Filed to story: Finding the Secret Daddy for My Baby Novel >>
After Anastasia pulled open the passenger’s side door and climbed in, Elliot zoomed off toward the garage exit. “We’ll pick Jared up first and stop by the grocery store for some ingredients before going home,” he instructed.
“Okay,” she answered. It wasn’t like she had the confidence to say otherwise, anyway—if Elliot was the only reason why her father was successful, what place was there for her opinion?
The only thing she could do was try her best to repay Elliot.
“There have been major issues with your father’s company funds recently,” he told her as he elegantly turned the steering wheel while keeping his eyes on the road. “If he didn’t have this project to save him, he would need to ask a lot of people for help.”
At that, Anastasia’s heart clenched. Of course she already knew her father undertaking this company meant he would need to make requests from a lot of people.
Yet, a single word from Elliot had saved her father from such dire straits and kept her father from needing to humble himself in front of others.
“Thank you,” she said from the bottom of her heart as she glanced sincerely at Elliot.
“I barely had to lift a finger.” Elliot raised his eyebrow slightly.
Such was the charm of power. Where others had to beg, he only had to say a single sentence.
“At any rate, I’m very grateful that you helped my dad out.”
“The larger Tillman Constructions grows, the more projects he will need to keep it alive. Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to it.” Elliot’s voice was low, powerful, and mesmerizing in the car.
Anastasia stopped breathing. Did that mean he would continue to help her father? And that Francis would always need his help?
No-the debt of gratitude she owed him would only snowball by then. How was she going to repay him in the future?
Yet, the current size of Tillman Constructions would indeed require continuous projects to maintain. Once funds were cut off, it would suffer huge losses and Francis would be subject to endless pressure and anxiety.
Given his age, she was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to withstand the pressure.
Meanwhile, glancing at the silent woman next to him and knowing he had stressed her out, Elliot said lightly, “Don’t think too much about it. I won’t ask too much of you.”
As if that was what she was worried about! Lifting her head, Anastasia said, “I’ll try my best to ask my dad to work hard to get his own projects in the future. We won’t need your help anymore.”
Elliot smiled. “Are you sure?”
Of course Anastasia wasn’t sure. She knew nothing about her father’s company.
“You will be the one to take over your father’s company in the future, won’t you?” Elliot guessed correctly in a single sentence.
She ignored him in speechlessness. She would only think about it when the time came. Who knew whether she would end up selling the company when it came into her hands by then?
At the school gates.
After Anastasia went inside to pick up her son, Elliot sat in the car and stared unwaveringly at the school gates. He felt just like a father waiting for his son.
Since he hadn’t seen Jared in a few days, he missed Jared quite a lot, just like he would if Jared were actually his son.
Not long after that, he saw the heartwarming scene of the mother and son emerging from the school gates. The woman was slender and beautiful; the child, sensible and adorable. It was a sight for sore eyes.
At that juncture, he pushed open the car door and stepped out. The moment Jared saw him, the little boy released his mother’s hand and sprinted toward Elliot, shouting excitedly, “Mr. Presgrave! Mr. Presgrave!”
A speechless Anastasia stared at her son. Why on earth did Jared like Elliot so much?
Meanwhile, Elliot reached down and carried Jared up. Seated in the crook of his strong arms, the little boy smiled happily. To Jared, there was nothing more he yearned for than a strong and domineering father and Elliot satisfied everything he imagined a father to be.
“Get in. We’re going to the grocery store.” As Elliot placed Jared at the backseat, it suddenly occurred to him that he would need to get a child safety seat installed so that it would be easier for him to pick Jared up in the future.
After the three of them returned to the car, they went to a nearby commercial area where they had plenty of time to stop since it was still rather early.
While they were inside the grocery store, Jared sat on the cart that was pushed around by Elliot while Anastasia was in charge of selecting ingredients for that evening’s dinner. Feeling somewhat gluttonous tonight, she picked up some pork, shrimp, and a few kinds of vegetables.
“My! What a beautiful family!” someone suddenly commented as Anastasia was choosing vegetables. When she turned her head, she saw two young women standing nearby and staring at them.
The moment Anastasia turned to look at them, they scuttled away in embarrassment as they had been caught in the act.
When Anastasia glanced back at Elliot and her son, she understood why those two young women had misunderstood. They looked very much like a family of three on a shopping trip indeed!
She quickly finished grabbing the vegetables and said to the man pushing the cart behind her, “Let’s go. I’m done.”
Of course Elliot’s eyes had caught everything as well and it made the corners of his mouth lift. To him, it was a happy feeling.
After they finished shopping, he drove all the way to the entrance of her neighborhood and parked. As soon as she gathered the bags of ingredients she had bought, he took them from her while saying, “I can carry them.”
“They’re not heavy. It’s fine.” Anastasia didn’t want him to lend a hand.
However, he stubbornly snatched them from her; his action prompted her to glance speechlessly at her son, who was also happy to have Elliot hold his hand.
Now that she was somewhat embarrassed, she strode off quickly to maintain her distance from them so that the neighbors wouldn’t think they were a family.
“Mommy, wait for us!” Jared shouted behind her.
Anastasia could only wait for them in a disconcerted manner.
When they finally arrived home, she let out a sigh of relief and took the bags from Elliot before heading into the kitchen. Some foods, like the pork, required a little more time to cook and she would need to prepare it beforehand.
“Entertain our guest, Jared,” she instructed her son as she left the kitchen to grab something.
A somewhat befuddled Jared nodded and looked up at Elliot. To him, Elliot was not a guest but
something of a family member.