The Reclaimed Rose (Annalise and Steven)

Nobody could tell Jessica loved Zachary from how she treated him. Jessica was wide awake after hearing Steven's words. Her eyes watered at him as she asked, "Are you blaming me for falling asleep?" "No." Steven seldom had a good temper like this. Jessica could tell he genuinely wasn't blaming her and sighed in relief.

That was when Steven cut to the chase. "But-"

Jessica's heart raced at once

"You don't seem to care about Zachary at all," Steven calmly finished.

Jessica was quick to add, "I don't know why either, but my pregnancy symptoms are intense. I just felt so tired and needed to sleep right after you left."

Despite her reasons, Steven still gave her a condescending stare. "But you still haven't asked about Zachary even now that we've returned."

It was only after hearing him say so that Jessica realized she had made a grave mistake. Jessica had successfully kicked Annalise out of the picture and took the latter's place.

However, she now realized Zachary was still the most important thing in Steven's heart. Jessica shouldn't have neglected Zachary from the start. At the very least, she should have treated Zachary better around Steven. Jessica inhaled deeply. The main problem at hand was she needed to appease Steven. So, she said, "I'm sorry. I just woke up, so everything's still a blur-"

While saying that, Jessica cried at will and allowed her teardrops to fall to the ground. "I'm so sorry for forgetting to ask about Zachary

П

Steven softened when he saw the former crying. "Make sure to treat Zachary better from now on, okay? Zachary sees you as his biological mom, so you shouldn't disappoint him." He then hugged Jessica, who answered, "Okay."

Just then, Jessica shot the briefest taunting sneer at Zachary. Although she had agreed, it wasn't like anyone would know how she treated Zachary whenever Steven wasn't around. Willow usually liked sleeping in on the weekends, but she woke up early today. She stood outside Zane's door, knocked on it, and exclaimed, "Get up, Daddy! Let's go out for pizza!" Zane had long gotten changed into fresh clothes and was ready to head out, "Don't you.

love your mom more?"

Since Annalise came to live with them, he no longer held the top stop in Willow's heart. He wondered, "What's happening today? Why did Willow come to my room first?" Zane was confused as he asked, "Aren't you going to wake your mom?"

"I wanted to let Mommy sleep in a little longer, "Willow answered matter-of-factly. That rendered Zane speechless, and he felt like he shouldn't have bothered asking her that.

I opened the door and immediately overbeard Zane and Willow's conversation. With a smile, I greeted Willow, "Good morning, Willow.

Willow no longer paid attention to Zane after she heard my voice. She ran straight to me instead. I squatted down and reached both arms out, and Willow leaped into my embrace. "We'll go for pizza first. Then, we'll have fun at the amusement park!" she declared.

I hugged her tightly and answered, "Alright.

The housekeepers realized Willow had become livelier and more chatty. So, they came over to tease her.

Yet, Willow refused to say a single word to them. She merely held my hand and walked out of the living room in silence.

I stopped looking at Willow after that and fell into deep thought. I thought Willow was getting better now that she seemed to communicate normally in front of me and Zane. Alas, I never imagined she would still refuse to speak in front of strangers.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

It seemed that using such a subtler method of improving her social skills wouldn't work. I needed to think of other ways. There was a popular pizza place near Zane and Willow's home, which was always full of customers. Only one table was available when ралам

passed the menu to me. I pointed at the different types of