Chapter 248 I Protect You
"We're planning to take Seraphina to the orchard in Skylake District," Elizabeth said with a faint smile.
Freya paused for a moment after hearing this, then smiled, "Oh, that sounds nice. The air is fresh at the orchard, it'll be good for Seraphina. Well, have fun, and when I have time, I'll take her to the circus."
Elizabeth nodded, "Okay."
Freya added a few more words, telling Elizabeth to take good care of herself and not work too hard, then handed the phone back to Russell.
Russell also worriedly reminded Elizabeth to take care of her health before hanging up.
Freya sighed with some gloom, "Elizabeth still hasn't called me mom. I've been trying so hard to get closer to her."
Russell could only comfort Freya, "Just wait a bit longer, maybe things will get better in a while."
Freya nodded, but the worried look on her face didn't fade. She helplessly changed the subject, "Aurelia brought up Herschel today. Her daughter Juniper seems pretty suitable. That boy Herschel does nothing but work all day."
Russell respected Herschel's opinion, "You can mention it to Herschel. If he doesn't like the idea, just drop it."
Freya nodded, "That's what I think too. I'll call Herschel."
In their circle, everyone knew each other, though knowing someone didn't necessarily mean they'd ever talked.
When Herschel got Freya's call and heard her mention Juniper, he didn't have any particular thoughts about it, "Freya, I don't want to think about these things right now."
"Okay, you have your own ideas. Work is important, but you need to rest too," Freya said with a smile.
The next morning.
After Elizabeth and Timothy got up, they had a simple breakfast and started preparing for today's orchard trip.
Alfonso and Mabel came over at the agreed time to meet up, and everyone set off together.
The orchard in Skylake District.
The air in the orchard was fresh, and the fruit trees were full of ripe fruit.
The orchard had several areas - besides fruit picking, there was also a camping area for barbecues.
Alfonso and Mabel prepared the barbecue in the camping area, while Elizabeth and the others took Seraphina to pick fruit.
Seraphina ran around the orchard, her face beaming with a bright smile.
Seraphina's happiness.
Elizabeth rummaged through her bag to get a towel to wipe Seraphina's sweat, "The towel's not here. Mr. Robinson, can you go get one? It's in the suitcase."
Timothy nodded and went to the camping area to get the towel. Elizabeth had Seraphina stay put and look at the fruit on the trees.
A few young men and women walked over from ahead. Seraphina was running and not paying attention, and bumped into one of them.
"Ow! Where did this kid come from!" A woman who was bumped took several steps back and almost fell. After steadying herself, she glared and scolded Seraphina.
Seraphina anxiously clutched her clothes with two fingers, "I'm sorry."
Elizabeth immediately walked to Seraphina's side, took her hand, and looked at the woman.
Elizabeth recognized these young people - Juniper and Albert were both there, and the one who'd been bumped was Nova from the Ramirez family.
Elizabeth was a socialite from the Nightingale family, and everyone already knew her identity.
Elizabeth looked at Nova, "I'm sorry, Ms. Ramirez. Are you hurt anywhere?"
Nova snorted coldly. Though somewhat annoyed, she couldn't really make a scene. She waved her hand, "It's fine, just Seraphina wasn't paying attention. Be more careful next time."
Nova looked down at Seraphina and asked curiously, "Whose child is this?"
Elizabeth smiled faintly, "My daughter."
Nova looked at Seraphina in surprise, "What? You and Jake have a child this old?"
Another girl next to her looked carefully at Seraphina and raised an eyebrow, "Looking at her age, she doesn't seem like Jake's daughter. Have you guys forgotten what happened five years ago at the Robinson family's hundred-day celebration for Tommy and Jane?"
The few people present happened to remember the situation back then - Elizabeth seemed to have been Timothy's mistress at the time.
Thinking of what happened five years ago, their looks toward Elizabeth became subtle.
What a twist of fate - the Nightingale family socialite had once been divorced and then became someone's mistress, and finally married Jake and got shares in the Sherman Group.
Really impressive, Elizabeth.
Their looks at Elizabeth were a bit off, mixed with fear and mockery.
Yesterday's news had reported that Elizabeth had been removed from her position as chairman, yet here she was in the mood to have fun.
Juniper spoke up, "Let's go."
Elizabeth was now part of the Nightingale family, and Juniper was still hoping to marry Herschel in the future, so she spoke up to ease the atmosphere.
However, before they'd gone far, Nova suddenly remembered something and said half a sentence in surprise, "I remember, Emma said something back then, it was..."
Nova said half a sentence in surprise but didn't continue.
Another girl picked up the thread, saying quietly, "You mean what Emma mentioned about Elizabeth being kidnapped for a while? That child couldn't have been from when she was kidnapped, could she?"
As soon as these words came out, everyone's expressions changed subtly.
Elizabeth heard their conversation, and her face turned cold.
If these rumors were directed at her, it wouldn't matter much, but if they involved Seraphina, that was a line Elizabeth couldn't tolerate.
Elizabeth turned and called out to Nova and the others, her voice calm but with a hint of coldness, "You guys wait."
Elizabeth walked over holding Seraphina's hand, her gaze cold, "Casual gossip can hurt people too. My daughter shouldn't have to bear this kind of malice. If I hear you spreading these false rumors again, I'll take legal action."
These people had never been threatened like this before.
"Can't even talk now?" Nova scoffed, "Fine, we won't talk about it."
Juniper stepped forward to ease the atmosphere, "Okay, okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Elizabeth is right, we should all respect other people's privacy."
Elizabeth glanced at Juniper, then looked calmly at Nova and the others, "Timothy is my daughter's father. Did you all get that?"
Everyone's faces instantly became quite the sight.
Nova burst out laughing, "Ms. Penrose, you're really funny. The Robinson family has only ever acknowledged those twins Tommy and Jane, right?"
Juniper had wanted to speak up for Elizabeth, but now she couldn't be bothered.
Seraphina anxiously tugged at Elizabeth's clothes.
Seraphina was very sensitive to adults' emotions.
Elizabeth bent down and picked up Seraphina. She smiled, "Seraphina, let's call your daddy and tell him we're being bullied."
"Okay!" Seraphina nodded firmly, "Mommy, don't be scared, I'll protect you."
Elizabeth had been angry, but because of Seraphina's words, she couldn't help but laugh, "Our Seraphina is the best, even better than your daddy."
Nova and the others heard Elizabeth say she was going to call Timothy over and exchanged glances.
Albert suggested, "Let's go."
Whose child Seraphina was had nothing to do with them anyway.
Elizabeth dialed Timothy's number and glanced coolly at Albert, "None of you leave yet."
Nova thought Elizabeth was just trying to scare them. She scoffed, "What are you afraid of? She's just trying to scare us. Let's just wait and see - the Robinson family has never publicly acknowledged this, Mr. Robinson can't possibly be here."