Chapter 235
Chapter 235
"Thanks." Abigail nodded, suddenly losing her appetite to finish her meal. After that, she picked at her food and returned to her room. When she checked out her inbox, she saw an unread email but lacked the courage to open it. In fact, she was very close to finding out the answers to her questions, yet she struggled to summon the courage to embrace the moment of truth. Flustered and vexed, she grabbed her phone and dialed Greg's number. "Hey, are you free to talk now?"
In the meantime, Greg happened to be in the middle of a conference meeting, but when he saw Abigail's phone call, he paused the meeting. Then, he answered her question by telling he was free to talk while he glanced at the conference meeting. "Yeah, I am."
While the rest of the people in the meeting were members of the senior management, they were all surprised to hear Greg's reply. After all, they had worked day and night for the project at the cost of their leisure time, which was why they were stunned to hear Greg telling Abigail he wasn't busy. Seriously? Despite their disgruntlement, no one dared to say a word of objection about that.
Nevertheless, Abigail had no idea what was going on on the other side, thinking Greg was still resting from his injury. Thus, she went ahead to express her sorrow to him. "I have something that's bothering me deep down. Can you help me with that?"
"Sure." Greg stepped out of the room with his phone.
The next second, Benjamin came closer and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize on Mr. Buckley's behalf as he has a rather important phone call to answer."
"Benjamin, do you mind telling us who is calling?" One of them asked, feeling frustrated about the interference.
"The future Mrs. Buckley," Benjamin answered after peeking at Greg on the outside. When everyone heard his words, they finally understood why Greg had to pause the meeting to answer the call.
Meanwhile, Greg walked to the corridor and asked with a gentle voice, "What's bothering you so much? Is this about your mother?"
Since Greg was able to guess it correctly, Abigail felt even more annoyed and perturbed. "You know about it too?"
"Abigail, some problems can only be solved if you face them instead of running away. Furthermore, why are you depriving yourself of the motherly love you've desired so much?"
"What if she doesn't like me? It might not do us both any good if I enter her life."
When he heard Abigail's sad voice, Greg couldn't help but feel sympathetic for her. "You're still treating Teal, aren't you?"
Abigail was surprised by Greg as he suddenly changed the subject in the middle of their conversation. "Y-Yeah, why?"
"Let's talk more about it when you're done treating her." Abigail heaved a sigh of relief when she heard Greg say that, feeling reassured as if someone had just taken away the boulder that was on her chest.
"Perhaps you're right. I'm technically a handicap, so why am I undermining my mental welfare with my crazy and wild imagination?"
"Exactly. Rest well and worry about that only after your leg recovers. After all, she is not going anywhere." Greg's positive and encouraging tone began to rub off on Abigail, making her feel less pessimistic about her situation with her mother.
"That's right. By the way, have you eaten?"
"Yes, I have." Greg shifted his gaze to the food that was delivered to him quite some time ago.
"What did you eat?" Abigail wanted to talk to Greg more because she realized his voice never failed to lift her spirits whenever she was in a bad mood.
"Some scrambled egg risotto and salmon strips," said Greg while looking at the lunchbox.
"Are you sure you can have salmon strips in your current condition? You'd better stay off those salmon strips." Abigail knitted her eyebrows upon hearing Greg's reply.
Despite talking to the lady over the phone, Greg could picture the unhappy frown on Abigail's face as he curled his lips upward. "Alright, as you wish. Benjamin will take care of them for me later."
"What? Didn't you say that you've already eaten?" Abigail sensed something amiss with the way Greg responded.
Greg quickly tried to talk his way out. "I'm done eating, but Benjamin isn't. He is currently busy cleaning the house."
"Please ease up on him, would you? He is a good kid." Abigail reckoned she should stand up for Benjamin at the thought of his pleasant attitude.
"I should be your focus, not him. Besides, are you really sure he is a good kid?" Greg furrowed his eyebrows and asked. "Hey, do you smell that? It reeks of jealously right now."
Amused by Greg's reply, Abigail chuckled and lectured the man a bit. "Come on, stop acting like a child, would you? Benjamin is your assistant, and I just want you to treat him well so that he can help you more. Don't you think so?"
"Yeah, you're right." Greg smiled in response.
"Alright, it's time for you to get some rest while I still have work to do regarding the treatment." Abigail was reluctant to hang up the call, but she eventually decided that she should let Greg rest, thinking he was still a patient who was recovering.
"Kiss me," Greg said with a soft voice.
"Stop messing around."
"Hurry up and kiss me, or I'm not going to hang up the call."
In response to Greg's cheeky threat, Abigail smiled and refuted the man, saying, "Are you dumb or something? I can still hang up the call even if you won't."
"Is it so hard to give me a kiss, Abigail?"
"I'm not used to it." Abigail felt like a fool for kissing someone through her phone.
"Fine, I'll kiss you instead." Greg then pouted, making a loud sound of kissing as soon as he finished his words.
In the meantime, Abigail was embarrassed, feeling as if the man was really pecking her cheek even though they were interacting through their phone. At the same time, the sweet rush of adrenaline instantly surged through every blood vessel in her body.
"Alright, we'll talk again soon." After hanging up the call, she couldn't help but murmur to herself on the inside. Come on, I'm too old for you to flirt with, Greg. What am I to you? A teenage girl who is almost reaching her twenties?
At the thought of that, Abigail could feel her heart beating rapidly like a jackhammer as she patted her own face to pull herself together. Gosh! Something inside of me feels like burning.
