Chapter 199

Chapter 199

Beckett was speechless.

His lips twitched as he covered her mouth with his hand, "Come on, let's see how I deal with you!"

As Beckett spoke, he hoisted Beatrice over his shoulder and carried her off.

Layla watched Beckett and Beatrice leave, bickering and playing around, and felt a moment of panic.

So this was what being in love looked like?

Fighting, teasing, and bickering.

Only after Beckett and Beatrice's bickering faded away did she look back at Seth.

Seth watched her walk over and grabbed her wrist.

Layla seemed used to him always touching her like this, just glancing at him sideways. "What's wrong?"

"Is there really no chance for us to get back together?"

Layla looked at him and nodded firmly, "Right, no chance."

Smart people knew not to go back down the same road.

Seth didn't get angry after hearing this. Instead, he smiled slightly, "Life is still long. Who knows, maybe one day you'll come around."

Layla almost laughed in frustration at his words. "If that day ever comes, it'll be because something's seriously wrong with my brain. And that wouldn't be coming around; that would be losing my mind."

After saying this, Layla glared at him, shook off his hand, and walked away.

Seth turned to watch her retreating figure and raised his eyebrows. He had all the patience in the world this time. He was still the hunter, and Layla was still his prey.

But this time, he would spend the rest of his life hunting this one person.

After breakfast ended, they all went their separate ways.

The breakfast atmosphere hadn't been very cheerful though.

Only Beckett and Beatrice had been chatting and laughing at the table.

After returning to Stanton Manor, Layla went to see Marianne first. "Marianne!"

Marianne was clearly very happy to see her, waving her over, "Layla's here, come, come, come."

Layla smiled and walked to Marianne's side, sitting cross-legged directly on the floor. "Marianne, what are you looking at?"

"Looking at photos from yesterday."

"What photos?"

"See how they turned out?"

Layla looked down, and sure enough, there were many photos, all of them taken yesterday at the amusement park.

"These were taken yesterday? I had no idea!"

"I had someone take them. I wanted to capture these beautiful moments. They came out pretty good, didn't they?"

Layla picked up the photos and looked through them one by one. Honestly, even though they were candid shots, they all turned out great.

Everyone in the photos had happy smiles on their faces.

If people didn't know better, they'd think they were one big happy family.

There were quite a few photos, about twenty in total.

Layla looked at each one. She nodded and said, "They did turn out nice."

Marianne took off her glasses and looked at her with loving eyes. "Layla, does it bother you that Seth moved in next door?"

Layla looked up at Marianne and shook her head, "No, because Elijah is very happy."

As long as Elijah was happy, she was happy.

Until she became a mother, she would never know how much a mother would compromise and sacrifice for her child.

She didn't understand before, but now she did.

All parents in the world feel the same way.

"Good, as long as you don't mind. If he bothers you or makes you unhappy, just tell me, and I'll deal with him for you!"

Layla shook her head, "Marianne, he hasn't. Don't worry."

"Good." Marianne patted her shoulder affectionately.

Seth dropped her off at Stanton Manor and went to the office. Layla stayed at Stanton Manor to keep Elizabeth company all day.

It wasn't until after dinner that she prepared to leave.

"Marianne, I'll take Elijah home now. I'll come visit you again another day."

"Alright, be careful on the road."

Seth opened the back car door, helping Elijah and Layla get in. "Let's go."

Watching the car leave, Elizabeth couldn't help but say, "If only they'd known then what they know now."

Marianne glanced at him, "Well, that runs in your family, doesn't it?"

Elizabeth immediately shut his mouth.

On the way back, Layla received a call from Grace.

Seeing her name, Layla realized they hadn't been in touch for several days.

"Hello, Grace?"

"Darling, did you miss me?"

"I did miss you. What have you been busy with lately? Haven't seen you around."

"Don't even get me started, I just got back!"

"Just got back? Where did you go?" Layla asked.

"To catch someone!"

"Catch someone? What do you mean?"

"Remember that woman who's pregnant with my brother's baby?"

"So how did you guys end up handling it?"

"What else could we do? The woman's name is Lyric Vaughn. She's three or four months pregnant, and we had it checked at the hospital; it's a boy. My parents were thrilled and wanted my brother to marry her!"

Layla wasn't surprised, "And then?"

"My brother agreed, of course. After all, the baby is his. Lyric's parents agreed too. But we didn't count on Lyric herself disagreeing. When she found out she was supposed to marry my brother, guess what happened?"

Layla remembered she'd just said she hadn't been in Sovereign City recently and guessed it. "Lyric ran away?"

"You guessed it! Lyric actually ran away while pregnant, hiding here and there. It took me so many days to find her. But even after I found her, it was useless. She's supposed to be my brother's wife, and she's pregnant, but she refused to come back with me no matter what. She wouldn't agree to marry my brother. I had no choice but to have my brother come himself."

"The one who tied the bell must untie it. After my brother arrived, I came back. These past few days have really worn me out. Lyric, carrying my nephew, sure can run; she actually went to a mountain area to be a teacher! Can you believe it? Why would she want to marry into the Lawson family and be a rich wife when she could go suffer in the mountains instead? I really don't understand what young women these days are thinking!"

Layla smiled at her words, "So you just left them there and came back by yourself?"

"What else? I helped him find her, didn't I? He's the one involved. Whether he can coax his fiancée back depends on his own skills."

Layla was amused by her use of the word "coax." "Either way, you're going to be an aunt."

"You know what, Lyric is really cute-looking. Even I like her. It's just that she's still in college..."

Thinking of Nathaniel's age, Layla said, "That is quite an age gap."

If she remembered correctly, Nathaniel should be three or four years older than Seth.

"That's why I say he's shameless, getting Lyric pregnant. I'll have to introduce you to her sometime. She says she's twenty, but if you told me she was underage, I'd believe it."

The Lawson family wasn't some small-time family either. Normally, her parents would want Nathaniel to marry someone from an equally prestigious family.