Said I didn’t Love Him But I Lied

“Okay.” A staff member brought over a baby panda and taught Theodore how to interact with it.

Pandas always looked tame and harmless, but their scratches or bites could always spell disaster. The public was not often allowed to openly take photos with them as behind their innocent looks, all pandas shared a horrifying combination of sharp teeth and a strong bite force that should be taken seriously.

While Theodore was playing with the panda, the two children were squatting next to each other as they watched the interaction excitedly. Alastair, who had always had a cold attitude towards everything, also displayed an unprecedented interest in what was happening.

Adrienne squatted and Alastair pulled her back a little to maintain a safe distance.

Blinking her eyes, she held her chin with both hands and asked the employee beside her, “Does it have a name?”

“Yes. We call her Poppy,” the employee answered with a smile.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

“Does she only eat bamboo?”

“No, of course not. Like children, she has to eat fruits and some meat or she will become malnourished. ”

“Oh, I see!”

Adrienne looked enlightened, as if she had just learned something new.

“Okay, it’s time for the photos!”

As the staff did not notice any conflict between Theodore and the panda, he signaled for the cameraman to get ready for the photography session.

“Daddy, please sit closer to Mommy. You can use the tools nearby to play with Poppy and the photographer will capture the scene. It’ll look more natural that way.”

“Come on, Mommy! Closer please!”

Good-looking people were always welcomed everywhere they went. A usual photography session would usually take five minutes, but the one with Everleigh and her family had been going on for almost 10 minutes now. In the beginning, Everleigh was a little awkward. Then she became somehow affected by the atmosphere as she happily fed the panda with her children. Gradually, she even forgot that the photographer was even there.

When the photo was ready, the only copy was given to Everleigh, who carefully stowed it inside her bag.

She knew that once she left the zoo, she would never see it again. She felt lucky to at least have a photo of the memories of that afternoon.

Everleigh’s mood improved when she left Panda World. In fact, she had stopped worrying too much about the day. Looking at her children’s happy faces, she decided that the past seven years did not exist. That afternoon would be a gift from fate for her and her children.

More and more dark clouds gathered in the sky, until the last rays of light were finally covered by them.

Soon, the sky was taken over by lightning, followed up by a heavy downpour. Thedore and Everleigh brought the children out from the Hippo House, each of them holding one child. They reached the entrance of Dolphin Auditorium just as the rain became heavier.

Sheltered inside Theodore’s arms and covered by his coat, Adrienne poked her head out and sighed, “What heavy rain!”

Everleigh quickly took some tissue paper out from her bag and passed it to Theodore. “Use it. You’re all wet.”

Rain had drenched Theodore’s once clean and neat hair. He casually brushed off the raindrops off his chin with his own handkerchief and asked, “What are you talking about?”

Everleigh shook her head. “No, it’s nothing. I mean, it’s a good thing that I had an umbrella with me. Alastair and I didn’t get too wet.”

The umbrella she’d brought with her was only big enough to cover her and Alastair.

Adrienne hid her neck in Theodore’s suit, revealing a small hand holding the edge of the suit. She smiled and said, “Mommy, I have an umbrella too. I’m not wet!”

Everleigh glared at her and said, “It’s all because of you. If you didn’t insist on coming here, Theodore wouldn’t get wet like he is now.”

“It’s just a little rain.” Adrienne stuck out her tongue, as if she was not afraid of anything.

“Let’s go.” Theodore’s voice came from beside Everleigh.

Everleigh felt she heard something uncanny from Theodore’s voice. Was he upset?

Or was it because he got wet from the rain?

Dolphin Auditorium was the biggest indoor auditorium at the zoo. Due to the rain, the place was crowded with visitors. They had stopped at the place to watch the show while waiting for the rain to stop.

However, the rain showed no sign of stopping. Everleigh, Theodore and the children would not be able to leave anytime soon. Adrienne stayed inside Theodore’s arms tightly and refused to let him go; she ended up falling asleep halfway through the show.

“Let me carry her. You’ve been carrying her the whole day.” Everleigh felt a stab of guilt as she looked at Adrienne scooped up in Theodore’s embrace.

Theodore’s expression was indifferent. “It’s fine. This rain isn’t going away anytime soon.”

Adrienne’s sleep was peaceful and her feather-like eyelashes moved slightly. She looked like she was having a beautiful dream, as evident from her pouting lips. She even mumbled the word “Daddy” while holding tightly at Theodore’s collar.

Theodore held up his suit to cover Adrienne so that she was not exposed to the wind.

Summer storms were quick to arrive and leave, but that day, the rain just refused to stop. The dark clouds above Ocpeace City were not showing any signs of leaving.

It was almost evening. A white Porsche was dashing through the street, its wipers working hard to clear the windshield from the rainwater, but to no avail. The storm was just too ferocious. The car gradually slowed down in order to avoid any undesirable consequences.

Reflected in the rearview mirror was a woman’s face. It looked somehow gloomier than the sky.

A “ding” sound informed the passenger sitting in the passenger seat that she had just received a message.

Josephine swiped the screen of her phone. Her fingers tightened around the phone the moment she lay her eyes on the pictures displayed on the screen. Her grip was so tight that she looked like she was plunging her fingers into the screen. Her eyes no longer looked calm and gentle like they usually would.

“Miss, it’s raining very heavily. I think the place will be closed by the time we arrive, so are we still going there?”

The driver’s nervous voice came from the driver seat.

Josephine pursed her lips and said after a while, “No.”

The driver breathed a sigh of relief. “Then I’ll send you home.”

“No,” Josephine held her cell phone tightly and said, “Bring me to Godfrey Mansion at Woodland Street.”

The driver was stunned for a moment but didn’t dare to probe further. “Yes.”

Droplets of the heavy rain made loud noise as they came crashing against the car windows. No matter how good the car was at filtering out the noise, it was still very audible. It had been too quiet inside the car.

After giving orders to the driver, Josephine made a call. Her voice changed into an enthusiastic tone, the one she would use whenever she talked to people, and said, “Mrs. Andrews, it’s me, Josephine.”

…

“How are you doing? We haven’t contacted each other for so long, have we? I recall you mentioning something about coffee the last time we met and my cousin just so happened to bring back some excellent coffee beans. Perhaps I could ask you out for evening tea?”

…

“No, I’m not busy. What is there to be busy with? It’s a wedding! Everyone else is busy with it except me.”

…

“By the way, how is Mr. Andrews doing lately? I’m sure the Ministry of Education must be bustling with work right now! I know I haven’t thanked you for your help last time, but I need to ask for a favor again.”

…

“Not, not me. I have a friend who’s just returned from studying abroad. She has two children who are in the midst of transferring to schools in Ocpeace City. I just want to know how complicated the procedure is.”

…

“Okay, let’s talk about it when we meet. Oh, it’s not an urgent matter. I’ll make sure to brew up two cups of quality coffee for you and your husband. Consider them a compensation.”

When the call ended, the screen quickly changed its display to show a picture depicting a happy family of four.

Inside the picture, the man of the family looked happy, as evident from his expression. However, Josephine’s impression turned gloomy just as soon as she noticed him.