Editor: Henyee Translations
Director Miller subconsciously asked, "Mrs. Sloan, what do you think we should do about this..." Should he kick Noelle out?
Before he could finish the second half of his sentence, Estelle curled her lips with interest. "Let’s see what Nathaniel wants."
Director Miller turned to look at Nathaniel, who furrowed his brows slightly.
"Nathaniel, why didn’t you wait for me!"
Right then, a coquettish female voice drifted into the office. Noelle, dressed in an exquisite dress, walked in gracefully. Upon seeing Director Miller, she broke into a wide smile. "Hello, Director Miller. I’m the child’s mother. I came specifically to accompany him for registration, but I didn’t expect to be late. I’m so sorry."
Noelle walked to Nathaniel’s side, acting as if they were truly a married couple. "Nathaniel, have you finished the enrollment procedures? Did you explain Christian’s situation to the director?"
Director Miller frowned, not understanding how the mistress could be so arrogant right in front of the lawful wife.
Eager to show off, Noelle didn’t notice the director’s expression at all. She spoke hypocritically, "Director Miller, I’ll have to trouble you to help take care of Christian from now on. Please don’t mind me talking too much; Christian’s health isn’t very good, and I’m just worried about him. Nathaniel is usually busy with his career, so I raised Christian all by myself. He’s used to staying by my side. If it weren’t for the fact that we wanted him to be more independent, we couldn’t bear to send him to kindergarten..."
The surroundings instantly fell silent. Everyone stared at Noelle.
Belatedly sensing that something was wrong, Noelle maintained her sweet smile. "Christian, come to Mommy..."
Before she could finish, Noelle suddenly caught sight of Estelle. Her gentle expression almost cracked as she blurted out, "Why are you here!"
Realizing she was too agitated, she quickly reverted to her fake gentleness. "I mean, I didn’t expect to see Dr. Lockwood here. What a coincidence. Nathaniel, did you bring Dr. Lockwood here? Nathaniel, really, why trouble Dr. Lockwood with our family affairs?"
Assuming the posture of a hostess, Noelle turned to Estelle. "Dr. Lockwood, there’s nothing else for you to do here. You can leave now..."
"Miss Noelle, don’t you feel guilty saying that!" Director Miller interrupted, unable to tolerate it any longer. "A married couple is here accompanying their children to register for kindergarten. Is it your place to make irresponsible remarks?! Who do you think you are!"
Noelle’s face stiffened. "Director Miller, what are you talking about? I don’t understand..."
"Aunt Noelle doesn’t understand? But even Mia understands it." Mia tilted her head, adorably exposing her lie. "My daddy is here, so of course my mommy is here too! Mommy brought us to register. Why would you call Mommy an outsider?
"Mr. Miller, Mia is still little and doesn’t quite understand. Why is Aunt Noelle, someone who isn’t related to us by blood, pretending to be our mommy, while our real mommy is treated like an outsider?"
Director Miller’s heart melted, and he softened his tone. "Mia, you don’t need to pay attention to her. Some people just like to destroy other people’s families."
Noelle’s mind buzzed. What did he mean? Was Director Miller saying that Yara was Mrs. Sloan? No, that position belonged to her!
"Director Miller, you’ve misunderstood. Yara is our family doctor. I am..."
"Honey, aren’t you going to say something?" Estelle suddenly interrupted. Her eyebrows were slightly raised, her eyes captivating. As if she had thought of something interesting, she naturally linked her arm through Nathaniel’s. Parting her red lips, she smiled at Noelle and said, "Miss Lockwood, I know you like Nathaniel, but you can’t just fantasize about being his wife. Isn’t that delusional?"
Nathaniel shot a burning gaze at Estelle. The latter was not afraid in the slightest. She met his eyes and even provoked him with a raised brow.
Estelle remembered that seven years ago, not long after she and Nathaniel had gotten married, she saw him outside a restaurant. She went in to look for him, only to be stopped by a waiter. Estelle explained that she was Nathaniel’s wife and wanted to go home with him.
Then, her good sister Noelle stepped out from behind a folding screen. Standing beside Nathaniel, in front of the business partners and the waiter, she said helplessly, "Estelle, why are you calling Nathaniel your husband? Acting like this, people will think you’re a scammer trying to extort us."
Nathaniel was busy talking with his partners and didn’t have time to explain things for Estelle. As Noelle drove her out, she apologized to the partners, "I’m sorry. My sister has a crush on Nathaniel, so she’s always fantasizing about marrying him. Please excuse the embarrassment."
Pulling her thoughts back to the present, Estelle stared straight at Nathaniel, waiting to see what he would say.
Nathaniel withdrew his gaze and let it fall back onto Noelle’s face. "Go back," he said coldly.
"Nathaniel, you can’t do this..." Noelle bit her lower lip tightly, crying a river of tears. "I am Christian’s mother. Dr. Lockwood is up to no good. Who knows, maybe she’s currying favor with Christian just to..."
"Enough!" an angry male voice interrupted Noelle’s tearful accusations.
Today was the first day of kindergarten registration. Many parents had brought their children and witnessed the entire scene. Finally, one of the parents couldn’t hold back anymore and reprimanded Noelle.
"How can you be so shameless? With so many children in the kindergarten, you, a mistress, barge in here to cause a scene. Who are you trying to show off to?"
"Exactly. Aren’t you setting a bad example for the children?"
"The child is registering, and his married parents are accompanying him. Why does a mistress like you need to worry about it?"
After all, the affairs between Nathaniel and Noelle only circulated among the upper echelons of society. Although this was an elite kindergarten with many wealthy families, not everyone belonged to that specific social class, so it was perfectly normal for them not to know the details.
Director Miller’s face darkened. "Miss Lockwood, if you don’t leave right now, I’ll call security. If this blows up, let’s see who will lose more face!"
Noelle’s small face was covered in tears, making her look frail and helpless. "Dr. Lockwood, you’re too ruthless. I can’t compete with you... Fine, I’ll leave..."
With that, she turned and ran out, looking like the victim of severe bullying. She ran quite a distance, yet she didn’t see Nathaniel chasing after her to coax her as he usually did. She viciously threw her bag onto the ground, mentally grinding her back teeth to dust a thousand times over. "Yara, whether you’re that bitch Estelle or not, since you dared to treat me like this, just you wait!"
Seeing this, Estelle leaned close to Nathaniel’s ear and whispered, "Mr. Sloan, I pissed off your little lover and made her run away. Aren’t you going to go coax her?"
Nathaniel’s gaze was dark. "Dr. Lockwood is truly thick-skinned. You’ve given me quite the surprise." He couldn’t believe she could toss around the word ’honey’ so effortlessly.
Estelle nodded naturally. "I’m flattered. I have many virtues, and you’ll have plenty more surprises in the future."
"Mr. Sloan, Mrs. Sloan, we have a photo event today. Would you two like to participate?" Now that Noelle was gone, Director Miller put on a smiling face again. "We take photos of the parents and children, print them out, and hang them on the wall as a memento. You two are a perfect match, and the three children are handsome, cool, and adorable. I’ll make sure to put your photo right in the center!"
Nathaniel furrowed his brows slightly. Before he could speak, Christian nodded vigorously. He desperately wanted a group photo with his younger siblings and his parents. Even though he didn’t know why his mother and siblings refused to acknowledge his daddy, he believed that their family would be as happy in the future as they were today!
"Yes, I want to take a photo!"
"Daddy, just say yes."
"It’s your honor to take a photo with a woman as beautiful, generous, gentle, and kind as Mommy!"