Chapter 153

I snapped out of my memories, feeling more embarrassed by the second.

After tossing and turning for what felt like forever, I finally fell into a deep sleep.

When I woke up the next morning, Royce was already up, sitting on the couch.

He acted like nothing had happened and asked, "Want some breakfast?"

I shook my head, staring at the ashtray on the coffee table, filled with cigarette butts, feeling a bit stunned.

"Did you stay up all night?"

Royce nodded, then stood up and grabbed his car keys from the table. "Come on, I'll drive you home."

I suddenly remembered him saying his car was out of gas.

But then he looked at me and smiled. "I lied. I just wanted you to stay here last night."

His honesty left me speechless, so I just nodded dumbly. "No need, you should rest. I'll just call a cab. It's already daytime anyway."

Royce insisted on driving me, and I couldn't argue with him, so I finally agreed.

He drove me to the entrance of my street and didn't move from the car.

The atmosphere felt awkward, and just as I was about to unbuckle my seatbelt and get out, I realized the door was locked. I couldn't move.

I looked at him and whispered, "Open the door."

He looked at me and said, "Everything I said last night was true. I'll wait for you after you get divorced."

With that, I heard a click, and the door unlocked. I didn't know how to react, so I just pushed the door open and hurried out.

When I got home, Kathy was standing at the door, looking at me teasingly.

"I saw you getting out of Royce's car. Did you sleep at his place last night?"

I shook my head. "No, I ran into him this morning, so he gave me a ride back."

"I really didn't sleep at his place, honestly."

Savannah joined in, staring at me for a long time. "Ms. Sharp, your eyebrows always twitch when you lie. They twitched this time too. You did sleep at Royce's place, didn't you?"

Kathy nodded, looking at me with a questioning gaze. "Yeah, how come I never run into such coincidences?"

I sighed helplessly. One was a gossip expert, and the other was an interrogation pro. How could I possibly escape their scrutiny?

"Fine, I'll tell you. I did sleep at Royce's place."

They both got excited and jumped up, asking, "Tell us the details! What happened between you two?"

I briefly explained the shareholders' meeting from yesterday, but I didn't mention the kiss or his confession. I just said he got drunk, and due to a misunderstanding, I had to stay at his place, and when I woke up in the middle of the night, there was no car.

Kathy looked disappointed. "I thought there'd be more sparks flying. Turns out it was so boring."

I rolled my eyes at her. "Do you think my life is a soap opera? It was just a coincidence. I knew you'd gossip like this, which is why I didn't want to tell you."

Kathy rolled her eyes. "Who knew Royce would blow such a golden opportunity."

She tugged Savannah away. "Come on, this is a snooze fest. Not worth our time."

I watched them leave, feeling a bit helpless, then headed into Kelly's room. She was helping Brett and Briar with their studies.

The other two kids were still sound asleep.

Kelly saw me come in and gave me a reproachful look. "You're an adult now. If you're not coming home at night, at least let me know. I was worried sick."

"And Kathy and Savannah were waiting for you. How could you be so clueless?"

I humbly accepted Kelly's criticism, nodding repeatedly.

"I'm sorry, Mom. Last night was really unexpected. It was all a misunderstanding. I won't do it again."

Seeing my sincere apology, Kelly finally huffed and handed me a test paper.

"Take a look."

I saw it was Brett's test paper. Brett was peeking at me while doing his homework.

It was his winter break math assignment, and it was a perfect score.

I looked at it in disbelief. Since he started school, I always thought he wasn't good at math. His scores were always around 20 or 30. I talked to his teachers and to Brett, and he said he just didn't like math.

Eventually, I stopped pushing him.

Luckily, Brett was great at sports, picking up anything quickly. So I thought, if he can't be a mathematician, he could be an athlete.

But in less than a month with Kelly, his math had improved dramatically to a perfect score.

Although Kelly was a retired math professor, I never expected such progress.

"Is this your test, Brett?"

I looked at him in disbelief. Brett immediately showed a proud expression. "Aren't you going to praise me?"

No parent doesn't want their child to excel. I didn't push him because I wanted him to have a happy childhood.

But the joy of seeing a perfect score was incomparable. I grabbed Brett's face and kissed him twice.

"My darling, you made me so happy. How did you do it?"

Brett cheerfully pointed at Kelly. "I like the way Grandma teaches. Math is easy to understand. I can't understand the school teacher."

Kelly proudly waved her fan. "In all my years of teaching, I've never met a dumb student. Kids this age aren't dumb; you just need to explain things in a way they understand."

I was overjoyed. "Grandma's the best. You're amazing."

"Why don't you leave the kids with me? I'll tutor him. Otherwise, he'll fall back to his old ways once he goes back."

Honestly, I had already considered it. I planned to return to Suncrest City once everything settled, so transferring Brett to a school here made sense.

I looked at Brett. Ultimately, it was his decision.

"Brett, do you want to stay with Grandma?"

Brett nodded eagerly. "Yes, I want to stay with Grandma. She's so kind. I love her."

Seeing Brett's happy face and Kelly's loving gaze, I finally made up my mind.