novelraw Chapter 217: There Is Another Woman
Chapter 217: There Is Another Woman
Chapter 217: And Another Woman
"Mommy, Melissa is so mean to her daddy," Stella said, looking up at her mother.
June Jennings looked at Stella and patted her little head. "Don’t worry. Melissa is only mean to her daddy, not to you."
Stella nodded.
"Brother, let’s go over too."
June Jennings tore her gaze away from the trio and started walking forward.
Meanwhile, not far away, a pair of eyes had been watching them the entire time.
It was none other than Danielle Alden.
Ever since her child had been hit by Melissa Sterling, the Wyatt Family had paid a visit to Tristan Sterling to apologize, and Tiffany Wyatt had been moved to another class.
She had been seething with resentment ever since. Her child was the one who got hit, so why were they the ones apologizing? But her opponent was Tristan Sterling, so she could only swallow her anger.
But having been so thoroughly humiliated by that bitch, how could she stand it?
Just then, her phone vibrated. She glanced at the screen, then said something to the nanny.
She moved to a quiet place to answer the call. "Ivan."
Ivan Alden asked, "Who’s with Stella at the parent-child activity today?"
Danielle Alden replied, "June Jennings and her older brother."
Danielle had only met June once, at June’s wedding to Ivan. After they married, June and Ivan settled in New York, so the two women weren’t close. Danielle only knew they had a daughter but had rarely seen her.
She only found out later that the other child who had hit her daughter along with Melissa Sterling was June Jennings’s kid.
She wasn’t in frequent contact with her two cousins, but she had heard the family elders mention that June and Ivan were going through a court battle for their divorce in the United States.
Of course, she didn’t care.
Later, at Old Mrs. Alden’s birthday banquet, the parents of Ivan and Zion Alden returned to the country for a visit, and Danielle couldn’t resist telling them about Stella Jennings hitting Tiffany Wyatt.
When Ivan found out, he called to interrogate her. "Your daughter hit Stella?"
Terrified by Ivan’s tone, Danielle told him the truth.
Afterward, Ivan had someone look into it. The investigation revealed that the child who had hit Tiffany Wyatt was named Melissa Sterling.
The Wyatts’ child had been hit, yet the family didn’t dare make a peep. The other party’s surname was Sterling. Though Ivan already had his suspicions, he asked Danielle about it. He hadn’t initially guessed that Melissa Sterling was Tristan Sterling’s daughter; Danielle was the one who volunteered the information.
Ivan was quite shocked that Tristan Sterling actually had a daughter.
As for who the child’s mother was, or whether Tristan was married or not, Claire Ainsworth had never mentioned it to her.
Since Tristan and Claire were together, Danielle just assumed he was unmarried. The child was probably an accident with some woman who had tried to sleep her way to the top.
She just hadn’t expected Tristan to treasure this accidental child so much.
Hearing Danielle’s words, Ivan’s expression softened slightly. He asked another question, "Is Tristan Sterling also there today?"
Danielle affirmed, "And there’s another woman with him."
’If she’s putting it like that, it’s definitely not Claire Ainsworth,’ Ivan thought. "Take a few pictures and send them to me."
"Got it."
The parent-child activities began.
There were five rounds of games in total.
In each round, the top three finishers would receive trophies and prizes.
The first round was the synchronized hop.
Tristan Sterling asked, "Are you and Melissa doing this one, or should I?"
Rachel Royce replied, "I’ll do it."
Melissa clapped happily. "Yay! Aunt Evelynn is doing it with me."
While the two of them played the game, Tristan Sterling stood to the side, recording a video with a camera.
The game was mainly a test of balance.
Unsurprisingly, Rachel and Melissa took first place.
"Daddy, we got first place!" Melissa exclaimed excitedly.
Rachel watched her daughter with a doting gaze. When her eyes inadvertently met the man’s, she didn’t have time to retract the tenderness within them.
A smile touched Tristan Sterling’s lips as he looked at her.
Rachel froze for a moment before quickly snapping out of it. The smile in her eyes vanished, and her expression turned distant.
Tristan noticed the change in her mood. He took a tissue from Melissa’s backpack and held it out to her. "Wipe your sweat."
The weather was nice today, and she had worked up a sweat on her forehead during the activity.
Rachel reached out, took it, and thanked him.
Tristan squatted down to wipe the sweat from Melissa’s forehead, then poured two cups of water for them from a thermos.
After a short break, the next round was about to begin.
Tristan was playing with Melissa this time.
Tristan handed his things to Rachel, gave her the camera, and said, "Make sure to get plenty of video later."
Rachel took them and hummed in acknowledgment.
Then Tristan took off his jacket. "Hold this for me."
Rachel stared at the jacket the man held out, not taking it right away.
"Aunt Evelynn, hurry and take Daddy’s jacket! The game is about to start," Melissa urged.
Only then did Rachel reach out, take the man’s jacket, and stuff it into the bag she was carrying.
For this round, Julian Jennings was paired with Stella.
June Jennings and Rachel Royce stood together, both recording videos.
"You can tell Melissa has a really competitive personality," June said.
Rachel nodded in agreement. Melissa took every round very seriously; if there was competition, she had to be first.
"Melissa completely sees you as her mother," June remarked with a sigh. Even though Melissa didn’t know Rachel was her mom, she had already accepted her as such in her subconscious.
Rachel said, "I know."
’If Melissa knew I was her real mother, she’d probably insist that our family live together,’ she thought.
Melissa looked sweet and docile, but her personality was just as strong-willed as Tristan Sterling’s.
"Still, Tristan Sterling is on his best behavior today," June noted.
"Anyone who didn’t know better would probably think he’s a great husband."
Rachel gave a faint smile. "It’s only because of Melissa. If she gets angry, he’ll do whatever she says."
After five rounds of games,
Melissa and Stella swept the first-place prizes. Melissa won four first-place trophies and Stella won two, with one of them being a tie between the two girls. In the two rounds where June played with Stella, they finished last.
The parent-child games ended at noon.
If Tristan Sterling hadn’t been there, they all could have had lunch together.
Rachel said goodbye to June and her family.
Tristan took the two of them to a high-end Western restaurant.
Meanwhile, Danielle Alden sent the photos she had taken to Ivan Alden.
In the photos, the trio looked like a warm, harmonious family.
Upon seeing the photos, Ivan immediately forwarded them to Zion Alden.
"Do they look like a family or what?"
Soon, Zion called. "Where did you get these photos?"
"I had Danielle send them to me. It’s the parent-child day at Stella’s school today. Apparently, Stella and Tristan Sterling’s daughter get along quite well. It seems the relationship between this Evelynn and Tristan is truly unusual."
"I also heard from Danielle that Claire Ainsworth has been trying to marry Tristan, but he hasn’t given any indication he’s interested. Claire’s mother came to Kingsland and has been getting close to Tristan’s mother. She’s probably trying to start planning for Claire’s future."
Hearing this, Zion let out a cold, mocking smile. "Is that so? Claire Ainsworth just looks like a brainless pretty face. She’s only good for keeping around as a plaything."