Bride behind the mask novel (Marguerite) novel Chapter 892

Marguerite sat frozen, caught completely off guard.

She’d brought Hayes along on this overnight field trip mostly to avoid running into Silas at the office. The last thing she wanted was to see him outside of work. But, of course, fate had other plans—the more she tried to steer clear of him, the more he seemed to show up.

She never imagined Silas would turn up, daughter in tow, at the very same event.

Now, with just a handful of families signed up and plenty of empty seats on the bus, Marguerite was trapped in a two-day, one-night ordeal where avoiding him would be impossible. She could already feel the awkwardness looming.

Naturally, she’d hoped to put as much distance between them as possible. But Margot, ever the little matchmaker, had gone ahead and saved them seats right next to Silas’s row.

There was no way Marguerite could reject the sweet gesture, so she took Hayes by the hand and sat down right across the aisle from Silas.

She felt like she was sitting on pins and needles; her nerves fluttered in her chest. Silas, on the other hand, looked completely unbothered. He wore his usual black face mask and a pair of earbuds, gazing out the window as if Marguerite didn’t exist.

Marguerite let out a long sigh, wishing this trip would just speed by.

She settled by the window and closed her eyes, pretending to rest, though sleep was impossible. Instead, she kept her ears tuned to the voices of the children beside her.

She listened as Hayes and Margot launched into an animated discussion about a cartoon, soon joined by another little girl. It became clear that the new girl had a bit of a crush on Hayes—she kept trying to join the conversation, but Hayes only had eyes for Margot.

What a strange little love triangle, Marguerite thought, amused by her own thoughts. The sum of their ages barely reached ten, and here she was, torn between which pairing to root for.

Suddenly, someone tapped her on the shoulder. Marguerite opened her eyes to see a girl as pretty as a porcelain doll—big brown eyes, dark curls, and an innocence that made her seem even younger.

“Hayes’s mom, I’ve seen you before,” the little girl said.

Marguerite couldn’t help but smile warmly at her, guessing she must have seen her during pick-up or drop-off at school.

She didn’t answer right away, but instead asked, “What’s your name, sweetheart?”

“She’s Aberdeen Brown, our class president,” Hayes chimed in, turning around to help. Aberdeen’s eyes sparkled, and Marguerite noticed the girl’s cheeks flush pink.

Aberdeen nodded seriously, repeating, “I really have seen you before, Hayes’s mom.”