Chapter 5 Painting

Elias' heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively glanced over at Scarlett.

Why had she received a new message right after he'd sent one to his wife?

At that moment, Kyle sidled up to Elias, a mischievous smirk on his face. "Late night texting, huh? Which girl has your attention now?"

Elias' train of thought was abruptly derailed by Kyle's intrusion. With a stern expression, he shoved Kyle's head away and replied in a low voice, "Back off."

Struggling, Scarlett propped up Justin's heavy frame and tucked her phone into her pocket. She turned to Elias and Kyle, saying, "I'm sorry. I'll take Justin home first."

Kyle waved with a friendly smile and said, "Sure, we'll catch up another time."

It took Scarlett considerable effort to wrangle Justin into the car. As she gazed at his drunken antics, she clenched her teeth and retrieved her mobile phone, intending to capture his comical performance. Unexpectedly, a message from a contact labeled "The Missing Guy" flashed on her screen. It was a message from her husband, someone she hadn't heard from in a year. He wanted to meet with her tonight.

What was happening?!

Scarlett surmised it might be about their pending divorce.

She couldn't refuse, but for now, she had to drop Justin off and postpone this meeting.

After replying the message, Scarlett stashed her phone away, started the car, and drove off.

Elias checked the message as soon as he received it.

"Apologies, I'm unavailable tonight. Let's meet at Cinderella Restaurant tomorrow at 6 PM."

Her response was concise and formal.

Reflecting on the affectionate interaction between the young lovers earlier, while his supposed wife treated him with indifference, Elias sneered, a touch of irony coloring his thoughts.

The following day, Scarlett arrived at Elias' residence, Boreal Villa, to spend time with Zayne. She sat on the swing with the young boy and read him a picture book. Zayne listened attentively in her lap.

Suddenly, Elias appeared in the yard. Zayne couldn't contain his excitement, leaping off Scarlett's lap to embrace Elias.

Scarlett set aside the picture book and followed after him. She greeted, "Good day, Mr. Roberts."

Elias regarded her and replied, "Good afternoon, Miss Wallace."

He glanced at Zayne, who clung to him like a koala, and sighed. Then he said to Scarlett with a hint of helplessness, "I'm sorry. I just wanted to take a stroll. I didn't mean to disrupt you and Zayne."

Observing Zayne's attachment to Elias, Scarlett found it amusing but maintained her professionalism and suppressed her laughter. She shook her head and said, "It's not a problem. Consider it a break."

After her words, there was a brief, somewhat awkward silence.

Compared to a child like Zayne, Elias, a tall adult man, exuded a strong presence. His mere existence here seemed to exert pressure on her.

Scarlett felt the tension and contemplated how to lighten the atmosphere.

Fortunately, Zayne intervened. He grabbed Elias' hand and led him towards the easel.

The three of them stood in front of the easel, and Zayne handed Scarlett and Elias paintbrushes.

Elias took the brush, momentarily puzzled.

He'd never painted with Zayne before. Why had Zayne suddenly invited him to paint together?

Seeing Elias' confusion, Scarlett explained, "We were reading a picture book just now, and there's an image of a family of three in it."

Then Elias entered the picture.

Elias finally grasped Zayne's intention. The boy wanted him to join in and paint the picture with them.

Zayne glanced up at Scarlett and Elias before picking up a brush and concentrating on drawing a little boy on the canvas.

Observing Zayne's earnest expression, Scarlett's heart melted. She turned to Elias and whispered, "Mr. Roberts, please draw the image of a father next to this little boy."

As she spoke, she began carefully drawing on the other side of the little boy.

Elias couldn't help but glance at her. She'd asked him to draw the father figure. So, was she drawing the mother figure?

But as soon as that thought crossed his mind, Elias forcibly pushed it aside.

It was just a drawing. Why was he overthinking it?

Elias nodded and began to sketch.

He'd dabbled in oil painting for a while, although he'd become a bit rusty from lack of practice. After some time, he found his rhythm returning.

As the minutes passed, a family of three slowly took shape, hand in hand, on the canvas.

Once Elias had finished his part, he set down his brush and used a tissue to clean his hands.

Scarlett and Zayne were still refining the details of the painting. When Elias observed the two heads leaning in together, his heart softened. A faint smile played at the corners of his mouth, and he chuckled involuntarily.

Surprised by his own chuckle, Elias quickly composed himself. Luckily, the two engrossed painters hadn't heard it.

After the painting was completed, Zayne stood before the easel, gazing at it for a long while.

Elias' heart skipped a beat when he saw Zayne's fixed gaze on the mother figure that Scarlett had drawn.

It appeared that Zayne missed his mother dearly.

Elias thought of his own wife, whom he hadn't seen in person yet and was about to meet. He planned to discuss Zayne with her and see if she could accept the child.

If she could, and if Zayne and his wife could bond as he and Miss Wallace had, perhaps Elias could consider spending time with her for three months and seeing where that led.

After their work was done, Scarlett bid farewell to Zayne, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and prepared to leave.

At that moment, Elias approached her and offered, "Heading home? I'm actually heading out myself. I can give you a ride."