Chapter 17 Never Forgive Her Again
He was still holding Luna, who was sobbing in his arms, and just wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.
Simon stood up, his gaze calm, showing little emotion, and said in an equally flat tone, "Nothing major, just some things I think should be made clear."
He glanced at Luna in Vincent's arms. The little girl buried her face in her father's shoulder, only her red, swollen eyes visible, looking at him with both shame and resentment.
"About me asking you to invest back then—what's done is done. Business decisions, everyone has their reasons. I have nothing to say about that."
Simon paused, then continued, "And what Luna said today, though it surprised me and embarrassed me, I won't hold it against her."
"After all, children are blank slates. What they say and think often comes from what the closest people around them teach them. Daisy couldn't have taught her to say such things, and neither did you, so who could it have been?"
Vincent's face suddenly darkened, his voice turning cold. "What are you trying to say?"
"You know what I mean." Simon gestured with his hand. "I'll leave it at that. I hope Mr. Black will really take it to heart."
Daisy and Vincent hadn't shown any signs of discord, but Simon wasn't stupid—he could still pick up on some clues from little details.
He was reminding Vincent to pay special attention to the outsider who had appeared around Luna.
How sharp was Vincent?
Of course he understood Simon's underlying message.
This gave Vincent an uncomfortable feeling of being challenged. He didn't think Simon had any right to judge his family matters.
But out of courtesy, he held back his anger. His gaze turned cold, and after a few seconds of silence, he forced out a perfunctory smile with no warmth. "Mr. Hart is right. She's still young and didn't know better. I'll teach her properly when we get home."
"Sorry for the intrusion today. Goodbye."
With that, he didn't give Simon another chance to speak. Holding Luna, he turned and strode away.By the time Vincent got home with Luna, it was completely dark.
Warm lights lit up the villa's exterior walls, and inside it was even more brilliantly lit—from a distance, it looked almost like a fairyland.
Anna was waiting at the door.
"Mr. Black, you're back. Oh my, what happened to Miss Luna?" Anna couldn't help asking when she saw Luna's red, swollen eyes.
"She's fine." Vincent said in a low voice, putting his daughter down. "Get her something to eat, then run a bath for her."
"Where's my wife? She's not back yet?" He looked around and didn't see Daisy anywhere, his brow furrowing unconsciously.
Anna answered carefully, "Mrs. Black... hasn't come back yet, and she hasn't called either."
Vincent's expression darkened further.
What was that woman up to now?!
He'd thought sending the divorce papers would make her realize her mistake and stop making a fuss. He wasn't unwilling to give her a way out and pretend the divorce thing never happened.
But instead, she was getting worse!
He irritably loosened his tie. Whether she came back or not—did she think he was begging her?
"Daddy!" But Luna grabbed the corner of his clothes, looking up at him with her face still showing red eyes, though the earlier grievance was gone, replaced by a bit of coyness and anticipation.
"My birthday is in a few days! You remember, right?"
Vincent paused and looked down at his daughter. "I remember. What about it?"
"I want a super—huge—birthday surprise!"
Luna gestured with her hands, her eyes sparkling. "Just like what Auntie Vanessa prepared for me last year! With a castle, a princess dress, and lots and lots of friends coming!"
"Oh right, tomorrow is the weekend, and Daddy, you promised me you'd take me and Auntie Vanessa to that new super dreamy amusement park! Can we go tomorrow?" As she spoke, she shook Vincent's hand coyly.
Vincent pressed his lips together. "But I have a very important meeting tomorrow. I have to leave first thing in the morning, so I'm afraid I can't take you."
Luna's little mouth immediately pouted, but quickly turned into a smile.
"I have an idea! Call Mommy right now and have her pick me up tomorrow morning, then we'll go pick up Auntie Vanessa together!"
She arranged everything on her own, her tone matter-of-fact.
Vincent thought about it and didn't see anything wrong with it.
He took out his phone, found Daisy's number and dialed. Luna chirped again, "And, and, tell Mommy to prepare a big big big surprise too, as her apology gift."
"Otherwise I won't forgive her!" She said, tilting her chin up proudly.
Vincent made the call with one hand while rubbing her head with the other.
The phone rang for a long time before being answered. Daisy's voice came through, calm to the point of cold. "Hello?"
There was some noisy background sound, as if she was outside.
"Where are you?" Vincent got straight to the point, his tone unconsciously taking on his usual questioning manner.
"What is it?" Daisy asked back instead of answering.
Vincent took a breath and tried to speak in a calm tone. "Tomorrow is the weekend. I promised Luna I'd take her to the new amusement park."
"But I have a meeting. She wants you to pick her up in the morning, then get Vanessa."
There was silence on the other end for a few seconds.
Then Daisy's voice came through, mocking. "Vincent, my time isn't that free. Setting aside whether I have time, even if I were idle, I have no interest in watching another woman play happy family with my daughter."
"Daisy!" Vincent's tone carried some urgency and anger.
"Do you have to be like this? Don't you know how long Luna has been looking forward to her birthday? Can't you just put aside those messy thoughts for now and spend time with your child?"
Daisy was about to argue back when suddenly Vincent's other phone rang. Through the phone came their daughter's excited voice calling out, "Great! It's Auntie Vanessa calling, Daddy, answer it quick!"
Daisy let out an involuntary scoff. "Looks like someone wants to spend time with Luna more than I do." With that, she hung up.
Vincent gripped his phone, his expression dark enough to drip water.
He angrily rejected Vanessa's call and threw the phone onto the sofa.
Turning around, he saw his daughter looking at him expectantly, her little face full of hope. "Daddy, did Mommy agree?"
Looking at his daughter's clear eyes, Vincent took a deep breath, barely suppressing his anger, and forced out a smile. "She's busy tomorrow too. How about this—let's have Auntie Vanessa come pick you up directly."
Luna's little face fell, and she felt even angrier than Vincent.
Because all these years, Mommy had never refused her, but now she was refusing again and again!
Even though she really liked having Auntie Vanessa around, this frustration of being "refused by someone who never refused her" still made Luna very, very angry!
"I'll never forgive Mommy again!"