Not One, But Two!

Chapter 215

Greg walked hand-in-hand with Abigail into the room. The two girls had been sitting quietly on the bed, but once they saw Greg, they scampered over at once.

"Daddy, you're here!" Alissa had a foolish grin as she stared at the cake in his hands.

Arianna was a lot more well-mannered. She smiled sweetly and said, "Hi, Daddy."

"Hi, girls. Come and have some cake." Greg passed the cake over to the two children.

Alissa opened the box and immediately began munching on a slice while Arianna watched from the side.

"Aria, this is a sugarless version that I asked the baker to make especially for you. So, it won't affect your asthma if you eat this one."

Greg passed another bag over to Arianna.

Abigail was surprised.

She kept fixating that Arianna should not be eating sweet things, but she never considered the possibility of finding sugarless versions of these sweet desserts.

When Arianna heard that she could eat some cake, she immediately looked at Abigail with eager and expectant eyes.

All at once, Abigail chided herself for being a careless mother. At least, she had not done as good a job at parenting as Greg had.

"Since Daddy got it for you, it's fine to go ahead and eat."

"Thank you, Daddy!"

This was the first time Arianna was ever so ecstatic about something.

Alissa laughed. "Aria has never been able to eat cake. She could only watch me eat it last time, but now she can eat it too. You're amazing, Daddy."

"I'm not the amazing one. The baker is."

Greg reached out and stroked the top of Alissa's head.

He could finally rest easy now that he had confirmed with his own two eyes that the girls were healthy and energetic.

He had no idea what his mother was thinking.

How could she bear to drug such precious children? What if the drugs had adverse effects on them? Who would be responsible for that?

Greg was able to empathize fully with the way Abigail must have felt. If the person who did it had not been his mother, he might have done far worse than what Abigail did.

As this thought flashed across his mind, he glanced at Abigail apologetically.

Abigail shook her head slightly.

They were still very much in tune with one another. Abigail knew what Greg wanted to say, but it was not his place to apologize to her for what had happened.

Alissa was digging into her cake, but her eyes glanced between Abigail and Greg. When she saw that they seemed to be exchanging looks with one another, she had to ask," Mommy, Daddy, what are you guys doing?"

"Nothing. Just eat your cake," Abigail answered somewhat sternly as she threw Alissa a look.

However, Greg went forward and pulled the two girls into a hug before saying with a smile, "Daddy has to go on a business trip. So, I might be gone for up to three days. You two must listen to Mommy during this time and don't make trouble for her, okay?"

Alissa and Arianna were startled.

"A business trip? Where are you going?"

Abigail frequently went on business trips as well, so the girls did not think much of it, but now that Greg was going on one, just as they were trying to figure out if Abigail and Greg were fighting, the two girls started reading a lot more into it.

"Don't try and pry into big people's business." Abigail shot down their curiosity at once. "Your Daddy is a company president, so how can he spend all his time with you? What will we eat if he doesn't earn money to provide for us?"

Abigail's words were music to Greg's ears.

"That's right. I have to work hard and earn a lot of money so that I can give all my girls a good life."

"But Mommy has a lot of money, so even if Daddy doesn't work so hard, Mommy can provide for all of us."

Alissa's words made Abigail feel a little disgruntled.

Was this silly daughter of hers suggesting that Greg be a househusband instead?

Not too long ago, Greg had also suggested becoming a kept man of hers and asked that she give him an allowance. Abigail had been rendered speechless by his shamelessness back then.

Was it genetic to dream of being a kept man?

Greg must have remembered this, too, as he chortled loudly.

"You're far too pleased about this."

Abigail kicked him in the foot, but she did it quite gently, and Greg's smile grew even wider.

"I think I have the potential to be a kept man. Even our daughter thinks so."

"Daddy, what's a kept man?" Alissa asked while munching on another slice of cake.

Arianna explained in all seriousness, "A kept man is usually a handsome man who can't provide for himself, so he relies on a woman to provide for him instead."

"Daddy is rather handsome."

Alissa had said it off-handedly, but Abigail objected to that.

"Why do you think he's handsome?"

"Everything about Daddy makes him handsome! If he isn't, why did you fall in love with him, Mommy?"

Smoke was coming from Abigail's ears, thanks to Alissa's matter-of-fact delivery.

As if she had a choice back then.

She had been forced into it, alright?

She did not have a choice.

Greg was on cloud nine after seeing the look on Abigail's face.

"You're right, Allie, but I can't be a kept man because it would make Mommy very tired, and I will feel bad for her."

"Oh, that's true. In that case, you should work hard, Daddy, and earn enough money to feed all three of us. Don't worry. We don't eat a lot."

Alissa assumed that she was being thoughtful, but Abigail could not bear to listen to this any longer.

"Alright now. You girls understand that your Daddy has to go away on a business trip, right?"

