"Okay."
Ashley was happy to see her children getting along really well.
Her heart felt full. Although Richard was not her biological son, he could not have been more dear to her than if he had actually come from her.
The three children talked in low voices. They were also clumped together, so no one at the table heard what they were talking about.
Ashley could only see them whispering to each other.
After dinner, the servants cleared the table as Ashley and the others settled on the sofa.
They were watching TV together when, suddenly, the whole villa was plunged into darkness.
"Ah!"
Some of the more timid house staff could not hold back their screams.
"Is the electricity off? "How could there be a power outage?
"How could there be a sudden blackout in the villa?" the servants whispered among themselves.
Ashley was also a little scared, but she calmed down at the thought of Andrew by her side.
Suddenly, she remembered, 'My children!
Where are my children right now?' Ashley started panicking.
"Richard, Dany, Fabio, where are you?" Ashley called out in a loud voice.
However, no one answered.
It was dark everywhere, so Ashley started feeling more and more terrified. She held Andrew's hand and asked, "Andy, where are the children? Do you know where they are?"
"It's okay. Don't worry! They're all inside the house. Take it easy," Andrew comforted her.
Suddenly, Ashley noticed a faint light and some noise from a short distance. She looked up and tried to focus.
"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!"
The faint light got closer and closer, and Ashley could now see it more clearly.
She heard the voices of her children singing the birthday song. The way they sang it was so lovely that it melted the hearts of anyone within hearing distance.
Stunned, Ashley could only gape at the children as they approached her.
Finally, they stopped in front of her and said aloud, "Happy Birthday, Mommy!" The three kids expressed their greetings in unison. Unconsciously, Ashley brought up a hand to cover her mouth and looked at them, emotions swimming in her eyes. She could not come to herself until sometime later.
"Mommy, blow the candles and make a wish!" Dany said excitedly as she walked up to Ashley, grabbing her sleeve.
"Yes, Mommy, make a wish!"
"Mommy, make a wish!"
Richard and Fabio also urged her.
"Okay! I'll make a wish!"
Ashley said, standing up. She looked at the lighted candles on the cake in front of her, closed her eyes to make her wish, and blew them out.
"Yeah!"
The three children cheered. At that moment, the light was turned back on.
It was like the blackout from before never happened.
However, the cake and candles in front of Ashley told her that it was all too real.
The sudden light in the room made Ashley squint.
When she opened her eyes, she saw her three children standing in front of her. Behind them stood Linda and the other servants who all said aloud to Ashley, "Happy birthday, my lady!"
These were the servants who were brought here by Chant back then.
Chant understood Andrew fairly well. He knew that Andrew would never employ any servants in his home.
After all, Andrew valued his solitude.
These servants had worked for Chant for a long time.
"Thank you!"
Ashley replied, her eyes shining.
Even so, she was still confused. Was today her birthday?
"Mommy! Did you forget that today is your birthday?" Fabio asked when he saw the puzzlement on Ashley's face.
"Mommy, you haven't celebrated your birthday for a long time. Now, we're celebrating it." Dany reminded her.
The kids were so good now. It was Ashley's birthday, and they found out about it when she mentioned once that she didn't have the time to celebrate it, back in M Country.
Back then, she was too busy with company affairs that she seldom celebrated her birthday. She had forgotten her own, but never the birthdays of Fabio and Richard.
No matter how busy she became, they celebrated those special days without fail.
Now, listening to their words, Ashley couldn't say anything else.
"Thank you, my babies. I love you all!" Ashley said to her three children.
It wasn't a lie. She had indeed forgotten her own birthday.
She had never celebrated it when she lived in M Country because of her busy schedule. She eventually forgot to celebrate it ever.
She never thought that her own kids would be the ones reminding her of it.
The warmth in her heart was about to overflow.
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