Andrew carried Ashley like she was something delicate. Ashley herself was reeling at Andrew's words.
Soon enough, however, she came to her senses.
She understood what Andrew meant with those words.
The corners of her mouth twitched. She secretly looked at Andrew from the corner of her eye and helplessly placed a hand on her forehead. Could he stop being like this?
Ashley sat on Andrew's lap, only a few feet away from Cayn.
"Andy, what are you doing?" Ashley whispered harshly into Andrew's ear.
Without answering her question, Andrew glanced at Fabio.
At that moment, Chant was also speechless, shocked by Andrew's actions.
Fabio curled his lips in aggravation.
Even Ashley thought even though they had just sat down together for a meal, the situation was not doing Fabio any good. What was wrong?
"Andy, stop it," Ashley told Andrew under her breath.
Andrew looked back at Ashley, his eyes brimming with cold disappointment.
Ashley thought that if they continued at this rate, Andrew would just leave without saying a word, with or without her.
Ashley was dumbfounded.
Even Chant could not say a single word.
Ashley had to ask Fabio to move to the side. "Fabio, be good, okay?" Ashley said in a soft voice as she winked at him.
Compared with the stiff, cold words Andrew had thrown at Fabio, Ashley's words were like a warm, soothing balm.
Despite his unwillingness, Fabio still moved to the side so that Cayn could sit next to him.
Richard also silently moved one space sideward.
Ashley saw them move and finally felt relieved.
It had been rare to get them to have a meal together.
Ashley returned to her seat.
The dishes in front of Ashley were different from the rest on the table.
Given her pregnancy, she could not eat a lot of foods that were considered hazardous to the baby.
Ashley was about to pick up a piece of vegetable to put on Dany's bowl when a faster pair of chopsticks suddenly beat her to it.
It was Cayn who had picked up a piece of braised pork rib and put it in Dany's bowl.
"Here you go Dany, you'll like it!" Cayn said gently.
"Thank you, Daddy!"
Dany said obediently.
"You're welcome, Dany. Now eat,"
Cayn responded as he affectionately rubbed Dany's head.
"Dany, eat some vegetables, too," Ashley gently admonished. "Don't just eat meat, or you will not grow tall." She picked up some vegetables and placed them into Dany's bowl.
"Yes, thank you, Mommy. I got it."
"Good girl!"
Ashley leaned back, satisfied.
Although Fabio and Richard were seated a little far away from Ashley, she still did not forget them.
Ashley told them to go ahead and eat whatever they wanted.
The meal went smoothly after that.
What Ashley didn't know while she was away, was that when Dany stayed in the Lu family villa, Cayn would visit whenever he had the time.
It was almost as if Cayn regarded it as his own home.
Of course, that would be a story for later.
After dinner, Cayn played with Dany for a while and eventually left.
Seeing that annoying man finally go, Richard and Fabio were relieved.
Dany never paid attention to them whenever Cayn was with her.
That was why the two of them disliked Cayn.
They thought that Cayn always stole Dany's attention and time.
Although the kids were independent enough to wash their faces and brush their teeth on their own before going to bed, Ashley still worried about them and usually fussed around before going back to her own bedroom.
"Where are you going?"
Andrew asked, stopping Ashley just as she was about to step out of the room.
"I'm going to see Dany and the boys. I'll be back soon," said Ashley.
Ashley knew how mean Andrew could be.
He was a very jealous man.
"How about you come with me?" Ashley suggested, apprehensive if Andrew would agree or not.
Ashley knew that it was a good idea for Andrew to spend some time with the kids and possibly bond with them.
However, Ashley did not know that it was impossible.
Andrew feared that the children would hog Ashley's attention and make her spend all of her time with them.
That was why Andrew did not like children.
All along, he thought that Ashley needed no one else but him. Why would she go and see anyone else?
It did not matter to him that those people were his own children.
"Let's go together. Fabio would be very glad to see you," Ashley said as she tugged at Andrew's hand and dragged him out of the room.
Andrew finally let himself be pulled and followed behind her.
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