Still You Still Me Still Falling novel Chapter 19

This little one, however, was incredibly enthusiastic.

Laura looked a bit embarrassed. "I told her to call you 'Ms.,' but she just won't listen. Hello again, I didn't expect to run into you here!"

"Hi," Sheila smiled warmly. "It's just a title, she can call me whatever she likes. Are you here with her by yourself?"

There were actually bodyguards trailing them discreetly.

Laura replied, "Her father is tied up with work. I'm her nanny. My name is Laura Ladd."

Sheila nodded. "I heard you call her name last time. How do you spell it?"

"It's Tilly," Laura said. She instantly took a liking to this lady—she was so humble, polite, and genuinely sweet.

"Tilly, hi there," Sheila offered her hand. "I'm Sheila Jensen."

Tilly, blinking innocently, reached out her chubby little hand. "I'm Tilly."

She was so pretty, and her voice was wonderfully soft.

Sheila gently held the toddler's little hand, her heart melting. "Do you want to play together?"

Laura had no objections whatsoever. She could easily tell that Sheila genuinely loved kids. What she didn't expect was for Tilly to be so aggressively affectionate with her.

Tilly was naturally a very sweet, soft-spoken, and innocent child. But she was usually quite timid and painfully shy around strangers. She absolutely hated physical contact with people she didn't know.

Normally, the only people she clung to were Laura and Edmond. She barely even let her own grandmother hold her. Yet, she was practically throwing herself at Sheila.

At first, she just wanted to hold Sheila's hand, but within minutes, she was demanding to be carried.

When Laura came back from a quick restroom break, she found the little girl happily nestled in Sheila's arms, puckering her chubby lips to plant sloppy kisses on Sheila's cheek.

They wandered over to the grassy picnic area and laid down together.

She had initially been worried that Sheila might start asking intrusive questions. But to her surprise, Sheila just focused entirely on playing with the child, never once prying into their personal lives.

Sheila genuinely loved being around kids, and she and Tilly seemed to share an instant, undeniable bond. The two of them played together, entirely lost in their own little world.

As the sun began to set, it was time for Laura to take Tilly home. But the little girl wrapped her arms tightly around Sheila's neck, refusing to let go. It took a lot of gentle coaxing and a pinky promise from Sheila to play with her again before Tilly finally, reluctantly, left with the nanny.

Sheila had only come out to get some fresh air. Even though she was physically exhausted from chasing a toddler around all day, her heart felt incredibly light. She loved being around kids—they were pure, genuine, and completely incapable of deception.

Her body might be tired, but the emotional detox was better than anything else in the world.

Returning to the lab, Sheila felt fully recharged and immediately threw herself back into the sea of data and coding. Once she was in the zone, she practically lived in the lab.

Marcus quickly realized that getting a moment alone with her was going to be impossible. And the less he saw her, the more obsessed he became.

Driven crazy by the chase, he finally came up with a plan. He was going to find Edmond Halley.