"It means exactly what you think," Brayden snapped. He averted his focus back to the lady still waiting for further instructions.
"Hurry," He added. He got Mia hurrying away after his last statement.
"You live in a hotel. If you are taking the girls to such a place what is the difference between you and I…"
"We are nothing alike Madam Lawrence so it would be better if you don't compare," Brayden replied sternly. He turned and grabbed the hand of the girls who had paused their game and stared at him instead.
"Let's go, Marl, Lisa," Brayden said sweetly. The sweet smile that spread across his face as he gazed at the two girls' pretty faces was as if the guy who spoke seconds ago wasn't him.
Brayden led Marley and Monalisa outside where he parked his car. There, the three of them waited for Mia.
Fifteen minutes later, the impatient guy left the girls in the car and went inside to get Mia after instructing one of the guards to watch over them.
Inside the room where Marley and Monalisa shared, Mia was about to pack the girls' stuff into the third luggage when Brayden barged in.
"I am almost done…"
"That is enough. Marl and Lisa have started losing their patience. They can't wait any longer," Brayden cut in sharply.
"Let's go," He commanded. He carried one of the luggage while leaving the other one to Mia.
After Brayden left the house with the luggage, Madam Lawrence moved to the glass wall and stared outside where her son parked his car.
"All his life he has never taken care of anyone. He took the girls with him out of impulse. I wonder if he will be able to take care of them properly," Madam Lawrence murmured while rubbing the gold ring on her index finger.
"Judging from the way he smiled so sweetly at Marley and Monalisa despite that he was mad showed that he loves them. I am sure he will be able to manage just fine. Also, you are here to assist him, aren't you?" The blonde hair guy whispered while hugging the middle-aged woman from behind.
"It takes more than just love to raise a kid. That is something so many people don't know," Madam Lawrence muttered, her gaze fixed on the red sports car in the parking space.
Madam Lawrence didn't move an inch away from the window until she saw Brayden's car drive out of the premises.
"Now that you have seen your grandkids off, should we continue from where we stopped, Madam?" The blonde hair guy asked in a playful tone while making a funny face at her.
Inside the red car moving on a busy street, two girls occupying the backseat could be seen fighting over a Barbie doll.
"That is mine! Give it to me," Marley yelled and charged forward to grab the doll in Monalisa's hands.
"No, this is mine. You ruined yours a long time ago," Monalisa cried out, refusing to lose her doll to her twin sister.
"That is a lie," Marley screamed angrily. She pulled the doll even harder but Monalisa held on tight too.
"Lisa, Marl, can't you both play with the doll…"
"No!" The two girls chorused before he could finish what he had to say.
Brayden tried to persuade them more but the two girls wouldn't listen. They continued to fight as if they were mortal enemies forced to share the same space. Because of their fights, Brayden couldn't drive properly as he should have. He was careful with his driving speed to prevent the girls from getting hurt.
"To avoid getting three of us into an accident next time, I think I need to get myself a driver," Brayden let out a sigh of relief when they finally got to their destination.
The next day a tall handsome guy in a green shirt was seen walking around a mall. Although he was on call, he didn't take his eyes off the small figures jumping about the busy place.
"Summer, what are some of the things ladies need for their daily wear?" Brayden asked, still paying attention to the running kids.
"What did you say? I can't hear you?" Brayden indicated. When he still couldn't hear what the person at the other end said he turned to the salesperson at his side.
"I will be gone for a few minutes. Help me watch over them," Brayden instructed while gesturing at Marley and Monalisa.
"Wrap up whatever they pick but most importantly don't take your eyes off them for even a second," Brayden, who had witnessed what the girls were capable of in just one night, warned the lady in a white long-sleeve shirt sternly.
"Yes, Mr Brayden," the lady assured him.
As a regular customer who doesn't leave the mall without buying things worth millions of dollars whenever he drops by, the salesperson didn't mind doing as he wanted.
Brayden took a long glance at the girls not knowing whether he should really leave them with the salesperson.
He moved away from that section after the lady assured him one more time that she was more than capable of the task.
"I couldn't hear a single word you said earlier so do you mind repeating them," Brayden asked while walking away from the children's section.
"You were the best friend of almost all ladies in Chicago. How come someone like you who knows the female gender so well has no idea about what women need for their daily use…"
"You can't compare these particular women to those in Chicago. They are special and a bit different," Brayden cut in abruptly. He couldn't help but look towards the direction he came from.
'He is the type of guy who says what he wants whenever he likes. If someone had told me he would use such obvious tricks to invite me over tonight I wouldn't have believed it.
Does this mean I have succeeded in making him fall in love with me?' Summer's thoughts ran wild as she smiled at her reflection in the mirror.
"Why aren't you saying anything yet?" Brayden demanded.
Right away, the excited Brayden started babbling away.
"What was that?" Summer and Brayden asked in unison upon hearing a clanging of steel.
Immediately, Brayden spun and gazed at the children's section where the noise came from.
"Sorry Babe but I have to go now," Brayden said hurriedly. He hastened towards the children's section in the speed of a flash.
Although it was less than two minutes that he heard the shout, a crowd had already gathered some distance away from where he left the girls earlier.
"Where are there?" Brayden murmured looking around for the sign of the salesperson and the girls.
He was about to move away when he heard a little girl's voice coming from where people gathered.
"Marl?" Brayden quizzed and instantly moved closer to the crowd.
"Marley?" Brayden shouted and hurried into the circle formed by the onlookers.
"What happened? How did she get herself hurt?" Brayden yelled at the salesperson squatting close to the injured Marley whose right hand was bleeding.
"She was…"
"Are you alright, little angel? Why don't you try getting up from the floor now, hmm?" A lady's angelic voice asked, causing the salesperson to pause what she wanted to say.
"No," Marley shook her head vehemently. Instead of letting go of the lady's right leg, she hugged her tighter.
"Mommy will run away again if I let go," Marley added.
"Mommy?" Brayden was utterly stunned to hear the words coming out of the mouth of the girl who had never grown up to see her mother.
For six years their father was all they had.
"A-a-ashley!" He stuttered with widened eyeballs. With trembling lips and hands, he subconsciously moved backwards as if he had just bumped into a ghost.