Dolores looked down and saw the 'pigeon egg' in her daughter's hand.
She was in a hurry to leave and left it on the bed in her room. Simona went up to look for her, and
instead of finding her, she saw something shiny on the bed.
Simona loved the shiny diamond. She didn't know what it was worth, and just thought it was funny.
Dolores didn’t know what to do. She looked back at Matthew and asked his opinion. This was not an
ordinary toy, and she could not make the decision.
Besides, how could this be a toy?
Matthew, however, thought it was no big deal. Dolores didn't like it anyway, and he was happy that
Simona liked it.
He stroked his daughter's hair dotingly, "You like it?"
Simona nodded seriously, "Yes. It's so shiny. I have never seen such a shiny stone. Daddy, mommy,
where did you pick it up from?"
She wanted to pick one up too.
It was so pretty.
And girls all loved pink and sparkly things.
Dolores was speechless.
A stone?
She squatted down at Simona’s eye level, and taught her patiently, "Simona, this is not an ordinary
stone and can't be picked up, and it's very rare. You can't take it outside. I'll put it away for you. When
you grow up, I'll give it to you again, okay?"
It would be more than worth it if she took it outside and then let greedy people see it and invite disaster
to her.
Simona didn't understand what her mother meant, and she just learned that this stone seemed to be a
bit valuable.
She looked down at the “pigeon egg”. It was really shiny.
She liked it a lot.
Dolores could see that Simona didn't want to give it to her. She sighed slightly, "I'm not saying I won't
give it to you, but it's worth a lot of money. If you take it outside and the bad guy sees it, he’ll rob you of
it."
Simona seemed to be able to imagine someone robbing it from her already, so she held the diamond
tightly in her arms.
She moved in an exaggerated manner that made Dolores wanted to laugh and weep all at once.
How come she had never noticed before that Simona liked shiny things so much!
"Then you're not allowed to take it outside, okay?" There was definitely no way she could get Simona
to give her the diamond now. She would put it away for her when her interest was not so strong.
Simona, however, hesitated. Dolores' comment about being robbed hit her soft spot. If the stone was
taken away, she would lose it forever.
Although she was very reluctant, she still handed it to Dolores, "Mommy, just keep it for me. When I
grow up, you can give it back to me."
Dolores pinched her cheeks, "Okay, my good girl."
Dolores grinned, showing her row of white teeth.
"Mr. Nelson, Missus," Coral approached, "Master has asked you to come to the study."
Dolores asked Simona to play and turned her head to look at Matthew.
Their eyes met and Matthew said gently, "I see."
Dolores was a little apprehensive. Jayden must have called them for something, and she just didn't
know if it was good or bad.
Matthew shook her shoulder, "I've got you."
She then was slightly at ease.
Walking up to the study door, Matthew looked up and knocked. A voice came from inside before he
pushed the door open and Dolores walked in.
Jayden was alone in the study while he was practicing his calligraphy. When he saw them enter, he put
down the brush in his hand and told them to sit.
"The two kids are almost school age. What are your plans?" In fact, Jayden wanted to ask them why
they didn't let the two children go to kindergarten first to get familiar with the learning environment. But
when he thought of how inconvenient it must have been for Dolores to take care of the two children
alone for so many years, he didn't ask.
After this year, they would be six years old, and in the second half of the year, they would be ready to
start elementary school. He thought that they could go to kindergarten and get familiar with the school
environment.
"I've already made arrangements." Matthew had thought about it and had arranged it years ago.
Dolores looked at him. How come she hadn't even heard him say that?
He hadn't had much of a chance to talk to her during the New Year's days, and he had wanted to talk to
her today. However, he didn't have a chance to say it again because of Jessica's matter.
"Washington?" Jayden asked hesitantly.
In terms of education and environment, this kindergarten was the best. It was invested by WY Group,
and he trusted the teachers there. He could also rest assured that his two grandchildren were in it.
As the saying went, "The grandfather and the grandchildren are closer to each other.” Maybe there was
a reason for that. He was more concerned about the two children than Matthew was as a child.
Matthew nodded.
Jayden said, "You guys go ahead and do your thing. We'll take care of the two kids from now on."
He knew Matthew was busy, and Dolores seemed to have a career of her own. He and Victoria would
be the ones to take care of the kids in the future.
The reason why Victoria did not appear in the study was that she was afraid that Matthew would not
want to.
In fact, in this period living here, Matthew didn't treat Victoria as coldly as he did before, except for not
talking to her.
He had been reluctant to let go just because of Jolene.
Dolores was willing to do what they wanted. She was not yet familiar with the country, and she was
comfortable with Matthew's arrangements.
They were in agreement, so the conversation was quite pleasant. After all, they had the same goal, and
they both wanted what was best for the children.
After the talk, Matthew and Dolores left the study. As they were about to go upstairs, the doorbell was
rung.
Coral answered the door and Armand stood wobbling in the doorway. He was wearing a thin suit
without a coat and smelled of alcohol.
Coral knew him and knew about his relationship with Matthew. She turned her head, "Mr. Nelson, it's
Mr. Bernie. He seems to be drunk."
Matthew frowned. What was he doing here drunk?
"Dolores, Dolores..." Armand shouted against the door frame.
Dolores came over and saw his face. It looked like he had been drinking a lot.
Matthew gave him a disgusted look, "Come in."
Coral helped him sit on the couch in the living room.
Dolores went to the kitchen to make a cup of honey water and handed it to him, "Drink some honey
water to sober up."
Armand smiled, "Thank you, Dolores." Then he took the glass and finished it in one gulp.
He handed it to Dolores, "Can you pour me another one?"
Dolores took it and went to pour him another cup. This time, he didn't finish it.
"Say, what's the matter that's gotten you into this mess?" Dolores took a seat next to Matthew.
Armand looked at Dolores with resignation, "Dolores, you have to help me. Theresa doesn't want me
anymore."
On New Year's Eve, Theresa showed up at the ward and stayed up late with him and the old lady, who
was in a good mood.
But for the past two days, he couldn't reach Theresa. She didn't see him and even avoided him.
Dolores frowned, "Did you have a falling out?"
She was not worried about Armand, but Theresa.
When it came to relationships, women were more delicate and more vulnerable.
At this point, he had to tell the truth, "I had an ex-girlfriend, right? She came back, and we met a few
times..." With that, he hurriedly explained, "We just met, and nothing else happened. But Theresa didn't
believe me and had to break up with me."
No matter who was right and who was wrong in this matter, she was on Theresa's side.
Armand and Theresa were already together. Why would he go see his ex-girlfriend?
"Do you still have feelings for your ex-girlfriend?"
"No."
"No, then why did you go to see her?"
In the face of Dolores' sharp questioning, Armand was speechless. He took a long time to find the right
explanation, "Although we are not lovers anymore, we are still friends..."
"I can't help you." Dolores interrupted him decisively. Having spent so many years with Theresa, she
knew about her, "She's not unreasonable. You must have touched her bottom line, otherwise, she
would not be so determined. Since she agreed to marry you, she must have expectations. And if she
decides to break up with you, it must be that you broke her heart."
"Yes, it's my fault," Armand admitted he was at fault. He shouldn't have gone to see Phoebe without
telling her, but she shouldn't have denied him even the chance to explain, right?
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda