Chapter 326

Chapter 326

Sophie's voice coming through the watch made Emily visibly tense.

Alexander had made such heartfelt promises during the day, yet by nightfall, he was already entangled with her again?

She suddenly felt that her earlier softening toward him had been utterly foolish.

"Maurice, he has his own business to attend to. We shouldn't disturb him. Let's hang up."

She reached for the watch, but Jasmine had already started protesting loudly.

"You said you were with Mommy! Why is there someone else with you?"

"Bad man!"

The children's ability to scold was limited, and given their young age, they struggled to articulate some words clearly.

They chattered angrily into the watch until Emily, unable to watch any longer, stepped forward to end the call, bringing silence.

But the silence lasted only a second before Jasmine voiced her displeasure.

"He did something wrong! Why did you hang up? He needs to explain himself!"

Maurice was even less forgiving. "That's right! We should find him and see for ourselves!"

These two little ones, though young in years, seemed to have more backbone than she did.

Looking at them, Emily felt momentarily disoriented.

Whenever she encountered situations involving Alexander and Sophie, she instinctively avoided them.

She didn't want to look or investigate, fearing the pain would gradually overwhelm her, making it impossible to think clearly.

But...

If the pain didn't cut to the bone, how could she truly let go?

None of that mattered now—they had no path back to each other anyway.

Emily didn't want to plant seeds of hatred in these young hearts.

She sat on the edge of the small bed and smiled gently. "The adult world is very complicated. Not everything can be guaranteed. Perhaps Alexander had important business to discuss today?"

She ruffled Jasmine's hair, then looked at Maurice. "Just because we heard someone else's voice doesn't mean they were alone together. There could have been other people around."

Her gentle explanation clearly reached the children. Maurice's face even showed traces of shame.

"Then I misunderstood him? I should explain myself." He reached for the watch beside the bed, but Emily stopped him.

Meeting his confused gaze, Emily felt she was making trouble for herself.

At the same time, she couldn't help cursing Alexander in her mind. Of all the people to get tangled up with, why did it have to be Sophie?

She truly didn't want to defend him at all.

But the children's eyes were too pure—she couldn't bear to let such messy affairs taint them.

"Maurice, we've already disturbed Alexander. How can we bother him again? If you want to apologize, you can do it later."

By tomorrow, she'd find some distraction, and the whole thing would blow over. 

Children didn't hold onto things for long.

Having made up her mind, Emily smiled and playfully tapped both their noses.

"Alright, we've made our call. Let's go to sleep, okay? It's getting late, and you have kindergarten tomorrow. If we stay up any longer, you won't be able to get up in the morning."

The two little ones exchanged glances before obediently lying down.

But they clearly had something on their minds—how could they fall asleep so easily?

As she considered what measures to take, the sound of a car engine came from outside.

In this upscale neighborhood, the houses were set apart at some distance. Unless someone honked, they could barely hear anything.

While she was still pondering, Jasmine had already sprung up from the bed.

"It's Alexander!"

"That's impossible," Emily said with a laugh.

Given that they'd just heard Sophie's voice over the phone, even if the media caught them staying at a hotel together, Alexander wouldn't bother explaining.

Well, it was true anyway—what was there to explain?

The self-mocking smile had barely formed on her lips when the children's bedroom door swung open and Alexander burst in.

His dress shirt wasn't as neat as usual, showing obvious wrinkles. Several buttons were undone, revealing a large expanse of chest.

What was going on?

Her eyebrow twitched slightly, but before she could say anything, she noticed someone else behind Alexander—Jason.

He looked visibly uncomfortable and gave Emily an awkward wave. "Sorry to disturb you so late."

Emily stared in confusion.

"There were some special circumstances today, so I went drinking with Alexander. As for Sophie, I have no idea how we ran into her. I swear they absolutely did not have plans tonight."

So Alexander had specifically brought Jason to explain?

As the question formed on her face, Alexander was already dismissing his friend. "You've said your piece. Now get out."

Jason, clearly not wanting to be caught in domestic drama, agreed quickly and fled.

"Alexander!" Jasmine exclaimed excitedly, jumping barefoot onto the floor and running to him, looking up with her small face.

Alexander crouched down to her level, his voice somewhat hoarse. "What is it, Jasmine?"

"I shouldn't have misunderstood you and said those things," she said with a pout. "But you're wrong too. You promised to tell me a story. When you don't tell me stories, I can't sleep."

"Would you like me to tell you a story now?" His voice carried the characteristic raspiness of someone slightly tipsy, but his eyes were full of tenderness.

Maurice, sitting on his small bed, also spoke softly, "Me too. I shouldn't have misunderstood you. Mommy already scolded me. Will you forgive me?"

Alexander looked at Emily with surprise, apparently not expecting her to have defended him.

But when their eyes met, they both quickly looked away.

Alexander picked up Jasmine and placed her on the small bed. "Would you like me to tell you a story now?"

"Yes!"

The two children had clearly lost their earlier agitation. They lay obediently in bed, blinking their big eyes expectantly at him.

Emily felt a strange sensation rising within her. Had Alexander already figured out they were his children?

The thought flashed through her mind, expanding her panic and unease.

But it lasted only a moment before she suppressed her emotions and left the room.

Less than ten minutes later, Alexander emerged from the children's bedroom.

He approached Emily on the sofa. "The bar was really noisy. I was worried I couldn't hear Maurice clearly, so I stepped outside. I didn't expect to run into Sophie."

An accidental encounter.

But for someone already biased, a few simple words could easily be misunderstood.

Emily nodded slightly, pointing to a sobering soup on the coffee table. "Sorry for the disturbance. Drink it while it's hot. It was my fault for not controlling them better—they shouldn't have bothered you."

Alexander looked at the sobering soup, a flash of pleasant surprise crossing his face.

But after hearing her words, his expression darkened.

He sat on the sofa and picked up the bowl. "You can contact me for anything. I genuinely want to make amends."

After a few seconds of silence, he asked, almost as if searching for conversation—or perhaps he truly wanted to know. "When you explained to them... did you really believe me?"