Chapter 132 Alaric Comes to Pick Up Cordelia to Attend the Awards Ceremony
Donald listened quietly to Cordelia's words and fell silent.
Cordelia looked at Donald's increasingly heavy expression, the corners of her lips curving up slightly as she raised her head to look at him.
"Dad, actually this misunderstanding has been quite good for me."
Donald was stunned for a moment, not immediately understanding what Cordelia meant.
Cordelia's lips curved slightly, but she didn't continue.
Donald didn't press further.
Young people's matters should be left for young people to handle themselves.
Cordelia walked toward Amber, took her hand, and entered the dining room, with Donald following behind.
When the food was being served, Clifford also pushed Ruth in her wheelchair to the dining room.
Cordelia had been quite busy recently, and Ruth, due to her health, hadn't been visiting The Stone Manor often.
Today Cordelia finally had some free time, so she invited Ruth to come over.
It was also a good opportunity for Ruth to relax a bit.
Ruth hadn't seen Amber for several days. Watching Amber eating with her head down, the kind smile on her face never faded.
"Amber is becoming more and more well-behaved and adorable."
It was all that bastard Alaric's fault. If he hadn't been seduced by Janet back then and insisted on divorcing Cordelia, she wouldn't have had to wait until now to spend time with Amber.
Thinking of Alaric, Ruth's eyes darkened a bit.
"Cordelia, I heard Alaric troubled you last night?"
"His health—there's nothing seriously wrong, is there?"
Over the years, Alaric rarely communicated with Ruth about matters big or small, and Ruth worried they might be hiding something about his condition.
Hearing Ruth's words, Cordelia gently shook her head.
"Nothing serious, but he still needs to rest and recover for a while."
Ruth sighed upon hearing this.
"When you were in Shadowpine back then, his health was fine. You've only been gone three years, and he's damaged his body to this extent."
"Last night when you went to take care of him, you probably didn't rest well."
Cordelia pressed her red lips together, feeling a bit guilty.
She had actually rested very well last night.
For some reason, in Alaric's arms, she truly felt an indescribable sense of security.
This morning, she didn't even know when Alaric had gotten up.
"Mrs. Hughes, I didn't really help much when I went over. He got through the whole night on his own. But his health really does need attention. You should still try to persuade him to smoke and drink less in the future."
Cordelia remembered that three years ago, Alaric rarely smoked.
But after coming back and observing him recently, Cordelia noticed that Alaric seemed to smoke often.
Besides that faint pleasant scent on him, there was also a smell of cigarettes.
Ruth nodded gently upon hearing this, then said helplessly.
"He's grown up now. He won't listen to me anymore. He'd probably only listen to his wife."
Cordelia pressed her lips together in silence.
She and Alaric were already divorced.
Ruth thought about how Alaric had said some time ago that he wanted to bring a woman home to meet her, and her mood sank. She took the initiative to change the subject.
"I heard that for this city's commendation ceremony, Jake asked you to attend on behalf of the hospital. I wonder if you've prepared your speech?"
Cordelia shook her head. "Not yet."
"Joe only mentioned it to me yesterday."
Ruth nodded gently. "This commendation ceremony involves all walks of life. Alaric has also been invited. You haven't been in the country for three years, and Shadowpine has changed quite a bit. When you go together that day, at least you'll have someone to rely on."
Cordelia nodded gently without refusing.
"Okay."
She rarely attended such events. Having someone familiar by her side would at least make it less awkward.
Early on the morning the conference began.
Following Ruth's instructions, Alaric arrived at The Stone Manor early.
Evelyn had prepared a suit for Cordelia to wear to the meeting well in advance.
After Cordelia changed into the suit, Allegra knocked on the dressing room door and said softly.
"Ms. Stone, Mr. Hughes is here."
Cordelia nodded lightly and responded, "Okay, I know."
After saying this, she walked to the vanity, checked her makeup, and seeing no issues, walked out of the room and went downstairs.
Alaric was sitting on the living room sofa listening to Donald speak.
Amber was sitting next to Alaric, leisurely swinging her little legs, asking Alaric.
"Mr. Hughes doesn't come to see me anymore."
As she spoke, she pouted, her beautiful eyes showing some disappointment as she looked at Alaric reproachfully.
Alaric paused, feeling inexplicably guilty, but fortunately Donald came to his rescue in time.
"Alaric has been too busy with work lately."
"Does Amber not like me anymore?"
Amber immediately shook her head. "I like Grandpa."
Hearing her words, Cordelia's lips curved into a faint smile as she stepped downstairs.
Alaric heard footsteps and looked up.
Cordelia was wearing a white suit jacket with a light blue shirt underneath. Her hair was tied up in a bun, revealing her slender neck. She looked fresh and capable.
She rarely wore formal attire. At the hospital she wore a white coat, and outside the hospital it was either light-colored jeans or very casual everyday outfits.
This was also the first time Alaric had seen her like this, and for a moment he couldn't look away.
"Amber stays at home every day and is probably a bit bored. There are no children her age around here. Back in Astoria, there were kids her age near Mrs. Gray's house. She often went over there and wasn't so clingy, wanting people to keep her company."
When she mentioned the Gray family, Alaric couldn't help but frown slightly, observing her expression for changes.
He'd heard she didn't get along with Jade, which was why she couldn't marry Dominic.
Yet when she mentioned Jade, there wasn't the slightest trace of resentment or dissatisfaction in her tone.
Alaric's heart suddenly felt heavy.
Just how good was her relationship with Dominic that she could remain so calm when mentioning someone who had been so unfair to her?
Donald thought what Cordelia said made a lot of sense, so he said, "When the weather gets a bit cooler, I'll take Amber to the park. There are many children her age there, and it would be good for her to interact with them."
Cordelia nodded gently.
Hearing there would be friends to play with, Amber's attention was diverted. She happily ran to Donald's side, talking about bringing some snacks to share with the children.
Donald nodded and agreed to everything.
Seeing she was ready, Alaric stood up from the sofa.
"Can we leave now?"
Cordelia nodded. When she looked up at him, her eyes met his deep gaze. She froze for a moment, then said politely.
"Thank you for the trouble, Mr. Hughes."
Alaric didn't answer. After saying goodbye to Donald, he walked out of The Stone Manor.
Cordelia followed and got in the car.
She had thought Robert would be driving them today, but unexpectedly, Alaric was driving himself.
She walked to the back seat and pulled the car door, only to find that the back door was locked and wouldn't open at all.
A flash of confusion crossed Cordelia's eyes.
Alaric sat in the driver's seat, his expression calm.
He had deliberately locked the back doors when he came.
Unable to open the back door, Cordelia could only open the passenger door and get in.
Alaric glanced at her from the corner of his eye, the corners of his lips curving up imperceptibly before quickly fading.