Filed to story: The Regretful Billionaire: An Unpredicted Reunion
Gilbert was captivated and couldn’t help but walk over to look at the little one in the nanny’s arms. A smile took over his lips. “You look happy, little guy.”
‘He must be happy because his parents are here,” the nanny replied.
Gilbert reached out and took the child from the nanny’s arms. “Hey, little one. Do you recognize me?”
Caleb’s giggles became peals of laughter.
‘It seems like he really likes you, Mr. Hawthorn,” the nanny added.
Right then, Marigold approached her child and said, “Cal, I’m your mommy.”
Both of them played with their child in the living room. It was a scene of a picture-perfect family. Upon seeing such a scene, one would gasp in disbelief if they were told this seemingly perfect couple wasn’t bound in marriage.
They continued to play with Caleb in the living room for quite a while until it was time for him to sleep. With that, they handed him over to the nanny.
“You had a long day at work. Go take a shower and rest up,” Marigold said to Gilbert as she watched the child being carried back to his room.
Gilbert snapped out of his giddy trance, but the smile on his face didn’t fade away. “Okay, you should rest early too.”
‘I will.” Marigold nodded with a blush on her face. Even though she’d promised Danika to take the initiative, she couldn’t help but feel shy whenever Gilbert looked at her.
Marigold stood in the living room and watched as Gilbert went upstairs to his room. She took a deep breath and silently made a vow to herself after a while. For the sake of her child, she had to do her best.
As for whether it was for the child or for herself, perhaps only Marigold knew the answer.
Gilbert and Marigold (17)
Knock, knock.
Gilbert had just finished showering and came out of the bathroom when he heard someone knock on his door. He opened the door and saw Marigold standing there. She had changed into a light pink nightgown. With her fair long legs exposed, beauty seemed to radiate from within her.
Gilbert hurriedly averted his gaze and met her eyes. “What is it?”
‘I…I need your help.’ Marigold was very nervous. “The light in my room isn’t working properly. Can you help me take a look?”
‘Sure.’ Gilbert didn’t refuse. In the next second, he got up and followed Marigold to her room.
‘I don’t know why, but the light started flickering all of a sudden. It’s kind of scary.” Marigold stood beside Gilbert. Looking at the light above, she bit her lip and moved closer to him.
Gilbert glanced at it a few times. ‘It’s probably an issue with the circuit. I’ll have someone come and take a look tomorrow.’
‘Okay.” Marigold nodded.
‘If you’re scared, you can switch to another room.” The villa had many empty rooms, so Marigold had plenty of other options to choose from.
Marigold shook her head. “There’s no need. I’m going to sleep. I’ll just turn it off then.”
Hearing her voice that seemed to be very close to his ear, Gilbert suddenly realized that Marigold had come very close to him without him noticing. He could smell the faint fragrance coming from her body;
it was a little intoxicating.
But Gilbert was no ordinary person; he remained composed and collected. Under the flickering light, he could clearly see the emotion that Marigold kept hidden behind her eyes.
‘Gilbert…I…” At that moment, Marigold was a nervous wreck. When she was supposed to take things further to the next level, she started to stutter.
Seemingly figuring out what she wanted to say, Gilbert beat her to it. ‘Rest early.’
‘Gilbert…”
Without giving her a chance to continue, he left the room, disappearing from her sight before she could react and reach out to hold him.
Marigold’s eyes instantly dimmed.
Did he dislike her that much? Why did he leave so quickly?
She forced a bitter smile, recalling what Danika had mentioned about him not hating her as much as before. It seemed that even she had been mistaken. According to how he reacted, Marigold could only conclude that he still disliked her very much.
Gilbert had no idea what Marigold was thinking. In fact, he wouldn’t have guessed that she was thinking about all that. He left that room as quickly as he could because he realized his body was starting to respond involuntarily and out of control.
‘Damn it! There’s no way I like her, so why is my body reacting to her like this?’ Gilbert cursed inwardly.
In the bathroom, as the cold water poured down from above, the restless heat he felt in his heart dissipated to some extent.
He wasn’t a fool. Marigold was blatantly trying to seduce him, and he could see it from a mile away. Yet, he still chose to reject her. Though he didn’t loathe her as much as before, it didn’t mean he would start liking her. At most, he found her presence more tolerable now. Their current relationship solely revolved around having a child together and nothing else.
After Gilbert figured out the dynamics of his relationship with Marigold, he came out of the bathroom, pushing the unexpected bodily reaction earlier out of his mind.
That night, Marigold didn’t sleep well. She had a nightmare in which Gilbert hated her just like before. Then, he kicked her out of the villa and refused to let her see or come into contact with their child.
That nightmarish scene made her wake with a start.
Gilbert also had a dream.
But his dream wasn’t a nightmare. In contrast, it could even be considered a sweet dream. When he woke up in the morning, his first expression was one of immense disbelief.
‘How could I have such a dream?” he groaned frustratedly.
And what made it worse was the object of his dream was Marigold! He found it hard to accept and felt somewhat embarrassed.
