Putting down the newspaper, Oliver Shaw got up and walked upstairs. Vanessa Armstrong was unwilling to give up custody of Seraphina, and he didn’t want to insist either. If he kept his daughter by his side, seeing her every day would only remind him of her unfaithful mother!
Now retired, there wasn’t much work to do in the study, so he went directly into one of the guest rooms. It was the room that Melody Zachary used to stay in before she left. Ever since he discovered Vanessa Armstrong’s affair with his employee, he hadn’t slept in that bed. These days, he was contacting workers to redecorate the room.
Fully clothed, he lay on the bed and closed his eyes. Although he was determined not to see Vanessa Armstrong and her daughter again, the child was still his biological offspring. Moreover, such a young child didn’t understand many things.
Outside the main door, Seraphina Shaw was still crying and shouting, shaking the door and calling out "Daddy." Vanessa Armstrong squatted beside her daughter, clutching the railing and crying inside, saying, "Honey, I was wrong..."
The sky gradually darkened, but the villa’s gate remained tightly closed. Seraphina Shaw had cried herself hoarse, clutching the railing while silently shedding tears as she watched the courtyard. Vanessa Armstrong stood up, held her daughter’s hand, and said, "Let’s go, Seraphina, let’s leave."
Seraphina was unwilling to move, clinging to the gate’s railing, refusing to let go.
"Good girl, let’s go back. Daddy won’t open the door."
Vanessa Armstrong wiped her eyes with her hand, sniffled, and forcibly pried her daughter’s fingers away. Just as she lifted her up, Seraphina turned and ran back, grabbing the railing again and calling out "Daddy..."
"Seraphina Shaw! Get up! Your dad doesn’t want you! Do you hear me?" Her daughter’s stubbornness made Vanessa Armstrong angry. She seized her daughter’s body, trying to drag her away. Seraphina’s cries rose again, her hoarse voice far off, heart-wrenching, "Daddy... Come save Seraphina... Daddy..."
"Are you leaving or not! Why don’t you listen!" Seeing her daughter still clinging to the railing, Vanessa Armstrong started hitting her, venting her frustration on Seraphina.
"Enough!" A stern shout rang out. No one knew when Oliver Shaw stepped out of the villa; he stood with his hands behind his back in front of the villa door. The chandelier light spilled from behind him, and his silhouette appeared even more cold and intimidating, matching his current expression, "Leave Seraphina here and you go!"
"Honey!" Letting go of her daughter, Vanessa Armstrong suddenly kneeled at the gate, clutching the railing and crying, pleading, "Please forgive me this once. I’ll never dare again..."
"Forgive?" Oliver Shaw coldly repeated and then let out a snort, "Like a leopard never changing its spots! Who knows how many times you’ve made a fool of me over the years!"
"No, honey, really no one else, besides Phillip the assistant, I never had another man!" Vanessa Armstrong hastily explained. "It was him; he seduced me. I was momentarily confused and fell for his trick..."
Oliver Shaw wasn’t interested in hearing her explanations anymore. He turned around and coldly instructed, "Aunt Xu, bring Seraphina inside and send everyone else away!"
Seraphina was still holding onto the gate’s railing, looking at her father while crying and calling out "Daddy." Aunt Xu came out with a key, opened the iron gate, grabbed Seraphina’s wrist, and pulled her inside. She locked the gate again right in front of Vanessa Armstrong.
"Daddy, why won’t you let Mommy in?" Seraphina, led by Aunt Xu, glanced at her mother who was still kneeling outside the gate, her lips trembling. The sight of the seven-year-old’s pitiful demeanor tugged at the heartstrings.