Chapter 82 It's Not Mine—Is It Yours Then?
Alexander said, "You..."
Could it be that she didn't care at all, even if something happened between him and Emily?
Grace said, "What's wrong?" She felt he was acting strangely, somewhat abnormal.
Alexander looked at her, his gaze carrying something peculiar, his tone suddenly irritated, "Nothing!"
He frowned and tugged at his collar before entering his room.
Grace muttered, "What a strange man!"
She also went to her room.
The next day.
Grace woke up to a call from company leadership notifying her to take a few days off.
Apparently, Amelia was still in the emergency room and hadn't escaped life-threatening danger yet.
With Amelia's fate uncertain, the entire company was in chaos, and the executives were all on edge. They had all heard more or less about Amelia provoking the Hayes family and were terrified.
Grace got up, finished her morning routine, and walked out of her room. Since it was a rest day, the two children didn't need to go to school and were still sleeping in.
The housekeeper said, "Ms. Foster, breakfast is ready."
Grace casually asked, "Where's Alexander?"
The housekeeper replied, "Mr. Hayes went to the office early this morning. He said Miss Blake would come to pick up Liam today."
Grace was startled. "She's coming to pick up Liam? What for?"
The housekeeper shook her head. "Mr. Hayes didn't say, so I didn't ask."
"I see." Grace said, "I'll go wake up the two little ones for breakfast."
It was a rare day off, and she happened to be on leave too, so she wanted to spend quality time with Max and Liam.
Grace woke up Liam and Max, urging them to get up and get dressed. Max stretched lazily and saw Grace calling Liam to wake up.
"Liam, time to get up!"
Liam sat up from bed with drooping eyelids, moving sluggishly, yawned like he wasn't fully awake yet, and rubbed his eyes.
Grace helped him get dressed.
Seeing this, Max frowned with some jealousy. "You're so big now, can't you dress yourself?"
Max was a bit grumpy from being woken up, and not having slept enough, plus seeing Grace fussing over Liam, his mood became somewhat low.
Hearing this, Liam felt uncomfortable too.
He pouted at Max, looking like he was sulking. "Hmph!"
Max got out of bed, walked up to Liam, put his hands on his hips. "Dress yourself, and wash your own face and brush your teeth!"
Liam aggrievedly hugged Grace, wanting her to comfort him after being scolded by Max.
"Max!" Grace chided, "Don't bully Liam."
Now it was Max's turn to feel wronged.
Mommy was protecting this guy way too much.
Max muttered, "Mommy, I dress myself every day!"
The two little ones glared at each other, then with perfect synchronization crossed their arms and turned their backs to each other, neither paying attention to the other.
Grace knew children's squabbles would quickly resolve themselves. She raised an eyebrow and smiled gently, "Mommy's off work today and can stay home with you both. You need to be good and not fight."
Hearing that Grace was off work, Max and Liam's eyes lit up, and they completely forgot about being angry.
Grace seized the opportunity, "Shake hands and promise not to fight anymore, okay?"
The two little ones were naturally willing to give Grace face and made up with a handshake.
Since Grace's dislocated hand was still somewhat inconvenient after recovery, she coaxed Liam, "Liam, can you be a good boy and dress yourself?"
Liam nodded and began dressing himself.
The housekeeper standing in the doorway said with some surprise, "Oh my, Liam can dress himself now. That's wonderful!"
Grace said, "Liam is very smart!"
Hearing this, Liam's ears perked up, his little face reddened with embarrassment, and he felt somewhat sweet inside.
Grace praised him for being smart—he wanted to perform even better!
After the two children finished washing up, all three sat in the living room, preparing to have breakfast.
The doorbell suddenly rang.
Grace was startled. "Who could that be?"
The housekeeper said, "I'll get the door."
She walked to the entryway and opened the door to see Emily dressed elegantly, standing outside with a smile. "Hello."
"You must be Miss Blake?" the housekeeper also smiled politely.
Emily said, "Yes, I'm here to pick up Liam."
Grace heard Emily's voice and her spine stiffened.
Max and Liam looked up, sensitively observing Grace's expression, and could tell she seemed to become somewhat uncomfortable.
Conversation between the housekeeper and Emily could be heard from the entryway.
"Liam hasn't finished breakfast yet! Miss Blake, would you like to come in and wait?"
Emily nodded. "Alright."
As soon as she entered, she saw Grace and the two children sitting in the dining room, indeed having breakfast. She was also momentarily stunned, and for that instant, she felt the three of them looked just like a family of three.
Emily suddenly realized.
Of course they looked like a family of three!
Alexander had gone to the office—he'd been very busy with company affairs lately, so Emily had volunteered to come pick up Liam.
Seeing her, Grace lowered her head and treated her like air.
Emily didn't greet her either, and the two women acted like strangers.
She entered the house and looked around.
This apartment was the one Alexander had bought and put in Grace's name.
He really was quite generous.
But thinking about it, this was just an apartment. After she married Alexander, she could have anything she wanted.
She would ask Alexander to buy her a bigger house. Once she became part of the Hayes family, luxury cars and mansions—whatever she asked for, Alexander would buy for her.
She was just being considerate and never mentioned it, otherwise Alexander would buy her even better things!
Emily was somewhat curious—did Alexander and Grace sleep in the same room?
Seeing Emily looking around, the housekeeper smiled and said, "Miss Blake, since you're waiting anyway, would you like me to show you around?"
Emily smiled pleasantly and said, "That would be lovely."
The housekeeper led her toward the bedroom area.
The entire apartment had a clear separation between public and private spaces, with the living and dining areas on the west side, and the master bedroom and guest rooms on the east. Except for one north-facing bedroom, all the other rooms faced south.
Grace suddenly stood up and said coldly to the housekeeper, "This is my home, and I'm the lady of the house. Why are you taking it upon yourself to give her a tour of my house?"
She was usually quite satisfied with this housekeeper, but was displeased with her presumptuous decision to give Emily a tour.
The housekeeper looked somewhat embarrassed. "I..."
Emily turned around to look at Grace and said, "Didn't Alexander buy this house?"
Grace said, "Yes."
Emily said, "You don't actually think that just because he put the house in your name, it really belongs to you, do you?"
Grace laughed and asked back, "What else? It's not mine—is it yours then?"