Chapter 344 Only Danielle Saw It
Outside the elevator, Mackenzie kept sneaking glances at Jessica.
Jessica, feeling Mackenzie's eyes on her, tried to ignore it. Suddenly, she heard a ding from another elevator behind her and quickly walked into it.
Mackenzie sighed softly and followed her in. "Seriously? You can't even share an elevator? That step back was too obvious."
"We're going downstairs," Jessica said flatly. "That one was going up."
"That's not the point. It's your obvious avoidance!" Mackenzie rolled her eyes. "Mr. Harriman was good to you, loyal and affectionate. But as soon as Danielle came into the picture, you announced you were married. What about Mr. Harriman? Shouldn't he be the one who's hurt and angry? Why are you avoiding him? Is he dangerous or something? Can't you two just be civil?"
"It's been so long. Why bring it up now? I have to meet Mr. Clark and the software manager later. I need to keep smiling all night. Do you want to ruin my mood?"
How long?
Just a year and a half.
Danielle was still in kindergarten.
In TV shows, people separated for ten or eight years and still met warmly.
Jessica, however, in less than two years, seemed to have aged a lot, as if she'd crammed a decade into those eighteen months.
Mackenzie didn't say anything else, just pursed her lips and stayed silent. The elevator stopped on the first floor, and she accompanied Jessica out.
As they approached the crowd at the convention center, Jessica's steps slowed a bit. It seemed like something had been bottled up inside her for too long. In that moment of eye contact at the elevator door, after a year and a half of sudden reunion, it was like a seemingly perfect jade suddenly shattered. All the smooth and flawless appearances were just illusions.
She suddenly whispered in a voice only Mackenzie could hear, "If you were an elder in the Harriman family, would you accept Danielle and me?"
Mackenzie's expression paused, and she turned to her.
Jessica also looked at her, their eyes meeting.
Mackenzie didn't say anything, just gently patted her arm. "Let's go, meet the software manager, and focus on work."
Some things were indeed hard to understand from one's own perspective, but from another angle, no matter how likable Jessica was, the blood ties of a wealthy family were an impenetrable barrier..
Jessica now lived in an apartment near Star Tower. It was another night of being busy with events until late.
When she entered, she found that Danielle was still awake.
Caroline and Olivia Williams, the new hire, were up, making something with colorful paper.
"You're back." Caroline saw that Jessica hadn't removed her makeup yet, but had changed into her usual casual clothes. "Go take a shower and rest early. Danielle napped this afternoon, so she's wide awake now. She said her kindergarten teacher assigned a paper-folding project and asked us to help her make a paper rose. We've been looking up how to fold it online."
"Paper rose? That's pretty advanced," Jessica said with a tired smile, taking the colorful paper from Caroline and Olivia. She glanced at the phone showing the folding instructions, which looked pretty complicated.
She'd been smiling at everyone at the convention hall all night and was exhausted. She really didn't have the energy to fold this with them, so she gave up and went straight to Danielle. She saw Danielle kneeling on the carpet, surrounded by scissors, double-sided tape, and various colored papers. Six-year-old Danielle was very focused, drawing petals on the paper with a pencil.
This was really hard for a kindergartener.
Jessica skeptically picked up her phone and checked the kindergarten class group. Sure enough, she saw the teacher's assignment: give the kids ten sheets of colored paper and have them make a beautiful paper rose with their parents. The finished projects would be displayed and judged at the kindergarten.
Seeing the word "parents," Jessica paused.
She hadn't checked the messages from Danielle's kindergarten class group in a long time. Usually, Caroline and Olivia handled these things.
They had agreed that Danielle had a dad, but in reality, not only did Danielle not have a dad, but even Jessica, as her mom, was increasingly absent due to the studio's busyness and her own lack of time. Now, she often went several days without seeing Danielle.
She knew Danielle was unhappy, but Danielle didn't show it.
Six-year-old Danielle was so mature that Jessica often wondered what kind of blood ran in her veins.
Even though Gabriel never appeared in their lives again, and even though Jessica forbade her from asking about Gabriel, Danielle never persistently asked about him.
Because back in that old house, the only one who saw Jessica cry was Danielle.
"Mommy, what color paper do you think looks best for the rose?" Danielle asked, showing Jessica her abstract rose drawn on pink paper.
Jessica suddenly sat down next to Danielle, took the paper with the unrecognizable flower, and used a pen to outline a shape similar to the paper rose shown on the phone screen. "If you're folding it, it should look like this."
Olivia and Caroline were surprised to see Jessica sit down.
Caroline inquired, "Aren't you going to take a shower and sleep early? Don't you have a busy day tomorrow?"
Olivia added, "Should I get your bath ready?"
"No need, I'll help you finish Danielle's paper rose first." Jessica took another piece of paper from Danielle, pulled out her phone to look up folding instructions, and started folding with them.
Danielle quickly snuggled into Jessica's lap, saying, "Mommy, if you're tired, you can go to sleep. Danielle can fold paper with Olivia and Caroline."
Jessica cupped Danielle's face and gave her a big kiss. "Mommy will stay with you."
Danielle snuggled closer. "Mommy, can the paper rose be rainbow-colored?"
Jessica's mouth twitched. "You're making it hard for me."
