Chapter 551 He Actually Didn't Find It Annoying
Benjamin's penetrating gaze lingered on her for a second before being called back by Ethan and Harper.
"Daddy, look! I folded this green one!" Ethan's voice was clear and bright. "And I even wrote inside it!"
Benjamin raised his hand to accept the intricate paper crane handed to him and examined it for a moment before giving his sincere appraisal, "This is well-crafted. What did you write inside?"
Ethan beamed with joy as his father praised him, a wide smile spreading across his face. "I wishws Daddy would come back soon! Then Mommy wouldn't be so sad," he exclaimed.
Sarah instinctively looked up, her gaze colliding with Benjamin's. It was as if invisible sparks lit up the space between them, dazzling to the eyes.
Benjamin was the first to avert his gaze. Sarah noticed a subtle shift in his expression as he delicately set the paper crane on the coffee table, where it lay abandoned.
Ethan and Harper, oblivious to the tension, were lost in the joy of their father's return. They were eager to share every detail of the past few months.
"Daddy, I'll tell you a secret," Ethan said, unable to contain his excitement. "Mommy has been making your favorite dishes every day!"
"And!" Harper chimed in with a whisper, "Mommy always sets an extra place at the table, right where you sit!"
In their hearts, Antonio had never really left them. So, had Sarah always known Antonio was still alive?
Sarah's heart felt like it was being tugged in all directions as she listened to her kids' escalating excitement.
Although Benjamin appeared to be attentively listening to the children, his gaze kept drifting to the woman beside him. Sarah’s hands were clasped tightly together, her spirits clearly dampened. Her delicate face flushed pink and then paled, her thoughts unreadable.
"Daddy?" The kids had been talking but received no response, which puzzled them. "Daddy, why aren't you talking? Is it because you didn’t get to eat Mommy's cooking?"
"Don't worry! Now that you're back, Mommy will make it for you!" they reassured him innocently.
"No." Benjamin's brow quivered, as he looked at the expectant faces before him. He spelled out, word for word, "I need to figure out how to tell you… I'm not actually your dad. You've mistaken me for someone else."
In an instant, the living room fell silent. The laughter and chatter from before seemed like a surreal illusion. The once lively atmosphere plummeted to an icy chill, wrapping the room in a cold embrace.
Sarah's hand tightened into a fist, and she suddenly stood up, staring intently at Benjamin with eyes still flushed from emotion. "I apologize, Mr. Harrington, the children are just not aware... I'll take them upstairs."
The children weren't to blame for this mix-up. It was her…
Sarah had indulged in the warmth of the moment, watching the children’s happiness, like a dream she didn’t want to leave.
Benjamin shattered the illusion, and she awoke.
Sarah took a deep breath, pushing the gnawing pain in her heart aside, and firmly grabbed the hands of her two children. "Come on, Mommy's going to take you upstairs to bed."
Ethan and Harper exchanged puzzled looks, unsure of what had just happened.
Why did their mother suddenly seem angry?
Neither child spoke up, obediently following their mother upstairs.
After putting both children to bed, Sarah stood at the top of the stairs. Peering down, she spotted Benjamin sitting upright on the couch, methodically flipping through an origami crane left on the coffee table, his expression unreadable.
His chiseled features were backlit. As he lowered his head, the scar at the corner of his eye was obscured, creating the fleeting illusion that it was Antonio sitting there!
Exactly like him!
Sarah's knuckles turned white as she gripped the stair railing, summoning all her strength to keep from calling out to him.
The palm she'd scraped that morning throbbed, a sobering reminder.
No... however similar, it wasn't him.
Taking a deep breath, Sarah descended the stairs with a heavy tread.
"Mr. Harrington... I am truly sorry," she said, her face apologetic, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I've already contacted the driver; he should be here shortly."
She lowered her gaze, concealing the disappointment and bitterness within. "And... thank you for earlier, for helping me with the children."
Benjamin's eyebrows lifted slightly as he calmly set down the paper crane and stood, buttoning his suit jacket, his solitary figure emanating pride. "It's no problem, but there is one thing I'm curious about."
Sarah looked up, startled. "What is that?"
The man with dark brown eyes as endless as the sea pressed, "Do I really look that much like the father of your children?"
One instance could be dismissed as coincidence, but if everyone mistook him, then the resemblance must be remarkable—especially since those two smart kids couldn't possibly fail to recognize their own father just now.
For the first time, Benjamin found himself curious about this man he'd never met. What kind of man was he?
Sarah felt a lump in her throat and struggled to find her voice.
She swallowed hard, a self-deprecating smile creeping onto her lips. "Yes."
If it wasn't such a striking resemblance, she wouldn't have lost control of herself every time she saw that face, her carefully maintained composure crumbling time and again.
Benjamin watched her for a moment before turning and heading outside without a word.
As his shadow vanished, Sarah blinked and hurried to follow him.
Just as they stepped out of the yard, the driver arrived.
Benjamin opened the rear car door and seated himself inside, then rolled down the window. "Ms. Miller, you should stay, it's chilly outside."
After he finished speaking, he gave a slight nod, and the darkened car window slowly rose, cutting off all of Sarah's view.
She stood there until the black car gradually pulled away, leaving behind two trails of murky exhaust that vanished from her field of vision.
Sarah rubbed her shoulders with her hands, then let out a heavy sigh.
For reasons unknown, every time she faced Benjamin, she felt drained. It was as if another soul had invaded hers, leaving her unable to control her emotions or maintain her composure.
Everything seemed out of control.
Sarah turned around, noticing the faint light in the upstairs room—the children clearly hadn't gone to sleep yet.
Today, Ethan and Harper had both seen Benjamin's face.
How was she supposed to explain this to the kids?
…
Benjamin sat in the backseat of his car, no longer able to see the woman's slim figure in the rearview mirror. He redirected his gaze, letting his hands rest idly on his knees, his long index finger tapping a rhythm.
From morning to night, he had lost count of how many times he had been told he resembled that man and had even been forced to play the role of "husband" and "father" for a while.
What was stranger was that he didn't find it annoying.
Could it be because of the similar magnetic field reaction to that man named Valencia?
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