Chapter 23

Upon witnessing the awkwardness, Yana immediately tried to defuse the situation with a smiling face.

“Oh dear, it looks like Greg is pretty shy in front of strangers. No worries. We’re all like a family to you.

so we’re not going to hurt you…”

Then, she turned her attention to Nicholas and added, “By the way, Roselle missed Greg so much when she was away, so she specially prepared some presents a week before she returned. Look at the suitcases, three of which are full of presents for Greg, and they are all some toys and tidbits that she prepared for him. My daughter may not be perfect, but she is definitely one thoughtful and tender lady.”

Roselle then pretended to be humble when she heard her mother’s compliment. “Stop it, Mom…” After that, she bashfully gazed at Nicholas and said, “Please just forget what my mom said, Nicholas. It’s just some presents that I prepared, and my mom was surely overreacting about that. Furthermore, I don’t know if Greg is going to like them.”

Nicholas coldly replied, “Thank you, Miss Gingham.”

On the other hand, Gregory pursed his lips unhappily in response. Despite his young age, he could still tell that Roselle wanted to be his father’s woman and take over the place of his mother. Thus, he couldn’t help but feel disgusted, coldly saying, “Thank you, Miss Gingham. I don’t think I need anything at the moment, but I do appreciate your kind intention.” Although the boy put his words politely, he didn’t seem to be as happy or excited as expected. Instead, he only seized Tessa’s finger with his little hand.

In the meantime, Roselle had long noticed Tessa’s presence, finding it hard to ignore the fact that Gregory rejected her but was close to Tessa. She then knitted her eyebrows unknowingly and asked, “And who might this be…? It appears that we haven’t really met before, have we?”

Tessa was stunned, but as she was about to answer, Nicholas beat her to it and replied, “She is Greg’s violin teacher, Tessa Reinhart.”

“Oh, so this is Miss Reinhart!” Roselle greeted her with a smile while still politely showing decency.

“Greg has always shied away from strangers, yet he is close to you. Perhaps there is something special about you, Miss Reinhart, and that we should really talk about it.”

Upon hearing the lady’s words, Tessa paused for a split second, somehow finding it weird even though Roselle struck her as a courteous lady at first. Deep down, it seemed to Tessa that Roselle was acting like she was the Sawyer Family’s matriarch, but even so, she didn’t dwell too much on it and went on to nod politely.

Soon, Nicholas knitted his eyebrows unhappily and said, “This is not the place to talk. Let’s go back.”

Roselle smiled and replied with a smile, “Sure, let’s head to the hotel.”

Nicholas was about to say something, but Yana was one step ahead. “Of course not! The hotel is nowhere as comfortable as home. Moreover, Stefania and I haven’t met each other for a while, and we’re going to have so much to talk about, plus you’re going to have to drop by and say hi anyway, so how does staying in the hotel seem convenient to you?”

“But… are you sure it won’t be troublesome for them?” Roselle appeared a little hesitant.

As the mother and daughter put on a show, Nicholas went on to say, “Well then, let’s go back home.

We have a lot of empty rooms anyway.”

Roselle continued to pretend that she was hesitant for a while and said, “Alright, we’ll just do as Nicholas says.”

After that, the few of them returned to the car, whereupon Roselle wheeled her luggage to the trunk and was about to put them in it. Meanwhile, Yana, who was also lugging the heavy luggage right behind, saw that and subconsciously shifted her gaze to Tessa.

Feeling unhappy with her presence, Yana tried to boss her around. “Miss Reinhart, would you help us load the luggage, if you don’t mind?”

“S-Sure.” Tessa was caught in a trance before she nodded.

Nonetheless, just when Tessa got closer to help, Nicholas frowned and got in her way, staring at Yana with a glacial look. “This is no job for a lady like you. Edward can take care of it.”

He then called out to his assistant. “Please load Miss Gingham’s bags for her.”