Dominic finished speaking with a serious expression, but even after waiting for a long time, he didn't hear Alessia's response. He cleared his throat, thinking that Alessia was unhappy, and began to lecture her.
"Alessia, every family has its rules. It's a rule in the Carter family to be home by eleven o'clock. If you think it's too strict to be home by eleven every night, you can inform me in advance if you have other plans."
After Dominic finished these words, he still didn't hear Alessia's response.
Dominic's expression became even more unnatural, anger rising in his eyes. He turned his head and said, "Alessia, don't push it too far..."
What did he see?
Dominic stopped halfway through his sentence, stuck in his throat.
At this moment, Alessia, somehow, had already tilted her head and fallen asleep.
She looked particularly obedient when she slept, with her long eyelashes casting shadows on her face like butterfly wings.
Her high nose bridge, the slight movement of her nostrils, and perhaps the light makeup tonight made her lips a sweet rose color.
"Is she a pig, falling asleep so quickly?"
Dominic's heart softened involuntarily. Despite his sarcastic comment, he considerately raised the temperature of the car's air conditioning by two degrees.
As the car entered the garage, Alessia was still asleep.
Dominic unbuckled his seatbelt and was about to wake her up when he saw Alessia sleeping peacefully again. He couldn't help but reach out and touch her cheek.
As he touched her cheek, Alessia's eyelashes trembled slightly.
Dominic thought Alessia was about to wake up, and his heart suddenly felt conflicted. Part of him wanted Alessia to wake up now, while the other part wanted her to stay asleep for a while longer.
In the end, he couldn't help but chuckle softly.
He curved his fingers and scratched her cheek.
"Christian, don't be naughty." As if sensing the unfamiliar touch on her face, the sleeping woman mumbled softly.
Used to seeing Alessia's cool and composed demeanor, seeing her now in her sleep, looking cute and confused, made Dominic feel particularly refreshed. He couldn't help but want to tease her.
He didn't move his hand away, but instead scratched her cheek again.
This time, the sleeping woman seemed even more dissatisfied. She frowned and mumbled, "Christian, be good, or I'll spank you."
After saying that, she accurately caught Dominic's hand that was causing mischief on her cheek and placed it near her lips, giving it a kiss.
Dominic's eyes widened, forgetting to breathe for a moment. It wasn't until Alessia released his hand that he remembered to breathe again.
The next moment, the tips of his ears turned red, and his eyes became dark. Finally, he pushed open the car door and got out.
Dominic unbuttoned two buttons of his shirt, took a deep breath for a while, and then returned, standing beside the passenger seat window.
He raised his hand and tapped on the window. Only after hearing a sound did Alessia gradually wake up from her sleep.
Her drowsy eyes gradually cleared as she saw Dominic's slightly unpleasant expression.
Is that it?
She actually fell asleep like this?
Did she fall asleep halfway through chatting with Dominic? No wonder this man was so angry.
Alessia felt trouble coming. She unfastened her seatbelt and got out of the car.
"Sorry, I was too tired just now. You still haven't told me why you came to find me tonight. Please tell me now."
Dominic buttoned up his shirt again, his gaze falling on Alessia's lips. The temperature, which had finally dropped after blowing cold air for so long, rose again.
He couldn't help but reprimand, "Alessia, I won't repeat myself. Go back to sleep. With those dark circles under your eyes, you look hideous."
Alessia frowned. It seemed that Dominic was indeed angry because she fell asleep halfway through their conversation.
This was going to be troublesome. Alessia sighed.
Upon arriving home, Alessia first went to each of the three little ones' rooms.
Seeing them sound asleep, she returned to her own room and turned on her computer. Perhaps due to having slept in the car, she found herself awake after being disturbed and unable to sleep again.
Alessia tapped her fingers on the keyboard, entering one code after another into the dialogue box. Before long, she had pulled up information about Enzo.
Enzo, 25 years old, the eldest son of the Roberts family. He was abducted by human traffickers at the age of twelve and not found until he was twenty.
It was said that during the years he was missing, he wandered through many countries. After returning to Toronto, he began associating with Nolan and others.
Although he hung out with Nolan, he hadn't done anything out of line in all these years, not even having a woman by his side. Rumor has it that he even likes...
Alessia browsed through this mostly useless information, furrowing her brow. She wanted to dig deeper into Enzo's abduction, but found no records of those events.
It was as clean as if it had never happened.
The cleaner it was, the more it suggested that someone had deliberately covered it up!
Alessia closed the computer, tapping her fingers on the desk. At this moment, she was like a hunter who had already set her sights on her prey.
It seemed that this time, the reunion banquet yielded a lot.
The next day, Alessia hadn't yet woken up when the curtains in her room were pulled open.
She opened her eyes to see three neat little figures standing in the room.
"Mom, did you forget? Today is our first day of school. If you don't get up soon, we'll be late," Christian said, hands on hips, pouting.
Alessia rubbed her temples, glanced at the clock on the bedside table, and said, "I haven't forgotten. It's past seven o'clock now. You guys go downstairs and have breakfast first, I will be there soon."
"Mom, Elle, Christopher and I have already had breakfast. Come on, hurry up, dawdling isn't a good habit," Christian, the spokesperson for his siblings, said in a grown-up tone.
Alessia sighed, restraining the urge to spank Christian's little bottom. She said, "I got it."
"Okay, Mom, don't be impatient. Love you!" Christian made a heart gesture, knowing Alessia's temper. When Alessia couldn't bear it anymore and looked up, the mischievous trio ran off with Christopher and Eleanor.
Looking at the finally quiet room, Alessia suddenly regretted it. Why did she have to compete with Dominic for these two brats? It would've been better to just give him the trouble of dealing with them!
Ten minutes later, Alessia changed clothes and went downstairs. There were no signs of the three children in the living room.
Mrs. Cate said, "Miss, the young master and young miss have already left. They said they're waiting for you in the car."
Alessia nodded and went outside, only to find that the three little ones were not in the car. She was puzzled when she heard the car horn outside the courtyard.
Alessia stepped outside and saw the three little ones sitting in Dominic's car, waving at her.
She was supposed to take them to school, so what was Dominic doing here?
"Mom, hurry up and get in. We're going to be late for the first day of school," Christian urged loudly.
It was important for children to have their parents take them to school on the first day, so Alessia reminded herself to stay calm. She sighed and got into the car.
Inside the car, Dominic didn't even glance at her, seemingly not intending to speak to her. Alessia wasn't the type to initiate conversation either.
Maintaining this subtle tacit understanding, she lowered her voice when the car started and looked at Christian warningly, "Explain what's going on."
"Mom, everyone else has their parents take them to school, and I want it too," clever Christian immediately started to act cute when she heard Alessia's tone wasn't right.
"Mom, I want to too!" Eleanor said.
"I do too." Christopher's eyes were full of longing.
Alessia compromised. After all, her three troublesome children were to blame.
When they arrived at the kindergarten, Alessia and Dominic took the three children out of the car, immediately attracting the attention of most people. The reason was simple: they were all too good-looking.
Alessia and Dominic first took Christopher to school, watching him enter the classroom before turning to take Christian and Eleanor.
On their first day of school, Christian and Eleanor seemed particularly excited.
But as they approached the classroom, the two children, as if by agreement, suddenly became despondent.
***