"Yes, Mommy."

Abigail cut the conversation short.

"Go and play with Daddy now since he'll be leaving soon. I'll go check up on Ms. Reeve."

Abigail stepped out of the room once those words fell from her lips.

"Daddy, did you make Mommy angry?"

Alissa asked the moment Abigail left.

Greg was a little stunned by how observant Alissa was, but he simply asked with a smile, "Why do you ask?"

"I could tell that Mommy doesn't look very happy. She's trying very hard not to show it, but Aria and I could sense it."

Arianna nodded along.

It finally dawned on Greg why Abigail wanted to send the girls away.

Nothing much had happened yet, but the two children had already picked up that something was amiss. If things went to court, the children would be the ones who suffered the most.

As Greg stared at their innocent faces, he felt a dreadful pang in his heart.

"Something's troubling Mommy, but I will make it all go away, so for the next three days, you girls need to be good and help put in a few good words for Daddy, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy." Alissa nodded at once.

Arianna did not answer his question but instead asked one of her own. "Daddy, you won't leave Mommy and us, right?"

Greg's heart twisted in pain.

He gently stroked Arianna's head and said, "I won't. Even if the sky comes crashing down, I won't ever leave you girls and your Mommy."

It was a promise.

Arianna was relieved to hear this.

"Daddy, you need to take care of yourself when you're away on a business trip. Allie and I will say good things about you every day. You should ask your assistant to send flowers to Mommy every day. That way, even though you're not here, Mommy will still remember you."

As soon as Arianna said that, Alissa countered, "Mommy is allergic to roses, don't you remember?"

"He can give lilies instead or any other flower. Or maybe food."

Either way, Arianna thought that it would be a good idea to have a daily reminder in the form of gifts.

Greg's heart warmed at the sight of his two daughters scheming on his behalf.

How could he bear to burden such wonderful daughters with too much pain and sorrow?

"Okay, I'll do as you say and send something to her daily. Remember to put in a good word for me, got it?"

"Got it," the two girls replied in unison.

Soon, they finished eating their cake and began to play with Greg. The sound of their gleeful laughter came filtering out into the corridor.

Abigail had not left. She was still leaning against the wall in the corridor, listening in on their conversation. Now that she heard the sound of such cheer coming from their room, she felt even more upset.

If she could, she wanted the girls to always stay as happy as they were now.

Abigail took a deep breath and went downstairs.

At the same time, Teal came out of her room and spotted her.

She gestured toward the balcony, and Abigail nodded, so they both went over.

Teal passed Abigail a cup of tea before asking softly, "Did you run into some trouble?"

"Not quite. Just some things that won't be easy to deal with."

Abigail took a sip of tea. The warmth felt soothing.

"Matters of the heart then. Mr. Buckley is a good man. You should cherish him. You won't find many men like him in today's society." NôvelDrama.Org: owner of this content.

Teal spoke softly as her mood dimmed when she thought about everything her husband had done to her.

Abigail could tell what Teal was thinking, so she said plainly, "While it's great to be in love, if the love isn't sincere, then it's not worth having."

"What about Mr. Buckley?"

"We're fine. It's just his mother."

Abigail gave a bitter laugh. She never thought she would face the age-old problem between mothers- in-law and daughters-in-law.

Teal was startled when she heard this, but she chuckled and said, "I can't help you with that."

"I can handle it. How are you? Are you holding up okay? We'll be starting the second round of treatments soon, so if you don't have anything important to attend to, you should stop going into the office for a while. Also, you must make necessary arrangements now that Quinn isn't with the company anymore."

"Don't worry, I've got everything sorted out," Teal said with a smile.

Since Teal had said as much, Abigail did not press further. So, they continued sitting out on the balcony to enjoy the breeze. It gave them a sense of peace as they enjoyed a quiet moment together.

Perhaps things were not quite as bad as they could be. For the sake of Greg and the two children, Abigail was willing to put up a fight just this once, and hopefully, things would turn out alright.

Abigail's mood improved once she came to this decision.

When Teal saw the smile on Abigail's face, she figured that Abigail must have come up with a plan, so she asked softly, "Since you're alright now, I'll go back to the study to sort some things out. Can we start the treatment on time tomorrow?"

"Sure."

Abigail knew that she and Teal were friends now.

She had gone without friends for many years, but having a friend felt pretty good.

When Abigail stepped out of the balcony, she saw Greg making his way over.

"You're so happy that I'm leaving?"

The genuine smile on Abigail's face felt like a stab in Greg's chest.

How could she be so blase about this? He had no idea how to deal with his mother yet, but here she was, smiling without a care in the world.

Greg started to sulk.

Therefore, he immediately cornered her against the balcony's sliding doors and pressed close to her.

"Abigail Kain, have you no heart?"