The Man Who Ruined My 22nd, the Customer Who Wanted a Steamed Bun Chapter 10

The Man Who Ruined My 22nd, the Customer Who Wanted a Steamed Bun Chapter 10

A man walked in with steady steps.

Maisie could not hold herself back anymore. She burst into tears and ran straight to him.

“Daddy!”

Wesley Cole scooped up her daughter into his arms, wiping her tear-stained face with one broad hand.

He walked over to me, his calm presence instantly anchoring the room, and gently but firmly eased the heavy cleaver out of my white-knuckled grip, setting it back on the counter.

My heart was still pounding wildly.

He did not say a word at first, only cupping my pale, trembling cheek with heartbreaking gentleness.

He stroked my face until my breathing finally slowed, then murmured, “Elena, look at me. I’m here. I’ve got this.”

Then he set Maisie down beside me.

“Maisie, Mommy’s a little shaken up. Can you hold her hand and help Daddy look after her for a minute?”

Maisie nodded.

A small, warm hand slipped into my palm and gave it a squeeze.

My heart slowly settled too.

Wesley took two steps forward and stood in front of me.

He looked straight into Vivienne’s eyes.

Calmly, unhurriedly, he said, “Viv. It’s been years. You’ve changed a lot. Too bad your memory seems to have gotten worse too. Do you remember me?”

Vivienne froze.

Her mind had just been truly frightened, and her reaction was painfully slow.

She stared at Wesley for a long time.

Only then did her expression change.

She suddenly took half a step back.

“You’re… you’re Wes?”

Everyone in the shop froze.

Even I had never heard Wesley mention that he and Vivienne had shared a past.

Wesley flat and unyielding.

“Back in the orphanage, you weren’t this vicious. What exactly did money do to you?”

I looked at Wesley’s back, and countless pieces suddenly connected.

Wesley had no parents either, but he had always been the older-brother figure among a large group of kids.

So he had grown up in foster care too.