The Sway and Slide of Love

Noelle's expression shifted slightly before she said, "But Rosie, your body isn't well right now, and we-"

"I know," Rosie interrupted her. "And if I'm not healthy, Mommy will be even sadder. So don't worry, Mommy. Even though I hate Daddy, I'll still do as I'm told. But I don't want to call him 'Daddy.""

Noelle finally breathed out a sigh of relief when she heard that. Then, she reached out and gently ruffled Rosie's hair.

"No matter what, he is still your father. He gave you life, and without him, Mommy would've never met you. You don't have to call him 'Daddy,' and you can hate him, but you can't pretend he doesn't exist, okay?"

Time passed quickly after that.

The surgery was a success, and Rosie recovered exceptionally well. She showed almost no signs of rejection, and her red blood cells rose quickly.

A month after the surgery, Noelle completed Rosie's discharge paperwork.

But Seline remained concerned. "Are you really going to move in with Mrs. Freeman?"

"Mm-hmm."

"But why? If you want to stay in Coppersville, my family has plenty of houses where you and Rosie can live. So, why do you insist on going to live with her?"

Noelle smiled and said, "I can't rely on you forever, can I?"

"What's wrong with that? It's not like I can't afford to take care of you and Rosie."

"Even so, it's not right for us to do that," Noelle said. "Besides, I already promised her."

"But in the end, she wasn't even the one who had the surgery," Seline said with a frown. "I can't shake the feeling that the old lady has an ulterior motive for doing this."

Before Noelle could respond, a voice sounded from behind them, "Are you done packing?"

Startled, Seline snapped around and found herself facing Beatrice, who was smiling warmly.

Given Beatrice's age, it wasn't entirely wrong for Seline to call her an old lady. It was just that Beatrice's current appearance didn't match that title at all.

In recent years, Beatrice had rarely attended public events, and Seline barely saw her more than once or

twice a year. So, seeing her now, she couldn't help but feel stunned.

At that moment, Beatrice also noticed her, so she gave her a slight smile.

It was just a slight upward curl of her lips, but for some reason, Seline froze, as if rooted to the spot. After a long pause, she only managed a faint smile in return.

Meanwhile, Noelle crouched down next to Rosie and introduced softly, "Rosie, this is your grandma."

She had already explained her plans to Rosie earlier that morning.

Because of Rosie's resistance toward Hendrix, she wasn't particularly fond of Beatrice, either But now, with Noelle gently cradling her and looking at her encouragingly, she hesitated before uttering softly, "Hello, Grandma."

Beatrice froze for a second, then her smile deepened. She slowly

crouched down, bringing herself to

Rosie's eye level, and said, "Hello

there. I brought you a gift. I hope you'll like it."

Her smile was kind, and in her hand was a small lion plushie—the very same one

Rosie loved most, which Noelle had been unable to find until now.

When Beatrice had asked what kind of gift to buy Rosie, Noelle had suggested something similar to the lion plushie.

Rosie's eyes lit up the moment she saw it, but she quickly turned to Noelle, silently asking for her permission.noveldrama

Only after Noelle gave her a nod did she carefully accept the toy. "Thank you."