CHAPTER 13: CHAPTER 13: BROTHER, WHO DO YOU LIKE MORE?

Vincent Hawthorne thought Tanya Sinclair’s mention of tidying up would at most mean pulling out the weeds in the garden.

After all, the garden full of tulips was planted for him by Tanya herself when they got married!

Seeing him with a serious face saying nothing, Tanya approached him, held the hem of his clothes, and intentionally asked pitifully, "Vincent, are you angry?"

With her question, no matter how angry Vincent was, he couldn’t express it.

"Of course not, how could I be angry with you?" Vincent tried his best to sound gentle, touching Tanya’s face, "Why suddenly think of planting yellow roses, didn’t you always love tulips?"

Tanya found it ironic.

Back in college, she had mentioned once to Vincent that she liked roses. At that time, Vincent said nothing, but later she overheard him on the phone with a friend dismissively saying roses were too gaudy.

He didn’t like them, so she never mentioned them again.

For these years loving Vincent, she was humble to the point of losing herself... Now, it’s time to find herself again.

"I like roses now," Tanya stated calmly.

Vincent frowned, reevaluating the woman before him, still the same face, seemingly unchanged.

Yet Vincent vaguely felt something had changed in Tanya.

At least the Tanya from before would never contradict him...

"Daddy." Joy ran over at that moment, shaking Vincent’s large hand playfully, "I’m so sleepy. I want to drink a glass of milk and then go to bed."

Tanya immediately said, "Joy, Caden, Mommy will warm milk for you."

As soon as she spoke, Tanya realized she was too hasty. She was still blind at the moment...

Nervously, she squeezed the cane in her hand.

Noticing Vincent’s scrutinizing gaze, Tanya’s spine stiffened involuntarily.

But Vincent said nothing; he released Joy’s hand and spoke to Caden nearby, "Caden, take your sister back to your room first; Daddy will bring milk up to you later."

During the day, Tanya had visited the room where Caden and Joy lived together.

The children’s bedroom was a small suite of over 100 square meters, with two beds inside; Joy’s was a princess bed, and there were two separate washrooms.

Joy immediately ran up the stairs, and because Tanya was standing at the stair entrance, she deliberately went around and took the other side up the stairs to avoid Tanya as much as possible.

But Caden walked past Tanya with hands in pockets, looking indifferent, yet could not resist glancing up at her.

Without exception, neither of the children intended to be close to her.

Tanya felt a pang of sadness.

Vincent leaned closer to her and whispered, "Don’t rush, the most important thing now is to take care of your health."

She realized that Vincent thought she was too eager to please the children, leading her to speak carelessly.

Tanya naturally played along with that assumption.

Vincent continued to comfort her, "It’s normal that Caden and Joy are not close to you. After all, they lost their mom right after they were born. Take it slow, give them some time."

Listening to these high-sounding words, Tanya felt nauseous.

Others might not know, but Vincent understood better than anyone that the reason she ended up with a weak constitution, suffering childbirth complications becoming comatose, was entirely because of him!

Those years, to help Vincent secure the general manager position, she stayed day and night at the lab developing new medicines, exposed to many chemical compounds.

Her physical condition declined sharply, at times suffering nosebleeds, high fever and fainting, waking up to find herself in a hospital room.

Vincent appeared caring and attentive beside her sickbed, yet intentionally let her hear Father Hawthorne questioning him about when the new medicine would be developed.

She still remembers vividly, Vincent sitting by her hospital bed, tightly gripping her hand, eyes red, with a distressed, deep love.

He said, ’Tanya, I don’t care if I lose the general manager position; I can’t let you suffer like this for me anymore.’

She was profoundly touched at the time, thinking she married the best man in the world.

But looking back now, if Vincent had genuinely cared even a little about her health, she was so weak then that getting out of bed was hard. As long as Vincent didn’t agree, she couldn’t have left the hospital!

If someone loves you or not, don’t listen to what they say, but watch what they do.

And what did Vincent do?

The moment she said she wanted to be discharged, he immediately arranged for the discharge paperwork, sending her back to the lab the very next day!

Vincent knew her too well and understood how much she loved him. As long as he frowned, she wished she could offer the whole world to him.

He used her love to squeeze her dry, securing his position now!

Tanya only felt a chilling fear spreading from her heart, creeping through her limbs.

Vincent, you truly... have a cruel heart!

Tanya raised her head, giving the man before her a radiant smile, "You’re right; I was too eager. I should listen to you, take it slow."

Her compliance clearly pleased Vincent; he contentedly patted her head.

"Go back to your room and rest; I’ll be there later."

"Okay."

Tanya turned with her cane and headed upstairs. In a place outside Vincent’s view, the smile at the corner of her mouth vanished, Tanya accelerated her pace, moving towards the children’s room.

Vincent obviously didn’t want her interacting much with the children; she had to seize the chance to speak alone with them, to let them know how much she loved them!

However, before reaching their room, she heard Joy’s voice, soft and sweet, sounding from inside.

"...Mommy Cindy, I had so much fun today. Can you pick us up after school tomorrow and play? I don’t want to come home and see that woman; she is so annoying!"

Tanya’s whole body trembled fiercely.

Inside the room, Joy lay on the bed, holding a cellphone, sending a voice message to Cindy Lynn.

Caden, playing a snake game, was distracted by Joy’s words, causing the snake to hit the wall.

GAME OVER.

He turned to look at Joy, his small brow slightly furrowed, with the sternness of an elder brother.

"Joy, didn’t I tell you, you can’t call Mommy Cindy at home?"

Joy pouted unhappily, "Who made that bad woman pull out the tulips Mommy Cindy loved the most? I don’t like her one bit; I don’t want her to be my mom! I only want Mommy Cindy!"

Seeing her brother’s serious face, genuinely a bit angry, Joy climbed down from the princess bed and went to her brother, hugging his arm while pouting.

"Brother, who do you like more, that woman or mom Cindy? Tell me! You can’t lie, teacher said lying is not something good kids do."

Outside the door, separated by a wall, Tanya’s heart rose to her throat.

Caden hesitated, furrowing his brow.

He knew Tanya was his biological mother, but these five years, accompanying them as their mom was Cindy Lynn. Even participating in kindergarten’s parent-child activities, she went with Dad.

Even he had called Cindy mom along with Joy...

Caden hesitated for a long time, finally forcing out, "Aunt Cindy is closer to us..."