Chapter 104: Chapter 104

104 Ch. 104 Anxia’s Promise

“I didn’t expect her to tell you, to be honest. The client’s request shouldn’t be leaked to strangers.”

Anxia chuckled, hearing her husband’s complaint as if he was disappointed with how Cerberus was working.

“Meng Meng and I are not strangers. She told me that she had decided to join them. I think she wanted to cheer me up by giving me this gift. You don’t need to be pouting like this.” Anxia pinched her husband’s cheek playfully.

“Ah, Xia Xia. If I had known you were being this sweet just because I decided to save your friend, I would have told you earlier.”

Anxia frowned as she remembered Richard had deliberately hidden this critical fact. “Why did you hide it from me? You didn’t even tell me you were looking for my mother.”

“Because you didn’t ask.” was his straightforward answer.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Anxia didn’t ask because she believed that Richard didn’t have the ability to solve her problem. But that doesn’t mean he can hide anything related to her from her.

“Just because I didn’t ask you, you deliberately didn’t tell me? If I remained silent, would you still not tell me?”

Richard propped his elbows on the table while he rested his chin on his palms while looked at his wife with amused eyes.

.....

“I’ve said before; I want you to rely on me. If you don’t ask for help, doesn’t that mean you don’t want to rely on me? So, why should I tell you? I don’t want you to see me as a proud or arrogant person.”

Anxia bit her lips, frustrated to hear his logical yet ridiculous answer.

On the other hand, Lori only ate her food in silence as she knew the adult world was beyond her reach. Nevertheless, she silently peeked to observe her parents’ expressions.

She wondered why the peaceful, joyful moments turned into intense, sophisticated ones like this. She really couldn’t understand how the adult’s brain works. They were fine for one second, then bickering in the next second.

“I didn’t ask because I didn’t know you had an extraordinary connection at that time. How could I ask for your help right away so that you could give me false hope?”

“Alright. Now you know it, would you rely on me in the future if a similar case happened?”

“You did nothing, though. Cerberus did.”

Richard’s lips twitched at this. What a stubborn woman!

Now he wished he could reveal to her that he was the Cerberus leader.

What would happen if Anxia knew about it? Perhaps she would do more than hug him or shower his face with feather-like kisses.

He didn’t want Anxia to fall in love with him because he was Cerberus, his second identity. He wanted Anxia to fall in love with him because he was Richard.

Until he was sure that Anxia loved him the way he loved Anxia inside and out, Richard would not reveal Cerberus’ true identity to his wife.

“You’re right. I could do nothing apart from being a VIP client for your so-called legendary Cerberus.”

Anxia frowned at her husband’s weird lament.

“I’m so useless, except I have much more money than others, but you’re right. Cerberus could do everything one could ever dream.” Richard continued his sentence in a sad, desperate tone and sounded as if his heart was breaking. “If I had not associated with Cerberus, I might never have been able to save your friend. Maybe I can let you save her, and then the bad guys will catch you, torture you, and....”

“What are you doing?” Anxia cut in, realizing Richard was about to say something their daughter shouldn’t hear. Did he forget their baby girl was with them and listening to whatever they were saying?

“What did I do?” Richard sighed as he answered in a limp tone, as if he didn’t have the energy to speak. “I’m just talking. Isn’t that right, baby girl?”

Lori blinked confusedly at her father while Richard tried hard to hold back his laughter when he saw the red sauce all over his daughter’s mouth.

“You don’t want mommy to be caught by bad people, do you? You will feel sad if mommy suddenly disappears and doesn’t show up to read you a book.”

Richard took a cloth to wipe his daughter’s mouth without realizing his question’s effect on his daughter when he asked the question.

Lori felt her chest tighten as if two walls were pressing on either side. She never imagined that she would never be able to see her mother. Now when she imagined it, her eyes were moistened.

She knew Anxia wasn’t a good woman, considering she liked to threaten and beat everyone she disliked. But to Lori, Anxia was the perfect mother, and nothing could replace her.

Hearing that there were evil people out there who wanted to catch and harm her mother makes Lori afraid. What if she doesn’t see her mother’s face when she wakes up? What if she gets the news that her mother has turned into a star, like in a storybook she read?

Tears started falling, wetting her cheek, and a sob escaped her mouth, making Richard and Anxia feel pain in their chest.

“Mommy, don’t go... Don’t leave me...” Lori sunk her head in Anxia’s chest and clutched her mother’s clothes as if she feared her mother would leave her.

Soon both of the adults felt guilty in their hearts. Richard shouldn’t have asked such a sensitive question to Lori. And Anxia shouldn’t have thought her daughter would be fine if she were gone.

“Silly, how could I leave you? I’ll never go.”

Richard patted Lori’s back and rubbed her gently while comforting her, “That’s right. I won’t let her go. Don’t cry, baby.” Richard gave a bear hug to Anxia along with Lori inside Anxia’s arms while saying comforting persuasion endlessly.

“Sst... my sweet little girl. I’m not going anywhere, and I will never leave you or your father.” Anxia glanced at Richard as she said her last words. “That is my promise.”

Richard glanced at his wife in disbelief. He didn’t know whether Anxia only promised to calm Lori or if she really meant it.

Can he believe her promise?