Hitched & Hitched Again: A Comedy of Marital Mayhem



Elysia was going on and on, venting her frustration, while Tarquin listened quietly, without showing any sign of annoyance. "Whatever you say is right!"

After she finished, Tarquin took the initiative to apologize. "I wasn't thinking clearly, I've reflected on it, and I'm sorry."

His tone was so earnest that Elysia couldn't stay mad at him. She muttered, "Kids love ice cream. You only give it to them when they're so desperate they can't be calmed down otherwise. You should never be the one to suggest it! Too much and they'll end up with a stomachache! And from now on, you can't just take the kids out without telling me. You have to let me know in advance."noveldrama

"Got it! I'll remember!"

"Do you really remember?"

"Yeah, I've taken your words to heart."

Elysia's heart skipped a beat, her lips quivered, recalling Blossom's words, her heartbeat involuntarily quickening. "That thing..."

"What thing?"

"You know..."

Tarquin was puzzled.

Elysia, whose palms were now sweaty with nervousness, had lost her earlier bravado at the sight of him. After a considerable internal struggle, she finally asked, "Did you fight with Keith today because he provoked you?"

"He provoked me?"

"Yeah, Keith said he deliberately warned you to stay away from me or else he wouldn't be nice, and then you hit him."

Tarquin rolled his eyes in disdain, "You believed that?"

Elysia didn't directly respond, only saying, "I'm asking you."

"What if I said he was lying? Would you believe me?"

Elysia was surprised, "He lied?"

"Yes."

"Why would he lie to me about that?"

It was clear she believed him. Tarquin was in a good mood, this silly girl might be a bit naive, but at least she wasn't foolish and knew whose side to take. He leaned against the desk, hands in his pockets, watching Elysia. "I'm not a toddler, and neither is Keith. If all he said was 'I won't be nice', I wouldn't have been provoked to hit him."

"What did he say, then?"

Tarquin remained silent.

Elysia didn't press him further, instead asking, "Was it about me?"

"Yeah."

"So... you fought with him because of me?"

"Yeah."

Elysia's heart raced again, "Then you... you..."

Before Elysia could finish, Tarquin's cell phone rang. He took it out, glanced at the screen, and his expression visibly changed! But instead of answering the call, he looked up at her, "Is there anything urgent you wanted to say?"

Elysia could tell he was in a hurry and didn't want to hold him back. "I... I don't have anything urgent. You go ahead if you need to."

"Alright, I'll come back to you guys as soon as I'm done," Tarquin said gently, patting her head before turning to leave.

His gesture was so affectionate it sent Elysia's heart into a flutter. After leaving the study, Tarquin also made a quick visit to the kids' room to say goodbye, asking them to take care of themselves and Elysia, before he left the apartment.

Once outside, he immediately called Axel back. "Any news?"

Axel had been investigating the whereabouts of a daughter Tarquin wasn't even sure existed. But with both a mysterious informant and Gideon mentioning her, there was a chance she was real. So, despite having no evidence to prove he had a daughter out there, he still had Axel looking into it discreetly.