âAddy, whatâs with the news?â
From the other end of the line, Flint asked Adina in disbelief.
Adina smiled plainly. âWhat do you mean? Are you seriously asking about the gossip that the reporters are spreading?
âEven if what they say is nonsense, Duke is having affairs with other women within a month of his wedding. Thatâs a major disrespect to you as his new wife.â Flint said coldly, âAddy, I know you donât care about such matters, but Duke is not taking you seriously. He mustâve had something else in mind when he married youâ¦â
âThatâs enough!â Adinaâs voice turned cold. âThis matter is between Duke and me. I donât need an outsider to tell me what to do.â
All of a sudden, the two became silent.
Almost immediately, Flint smiled wryly: âYouâre right. Iâm just an outsider. Who am I to intervene in both of your affairs? Iâm sorry, Iâve acted impulsively. Goodbye.â
All of a sudden, the call ended.
Adina was in a daze as she stared at her phoneâs screen.
âI didnât mean to hurt Flint. I just⦠donât want to give him any hope.
âEven if Duke and I arenât together anymore, I still wonât get together with Flint. â, âAs for staying through the marriageâ¦
âAfter our wedding, Iâve only talked to Duke a few times, and each time Iâve only grown more and more disappointed in our marriage.
âI know itâs time for a divorce.
âBut I donât want to disappoint our four children.
âWhatâs more, for some reason, something has happened, and I canât figure out what it isâ¦
âPerhaps I should just wait for a little whileâ¦â
For the next few days, Duke did not come home.
Mabel tried to pretend that everything was alright and explained to Adina on Dukeâs behalf, âAddy, there are too many things to do in the corporation. He has been so busy that he had to go to multiple places to attend meetings and do inspectionsâ¦â
âMom, I know.â
Adina smiled and helped Mabel arrange the flowers with a calm expression.
She had never learned flower arrangement before, but could match colors pretty well. Bright yellow daisies looked good with pink roses. She added some babyâs-breath to make it look prettier.
Mabel observed Adina carefully. She could not help but feel uneasy when she saw that she did not seem to be processing emotions the right way.
âThe four children are very smart. They are more or less as smart as Adina. She wouldâve guessed itâ¦
âNo! Impossible!
Mabel shook her head vigorously.
âBack when Earl and Duke were born, one of them was found to have congenital heart diseaseâ¦
âMany people kept an eye on the Winters family. Earl and Duke had attracted much attention as well. In order to make sure the sick child gets treatment in peace, the Winters family had kept the twins a secretâ¦
âDuke only learned he had a twin brother at the age of fifteen.
âSo, no matter how smart Adina is, it would never occur to her that her newlywed husband has been swapped with someone elseâ¦â
Mabel and Adina were arranging flowers in the flower hall, while the four children were playing with the sand in the courtyard.
Harold and Melody were building sandcastles without a care in the world.
Alden was holding a small spade as he looked in the direction of the flower hall in silence. âAl, something has been off about you for the past few days.â