Charlotte Thompson’s heart skipped a beat, listening to Annie Anne’s almost uncontrollable voice on the other end of the phone, she couldn’t describe what she was feeling.
She turned off the stove, listening to the faint bubbling sound coming from the pot, and closed her eyes.
Annie Anne had just woken up and was undoubtedly shifting between lucidity and confusion. Seeing Olivia Thompson now might frighten her.
But Annie Anne couldn’t calm down at all, Charlotte felt a bit of a headache and pulled over a chair to sit down.
Where was Oliver Hudson? With Annie Anne being this out of control, why hadn’t she heard him say anything?
Suppressing the urge to curse at Oliver Hudson, Charlotte heard Annie Anne’s intermittent voice through the receiver.
"Charlotte, I want to see Annie. I miss her so much."
Then, she began to neurotically murmur Olivia Thompson’s name.
Before Charlotte could respond, she heard a man’s voice on the other end of the line. He seemed to sigh, then started to patiently comfort her.
Even through the phone, she could hear the regret and guilt in Oliver Hudson’s voice.
Charlotte expelled a mouthful of turbid air, confirming that the speaker was indeed Oliver Hudson, before she stopped cursing him in her heart.
Seemingly hearing the helplessness in her tone over the phone, Oliver put down the cup in his hand and walked towards the kitchen.
In the kitchen, Charlotte stood with her back to the door, silent for a while, before she finally addressed Oliver, who had taken Annie’s phone from her.
"You have to calm her down first, I will bring Annie over in a while."
On the other side, Oliver walked toward the window sill with the phone, nodded gratefully at her words, and said, "Thank you."
Charlotte gave a slight nod, then quickly hung up the phone.
"Was that King Samuel?"
Hearing that, Charlotte turned her head and saw Henry Hudson standing in the kitchen doorway.
She paused slightly, then sighed, "Yes, Annie has woken up."
"That’s a good thing." Henry glanced at the half-cooked noodles, then said, "If you have something to do, go ahead. Leave this to me."
As his words fell, there was some guilt in Charlotte’s eyes, but her tone was surprisingly, "You know how to cook?"
Henry quickly strode over, picked up the noodles on the table, and laughed, "Cooking noodles is much easier than handling company affairs. Don’t worry."
Only then did Charlotte nod in relief. She picked up her bag and prepared to leave, and after a moment of thought, she said, "Then I’ll go first, I’ll make it up to you next time."
As she spoke, Henry continued to cook the noodles and responded with a laugh, "I’m honored."
After leaving Henry Hudson’s apartment, Charlotte drove straight to the kindergarten without a break. It was currently class time, she found Olivia’s classroom, briefly explained the situation to the teacher, and was then able to take Olivia out with a leave slip.
She held Olivia’s hand, clearly feeling the girl’s moist palm.
As she walked, she turned her head and asked.
"Annie, are you very nervous?"
A rare mix of surprise and fear appeared on Olivia’s face. She tightened her grip on Charlotte’s hand and then nodded shyly.
Charlotte’s heart was filled with mixed feelings.
She stopped, squatted down to Olivia’s eye level, and said, "Annie is a brave big girl now, so you need to be brave when you see mommy later."
She raised her hand and gently ruffled Olivia’s soft hair, straining to muster a smile.
She never expected that one day she would have to take the child she had raised to see her biological mother.