Chapter 57 Being Cared for
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Alistair tiptoed out of bed and went to his old room to freshen up.
He immediately noticed something was off about the placement of the toiletries.
When workers had been renovating this room during the day, Alistair had supervised the entire process–not because he was paranoid, but because he naturally took on the responsibility of overseeing things while the owner was away.
The workers had been respectful of boundaries and hadn’t entered the bathroom at all.
And it certainly wasn’t Eloise.
That left only one possibility–Caroline had returned and used this bathroom to avoid waking him.
Then he remembered he had accidentally fallen asleep on the living room couch last night. Shouldn’t Caroline have seen him there? He had left the lights on for her.
Of course, what Alistair didn’t realize was that Caroline had assumed everyone would be in their proper beds. It never occurred to her that Alistair might be sleeping on the couch in a brightly lit living room. The space was so enormous that she
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hadn’t even glanced in that direction, completely missing Alistair
sound asleep on the sofa.
Alistair couldn’t help but reflect. When was the last time someone had treated his feelings with such care?
He could barely remember–it must have been when Robert was
still alive.
His mother had passed away early in his life, leaving Robert as the only person who truly cared for him. Unfortunately, Robert had left him behind too.
“Eloise, Mom got home very late from work last night, and she’s still sleeping. We need to be quiet so we don’t wake her up, okay?”
Eloise nodded understandingly. “Yes, Mommy works so hard. I hope she comes home early today. I want to give her a back massage.”
“Good girl.”
Alistair stared at Eloise’s hair, a wild mess from her sleep, and couldn’t decide what to do.
He could handle laundry, cooking, housework, and taking the child to and from school without any problem, but he had never
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Chapter 57 Being Cared for
hadn’t even glanced in that direction, completely missing Alistair sound asleep on the sofa.
Alistair couldn’t help but reflect. When was the last time someone
had treated his feelings with such care?
He could barely remember–it must have been when Robert was
still alive.
His mother had passed away early in his life, leaving Robert as the only person who truly cared for him. Unfortunately, Robert had left him behind too.
“Eloise, Mom got home very late from work last night, and she’s still sleeping. We need to be quiet so we don’t wake her up, okay?”
Eloise nodded understandingly. “Yes, Mommy works so hard. I hope she comes home early today. I want to give her a back massage.”
“Good girl.”
Alistair stared at Eloise’s hair, a wild mess from her sleep, and couldn’t decide what to do.
He could handle laundry, cooking, housework, and taking the child to and from school without any problem, but he had never
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Chapter 57 Being Cared for
attempted to braid a little girl’s hair before!
Eloise looked up with confusion, her big, bright eyes gazing at
him. “What’s wrong, Daddy?”
Alistair snapped back to reality. “Oh, nothing.”
Where there was a will, there was a way.
How hard could putting her hair in a little ponytail be?
Surely it was much simpler than calming down a hysterically crying Daniel!
Alistair searched through his memories.
He recalled that back in his hometown, there was a girl about his age who lived next door.
Every day before doing her hair, she would hold hair ties between her teeth, probably because she needed both hands free. She’d thoroughly brush her long hair until it was smooth, then gather it at the back of her head with both hands. In no time at all, she’d have a perfect ponytail.
It hadn’t looked difficult at all, but in practice, it wasn’t nearly as simple as Alistair had imagined.
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Alistair fumbled clumsily as he tried to do Eloise’s hair.
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The touch of Eloise’s hair felt incredibly soft and cool, akin to the finest silk between your fingers.
Her natural curls would look messy if not properly tied back, completely unlike Caroline’s smooth, straight hair.
She definitely didn’t take after her mother in that regard.
Alistair’s gaze unconsciously drifted to the mirror in front of him.
Eloise was fiddling with the collar on her little stuffed bear’s outfit.
She had adorably chubby, rosy cheeks with charming baby fat, large round eyes, a small delicate nose, and a little mouth that always spoke such heartwarming things.
However, Alistair noticed something–while Eloise was beautiful and cute, she didn’t really resemble Caroline.
Perhaps she took after her father.
He had never dared to think–or perhaps had never even considered–that Eloise might not be Caroline’s biological daughter.
To outsiders, Caroline certainly didn’t look like a young mother.
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Chapter 57 Being Cared for
She appeared more like Eloise’s older sister than her mom.
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But who would guess that the youthful and beautiful Caroline was actually the CEO of five companies?
Many people her age were still struggling to find suitable jobs and living off their parents!
Besides, Rebecca was the same age and had a five–year–old son.
In this strange world, nothing seemed impossible.
Alistair struggled mightily just to give Eloise the simplest ponytail. When he thought about picking her up from preschool each day and seeing her with all sorts of pretty, intricate braids, he truly felt that the teachers there were remarkable.
“Daddy, you’re amazing! You can cook and even braid hair- you’re fantastic!”
Alistair thought the braids he’d made for Eloise looked pretty awful, but Eloise loved them, admiring herself happily in the mirror from every angle.
Alistair couldn’t help but laugh.
He suspected that even if he’d just randomly scratched her scalp with a comb, she would have smiled and praised him. “Daddy, you
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brushed my hair so well!”
When it came to emotional support, Eloise had never once disappointed him.
During breakfast, Eloise kept glancing toward the bedroom. “Daddy, Mommy didn’t have breakfast. Won’t her tummy get hungry while she’s sleeping?”
Alistair replied, “She probably won’t feel too hungry while she’s asleep. We’ll save some food for her so she can eat whenever she
wakes up.”
“Oh, okay,” Eloise said.
After finishing breakfast, Alistair prepared to take her to school.
“Wait,” he said. Since it was raining today, Alistair grabbed a super cute umbrella for Eloise.
Every morning upon waking, Alistair habitually checked the
weather forecast, a habit that had lingered from his days of caring for Daniel.
He would assess the temperature and conditions to determine if Daniel needed extra layers.
But weather forecasts weren’t always reliable.
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Chapter 57 Being Cared for
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Alistair was completely unprepared for a sudden downpour last summer while picking Daniel up from school.
They had just reached the building when Alistair, clutching Daniel protectively against his chest, dashed into the entryway. Daniel barely got damp, but Alistair was soaked to the bone.
When Rebecca returned from shopping, she gave him a look of disgust and hurried him to start cooking dinner.
It was during flu season, and that night Daniel developed a fever. Rebecca furiously blamed Alistair, claiming his negligence had allowed Daniel to get caught in the rain, causing his illness.
Alistair realized that even when he accidentally recalled his painful past, he could now detach himself calmly, observing his former suffering self as if he were a mere spectator.
His former self was undoubtedly foolish.
How wrong and ridiculous he had been to expect genuine family affection from heartless Liam.
Yet he couldn’t bring himself to blame that naive version of himself.
His mistake stemmed from inexperience, harboring unrealistic
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innocence and fantasies, and placing worthless hope in someone
who didn’t deserve it.
How could anyone see through false appearances to the
true nature beneath without first experiencing complete disappointment?
That bullshit father–son relationship? Alistair didn’t give a damn anymore!
Alistair pondered deeply that the two million dollars was earned with six years of his youth–why should heartless Liam benefit from it?
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