The three children glanced at one another. Kane had already started sobbing. Rai’s eyes were red, and he looked like he was about to cry. Only Stephanie remained composed.
"I want to stay," she said.
There was no way she was going to leave Daniel, especially after he risked his life to steal the antidote for Chantelle. If Daniel found out Chantelle had walked away, he might just lose all hope to live.
She knew her mother well. If she and Kane chose not to leave, Chantelle would stay too.
And if that happened, Stephanie was ready to help Daniel and Chantelle to get back together.
Daniel had been willing to risk his life for her mom. To Stephanie, that made him the right man for her.
"Stephanie? Have you made up your mind?"
Chantelle’s face turned pale. She was scared that none of the kids wanted to go with her.
"I’m sorry, Mommy. I’ve already made up my mind," Stephanie said carefully, trying not to hurt her mother’s feelings.
"Stephanie..." Chantelle wanted to convince her to change her mind, but she didn’t know how. She couldn’t speak badly about their father, and she didn’t want to force them to go with her.
Kane could tell their mom was about to cry. He said, "Mommy, I..."
He wanted to go with her, so she wouldn’t be sad.
But before he could finish, Stephanie quickly covered his mouth with her hand and made a slicing motion across her neck with the other.
Kane shivered and whispered, "Mommy... I’m sorry."
"Rai...?" Chantelle turned to her last hope.
But there was only silence.
"Mommy, you should stay too. There’s plenty of fish in the sea," Stephanie said, repeating a line she had picked up from one of her scripts.
Chantelle gave a weak smile and shook her head. Deep down, she started to wonder if she had failed as a mother. The kids had only known Daniel for a few months, but now, they were all on his side.
Her chest rose and fell as she tried to calm herself down. It took a while before she could breathe normally again.
"Mommy, why don’t you try falling in love again? You’ll feel happy when you have someone who loves you," Stephanie said, trying to comfort her.
Stephanie might seem cold on the outside, but deep down, she was scared of seeing her mom sad.
Just thinking about her mom tearing up on the other end of the call made her eyes sting too.
But she couldn’t cry now. If she did, Kane would cry as well. And if that happened, their mom might show up at the villa and take them away.
"I see, I understand. Thank you, my dear Stephanie. I’ll always love you, no matter where you are. If you ever miss me, you can call me anytime," Chantelle said, then quickly ended the call.
She didn’t want her kids to hear her cry.
If they didn’t want to leave with her, she couldn’t bring herself to go without them.
She had to find a way to talk with them about custody. If they really wanted to stay with Daniel, she needed to know how he planned to take care of them.
After calming down in the car, Chantelle started the engine and drove away.
As she was leaving the villa, she noticed a car coming her way. When they passed each other, she saw that the driver was Natalia.
Jealousy crept into her chest.
She took a few deep breaths to suppress her emotions, then called Thea. "Wanna meet up and drink?"
"Send me the location," Thea said. She could tell something was wrong with Chantelle.
Chantelle sent her the address of the bar she often went to. She got there first and ordered a drink for herself.
While she was chugging another bottle of beer, someone suddenly took it from her.
"You’ll get drunk easily if you keep drinking like that."
Her vision was already blurry, and everything looked doubled. She squinted, trying to focus, and finally recognized the man standing in front of her.
"It’s you, Oscar. Your next drink is on me," Chantelle said, snapping her fingers to get the bartender’s attention.
Oscar glanced at the table. "That’s a lot of bottles. Got something on your mind?"
Oscar secretly switched Chantelle’s bottle with one filled with plain water, making sure she didn’t notice.
Chantelle didn’t taste the difference. Her tongue was already numb from drinking too much. She gave a wide smile and said, "Nothing’s on my mind. What could be on my mind? I’m happy, so happy there’s nothing on my mind. I’m alone now. I’m finally free! I’m happy!"
By the time Thea came to the bar, Chantelle was already completely drunk. Oscar was beside her, trying to take care of her, while some people nearby were taking pictures with their phones.
Thea rushed over and held Chantelle in her arms. "Why did she drink so much?" she asked Oscar.
"She didn’t say a word, even after all that alcohol," Oscar replied, shaking his head. Still, there was a tenderness in his eyes as he looked at Chantelle.
Thea noticed that look. It gave her chills, and she quickly lifted Chantelle into her arms.
However, Chantelle was a bit taller, and it wasn’t easy for Thea to carry her.
Some of the onlookers went up to Thea and started bombarding her with questions.
"Is Ms. Bently drinking because Mr. Wilson ditched her?"
"Who’s that guy over there?"
They wanted to ask Oscar, but his commanding presence and cold stare scared them away. They didn’t dare go near him, so they kept crowding around Thea instead.
"Make way!" Thea warned them impatiently.
Chantelle looked like she was about to throw up, but the crowd still wouldn’t move.
Just as Thea was about to scream in frustration, Oscar stepped over, picked Chantelle up in a bridal carry, and walked straight through the crowd.
Wow, he actually looked pretty cool.
Thea was about to follow him, but then she saw Ashton waving at her. She looked at Oscar with hesitation, told him to wait for her at the entrance, and went to Ashton.
Oscar nodded and kept walking outside with Chantelle in his arms. But just as he reached the door, he ran into Camille.
She clenched her teeth the moment she saw Oscar holding Chantelle.
Oscar shot her a cold glare, warning her to shut her mouth. That only made her angrier.