Chapter 162
When Leo walked up the stairs, he didn’t immediately rest but only stared at the wall. He put his hands
in his pocket and slightly bent down. He furrowed his eyebrows, seemingly to be in thought.
Toby’s words flashed in his mind, asking him if he had fallen in love with Amelie.
As he thought about what happened after he and Amelie had gotten a divorce, he realized that there
was no reason for him to be in love with her other than being surprised. However, he realized that she
had a special place in his heart for god knew how long. Sometimes, he would even instinctively pay
close attention to her and even want to get to know her.
Is this love? But it is impossible to love someone without reason! I would have trusted this if it had
happened to someone else. I also know that I am a person with a goal to achieve. After Elyse dumped
me, I would never get close to someone else or get to know them without a valid reason. Yet, Amelie is
the exception to this rule! Still, I can’t believe I will fall in love with her. I think it is because she is Bria’s
mother, and I feel sorry for Bria.
As Leo thought about it, he shook his head and stopped thinking about it. Then, he dialed a number
and said, “Keep an eye close on Mrs. Alston these days.”
“Mrs. Alston?” The person was startled since he had never expected Leo to have such an order.
“Yes.” Leo didn’t explain anything and hung up the phone.
He felt something was going on since Jodie had asked to meet up for lunch. After all, she was afraid of
him and had always avoided him. There was definitely something going on behind the scenes since
they had encountered Toby and Amelie on their way to lunch.
The next day, Leo went to Star Kindergarten. When he arrived, the teacher recognized him and
approached him. “Are you Bria’s father? You’re just in time. Bria has been unhappy these two days due
to unknown reasons. She wouldn’t tell me even if I asked her. Why don’t you talk to her about it?”
The teacher had been in a conflict with Amelie prior to this. So, she was afraid that Amelie would want
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtan explanation now that Bria was unhappy. Initially, she was going to tell this matter to Amelie.
Unfortunately. she had not seen her for the past two days. Hence, when she saw Leo, she felt he was a
lifesaver.
When Leo heard that Bria was unhappy, he was startled. Then, he immediately stepped into the school
and entered the classroom under the teacher’s lead.
In the classroom, the kids were playing a game. Everyone was excited except for Bria. She seemed to
be uninterested in even joining.
“Bria has always been the top student in our class. No matter what she does, she always strives for
perfection. But I’ve never seen her act like this before,” the teacher said hastily.
When Leo looked at Bria, he realized she was indeed in a bad mood. Leo felt like his heart had been
stabbed
At that moment, Bria stiffened when she felt she had fallen into someone’s embrace. When she saw it
was Leo, she blinked and opened her mouth. She wanted to call him ‘Daddy” but held it back and
quickly lowered her
head.
When Leo saw her sad expression and hunched shoulders, he rubbed her shoulder and said, “What’s
wrong? The teacher says you are unhappy.”
When the kids saw Bria being hugged by a handsome man, they all looked at her curiously.
Since Leo didn’t want to interrupt the class, he nodded toward the teacher and carried Bria out of the
classroom. Finally, they left the school with the teacher’s permission, and Leo bought ice cream for
Bria, just
like last time.
Bria looked at the ice cream with clear want. Nonetheless, she only licked her lips but didn’t take it from
Leo. Instead, she turned to look at him and said, “Are you taking me back to the Alston Residence?”
As Leo heard her bell-like voice, his heart softened.
At that moment, Leo realized that a child’s voice could soothe a person’s heart. Nevertheless, he was
pretty surprised by her question. “Why do you think I’m here to bring you back?”
“When I was talking with Ma, I heard you found a professional lawyer to take me back home. Mommy
hasn’t returned home for two days and has been thinking of a solution to prevent you guys from taking
me away.” Bria looked at him with her big doe eyes.
Amelie was more considerate than Julia. She would avoid others when talking on the phone and would
make sure that Bria wouldn’t hear her before answering the call. Although Julia had also taken similar
precautions, she couldn’t prevent the possibility of someone barging into her room and talking about
this. Hence, even if Julia had covered the speaker, which muffled the voices on the other end of the
line, Bria could still hear it.
Then, she reached out and fumbled with Leo’s collar as she spoke, “Can you not bring me back? I want
to be with Mommy. Don’t worry. When you are old, I will take care of you as I do with Mommy,” she said
seriously.
Leo felt his heart pang as he looked at her serious expression.
“I heard that Mommy was going to beg for you to stop, but you didn’t pick up her calls. So, is it alright if
I beg for your leniency instead, Daddy?”
“Beg?” At that moment, Leo was startled.
Then, he remembered that night when Elyse had taken away his phone. He saw that the last digit
number was nine. Now that he thought about it, Amelie’s last digit of the phone number was nine! If
that’s the case, Elyse wasn’t going to spend the night with me by snatching away my phone, but to
avoid Amelie from contacting me?
As he thought about it, he felt chills run down his spine.
As he thought about it, his phone rang, and it was Laura. “Mr. Alston, Elyse had called and said to
return your phone. Should I keep it for you?”
He only took his private phone when he left, while Laura had his work phone. Then, Elyse placed his
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmphone in the security safe at the hotel. When he returned, he didn’t ask Elyse about his phone and only
went to retrieve his work phone from the company.
“No need, I’ll find her myself,” he replied coldly. Then, he hung up the phone and handed the ice cream
to Bria. “I promise I won’t take you away from Mommy, Bria.” He stared straight into Bria’s eyes as he
spoke.
At that moment, Bria’s eyes brightened. “You promise?” she asked.
“Yes.” He nodded sincerely.
Bria was overjoyed by his promise and hugged him tightly. “You are the best, Daddy!” She snuggled
her face in the crook of his neck. The warmth of her soft cheeks made Leo’s heart soften.
At that moment, Leo realized that he had been neglecting Bria for too long.
After he briefly chatted with Bria, he sent her back to school and drove to Elyse’s home.
When Elyse, who was wearing a beautiful dress, saw him, she pouted and ran toward him. “Why are
you back all of a sudden without telling me? You made me worried. I only knew that you had returned
to Clouson City after giving Laura a call.”
“I still have to go back.” Leo wore a dispassionate expression as he spoke. He took the phone that she
had put on the charger stand.
“Return? Did you forget something?” Elyse was surprised.
“I have forgotten something important,” he replied.
Elyse merely hummed weakly in response and said, “If you are going alone, please be careful.”
“Not me, but us.”
When Elyse heard his words, she was confused. “Are you telling me you are going on vacation with me
again, Leony?”
“Your so-called vacation is only trying to keep me from knowing that you and my mom had been trying
to take Bria’s custody from Ameliel” Leo exposed her without hesitation.
When she was caught red-handed, she immediately froze in place and couldn’t do anything but stand
there dumbly. At that moment, she knew that she was doomed.
Inst as she was terrified she heard his words “Don’t worry though I won’t do anything about this ”
sigh of relief, Leo’s next words dumbfounded her.