Araceli POV
A sourness came to my eyes at once.
"Valeria, sweetheart..."
I hugged Valeria and Essel as tears kept falling down my face.
"Mommy..."
Valeria cried out again, raised her hand to wipe away my tears, and then broke off to continue, "Mommy, give Daddy a kiss."
I froze in my tracks.
Essel clapped her hands and cheered, "Kiss! Kiss!"
"That's enough, Essel."
Raphael said calmly, with undeniable authority, "Essel, if you keep this up, I'll have Maddox come get you."
Essel shut his mouth and hid behind me.
I dried my tears, bent down and picked up Valeria, and walked inside with them.
I didn't think we would attract so much attention.
"Wow! That man is so handsome! Are those two boys his sons? I've never seen such cute and handsome little boys."
"Those two boys look like their dad. Those two girls look like their mommy! Their family looks really happy!"
"He's really handsome. I like this kind of looking man the most..."
"If I were ten years younger, I'd really like to marry his son!"
"You're so shameless..."
The voices of the people around me chattered into my ears.
I glanced at Raphael with some embarrassment.
A light smile surprisingly appeared on Raphael's face.
An elegant atmosphere permeated the gallery, with soft lighting illuminating each piece of art on display.
Essel momentarily forgot Raphael's warning and became excited again. "Vallie, wow! These paintings are wonderful! I don't think there are words to describe how much they blow me away..."
Valeria jumped out of my arms and took Essel's hand.
Their eyes sparkled with curiosity and excitement.
Valeria couldn't wait to move forward, wanting to explore every painting in the gallery.
Micah and Krish stand aside, far away from each other. All the same, their eyes were full of appreciation and awe, as if they were captivated by these colorful works of art.
We slowly made our way through the gallery, taking in each piece with rapt attention.
Soft music permeated the gallery, complementing the colors of the paintings. Each piece of art exuded a unique charm that led us to immerse ourselves in it and reflect on what the artist was trying to say.
As I was looking at the paintings, Raphael silently walked up to me.
Every now and then, the voice of Essel spoke in my ears.
"Vallie, do you like this painting? I think you painted a better picture than it!"
"Vallie, I've never been to a painting show before..."
"Vallie, let me hold your hand, okay?"
...
"Essel, can you be quiet?" It was Micah's voice, with a hint of impatience.
Essel made a face. "Vallie just likes to hear me talk. Does it matter to you? Vallie, you like to hear me talk, don't you?"
Valeria nodded and looked at Micah innocently.
Essel smiled smugly, "See, Vallie likes me!"
A soft smile appeared on my face.
Perhaps it was because of Essel's company that Valeria slowly began to accept the world and learn to interact with people.
Essel was lively, big-hearted and unpretentious. She had influenced Valeria to be optimistic and cheerful. Besides, they were sisters, connected by the power of blood.
We walked up to an art exhibit. The lights here were dim.
This work was a huge painting. It seemed to have a magic power that could bring people into a realm beyond reality.
Essel was shocked and did not speak again.
In the picture, a misty starry sky filled the whole canvas. The stars shone brightly, as if they had a life of their own. But what was amazing was that these stars were not confined to the plane of the canvas. They jumped out and almost blended into the space where the viewer was.
I loved to see exhibitions, but I hadn't had much opportunity to do so for several years.
I had to work and take care of my two children, so almost all the time in my life was taken up...
I was immersed in the painting, my eyes sparkling.
Raphael turned his head and looked at me. I seemed to sense something and turned my head to look at him.
It was an emotion like no other...
In the center of the starry sky of that painting, a black hole was huge and deep, like a bottomless abyss. And at that moment, Raphael had a fatal attraction to me, like a black hole.
I couldn't describe this feeling. It was strange and beautiful, but it also made me feel sad.
Raphael slowly bent down and leaned towards me.
"Bang..."
The sound of a heavy object falling on the floor woke him up at once.
He straightened his back, turned around and looked at the painting. He still looked as bland and self-possessed as before.
I looked down. It turned out that I had dropped my water bottle.
I hastily bent down to pick up the water bottle.
The light was dim and it was pitch black. I could only reach out and feel around on the ground.
"Mr. Lancaster, my water bottle seems to be on your left..."
I bent down and patted his leg with my hand.
Raphael's body suddenly tensed.
He leaned down. I thought he was going to pick up my water bottle for me, but instead he took a hard sniff at the back of my neck.
I froze violently.
This feeling...
It was exactly the same as the feeling the man brought me five years ago...
"Mr. Lancaster..."
Raphael seemed to jerk back to what he had just been doing.
I glanced at the children. They were all looking intently at the individual paintings and didn't notice any movement from my side.
Raphael took a deep breath, his voice trailing off, and said, "I saw it."
He bent down, but touched my hand.
I felt strange at once and immediately retracted my hand.
I looked up slightly and met Raphael's eyes.
Both he and I were crouched on the ground. In the dark space, I couldn't see anything, only a faint glint in his eyes.
At this point, such a stare-off seemed extremely provocative.
My heart suddenly beat wildly and uncontrollably.
I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down a bit. Suddenly, a familiar smell reached my nostrils...