Well, it wouldn’t hurt to go take a look at the place…
When she was a kid, Nicole had frequently sneaked into Rose Garden to steal flowers for her mother. In the end, however…
“Alright, let’s go have a look tomorrow,” she said.
Juan felt exhilarated. He was confident that his mother would fall in love with the place as soon as she saw it.
When they moved in, Mommy would finally have a place of her own. Whatever belonged to Juan also belonged to her.
Evan found out about Nicole’s plans to visit Rose Garden when he overheard Juan and Kyle’s conversation. His face clouded over.
What would happen if that woman fell in love with the place and insisted on moving in?
He couldn’t let that happen. Evan made up his mind to drop by Rose Garden tomorrow.
After breakfast the next day, Evan arrived at Nicole’s house with Juan and Kyle in tow.
As he glanced at the interior of her new rental apartment, Evan frowned with displeasure. For someone like Nicole who lived in a glorified shoebox, moving into Rose Garden was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
Upon seeing Juan and Kyle, Nicole looked pleasantly surprised.
“Mommy was planning to pick the both of you up! Why are you here?”
“We didn’t come by ourselves! Daddy came along with us. He wants to go to Rose Garden too.”
Nicole finally took notice of Evan, who was standing awkwardly outside the door.
“Mr. Seet, what brings you here? Unfortunately, my place is rather small, so I won’t be inviting you in. Please wait outside!” As soon as she finished speaking, a smile crept over her face.
Evan shot a critical look at her. Did she really think that he wanted to go in? He would much prefer standing outside, where the air was fresher.
“My time is precious. Hurry up!” he snapped crossly.
Nicole dashed into Nina’s room. Afraid that Evan was going to fly into a fit of rage if they made him wait any longer, she started nagging at her daughter to hurry up.
“Mommy, I’m done packing. Let’s go.”
“Okay!”
The children were jumping with excitement. Happy to inundate Nicole with more stories about Rose Garden, Juan followed Kyle, Maya and Nina onto Nicole’s car.
Seeing how eagerly the boys had defected to Nicole’s car, ignoring how worn-out and tattered it was, Evan couldn’t help but feel a sense of alienation. Perhaps, he mused, it was true that children were much closer to their mothers than their fathers.
The entire way there, Juan regaled everyone with his praises of Rose Garden. Maya and Nina could hardly wait to see the place for themselves.
As Nicole listened, her childhood memories of Rose Garden came flooding back. Suddenly, she felt like crying.
Ten years ago, she had snuck in there like a thief. Today, she could finally walk into the garden through its front gates at last.
She wondered if the place would feel foreign to her when she saw it again. After, the garden may have remained the same all these years, but the people must have changed.
Evan was in his Rolls-Royce. As he shut his eyes to rest, a memory from his youth resurfaced in his mind. Evan was in his Rolls-Royce. As he shut his eyes to rest, a memory from his youth resurfaced in his mind.
“Evan, here’s a flower chain I made for you. And here are the snacks my Mommy made. Go on, eat!”
“If you give all your food to me, what are you going to eat?”
“There’s more food for me at home. These are for you.”
“Evan, if they bully you, I’ll help you fight back against them!”
“Evan, I didn’t mean to bite you. It’s too dark and they hid too fast, so I—I bit the wrong person.”
“Don’t cry, it doesn’t hurt.”
“…”
As the memories replayed in his mind, Evan felt a lump in his throat. His hands curled into fists. If that girl were still alive, she would have grown into a big, pretty girl by now. She might even have her own kids now!
And perhaps those kids might even be his…
As he got lost in his memories, they arrived at their destination. The Rolls-Royce rolled to a halt outside Rose Garden.
When Evan got off the car, the chauffeur turned to look behind them. “Mr. Seet, Ms. Lane’s car isn’t here yet.”
Gosh, that car of hers is as slow as a snail! I can’t even see them in the distance. Impatiently, Evan said, “Let’s go in without them first.”
“Yes, Mr. Seet.”
Ten minutes later, Nicole finally arrived at Rose Garden with the kids.
Juan was still rattling on solemnly about the garden, informing them of how beautiful the flowers, the pavilions, and the artificial rocks were.
“Maya, the flowers in Rose Garden are prettier than the fondant ones on the cakes you love to eat!”
Hearing this, the image of fondant flowers floated into Maya’s mind. Those flowers were soft and sticky, and they tasted delicious.
Her eyes lit up, and Maya took off in the direction of Rose Garden. Unfortunately, she was in such a hurry that she missed a step. With a loud crash, she fell sprawling onto the floor.