After another round of splashing cold water on himself to cool down, he came out of his room. When he went downstairs, he saw Marigold sitting in the living room. The images from his dream involuntarily appeared in his mind, making it difficult for him to face her.
Gilbert and Marigold (18)
Marigold felt mortified too, but on top of that, there was also a tinge of sadness.
After all, no matter how she looked at it, Gilbert had rejected her last night. Even though neither of them brought up last night’s events, she felt they both understood what had happened without needing to spell it out.
Gilbert walked into the living room while Marigold was having breakfast. Seeing him, she mustered up the courage to say, “Have breakfast before going to work.”
‘No thanks. I’ll eat at the office.” Gilbert declined and left the villa.
Marigold was taken aback at his curt reply, sadness welling up in her eyes. She knew her actions last night were somewhat abrupt, but it shouldn’t be so bad that Gilbert was avoiding her like the plague now. The way he reacted made it seem as if she were some ferocious beast or monster.
In reality, Marigold had been overthinking everything. Gilbert wasn’t avoiding her; it was because of his embarrassment from the dream last night that he felt too ashamed to face her. However, Marigold, being unaware of this, naturally thought Gilbert was avoiding her intentionally.
Perhaps because of her illness, Marigold’s way of thinking also became somewhat odd. She wanted to be with Gilbert but also cared deeply about upholding her remaining dignity. Now that Gilbert was intentionally avoiding her, she acted stubbornly and returned the favor by not paying attention to him.
The two of them remained at an impasse until Saturday. The next day would be their baby’s naming ceremony, and Gilbert had made arrangements for the celebration to be held at a hotel. He wanted to discuss the flow of events tomorrow with Marigold.
Hence, he returned earlier that day. Right then, Marigold happened to be having dinner. She was somewhat surprised to see him back so early but didn’t initiate a conversation.
Gilbert walked over and sat across from her while asking a maid to bring him a set of cutlery.
‘Tomorrow is Caleb’s naming ceremony, and I’ve pretty much arranged everything. Take a look and see if there’s anything else we need to prepare. ‘ Gilbert handed a tablet to Marigold. It contained information about the decorations at the hotel and the event flow chart.
Marigold glanced at it casually. Although she was upset with him, she couldn’t deny that his plans were devised meticulously and were basically flawless. She couldn’t find any fault with his arrangements.
‘Everything looks fine. I don’t think there’s anything you haven’t prepared,” Marigold replied while munching her food absentmindedly; her mind was clearly drifting somewhere else.
Gilbert took back the tablet, grunted in acknowledgment, and focused on his meal. The two of them remained silent, neither of them speaking up.
After a while, Gilbert finally sensed that something was off. “You seem to be in a bad mood. What’s wrong?” he asked.
‘Am I? You’re overthinking it,” Marigold replied while eating, feeling uneasy inside.
She didn’t know whether to feel happy or sad at that moment. It was quite rare for Gilbert to notice that she was upset. But even if he noticed, did it make a difference? At the end of the day, he didn’t have any kind of special feelings toward her.
As she thought about it, the hopefulness and excitement that had driven her to pursue her love extinguished, leaving her gloomy and dismal.
Gilbert wasn’t one to make things difficult for himself. He could tell that Marigold didn’t want to talk to him much, so he didn’t say anything further.
And so, the two of them silently finished their dinner without further interaction.
After dinner, the nanny brought Caleb downstairs, and Gilbert spent some time playing with his child before returning to his room. As for Marigold, she’d already gone back to her room after finishing her meal and didn’t play with their child as she usually did.
Gilbert could tell that something wasn’t right with her, but he had no intention of meddling. Although they had a child and were living together now, they weren’t really in a relationship, so he had no right to interfere in her affairs.
It was perhaps a good thing that Marigold didn’t know what went on in his mind. If she knew, it would probably put her in a gloomy mood for quite some time.
Gilbert and Marigold (19)
The next day, they held the naming ceremony as scheduled.
Many people attended this joyous occasion at Bardoff International Hotel. In addition to his friends and family, Gilbert also invited all the clients who had business dealings with his company.
However, the above categories of people weren’t the only ones there that day.
Gilbert was Danika’s older adoptive brother, and everyone in Bardoff City knew that. Now that Danika had married Eustace, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Danika and Eustace were the ones calling the shots in Bardoff City. After their two families joined hands due to their marriage, there was a huge shuffling of families that were considered the Ten Elites. The Zellwegers and the Quinceys were undoubtedly at the top of the pyramid now.
Therefore, even though some people had no personal relationship with Gilbert and even looked down on his small company, out of respect for Danika and Eustace, nearly half of the affluent and influential families in
Bardoff City attended the event. Those who couldn’t attend still sent gifts as a sign of goodwill and respect.
Danika arrived early. Although she was married, Gilbert was still a treasured family member to her, so she came as early as she could to see if there was anything she could help with.
Marigold and Gilbert were already standing at the entrance welcoming the guests when she arrived. However, they didn’t stand together but on opposite sides, giving the impression that they were unrelated.
When she saw this, Danika felt something was amiss, so she walked over to them and greeted them, “Hi, Gilbert. Hello, Marigold.”