Chapter 74: No Obligation to Teach You
Isabella looked at Richard for a moment or two.
He really wasn't good at acting. When he said this, even his ear tips were slightly flushed.
He had clearly heard Isabella and William arguing again, so he had deliberately come over to speak.
After a moment's consideration, Isabella gently shook her head: "How could that be? What does William's happiness have to do with me?"
That was Laura's problem to consider now. Isabella couldn't care less.
After tidying up the kitchen, Richard had just stepped out when Olivia came running over from the living room.
She naturally took Richard's hand and gently shook it a couple of times.
"Mr. Spencer, I don't know how to do this puzzle. Could you come help me?"
Richard instinctively looked up, wanting to ask Isabella's opinion.
Isabella also glanced at the wall clock—it was only half past eight.
"You two go play. I'll wash some fruit for you."
Olivia jumped with joy and pulled Richard toward the half-finished puzzle she'd been working on.
When Isabella came out with the fruit platter, she found Olivia sitting beside Richard, their two heads—one big, one small—bent together as they seriously studied the puzzle before them.
Seeing this scene filled Isabella with an unexpectedly warm feeling.
This was how she had always imagined having a family would be.
"Mommy, come over here quickly!" Olivia shouted when she saw Isabella standing there in a daze.
This puzzle was one Daphne had jokingly given them before—a full thousand pieces, which was still too difficult for a five-year-old like Olivia.
Even with Richard's help, it was quite challenging to put together.
The entire table was covered with puzzle pieces, leaving no room for the fruit platter. Isabella could only hold it in her hands.
Richard thoughtfully reached out, wanting to take the heavy fruit platter from Isabella: "Let me hold that. You help Olivia with the puzzle."
Isabella gently shook her head, just moving the platter toward him: "You two play. I'm fine just watching."
Their fingertips touched unexpectedly. Richard's fingers were slightly cool, but they seemed to burn Isabella, making her pull back.
Richard also withdrew his hand, his ear tips turning slightly red.
Olivia didn't see this exchange, just looked curiously at the two awkward-looking adults.
"Mommy, what's wrong with you two? Is it too hot in here?"
Isabella pressed her lips together slightly and shook her head, picking up a fruit fork to feed Olivia a piece of mango: "You need to go to bed soon after playing a little more."
"Can't I play a little longer since Mr. Spencer is here with me?"
Isabella put on a serious face: "The past couple of days, you stayed up until eleven waiting for me to come home from work. Today you absolutely must go to bed early."
Tomorrow after school, William had arranged to pick Olivia up to take her to his place.
Isabella figured tomorrow would also run late, so today she definitely needed to rest well.
Olivia pouted but quickly focused on playing with the puzzle again.
Richard chuckled softly, watching her: "Olivia is so much more adorable and well-behaved than Julia."
Julia was a child spoiled by her parents and brother. From childhood, no matter what she did, family members would always cover for her.
That kind of confidence was something many people couldn't match.
"Children should be lively. When they grow up, even if you want them to act cute with you, you won't have the chance."
Isabella gazed tenderly at Olivia.
She only wished time could slow down a bit more—the time she could spend with Olivia was still too short.
Suddenly, Isabella's phone rang. Just as she turned to reach for it, Richard had already naturally taken the fruit platter from her hands.
"Take your call first."
Isabella hummed in agreement, giving him a grateful look, then looked at her phone to find someone calling her via video chat.
She frowned and answered. The phone screen went dark for a moment, then quickly brightened.
The scene on the other end of the video call was all too familiar to Isabella.
Isabella had prepared countless breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals for Nathan and Olivia in that familiar kitchen. During the entire six years she'd lived there, Isabella was intimately familiar with every blade of grass and tree in the Montagu family home.
The phone was propped up in a corner of the kitchen. No one appeared in the frame at first. Isabella's expression turned cold—she thought this prank was utterly boring and was about to hang up when a figure wearing an apron entered the frame.
Isabella's pupils contracted slightly.
That apron was even one Isabella had bought—Olivia had personally picked the Hello Kitty pattern.
Now it was wrapped around Laura, glaringly out of place.
She held a mixing bowl in her hands and an egg beater in her right hand. Her pretty little face was covered with quite a bit of white flour.
At first glance, she looked rather disheveled.
Discovering the call had connected, Laura's entire face lit up with undisguised joy. She quickly set down the mixing bowl and leaned toward the phone, speaking in a pitiful tone.
"Isabella, I really need your help this time!"
Isabella just stared expressionlessly at Laura without saying a word, calmly enjoying her performance.
"Last night, when I was putting Nathan to bed, he suddenly told me he really missed the chocolate cake you used to make for him, and he wanted to take some to kindergarten for his classmates to try. But I've never cooked before and don't know how to make cake. Even the housekeeper said she didn't know how you made it."
Laura put on a humble, teachable look and smiled embarrassedly at Isabella.
"So, Isabella, could you teach me how to make it?"
As if afraid Isabella would refuse, Laura quickly added: "I can pay tuition too. William also said that as long as I can make Nathan happy, any amount of money is worth it."
Isabella didn't move a step. Olivia and Richard could clearly hear Laura's words that sounded like bragging.
Olivia's expression changed instantly. Her little face was written all over with anger, her small mouth pressed tightly together.
"Isabella, I also found a lot of your things around the house. If you don't want them, I'll pack them up and have the servants sell them sometime. After all, you and William have separated now, and these odds and ends are just taking up space in the house."
Seeing that Isabella wasn't speaking, Laura began chattering away.
Rather than asking for instruction, it seemed she had come specifically to show off today.
"If you want to learn how to make cake, you can pay to take classes directly," Isabella said coldly.
Laura immediately stopped, her whole face filled with bewilderment: "But Nathan said he specifically wants to eat what you make. No matter how well outside teachers instruct, it won't be the same taste as yours."
"You are Nathan's mother, after all. Surely you wouldn't refuse to help with such a small favor?"
Isabella gripped her phone: "I have no obligation to teach you."
"Besides, aren't you his new mother now?"