Let's Get Married novel Chapter 376

She feels like a completely unqualified mother today when she failed to fulfill a mother’s duty. “Did that scare you? Don’t worry. Mom’s here with you. It won’t ever happen again.”

Rex hears the conversation between them in the back, his heart aching. He can’t help but suggest although he knows that he’d better keep silent now, “I can drive you home.”

“I’m good,” Lily refuses his request without a second thought. She warns furiously, “I can take care of my own son. Don’t bother to do these for us. And please tell you family do not bother me and my kid. There’s no need to do so.”

“Lily, I know you have hard feelings about this. But I didn’t mean to…”

“Well, it happened anyway whether or not you meant to.” Lily can’t accept any explanations under the circumstance because the result is clear enough. She saw what they did to her kid, “They are so heartless. How could they do this to a child?”

Rex’s choking on the words, realizing the only thing he can do now is to apologize rather than to explain, “I am sorry.”

“There’s no need to apologize. If you really care about me and Adair, let us leave.”

After today’s incident, Lily’s attitude towards him reverts to that when they met in England. Rex understands he has pushed her further away.

Lily is going to get out of here when she notices a small force is pulling her shirt. She looks down and sees Adair turning to look at Rex.

Startled, she asks, “Adair?”

Adair is only a four-year-old little guy, yet his eyes mix with a dozen emotions when he looks at Rex, mostly confusion and doubts.

Lily is a bit confused of his act and then a childish yet courageous voice comes, “So, are you my dad?”

The two all freeze. They didn’t expect the question would come out of Adair’s mouth in the end.

It’s cruel, and heartbreaking.

Rex doesn’t even have courage to look into Adair’s eyes, the crystal-like, beautiful eyes. It is already a punishment for Rex with Adair staring intently at him. Ever since he knew he had a son, there was not a single day passing without his regrets about being an absentee dad for nearly five years. But since things already happened, there was no redo button.

After a short pause, he lowers his body, stroking the kid’s hair, like a real dad for the first time. Adair does soften his heart. The kid’s silky hair is cotton-like, as if the sensation turns Rex’s heart into cotton too. Rex’s eyes get moist before he could speak a word.

“Yes.” he answers the question after a long moment, his voice low and deep. For the first time, Rex feels it takes so much strength to say just one word.

He could see the kid’s eyes glitter with hope, but the hope soon gets dim. Facing Adair, Rex is so conflicted and fumbling.

Rex cradles the little boy in his arms, gingerly, fearing that he would frighten him. “Sorry you get to know me this way.”

Adair doesn’t understand why he apologizes to him. But maybe it’s an instinct of human, Adair could feel the unusual emotion in the apology.

“Mom says dad lives far away. So, you live here…” Adair still has a bunch of questions he hasn’t figured out yet, like why he wasn’t told that he is his father in the first place and why they lied to him. But the question he cares the most is something else. “Why didn’t you come visit me and mom over the past five years?”

The question is rending Rex’s heart asunder. Crying inside, he wants to tell the kid that it’s not that he didn’t want to be with them; it’s that he didn’t even know that he had a son in the world or where they were.

But at the end he couldn’t tell him these. He can only make up a story to make lies less ridiculous. “Because dad’s too busy. A lot of things keep me from seeing you.”

Adair soon grasps the idea, yet his eyebrows rising, and he says in a peaceful voice, “It’s been hard for mom.”

Tears roll down Lily’s cheeks. She puts her hand over the mouth to muffle her sobs, fearing that she would burst into crying.

“I know.” Rex fights against the wave of emotions inside him, for he doesn’t want to appear weak in front of the child. “I will protect you and mom form now on.”

“But it seems great-grandpa and great-grandma don’t like me.” Children are the purest creature in the world; they can sense whether the way you treat them is kind or not. Adair didn’t feel their kindness when they did that to him.

Lily wipes away her tears and takes Adair’s hands. “It’s fine, honey. Mom will protect you.”

Without further explanations, she just wants to get out of this place. “Don’t drive us, for the sake of the child. Just give him some space.”

Rex is choked by her words. Of course, what else could he say? The situation right now is already tricky for adults to handle, not to mention a child. Forcing Adair to accept would only make him more uncomfortable.

He makes a compromise, “Fine. I’ll have my driver take you home. Don’t reject me this time. I’ll worry if you go alone.”

Lily presses her lips into a hard line, understanding that it is already a big step back for Rex. She then holds the kid’s hands waiting in front of the villa.

The driver pulls over in front of them and then holds the door for her. Lily lets the kid get in the car first, and then leaves the door ajar. “I think it would be better if you don’t meet Adair these days until your family thinks it through.”

The words have Rex frozen in place. He curls his lips into a smile, bleak and bitter. “Lily, I care about our son as much as you do. I know what happened today is indeed reckless, but you cannot just deprive me of the right to see my son.”

“I don’t want to. But thanks to your family, I have to!” she retorts, gritting her teeth in fury. Worries and anger, which had been repressed by her when dealing with his family, finally explodes. “I will never let you see my child under this circumstance. This is my bottom line. I won’t put him at stake.”

“Heh,” he hisses, disgruntled at the fact that she doesn’t understand him. He steps forward, forcing her eyes to look right into his. “Do you really think this is a better way? The kid already knows I am his father. How could you explain if I don’t go and see him? Pretend I live far away like five years ago? I’m afraid no excuse will work this time.”

Half of her body is nearly forced against the car window when he approaches her. She lifts an arm to keep a distance from him, taking a deep breath. “Go away.”

He gazes at her, his eyes calm and deep like a sea in the midnight. “Lily, it’s my fault, I would accept it if Adair blames me, but aren’t you party responsible for the situation?”

She deprived his right to be a father and made up ridiculous stories. That’s why Adair has no memory of him. But he is well aware that all of this is because he left her no options at that time, he doesn’t blame her.

However, since he knows the existence of their son and the kid knows him, he won’t make the mistake happen as he did five years ago.

Her mind is a mess. The firm conviction in his gaze makes her realize that he won’t compromise on this matter even a bit, so she can only repress her reluctance inside.

It’s not wise to go against him at this point because obviously in this way it won’t end well. If she is determined to keep Rex away from Adair’s life and set a boundary between them right now, it’s possible that she couldn’t even get out of the villa.

Now that she dares to come back to City J, she has to figure out a way to leave peacefully, without arousing his suspicion.

She exhales deeply, forming a plan in her mind and feigning being persuaded. “At least you should give Adair some time to take in. There’s too much information for him to process and he doesn’t know how to face you.”

His gaze fixes on her, attempting to figure out if she is telling the truth. “How long?”

“I’ll call you when the time is right.” His sharp stare makes her feel numb in her head. To increase her credibility, she adds, “I live right here in City J. You don’t have to worry. I won’t leave.”

A light breeze blows alongside them, taking away the hostility in the conversation. Finally, he straightens up, taking a step back. “Fine. I’ll wait.”