I Was His Wife, Then His Widow, Then No One's But My Own novel Chapter 20

Nora sat down at the low table and picked up a piece of wire. Her movements were incredibly steady, forming a sharp contrast to Cassie's clumsy fumbling.

Cassie sat right beside her, happily swinging her legs. Out of nowhere, she pulled out a tablet, a joyful smile plastered on her face, seemingly in a spectacular mood.

Holding the tablet with both hands, the screen illuminated her face. Her eyes were bright as her fingers tapped rapidly against the glass, clearly chatting with someone online.

Nora turned her head and threw a casual glance her way. The absolute second her gaze swept past, Cassie practically jolted as if she had been burned, instinctively jerking the tablet far away. She aggressively twisted her body, using her back to shield the screen in a brutally guarded, defensive stance.

Nora's heart felt as though it had been violently pierced by something sharp.

She had never expected her five-year-old daughter to harbor such guarded defenses against her own mother.

In the past, Cassie used to eagerly show off everything she did. "Look what I drew, Mom." Now, she was even hiding a tablet screen, guarding it as if terrified Nora would steal her precious secrets.

Nora forced a tight smile, lowering her head to mask the bitter hurt swimming in her eyes, forcefully suppressing the heavy lump in her throat. Acting as if she hadn't seen a single thing, she simply turned back around and resumed stringing the beads.

Whatever. She truly didn't care about any of this anymore.

Who Cassie wanted to chat with, or what she wanted to talk about, had absolutely nothing to do with her. She just needed to finish what she was here to do.

Seeing Nora look away, Cassie finally relaxed her tense little shoulders, bringing the tablet back into view and frantically tapping the screen.

On the other side of the chat window was Seraphina.

Cassie was a slow typist: *Seraphina, your birthday is coming up. I have a surprise for you, you'll definitely like it.*

Seraphina replied almost instantly: *Really? I'll love whatever you give me.*

A massive smile bloomed on Cassie's face, the corners of her mouth lifting high as she swung her legs even more enthusiastically.

Thinking for a moment, she sent another message: *What about Dad? Didn't he promise we'd go to the beach for your birthday?*

Seraphina replied: *Do you want to call Dad?*

She hugged her tablet and scrambled up from the rug. Suddenly remembering something, she looked down at Nora and asked a question that completely blindsided her.

"Mom, are you sleeping at home tonight?"

Nora's hand froze mid-air.

For a question like this to come out of a five-year-old's mouth, it was completely abnormal.

Unless, she had entirely grown used to her mother not being home, or worse—she *wanted* her mother to be gone.

Nora knew exactly what answer she wanted to hear.

"No," Nora said flatly.

Cassie got exactly the answer she was hoping for, her eyes lighting up with delight. Hugging the tablet tightly, she happily scampered up the stairs, throwing back, "I'm going up to take a bath, Mom!"