Free Web NovelChapter 92: Chapter 92
Hearing these words, Robin froze.
Before he could even react, Dylan had already stood up and strode over. The dining room and the living room were separated by only a small hallway, so Dylan and Fleur had naturally heard everything Elise just said.
As Dylan walked over, his dark gaze fixed heavily on Elise. "What do you think you’re doing?"
"Can’t you tell?" Elise looked back at him, her expression entirely flat. "I’m explaining things to Robin and setting our relationship straight."
"You..."
"Daddy!" Robin suddenly scrambled down from the stool, ran over, and threw his arms around Dylan’s leg. Looking up at him, he asked, "Daddy, Mommy is lying, right?"
As he spoke, tears welled up in his eyes, though he stubbornly tried to hold them back.
Dylan knelt down and gently patted his small head. "Be good, Robin. Daddy will explain everything to you in a little bit. For now, go outside and play with Mrs. Lander, okay? Daddy will come find you later."
Robin shook his head. "No! You’re trying to send me away again. You guys definitely have a secret!"
Hearing this, Dylan frowned. A five-year-old child was old enough to distinguish basic truths. Elise’s tone just now had been incredibly serious and earnest, and Robin had his own capacity to understand.
"The child will find out sooner or later," Elise said, looking at Dylan with a calm gaze. "It’s better to be completely upfront and clear things up now. If we wait until he develops a deeper emotional dependency before correcting it, the psychological blow will only be worse."
Dylan stared at her. Her calm, detached demeanor felt entirely foreign to him. In the past, she would never have acted this way. freewebnσvel.cѳm
Most of the time, she appeared fierce and stubborn, but she was actually softer-hearted than anyone. At the very least, she shouldn’t have been this coldly businesslike toward Robin, who had once saved her life.
Yet, her stance was completely unyielding now; even with the child crying right in front of her, she didn’t show a flicker of emotion.
Looking at Elise, Dylan finally had to admit that she had truly changed.
Meanwhile, Robin still refused to believe that Elise wasn’t his mother.
Dylan had been abroad for nearly half a month this time, and during his absence, the boy had spent every day with Elise. He already adored her, and after his memory became muddled from his accident, he had grown to rely on her completely as his own birth mother.
To suddenly be told that she wasn’t his mother and that his real mother was someone else was something he simply could not accept.
"Mommy, did I do something wrong? Tell me and I’ll fix it, just please don’t abandon me, okay?"
Robin walked up to Elise, tugging at the hem of her clothes as he sobbed. Looking at her with tear-filled eyes, he pleaded, "Mommy, I will be so good. Please don’t leave me..."
Elise gently stroked his head. To be fair, after spending the past few days with him, it was impossible to say she hadn’t developed any feelings for the boy.
Robin was incredibly sweet and sensible. Ever since he found out she was pregnant, he had been exceptionally careful to avoid hitting her stomach. In fact, he often acted like a little adult, reminding her to rest and making sure she got the best food and drinks first.
Elise had never imagined that she would one day be ’looked after’ by a five-year-old. Such obedient, thoughtful children always made one’s heart ache. If Fleur hadn’t returned, she might have even agreed to let Robin stay with her until his memory recovered.
But now that Fleur was back, everything was different. Though she didn’t know Fleur well, she understood that for a mother to watch the child she carried for nine months call someone else "Mommy" was nothing short of psychological torture.
Fleur had lost her husband during her pregnancy, which triggered severe depression, forcing her to separate from Robin immediately after giving birth.
For a mother, those past five years must have been a grueling, agonizing test of endurance. It was undoubtedly her longing for Robin that had kept her going through those five long years of treatment.
As a fellow woman and a mother-to-be, Elise believed that clarifying the situation immediately and restoring their proper dynamics was the best thing for herself, for Fleur, and for Robin. With that in mind, she hardened her heart to play the villain.
Looking down at the hysterically crying child, she said sternly, "Robin, I am telling you this for the very last time: I am not your mother. Your mother’s name is Fleur, and she is waiting in the living room right now to take you home."
"I don’t want to..." Robin screamed at the top of his lungs. "You’re the only mommy I accept! You’re the only mommy I know!"
"Your memory is playing tricks on you," Elise replied calmly. "You are only confusing me for your mother because you bumped your head."
"You’re lying!" Robin suddenly snapped, pointing a finger at Dylan. "Daddy told me you two are married! You’re Daddy’s wife, so you are my mommy!"
Elise frowned, utterly at a loss for words. This tangled mess of a situation was entirely Dylan’s doing to begin with.
She shot a cold glare at her husband. "Look at what you’ve done."
Dylan looked back at her. "I only wanted to bring Sister-in-law over so she and Robin could start getting reacquainted. You didn’t even consult me before stubbornly forcing these facts on him."
"You wanted to bring people into my house, and you’re asking if I consulted you?" Elise laughed out of pure frustration. "Dylan, let me emphasize this to you one more time: you and I are currently separated and in the middle of a divorce. This house is my pre-marital asset. It does not belong to our joint marital property—it belongs solely to me. If it weren’t for Robin’s sake, do you honestly think I would have let any of you through that door?"
Dylan said coldly, "Fleur was desperate to see her son. I tried to contact you, and I even had Zoey reach out to communicate."
"And did Zoey fail to pass along my response to you?"
Dylan pressed his lips together, falling silent. Clearly, the message had been delivered perfectly fine. Dylan had simply refused to cooperate.
Elise let out a sharp scoff.
"Dylan, you are the one who acts entirely on your own whims. If neither you nor Fleur were confident that the child could handle this sudden shift, then you shouldn’t have turned up at my doorstep today without warning!
Before, when Fleur wasn’t around, I helped look after Robin out of pity because he didn’t have a mother. But now that she is back, I have no legal obligation, nor any reason, to keep doing your favors."
Dylan countered coldly, "Legally speaking, you are Robin’s aunt."
"Which section of the law states that an aunt is obligated to raise her nephew while his biological mother is alive and well?"
Dylan caught his breath, momentarily stunned.
"You’ve played the guilt-trip card one too many times," Elise said, looking at him dead in the eye. "I’ve said everything that needs to be said. You and Fleur can handle the rest yourselves." fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
With that, she gently brushed Robin’s small hands off her clothes, turned around, and walked toward the master bedroom.
"Mommy—!"
Robin tried to chase after her through his tears, but Dylan caught him just in time, pulling him into his arms.
"Let go of me! Mommy! I want Mommy!"
The child’s agonizing, heartbreaking screams echoed through the entire house.
Elise didn’t look back. As she walked past the living room, she spoke to Mrs. Lander, who was standing there looking completely anxious.
"I’m going to my room to rest. Mrs. Lander, you and Melissa pack up Robin’s things. He is leaving with Dylan and the others today."
Mrs. Lander kept her head down. "Al... alright."
Just then, Fleur suddenly stood up. Looking toward Elise with tear-rimmed eyes, she spoke up in a fragile, trembling voice, "Elise, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know my coming here would upset you so much. I apologize. If you don’t welcome me, I can leave right now... Just please, don’t make things difficult for Dylan and Robin, okay?"
