Snare of Love

Soon, Dolores heard the robotic voice from the other end of the line, "I'm sorry but the subscriber you dialled is power off..."

She looked over at Theresa with the phone in her hand, "Don't worry. Probably his phone died."

Theresa nodded. Reaching out, she wanted to carry the baby, "Let me hold him."

Now the baby could look up. When Theresa held him, he looked around and his big round eyes kept rolling.

Theresa rubbed his head, "This little fellow's hair is ink-black. He has so much hair."

Dolores also thought that her son's hair was quite good. When Andrew and Amanda were little, their hair didn't look so good. It became better after they grew up gradually.

Right then, Dolores's cell phone started vibrating. She pulled out the phone and saw Matthew's caller ID. She swiped to answer.

Soon, she heard Matthew's voice, "Come out."

For a moment, Dolores didn't get it, "What?"

"I'm at the gate."

Since Abbott asked for a leave, Matthew had been quite busy. He always left home early and went back home late. Suddenly, he came back in the afternoon, which made Dolores shocked, "Why have you come back at this time."

"Come out."

Dolores was speechless.

"You can go out. I'll take care of Joshua for you," said Theresa with a smile.

Dolores said on the phone, "Okay. I got it." After that, she hung it up and said to Theresa, "If you want to go out, please let my mom take care of him."

"I know. Just go ahead," said Theresa.

Dolores went upstairs and got a jacket before going out. A black car was parked on the roadside. She walked over, pulled the door open, and sat in, "You've already come back. Why didn't you go in?" Matthew turned to look at her carefully.

Under his gaze, Dolores felt quite uneasy, "What are you looking at?"

"I'm trying to find if you are unhappy." Otherwise, she wouldn't have called him so suddenly and said those words. He reached out to pull her hand, "Is it because I'm too busy recently and can't accompany you so you are bothered?"

Dolores patted him on his hand and said seriously, "Stop fooling around. I have something to tell you."

"Ehn. Go ahead. I'm all my ears." He gazed at her without a blink, which made Dolores feel that he wasn't serious at all. She said more seriously, "I'm serious." Matthew said, "So am I."

After thinking for a moment, Dolores said, "Will you go back to the company later?"

Matthew answered, "No, I won't."

"Let's call Dad and have dinner with him outside tonight."

"Why? Anything happened?" Looking at her solemn face, Matthew was certain that something had happened. Otherwise, she wouldn't suddenly suggest it.

"Dad might be sick. He's been hiding it from us," said Dolores.

Matthew's face became darkened. His eyes deepened, "How did you know it?"

If it were just a minor sickness, Dolores wouldn't have called him on purpose and been so serious.

"When Coral was cleaning up his bedroom, she accidentally knocked over his medicine... I checked the medicine online and found it was for curing cancer," Dolores said in a low voice.

Matthew didn't react quite fiercely, but he felt so uneasy. He let go of Dolores's hand and kept silent for a long time while sitting on the driver's seat.

Dolores took his hand and gripped it tightly. She comforted him, "Please don't worry too much. Probably it's not serious. Right now, we should talk to Dad and ask him about his current condition." Matthew seemed to feel quite hard to accept this news. After a long while, he turned to look at her and asked, "Have you seen it clearly?"

It wasn't because he didn't believe what she said. It was just because he was unwilling to believe it.

"I wouldn't talk to you recklessly if I hadn't seen it clearly. It's my bad. I found something wrong with him earlier, but he told me he had just got a cold. He also doesn't hold Joshua as much as before. I thought he was afraid to infect Joshua, so I didn't pay attention... It's my fault."

"It's not your fault." Matthew pulled out his phone and dialled Jayden's number.

The call wasn't connected until a while later.

"Dad, where are you?" Matthew immediately said as soon as it was answered, "I want to meet you. Now."

Usually, Matthew seldom called Jayden. Judging from his tone, Jayden knew that probably he had sensed something. He heaved a sigh and said, "Let's meet outside."

"Okay." Matthew gave him an address and hung up the phone. He tossed the phone on the central console and started the engine. The car roared away.

Dolores knew that probably he needed some time to calm down at this moment, so she didn't continue comforting him. They could talk after meeting Jayden later.

In the silent compartment, they could hear each other's breath so clearly.

The car was parked in front of a tea house. As soon as they got off and entered, they could smell the faint scent of the tea. A waiter came to receive them. Matthew said, "Please give us a quiet box. A pot of Chinese oolong tea, please."

"This way, please." The waiter led them to the innermost box, "This box is quietest."

The decoration in the box was antique and elegant. Matthew nodded in satisfaction.

Dolores and he sat down. Soon, the waiter came in with a tea-making set and put them on the tea table.

Dolores said, "We want to be here alone. You don't need to stay and serve us."

The waiter left. When Dolores was learning design, she studied the tea ceremony for having a sense of peace in mind. Although she wasn't so skilful, she still remembered the consequences. She warmed up the tea with boiled water, looked at the colour and smelt the scent, put some tea leaves into it, poured the water, and made the tea in one go.

After a short while, the box was fulfilled with a faint scent of tea. Matthew gradually calmed down.

Creak-

The door of the box was pushed open. Jayden came in.

Dolores put down the teapot and stood up, "Dad, here you came."

Jayden waved at her to let her sit down. He sat down at the tea table and saw the tea. He asked, "Did you make it?"

Dolores said yes.

"Have you learned tea ceremony before?"

"I went to several classes. I only know a little about it." Dolores poured a cup of tea for him.

Jayden picked it up and took a sip. He asked, "Have you known it?"

Dolores took a look at Matthew and answered, "Yes, we have."

"Why did you hide it from us?" Matthew was quite calm now. His voice was extremely low.

Jayden heaved a sigh, "I also plan to tell you about it."

He knew that he might hide it from them for a moment but not a lifetime.☐☐☐☐☐