Love Began with the First Meeting

Chapter 544 Departure From The Past And Longing For The Future (Part Five)

A strange feeling struck Molly's heart as she watched Brian and Mark's bond. She remembered the old days again. 'This is all so new and amazing to me because the four years that Mark spent with Spark couldn't even compare to the bond that Mark has with Brian now - and all this from just barely a month of getting to know each other, ' Molly thought to herself.

"Don't feel like eating?"

Brian asked in a deep tone. Molly snapped out of her trance and looked up to Brian who was gazing at her. Molly's face flushed, she was embarrassed, "No, no," she said hastily.

"Good," Brian said as he held out his hand to replace her food with his own as if nothing unnerving or new was happening between them. He just started enjoying her food nonchalantly.

Molly tilted her head down to look at her plate of food. She was surprised to find that Brian had cut and sliced the food into tiny bite-sized pieces. She suddenly turned red again - she was moved by this, overwhelmed with appreciation. Molly raised her head and looked at Brian who happened to be reaching out to wipe off Mark's mouth that had been littered with morsels of food. She felt her heart glowing at the sight.

How beautiful this sight was! She couldn't help but feel strong affection towards Brian. She was still supposed to be mad at him over what he had just said about Spark and if it wasn't for Mark, she would have outright gotten mad at him. But as she watched Brian show nothing but love and care for Mark, she just felt all soft and tender inside. It was as if she had been dreaming of this moment to come and she just wished she could stop time and live in this moment forever.

Lost in her own reverie, Molly was silent the whole time, except only now and then she would raise her head and respond to Mark's questions in short and brief answer. She sat motionlessly there, listening to the father and son's random talk. Though most of the time, it was Mark who was leading the conversation, it looked wonderingly sweet and warm in her heart.

Since it was Mark's first day of school, he was naturally excited to share stories. Ever since he had started speaking, he seemed to be fascinated with being able to talk to others without using his hands and expressing his thoughts. Especially since he had such an exciting day, he had so many things to share. To Molly, it seemed that he had changed. He changed into a much brighter boy than he ever was and this change only happened when Brian came into his life. He was the reason why Mark had changed into this lively boy.

As Molly delved into her thoughts, her eyes rested on Brian. Her eyes twinkled with gratitude and fascination. His face was so lovely to look at - he was so handsome in his crisp suit and his deep eyes. He was the vision of perfection. She was almost overwhelmed.

She was grateful to be blessed with such a handsome husband and a sweet son. Everything would be picturesquely perfect if it weren't for their difficult past. Girls would surely be all over Brian and she would be the girl that caught his attention.

"Look! Isn't that Brian and Molly?" They were suddenly interrupted by a loud voice.

Brian and Molly instinctively turned to the voice.

It was Jennifer with Edgar by his side - her hand was looped around his arm and they were walking towards their table.

As they walked towards the table, Jennifer's eyes registered surprise as if she was delighted to see them having dinner together as a family. "Brian, Molly, what a coincidence! It's a surprise to see you here," she cried vibrantly with a smile painted on her face.

Brian remained silent and turned to Edgar who's been staring at Molly since they arrived. This infuriated Brian that his eyes had started to dim. "Mayor Gu, it's been a while. Good to see you again," he said blankly, his face expressionless.

Edgar smiled faintly at Brian. After years and years in the political world, he's used to rifts and disputes with many people so it didn't take a genius to note the slight hint of antagonism in Brian's tone. "Molly, glad to see you," he said, completely ignoring Brian.

"You too…" Molly stammered, taken aback. She didn't expect that she would meet Edgar here right now in this restaurant. After a few moments, Molly gathered herself and smiled politely at Edgar, "I'm glad to see you too, Mayor Gu," she said.

The atmosphere went tense and weird around them. Edgar held out his hand and adjusted his glasses, under which, his eyes were dark and sharp. "Mayor? How strange to hear this words coming from your mouth?" he said, smiling awkwardly. Then he averted his face to Mark. Though he was crystal clear about him, but somewhere in his heart, he refused to admit the fact. "He is?" he drawled in uncertainty.

"Molly and my son," Brian replied, "This is Mark." There was a hint of haughtiness in his voice.

"Hello, how do you do?" Mark greeted Edgar politely, "My name's Addison. But mommy and Papa Brian call me Mark," he continued. His voice was clear and his eyes sparkling.

Edgar smiled back a bit hesitantly because Mark was a sign that he wouldn't ever get Molly back now that she had a son. An old wound that was never healed stung in his heart. "How do you do, Mark?" he managed to reply back.

"I never thought that you would want to have a kid at such a young age," he said, a grimace on his face as he looked at Brian. Jennifer laughed and leaned towards Edgar, resting her chin on his shoulder, "Well, you never know," she commented.

Molly's face instantly flushed. Edgar and Brian raised their eyebrows at Jennifer's strange comment. After a pause, Jennifer continued, "It seems as if our lonely mountain finally found a king. Must have been really hard to beat him down and claim your kingship," her lips formed a defiant smile.

"Jennifer, enough!" Edgar said, refusing to let Jennifer taunt him further. It was already hard enough to see Molly and Brian together with their kid. This was too painful for him to handle.

Brian smiled in contempt when he saw Edgar start to get uncomfortable. His eyes fell idly on the plate in front of him, his chin slightly lifted as if in arrogance. "How will the State Parliament take it if Major General Zeng was ousted from office now? Would they blame it on him?" he asked, with a taunting smile on his face.

This was a direct blow to Jennifer wrapped in a pretty package. Jennifer's face was pale as a sheet - horrified. ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

For a while, no one spoke. Brian slowly turned to look at Mark. Arrogant was he because he knew he had the upper hand. Mark remained silent the whole time, his eyes wide, and his mouth agape in confusion. Brian couldn't help but feel tenderness as he watched Mark. He held out his hand and caressed Mark's cheek with the back of his forefinger. Then Brian turned to Edgar again, "Mayor Gu, feel free to join us for dinner?" he only offered out of courtesy but dinner with Edgar was the last thing Brian wanted.

"No, thanks" Edgar said, his face immediately shifting into an easy grin, "We won't be so banal as to interrupt your happy family reunion," he said lightly and smirked at Jennifer as if looking for some kind of agreement from her.

"Well then," Brian said conclusively. His eyes moved towards Jennifer then back at Edgar again, "We wouldn't want to interrupt your date too, I hope Jennifer doesn't think so," he said blankly.

"Oh, that's funny!" Edgar cried. His face lightened up in a cunning, shifty smile, as if he was really impressed. "Anyway, we hate to overstay our welcome. Please go on and enjoy your food!" Then he turned to Molly and said, "Molly, it's been so long since we last saw each other. I'd love it if we met up sometime to catch up," he asked sincerely - although in his heart, he was afraid she would refuse him.

"I… I'd love to," Molly murmured under her breath - still embarrassed.