The Lies Behind Her Marriage novel Chapter 186

Hide and Seek Chaos.

“Found her!” Nathaniel exclaimed after spotting Alisa tucked behind a curtain.

Serena’s eyes widened. “How did you find her so quickly?”

It had only been ten minutes since the kids ran off, and Nathaniel had already discovered Alisa’s hiding spot.

“Daddy!” Alisa squealed, delighted that he found her first. She launched herself at him.

“Because Alisa is Daddy’s girl,” Nathaniel declared proudly, lifting her into his arms like he had just won a championship.

Serena narrowed her eyes. “Well, I’m finding Bastin.”

They played with the kids, momentarily forgetting the troubles within their family.

Serena marched toward the kitchen with determination. She opened every pull-out cabinet, every storage compartment, and even checked inside the large pot drawer.

Nothing.

She noticed Nathaniel stroll past her casually, like a man taking a Sunday walk. Less than a minute later, his voice rang out, “Found my little man!”

Serena froze.

She turned slowly.

Nathaniel was carrying a laughing Bastin out from behind the kitchen island cabinet.

Serena stared. ‘How in the world?’

“Mom,” Sebastian called. “You are really bad at this.”

“That was beginner’s luck,” she said stiffly.

“Oh?” Nathaniel smirked. “Wanna try again?”

They went for another round. Like before, Nathaniel and Serena stayed outside and counted to twenty while the kids ran in to hide.

“You go first, Love,” Nathaniel said generously, clearly enjoying himself.

Serena did not trust that smile.

Still, she accepted the head start.

Her eyes briefly scanned the living room before going to the study.

Inside the study, Celine was giggling on the sofa. Sterling sat calmly behind his desk, pretending to work.

“I’m not helping you on this one, Serena,” Sterling said without looking up.

Serena narrowed her eyes. That alone confirmed one of the kids was there.

Her gaze locked onto her father’s desk.

She rushed forward and shoved Sterling’s chair aside.

Celine burst into louder laughter.

Serena dropped to the floor and peeked under the desk, but… it was empty.

Before she could recover—

“Found you!”

“Daddy! Haha!”

Serena looked up just in time to see Alisa stepping out from behind the study door.

She had been there the entire time.

“Let’s look for your brother,” Nathaniel said, as if assembling a search team.

Serena stood slowly.

***

In the evening, Serena and the children had dinner at Nathaniel’s new home. Bianca prepared a feast, and many of the dishes were Serena’s favorites.

“I hope you like the food, Serena. I tried my best to learn how to cook your favorite dishes,” Bianca said with a smile. “I’m so glad you are staying with us tonight.”

A lot had passed between them, but they had never had that talk — one that covered forgiveness. Serena was thankful for the hand Bianca had offered to the children. And she really was trying her best to make up for her past mistakes, but despite that, Serena was still not ready to go there.

Still, she smiled at Bianca and said, “Thank you.”

“And kids,” Bianca shifted her gaze to the twins, “I made a special dessert! Banana split!”

Sebastian’s eyes widened. “Whoa!”

Alisa clapped her hands. “Ice cream!”

“I wish you could stay overnight more often,” Bianca said with a smile.

“Mom lost today, so we have to live here now,” Sebastian declared, making Nathaniel laugh.

“You know, I still don’t get how your dad found you first,” Serena grumbled before eating.

Bianca chuckled at Serena’s words. “Either way, I’m glad.”

Later, though, Serena found out exactly how Nathaniel had easily found the kids during the game.

At night, after putting the kids to sleep, Serena and Nathaniel walked out of Sebastian’s room.

Serena asked, “Nathan, when will we tell your mom about…”

Her voice trailed off at the thought of Victor.

“After this is all over,” Nathaniel said.

They still hadn’t told Bianca that Victor was alive. Nathaniel wasn’t ready for how his mother would react. For now, Bianca truly believed it was a kidnapping-for-ransom case. They had completely excluded Bianca from their plans.