Chapter 164
Emily took a deep breath and said to Raymond, "Grandpa, I'll go pick up the kids from school."
It was time for the children to get out of school.
The Brown family had originally arranged for a servant to pick them up, but Emily volunteered, and Raymond naturally did not refuse. After all, it made sense for her to spend more time with the children.
"Alright, be safe."
Raymond agreed with a smile.
Emily turned and left. When she arrived at the kindergarten entrance, the three children walked out hand in hand from the campus.
Seeing Emily, they quickly came over together and threw themselves into her arms.
Emily opened her arms, trying to hug all three, but could only wrap her arms around Oscar and Aiden's shoulders on either side.
"Mommy, why did you come to pick us up today?" Nina asked with pleasant surprise.
"Because I missed you."
Emily said softly, without explaining further.
"Then let's go back. It's almost dinnertime, and we can't let Mommy go hungry."
Nina smiled, her eyes crinkling, then said seriously.
Hearing this, Emily's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
Thinking of Eleanor still at the Brown family home, she really did not want to attend this dinner.
But she had already promised William yesterday, and it would be rude to suddenly cancel today.
Besides, since she had come to pick up the children, she should at least take them home.
Emily took a deep breath and brought the children back to the Brown family home.
When they arrived, the servants had just started bringing dishes to the table.
"Grandpa, we're back."
Nina bounced in like a little ray of sunshine, hopping into the mansion.
Aiden and Oscar flanked her on both sides, protecting her in case she accidentally fell.
Emily followed behind them, her eyes fixed on the three little ones' backs.
Hearing the children's voices, Raymond's face broke into a smile.
He nodded cheerfully and patted each of the three children on the head.
"Good that you're back. Wash your hands and get ready to eat."
While they were chatting, Eleanor stopped her discussion with William.
She looked at Emily, then at the three children, with some surprise in her eyes.
Seeing that these children bore some resemblance to William, Eleanor's heart sank slightly.
"Grandpa Raymond, who are these children?" Eleanor asked, pretending not to understand.
"They're all William's children, and Emily is their birth mother. It's just that Emily and William had some misunderstandings in the past due to certain matters. So they've delayed getting married until now, but the children have all been through paternity testing."
Raymond made it very clear.
He was laying it all out openly because he did not want Eleanor to harbor any inappropriate hopes.
Hearing this, Eleanor's smile remained unchanged.
She walked up to the children and gave a simple self-introduction.
"Hello, I'm Eleanor. Your father and I grew up together. You can call me Aunt Eleanor. I didn't know about your existence, so I couldn't prepare gifts for you in advance. Next time, I'll definitely make it up to you."
Her gracious manner earned Raymond's approval.
He had never liked people who were wishy-washy, whether men or women. And clearly, Eleanor was very much to his taste.
"Alright, go wash your hands and eat."
The children politely greeted Eleanor, then obediently lined up to wash their hands before eating.
By the time they got to the table, all the dishes had been served.
"Let's eat. Consider this meal a proper welcome dinner for you."
Raymond said with a smile on his face.
William also nodded from the side, tacitly agreeing with Raymond's words.
Emily said nothing, just kept serving food to the children after the meal began.
Seeing the atmosphere was somewhat quiet, Eleanor took the initiative to start a conversation.
"Grandpa Raymond, you've trained William so well. Nothing I asked stumped him today! If it weren't for William, I probably wouldn't have been able to solve these problems."
Hearing this, Raymond nodded with a smile.
What storms had he not weathered in his lifetime?
He had heard plenty of flattery and compliments.
But now, hearing Eleanor's genuine praise for William from the bottom of her heart, he couldn't help but feel pleased.
After all, he loved hearing praise about his descendants.
"You're not bad yourself. Being able to come up with these tricky questions proves you've done plenty of homework behind the scenes."
Raymond said in response.
The atmosphere at the table remained delicate.
Eleanor caught a glimpse of Emily remaining silent throughout, only focused on serving the three children, and a hint of smugness flashed in her eyes.
She wasn't hungry to begin with; eating together was just her excuse to stay.
Now she simply put down her utensils and took the initiative to talk about the past.
"Seeing these three children, I suddenly feel like I'm looking at William and me when we were little! Grandpa Raymond, do you remember? When I was little, William and I used to climb trees in the Brown family's backyard. He was so protective of me back then. When I fell down, he even got into a fight with the kid who bullied me, and you scolded him for ages when he got home."
Eleanor was talking about the children, but actually steering the conversation subtly toward herself and William.
She looked at William with nostalgic eyes and smiled, "It's been so many years in the blink of an eye."
William nodded slightly.
After their earlier discussion, their relationship had warmed up quickly—though only in terms of work, of course.
To William, he just felt Eleanor was a bit more familiar than before, nothing more.
"Indeed, time flies."
He responded with just one sentence, but to Emily, it sounded full of sentiment.
Emily's grip on her utensils tightened slightly as she kept her eyes downcast and said nothing.
The sourness in her heart quietly churned.
But this was at the dinner table, and she did not want to lose her composure, spoil everyone's mood, or make the children uncomfortable.
She remained silent, but the three children couldn't sit still.
Nina, sitting beside Emily, was the first to frown.
She quietly tugged at Aiden and Oscar's sleeves. The three little heads huddled together, whispering a few words, then their eyes all turned to Eleanor in unison.
Clearly, they had all detected this Aunt Eleanor's ill intentions.
Nina was the first to put down her utensils, swinging her little legs, and acting cute toward William.
"Daddy, I want you to peel shrimp for me. Mommy's hand got burned accidentally, can you peel some for Mommy too?"
Aiden quickly nodded along.
"Daddy, Mommy was walking a bit slowly when she picked us up just now. She seems a bit uncomfortable."