His Wicked Obsession (Archer and Virginia) novel Chapter 38

“I... I...” Chloe's body continued to tremble uncontrollably, but her rapid gasping had noticeably smoothed out.

Just then, Madeline walked out of the dining room carrying a fruit platter. Seeing the chaotic scene, her legs instantly turned to jelly. “Chloe!”

The platter shattered onto the floor, scattering fruit everywhere, but she didn't even glance down as she desperately rushed over to check on her.

Then, without a shred of hesitation, she screamed at Virginia. “Virginia! What did you do to her this time!? She was just discharged from the hospital! Can't you just let her be for once!?”

Virginia's body stiffened slightly, but her hands never stopped moving.

She was long used to the Caldwells' blind protection of Chloe and their baseless accusations toward her.

Did it hurt? Yes.

Did she care anymore? No.

A few minutes later, once Chloe's emotions had fully stabilized, the perpetually silent Archer finally spoke.

“Give this machine to Toby.”

His voice was perfectly flat, devoid of a single trace of emotion, though his thick eyelashes were lowered as if he didn't dare look at Virginia's face.

Virginia showed absolutely no outward reaction, but a painful ripple tore through her chest. Her heart physically ached.

As a professional psychologist, putting aside the tangled relationships between Archer, Chloe, and Toby, she knew that medically speaking, Archer's statement was the most correct and effective way to soothe the patient right now.

But on a deeply personal level, seeing her own daughter treated like collateral damage was an agonizing pill to swallow. After all, Cindy was his child too...

None of them realized that Cindy, completely fixated on the robot, had slipped back into the room early.

And Archer's exact words had landed squarely in the little girl's ears.

*Drip. Drop.* Tears tumbled from the little girl's eyes like broken pearls, splashing onto the floor one after another.

“But... you said that was for me...”

Cindy rested her chin on Virginia's shoulder, her chubby little arms wrapped tight around her neck. She shot one last, reluctant look at the massive box in the living room but didn't make a sound.

Virginia carried her out, never once glancing in Archer's direction. Archer kept his eyes fixed on the floor, his expression unreadable.

...

That evening.

Archer pulled his car up to Virginia's apartment building. The backseat was piled high with bulging shopping bags.

Inside were carefully selected plush toys, puzzles, easels, building blocks, and a brand-new pink AI robot.

He had been running entirely on autopilot while buying them. By the time his brain caught up, he was already standing outside Virginia's door.

A shadow of frustration crossed his handsome, stoic face. Whatever. Maybe the kid would cheer up when she saw all this. Or maybe, it would ease some of Virginia's anger...

...