The next moment, she took a deep breath and headed to the washroom.
On the other hand, Greg returned to his bedroom after the call and realized that everyone was still waiting for him. Then, he turned his attention to Benjamin and said, "Benjamin, I need you to do something for me after the meeting is over." When everyone heard the man's words, they froze, worried that he was about to give them a hard and unpleasant task. However, it later turned out that they overthought the situation as Greg appeared to be in a good mood. "Alright, take a night off tonight and submit your proposals to me." Property © NôvelDrama.Org.
When everyone else heard that announcement, they got so excited that they nearly cheered out loud. Not long after that, the conference meeting ended as Benjamin proceeded to tidy up the files and asked, "What is it that you need me to do, Mr. Buckley?"
"I'd like you to do some digging about Abigail's mother. Hugh took a ruby necklace from Abigail earlier, which indicated that he might have found out something. I told you to contact his brother previously. Any news about that?"
"I haven't contacted him, but I passed the word around, so I believe we're going to hear something soon."
Greg nodded upon hearing Benjamin's words and said, "Time is not on our side. If possible, tell Carter to go through Hugh's call history to see if he can find anything fishy with the people he's talked to, but of course, Abigail mustn't know about this."
"Alright, Boss."
Meanwhile, Abigail was unaware of Greg's intention to secretly investigate Hugh. After patting her face to calm herself down, she suddenly realized she hadn't really bought anything for Greg ever since they started dating each other. Then, a pair of sleeve cuffs came to her mind when she was wondering what
would fit Greg well. The next moment, she was reminded of the time she saved the mother of a famous designer who later promised that she would return the favor if Abigail needed something designed.
Hmm, I wonder if she knows how to design a pair of nice sleeve cuffs. At that moment, she quickly approached the designer online before the latter agreed to help her almost immediately. While the designer suggested that she would first come up with a draft before proceeding further, Abigail had no objections to the suggestion.
Soon, Alissa and Arianna came to Abigail's room when they heard that her mother was awake. "You're up, Mommy." Alissa looked at Abigail, trying to ingratiate herself with the latter.
Abigail smiled and asked, "What are you doing? The look on your face is telling me that you're up to something."
"How could you say that, Mommy? I'm just trying to show you my concern." Alissa spoke tenderly, seizing Abigail's arm in a sympathetic manner. On the other hand, Arianna responded with a chuckle as she watched her sister's hilarious act in silence.
"Alright, I know you're concerned about me, but I'm fine. So, can you tell me what you were going to say?" Abigail looked at her daughter, rubbing their heads with her hand as she was grateful to have them by her side. After all, they meant the whole world to her.
The next second, Alissa winked at Arianna, signaling her to do the talking. Arianna, who understood her sister's gesture, helplessly shook her head and said, "Mommy, Alissa is trying to ask you whether we can stay with Daddy. After all, we don't really feel comfortable staying here. There are way too many restrictions in this place."
Abigail paused upon hearing her daughters' thoughts. In fact, the reason she initially tried to keep her children away from the Buckley Family was that she wanted to protect them, but that problem no longer seemed to persist when Greg dealt with the strain in their relationship. Furthermore, Arianna's asthma
could make things difficult as well as she continued to stay in the Frasers Residence. Therefore, Abigail eventually made up her mind to go along with the girls' idea after a brief contemplation. "I'll tell your father to take you both with him, but you girls will have to behave yourselves. After all, your daddy is hurt, and you mustn't worry him. Do you understand?"
"Daddy is hurt? What happened?" Alissa and Arianna both appeared worried about Greg.
Abigail replied, "It's not a big deal, so please relax and take it easy. Soon, your father and I will arrange for you both to enroll in a kindergarten. After all, you girls are old enough to begin your own school life."
"Wait, what? Are we not going back to Marona anymore, Mommy?" Alissa immediately asked.
At the thought of her own relationship with Greg and their future, Abigail answered, "No, we are not. This is my hometown after all, and I hope you girls like it too."
"Awesome! I like this place!" To Alissa, Abigail's words sounded like music to her ears. When she was in Marona, her friends always laughed at her for being a fatherless child. Therefore, the toxic environment eventually made her hate the place and dislike her life there.
Now that she knew she was about to live in a new environment with Greg and Valerie for the long term, she was over the moon. In the meantime, Arianna also appeared to be delighted about the news even though she didn't say a single word.
Abigail then rubbed her children's heads and said, "I'm sorry for all the sacrifices you've had to make over the years, girls."
"It's alright, Mom. We're all good." Alissa and Arianna obediently leaned on Abigail's shoulders in a heartwarming manner.
"Alright, go back to your room. I'll tell your father to come and pick you up soon."
"Yeah!" The two kids happily left the room, whereupon Abigail spoke to Greg about their wish to leave with him. When Greg learned that, he immediately agreed to come and pick them up soon. However, as Abigail heard Greg's exhilarated voice, she was tempted to ask whether he could help make sure the girls stay away from Valerie, only to swallow the words that were forming at the tip of her tongue.
After all, Abigail understood that it was impossible to mediate the strained relationship between her and Valerie right away. Instead, if she spoke her mind about forbidding the girls from seeing Valerie, she would inevitably put Greg in a difficult position.
At the thought of that, she hung up the call not long before she heard a loud engine rumbling, which got her confused and wondering. Is that man really that desperate? It would take some time for him to travel here from Allie's Garden, so has he been waiting outside all along? When Abigail got closer to the window to investigate the commotion, her face darkened at the sight of the person who stepped out of the car.