Back in the room, I quickly took a shower. Atlas wasn't there, and he must have gone to the study.