The Comments Said My Dead Officer Husband Had Returned Chapter 02

The Comments Said My Dead Officer Husband Had Returned Chapter 02

[Here it comes. The classic interrogation. Madeline will cry and say, “They’re yours,” and Elias will go all cold and say, “I don’t believe you.” Same old story.]

[Madeline is kind of pitiful. She came all this way with two kids and Elias won’t even claim them.]

[That’s what she gets for being a side character. Someone like Celeste is meant to be Celeste. Look how elegant Celeste looks standing there. That’s first lady material.]

I stared at the words, shaking with rage.

“Are you out of your mind? After thinking for so long, all you can come up with is an insult to humiliate me?”

I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly out of anger.

Celeste walked over.

She stood behind Elias, her voice soft and sweet. “Colonel Wellington, please don’t be upset. We need to get to the bottom of this. You can’t be too careful when it comes to children.”

Every word suggested the kids were illegitimate.

Before I could open my mouth, Ava suddenly let go of me and reached up toward Elias with both hands. “Up! Up!”

Elias watched her little body leaning out into thin air, then stiffly took the kid and looked down at her.

Ava sat in his arms, gazing up at his face, then turned to look at Celeste.

“This lady’s eyes are so wide,” Ava said in her tiny voice. “So scary.”

Celeste’s smile froze for a second.

Her eyes got red. “Sweetheart, you’ve misunderstood. I’m just concerned about you…”

[Celeste is so sweet. She didn’t even get mad when the kid said that.]

[Why is this kid like this? Celeste was just being so nice to her.]

Ava got scared and shrank back into Elias’s chest, her little fingers gripping his collar.

I took Ava back.

I held one child by the left hand and carried the other in my right arm.

I ignored Celeste, who was crying by now, and turned around to leave.

“Mommy,” Jayden looked up at me. “Aren’t we going to find Daddy anymore?”

“He’s not your father.”

“Then why does he look just like me?”

I said nothing and quickened my pace.

Footsteps came from behind.

Elias caught up and grabbed my sleeve. “Stay for now.”

I didn’t turn around. “You think you can just tell me to stay? Who do you think you are?”

He didn’t let go.

“The kids…” His voice was low, like it was being pushed out of his throat. “It’s too tough traveling around with them. You all stay here first.”

I laughed coldly and shook off his hand, but my heels stayed stuck to the ground.

The kids were truly worn out.

Ava was passed out on my shoulder, barely able to keep her eyes open.

Jayden was still trying to keep his back straight, but his little legs were shaking.

Elias turned and walked toward the motel. I gritted my teeth and followed.

Nobody said anything the whole way.

He walked ahead, carrying Ava—I couldn’t remember when he’d taken her back from me.

Jayden held my hand and looked up at Elias’s back. “Mommy,” he said quietly, “this man has really wide shoulders.”

I didn’t answer.

While going through the accommodation formalities, the staff glanced at Elias, then looked over at the kids and me with an awkward expression. “Colonel Wellington, um… how should I arrange the rooms?”

“Get a two-bedroom unit,” he replied plainly.

The clerk bowed his head to fill out the form and asked no more questions.

I stood silently aside the whole time. The room was on the second floor with two bedrooms. It was nothing grand, yet far brighter than my shabby old house back in the countryside. The walls had just been freshly whitewashed, though dust still settled on the tables and chairs.

Elias put the kids on the bed and left.

Ten minutes later, he came back with a bag of formula, a packet of candies, and a few apples.

[Elias’s sense of responsibility is pretty strong. But toward Madeline, it’s probably just guilt.]

[They are his kids after all; he’s never been the heartless type. Romantic feelings are a whole different story.]

I looked at that bag of formula. My feelings were all twisted up.

It wasn’t touching, but sheer pent-up frustration.

“I’ll stay in the barracks,” he said, lingering by the doorway without stepping inside.

I glanced at him and snorted, “Where you stay is none of my business. You’ve already got someone new, I don’t care about that, but you have to raise the children. Make up for everything you owe us these past three years, little by little.”

He didn’t argue. Didn’t explain. He just pulled out his wallet from the inside pocket of his uniform and took out all the cash, setting it on the table.

A thick stack. His monthly salary.

Jayden stood at the door, his face pressed against the frame, watching Elias’s back.

Then he turned to me. “Mommy, does he hate us?”

I walked over and closed the door.

“No.”

“Then why won’t he stay with us?”

“Never mind him.”

Late at night, both kids were asleep. I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at that bag of formula on the table.

Soft footsteps echoed along the corridor outside the window. Someone paced over, paused for a while, then walked away again. This went on time and again.

I couldn’t be bothered to open the door.