Chapter 83 The Little Girl Spoiled by Love
"Slow down, don't fall." Emily carefully set her down.
The next second, Eleanor took off toward the balcony on her little legs.
Matthew reached out to shield her side, worried she might bump into something. "Little Eleanor, be careful. You can touch the petals, but stay away from the other parts — they have thorns."
The little one giggled, her bright eyes curving into crescents. "Thank you, Uncle!"
The scene on the balcony was wonderfully warm.
What no one knew was that a man who had just arrived downstairs at the Johnson family home had taken it all in.
He sat in his car and didn't get out.
Alex's hands tightened slowly around the steering wheel.
From where he was, he could only see Matthew and Emily on the balcony.
She was smiling, her eyes full of warmth.
So she and Matthew were together now.
What had he even come here for?
Ha.
She was doing just fine — fine enough that she didn't need a single thing from him.
And someone had already taken his place by her side.
After a long moment, the calm returned to Alex's eyes.
The car quietly pulled away. No one noticed.
The night was dark as ink.
But over at Grace's place, things were about to blow up. "How did this happen? Who's messing with me behind my back? What is wrong with the company? Can't they even get the equipment working right?"
Her livestream had been cut off without warning, leaving her screen black.
No matter how many times she tried to restart, it kept showing her account had violated the rules.
If she kept applying to get back on, she'd risk a permanent ban.
She stared at the black screen, shaking with rage.
She'd been right at the most important part — she could've pulled in another round of gifts!
And now this.
Her assistant was running around in a panic, but kept her voice low at the end:
"Miss, what do we do?"
"We went offline so suddenly, and we haven't even given the fans any explanation."
"We also tried having other accounts at the company stream for you, but the moment you showed up on screen, it got shut down right away."
"The other assistants already tested it — as long as it's someone else's face, nothing happens..."
Grace clenched her fists, her eyes filled with venom. "Do I even need to say it? Someone is pulling strings behind the scenes!"
Since she'd started her social media career, nothing like this had ever happened to her.
Emily had slapped her just this afternoon, and that woman still wasn't done?
It had to be Emily. She must have paid someone to sabotage this.
Fine. Bold move.
"Put the word out that I suddenly wasn't feeling well and had to go offline for now. And... release those photos of me at the hospital from before. Let's blow this up into something bigger!"
She kept her eyes locked on the pitch-black screen, her gaze cold and sharp, the hatred inside her growing stronger by the second.
Just you wait. She wasn't going to let this go.
……
The next morning.
Sunlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows into the room.
Eleanor woke up full of energy.
She ran around the living room in her cute little dress, making Andrew and Lillian beam with delight.
Emily came downstairs to find this scene, her smile growing even softer. "This little girl has endless energy every single day."
"Mom, Dad, I'm going to take Eleanor out for a bit. There are still some everyday things and baby supplies I haven't gotten yet."
Andrew immediately put down the toy in his hand. "Alright, I'll have the housekeeper and driver go with you. There are a lot of people out there — can't let our little princess get bumped or scratched."
Andrew had completely turned into a doting grandfather, ready to hand Eleanor the best of everything in the world.
Emily didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "That's way too much. We're just going shopping — more people will just get in the way."
But Andrew wouldn't hear it. "How can that be fine? Get more options, buy whatever little Eleanor likes!"
With that, he slapped a card on the table with a grand gesture and stood up to call for the housekeeper.
But before he could say a word, Eleanor came toddling over on her little legs.
The soft little bundle wrapped her arms around Andrew and looked up at him with a pout. "Grandpa, Eleanor is good. Eleanor go with Mommy!"
Her squishy sweetness melted Andrew on the spot.
What else could he say?
Whatever his granddaughter said, goes.
Andrew bent down and scooped Eleanor up, covering her in kisses. "Okay, okay, okay. We'll do whatever our Eleanor says. Be careful out there, and come back soon."
Emily laughed helplessly. "We will."
She grabbed her bag, picked up her daughter, and headed out.
A white Bentley pulled up smoothly.
Matthew stepped out in casual clothes, warm and refined, holding a little snack he'd bought for Eleanor. "Heading out?"
"Uncle!" Eleanor flashed her tiny little teeth in a big smile and reached out her arms for a hug.
Matthew raised an eyebrow and walked right over. "Did you give Mommy a hard time last night?"
Eleanor blinked her big, bright eyes. "Un— Uncle's being mean! Eleanor was very good."
Her adorable little pout made Matthew laugh.
They'd noticed early on, when Eleanor was just one year old, that she had a remarkable gift for language.
Whether it was a foreign language or her mother tongue, she picked everything up incredibly fast.
And Emily... honestly couldn't say she had that kind of talent.
She pressed her lips together and pushed the thought aside. "Matthew, we were just heading out to pick up a few things — we're almost out of formula. Did you come to see my dad?"
Matthew held Eleanor in one arm. "I was going to drop off some supplements for the family, and there's also a bid proposal for a collaboration with the Johnsons in the car. But there's no rush — I'll come along."
Emily paused and looked at his warm, gentle face. Something stirred quietly in her heart.
Over these past two years, she hadn't been unaware.
But she only saw Matthew as an older brother.
She kept her distance and said softly, "Matthew, you don't have to keep looking out for me like this. I can take care of myself and Eleanor."
She knew how he felt.
But she had only just moved on from her past relationship. She didn't want to step into something new, and she didn't want to hold him back either.
Matthew was sharp — a flicker of hurt crossed his eyes, but he quickly returned to his warm smile, his tone easy and open. "It's fine. Work isn't busy right now, and it's easy enough to come along. Besides, once you've bought everything, you won't be able to carry it all with a kid in your arms."
There wasn't much she could say to that. "Alright then, thanks."
"My pleasure." Matthew carried the little one into the car.
His movements were gentle and careful.
The car headed toward the city center.
A top-tier luxury mall — home to major brands from around the world.
The baby section alone had everything you could think of.
"Mommy, Eleanor wants this one! Pretty~"
Emily looked at her daughter's adorable face and couldn't help but smile. "Okay, we'll get it for our Eleanor."
Before long, Matthew was carrying several bags full of things.
Just as the three of them were walking through the mall's atrium, a familiar voice rang out nearby.
"Hey everyone, today's event stream is live, and we've got deals you've never seen before."
"These skincare products are the best value — the same ones your favorite celebrities use!"
Emily's brow furrowed slightly. She turned to look.
Sure enough, Grace was there with her livestream crew, broadcasting in front of a nearby counter.
She must have been invited for a brand event.
Of all the people to run into.
Emily had no interest in any kind of run-in with her, and turned to head the other way.
But Grace had sharp eyes. She caught a glimpse of Emily out of the corner of her eye. "Oh! Miss Johnson?"