After Stanley changed his shoes, he brought Maisie along with him. As soon as he saw Sophia, he mocked her. “Hey, why are you here? Did your husband chase you out? I suppose you reap what you sow! So much for him trying to introduce me to another woman! Hmph!”
Meanwhile, Sean was delighted when he saw that Stanley was back, and his pale face had regained some color. “Stanley, you’re back! Why are you wearing a face mask though?”
Wearing a face mask that obscured most of his face, only Stanley’s eyes were visible, while his mouth could be seen moving underneath the mask when he spoke. “Yeah, I caught the flu, so I had to put a mask on as I don’t want Maisie to get infected.” However, Stanley’s gaze was shifty when he handed Maisie over to Sean. “Maisie, you can play with Daddy while I go take a shower first.” He left after putting Maisie down.
Sophia could sense that something was off with Stanley. Instead of exposing it, she continued to talk to Sean. After Stanley was done showering, he came out in a pair of trousers with dog fur all over it. Toweling his hair, he walked upstairs while saying, “I’ll be drying my hair.”
Finally, Sean put down his cup of tea before standing up. “I’ll go check on Stanley. Wait for me here, Sophia.”
The rooms downstairs were being used as a study and as a bedroom for the nanny, so Sean went upstairs to the bedrooms. Stanley didn’t close his door, so Sean snuck into his bedroom, only to see Stanley looking into the mirror, checking his swollen face that he apparently got from being slapped.
“Stanley!” Shocked, Sean walked up to take a closer look at Stanley’s face. He was indeed given a slap, as there was an angry handprint on his face. “What happened?” Sean asked with much worry.
Upon being discovered, Stanley’s eyes darted around, but he could only tell the truth. “My father wants me to marry that wench, Anne Osborne, which I disagreed with, so my brother gave me a slap.”
Instantly, Sean’s eyes reddened when he realized how hard the slap was. On the other hand, Stanley quickly explained, “It’s alright! My uncle hit me even harder when I tried to go after Sophia back then, so I’m already used to it. It will heal soon anyway.”
Clenching his fists, Sean had tears rolling in his eyes upon hearing what Stanley said. “Stanley, it’s about time that you marry someone, so maybe—”
Stanley tutted while feigning anger. “You’re just like my parents whose only concern is for me to produce an heir! Do I look like a brood sow? Must I attach myself to an ugly hag just for the sake of getting married?” Checking on his wound, he muttered, “You didn’t see just how ugly Anne Osborne is! She doesn’t even have one-tenth of Sophia’s looks! Considering how horrendous she looks, I should commend her for even having the guts to go on blind dates! Uncle Michael must be trying to mock me by introducing me to such an ugly hag! The candidates that my family introduced only get ever uglier. I was assuming that my uncle should have a better sense of beauty by now, but he’s even worse than my mom! He even had the audacity to tell me to follow in the footsteps of other people of my age. Sophia’s ex-boyfriend was the same age as me, so should I kill myself as well now that he’s a goner?”
Smiling bitterly, Sean listened on before saying, “I’ll go get some anti-inflammatory spray.”
Stanley waved his hand dismissively. “Be quick! Ouch, my brother sure did a number on me! F*ck! He will be the one at fault if nobody wants to marry me because of my disfigured face!”
While listening to Stanley’s complaints, tears rolled down Sean’s face the moment he turned around. On the other hand, Sophia had been playing with Maisie in the living room for a while, but Sean and Stanley had yet to come downstairs. She already had quite a lot of tea, so she went to the washroom for a bit, only to return to see Maisie crouching on the floor while wiping the stain on the floor that Sophia made earlier with a piece of cloth. Aside from that, she even wiped the table and rearranged the tea set on it.
Sophia could hardly believe that a three year old kid could work so deftly, as Carmen only knew to stage some silly dramas to show them to Michael when she was two years old. “Maisie, what are you doing? Come, I can do that myself!” Taking the cloth from Maisie, Sophia wiped the floor clean herself.
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