novelraw Chapter 226: Acting
Chapter 226: Acting
Chapter 226: Playing a Part
But she just assumed he was only doing it to create a family atmosphere for Melissa.
She gave a soft acknowledgment and took Melissa’s little hand.
It was still too early, and the hotel wasn’t serving breakfast yet.
Tristan Sterling had already called the hotel in advance. The three of them went downstairs to the restaurant, where a waiter brought them breakfast.
Melissa sat beside Rachel Royce, swinging her little legs, her face alight with happiness.
But just like the previous morning, Melissa started being a picky eater again.
"Melissa, eat your eggs. No wasting food." Melissa looked at Rachel Royce and mumbled with a pout, "Let Daddy eat it!" Rachel’s tone became serious. "Melissa, you can’t be picky. Be a good girl and eat your eggs." Melissa’s big, bright eyes instantly filled with grievance. She glanced at her father. Tristan Sterling looked at Rachel and said, "Just give them to me." Rachel glanced at Tristan but didn’t answer him. Instead, she said to Melissa, "If you’re a picky eater, Aunt Evelynn won’t go up the mountain with you to see the sunrise today." Melissa obediently ate her eggs, drank all her milk, and finished her noodles completely. "Aunt Evelynn, I finished everything! Am I a good girl?" Wiping Melissa’s little mouth, Rachel said, "Melissa is the best girl." Tristan got up, walked over, and put a mask and hat on Melissa. Rachel put on her little gloves. The heartwarming scene looked just like a happy family of three.
Once she was all bundled up, Melissa suddenly wanted kisses. She first kissed Rachel, then went to kiss her daddy. She beamed happily at the two of them, wrapped up so warmly that only her beautiful, smiling eyes were visible. Then, Melissa’s innocent voice called out, "Daddy, Mommy." Rachel’s heart felt like it had been struck by something.
Tristan watched his daughter tenderly, then looked over at Rachel. Noticing his gaze, their eyes met for a moment before Rachel coolly lowered hers.
Tristan took his daughter’s hand and said, "Let’s go!" The car arranged by the hotel had already arrived at the entrance.
The car stopped at the foot of the mountain.
They still had to walk a stretch of mountain path to get to the cable car station. To save time, Tristan carried Melissa the whole way. Fortunately, it hadn’t snowed last night.
They took the cable car to the mountaintop.
Melissa wanted to climb up herself.
Rachel held Melissa’s hand and walked ahead. Tristan followed behind the mother and daughter. Melissa only walked for a short distance before Tristan ended up carrying her up the mountain again.
There were already quite a few people on the mountain waiting to see the sunrise.
They arrived at the same viewing platform where they had watched the sunset the previous evening.
The early morning mountaintop was bitingly cold.
There was no one else at the viewing platform. Apparently, the man had booked the entire area in advance. A staff member brought them hot water.
Tristan took two cups, handing one to Rachel. "Warm yourself up," he said. Rachel didn’t say anything, simply reaching out to take it. She took off her gloves and first offered some to Melissa, but Melissa wasn’t thirsty and didn’t want any more after one sip. Rachel drank the rest of the hot water herself.
Tristan reached out and took the cup from her hand.
Rachel gave it to him.
Around seven o’clock.
The horizon gradually began to pale.
"Mr. Sun is coming out!" Melissa shouted excitedly.
Tristan was taking pictures of the distant sunrise with a camera.
Rachel noticed him and glanced his way. ’Who would have thought this man had an artistic side that appreciated beautiful scenery?’
’It didn’t match his personality at all.’
Tristan lowered his camera and turned to look at Rachel. "What is it?" Rachel naturally averted her gaze, looking into the distance. "It’s nothing." "Want to take a photo together?" Tristan asked.
Rachel was still taken aback and uncomfortable with the man’s apparent change in attitude today.
Before Rachel could answer...
"Yes! I want a picture with Daddy and Mommy!" Melissa chimed in, once again calling her "Mommy" so naturally.
Rachel stroked Melissa’s little head.
Tristan handed his camera to a staff member.
The staff member took a few pictures.
Tristan flipped through the photos on the camera, and Melissa leaned in to look. Rachel was using her phone to record a video of the slowly rising sun in the distance.
’The breathtaking beauty of a sunrise or sunset was something a small phone video could never truly capture.’
Tristan took quite a few photos of the mother and daughter with his camera.
A few minutes later.
The entire mountaintop was completely illuminated.
The three of them went downstairs and left the viewing platform.
Melissa played along the way, using a duck-shaped snow clamp to make little snow ducks, while Rachel helped her build a little snowman.
But, being utterly clumsy with her hands, the snowman she made was still a shapeless blob.
Melissa asked, very confused, "Mommy, is this a snowman?" Rachel was so taken aback she didn’t know how to answer.
"Daddy, look at the snowman Mommy made." Melissa turned back to look at her father.
Tristan crouched down to look at the snowman on the ground. "That’s not a snowman." Rachel was speechless. "Then what is it?" Tristan looked at Rachel and asked, "What is this, some new species?" Rachel shot him a glance, not wanting to answer.
Tristan chuckled lightly and said to Melissa, "Your mommy doesn’t know how to build a snowman. Daddy will make a new one for you." "Okay!" Melissa replied. Rachel’s eyes narrowed slightly as she watched the man. He scooped up a handful of snow from the side and began to earnestly build a snowman.
’For Melissa’s sake, Tristan was really capable of playing the part of a good husband and a good father with her.’
Just then.
Rachel’s phone started vibrating. She walked to the side to answer it.
It was a call from Thomas Sterling.
"Rachel, are you not in your room?" "I’m on the mountain with Melissa right now," Rachel said. Thomas instantly understood. "You went to see the sunrise?" Rachel hummed in agreement. "When are you guys planning to leave?" It was Monday. Although they were all bosses and didn’t have to rush, they had all taken time off to come here and relax. After two days, it was time for everyone to start heading back to work.
"We’re planning to head back to the city after breakfast," Thomas said. "When will you be coming down the mountain?" Rachel glanced in Tristan’s and Melissa’s direction. "We probably won’t stay much longer either. If you’re in a hurry, you can go ahead and leave first." Thomas replied, "Peter Preston actually has something urgent to deal with at his company." "Okay, let’s catch up another time." "Alright." Rachel put her phone away and gazed at the sea of clouds in the distance. There were noticeably fewer tourists today than yesterday.
"Mommy, come look at the little snowman Daddy made!" Melissa called out to her.
Rachel turned and walked back. She saw the snowman Tristan had made: two round snowballs of different sizes stacked on top of each other. It was, indeed, a proper-looking little snowman.
"This one is the snowman daddy!" Melissa said happily. "Daddy, you have to make a snowman mommy and a snowman baby too." Tristan stroked Melissa’s little head. "Then why don’t you and Mommy go to the shop and see if you can find some chocolate drops to use for the snowman’s eyes?" "Okay." Melissa went to pull Rachel along to buy chocolate.
By the time the two of them returned.
Tristan had already finished building the snowmen. Melissa placed the chocolate drops on their eyes. Looking at the three snowmen—two big and one small—standing next to each other, Melissa was overjoyed. "This is Daddy, this is Mommy, and this is Melissa." Tristan watched his daughter’s happy face tenderly, then turned to look at Rachel.